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Chapter Eight
- Suzanne -
Caramel velvety goodness. Gabriel’s voice dropped to a husky level and my insides turned to goo. As if his tone weren’t enough to send my lady bits into a tizzy, his eyes... I had to look away from their burning intensity.
I’d never danced alone, swaying freely on the dancefloor with only the music to keep me company as the beat wound through my body. I wanted to be brave enough to make such an exhibition of myself... but I wasn’t.
Then I looked back into Gabriel’s eyes and found the strength I needed in the heat resonating from his gaze.
I licked my lips, wondering if I dared. Was his attention enough... or was it too much? Would I embarrass myself? Would all the reasons why I never did this sort of thing come crashing into reality? Were my fears about to slap me in the face?
I was on the verge of telling him ‘No,’ that wasn’t who I was. But I also wasn’t the girl who went on a dinner date with a man the day after she met him in a coffee shop. I wasn’t the girl drop-dead, cover-model gorgeous men like him paid much attention to. I wasn’t ugly, but I wasn’t delusional. Cute. I’d say I was cute - maybe too many freckles, and I always thought my face was too round. My hips were wide, my boobs were... ample would be a good word... and generally, I was happy with the way I looked, but I couldn’t compete with the kind of women a man like Gabriel probably dated. Those tall, svelte types that could wear anything and didn’t have to worry about their breasts popping out if their cleavage was too low.
Yet, there he was, sitting across from me for what would be our second date in two days, wearing an expression that said he’d gobble me up if he could get away with it in public.
Heat flooded my face. Maybe I didn’t think I was his usual type, but unless he was a damn good actor, every move he’d made since we met said he was definitely interested in plain little me.
I tilted my head, still apprehensive, but tempted... so tempted it hurt.
And then he pushed me over the edge.
Gabriel leaned forward, a small lock of hair falling onto his forehead. I could feel his warmth as he spoke close to my ear.
“You don’t want to disappoint me, do you, Suzanne?”
Holy hotness, how did he do that?
“I would very much like to watch you... dance... by yourself.” He hesitated when he said ‘dance’ and his voice dropped another level. He ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “It would give me great pleasure.”
Why did I feel like we weren’t talking about dancing anymore?
For anyone else, my retort would have been “yippy skippy do, who cares what you want,” but when he sat back in the booth, unbuttoned his blazer, rested his arm along the top of the cushion, and nodded toward the dancefloor with a predatory gleam in his eye, I knew I cared very much, indeed, if what he wanted was me.
“Okay,” I agreed with a blown out breath. I stood up and ran my shaking hands down the front of my skirt. I mustered a smile. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
One song. I could jiggle and gyrate through whatever was coming out of that electronic jukebox next. Close my eyes. Pretend he wasn’t there - pretend no one was there.
This was an 80s themed club - there was no telling what was in the lineup. Some hair band glam rock or a ballad from a Tom Cruise movie? I had been so focused on Gabriel; I hadn’t been paying attention to the songs that had already been played. I didn’t recognize the final notes of the current song as it faded out.
I walked to the dancefloor, taking my time while sucking in calming deep breaths as my body hummed with awareness. I could feel Gabriel’s gaze as I walked onto the classic parquet floor. I needed something slow. I should have gone to the jukebox and picked it myself, but that would have prolonged the agony.
The lights were low, the red and green hitting the floor with an eerie loneliness. At six pm, it was much too early for the club to be busy. There was no hope that I could dance alone while surrounded by a throng of people.
I shook my hands out by my side. Why hadn’t the next song started yet? I looked back to Gabriel, he shrugged and smiled awkwardly as I waited, standing like a nitwit on an empty dance floor.
He nodded his approval. At least, that’s how I interpreted that slight inclination of his head. Finally, I heard the opening notes of the next song. A song I recognized. One I knew I could relax to. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, trying to blot out Gabriel and my impending humiliation.
I’d played this song a thousand times in my room. Madonna’sCrazy for You.I’m sure my relief was visible throughout my entire body. Gentle swaying with my eyes closed. A small step to the left or right, tilting my head away from the now strobing lights that had been stationary before. The melody was haunting; one that soothed while creating angst of its own. I didn’t feel the need to do more. No creative gyrations. No nostalgic throwback poses - just a gentle rhythm that made my body move fluidly as I swayed, turned, tilted, and did whatever the next note drove me to do.
Chorus after chorus. I let it control me, humming to myself as the music went on. Finding strength and solace in its familiarity. Reaching out for it. Running my hands down my thighs. Turning in place. Going with the flow of...
A hand grabbed mine and pulled me toward the edge of the dancefloor, away from the bright lights and into the dark shadows that bordered it.
“Gabriel, what are you-”
He pulled me behind him down a dark corridor, barely lit by a neon red exit sign.
I didn’t finish my question. He practically threw me against the wall. My back hit it with a dull thud. Perhaps a scream was in order, but it would have been hard to scream with his mouth covering mine. I wouldn’t call the kiss brutal, but it was hard, gripping, and demanding, and... I sighed into it like I had no will of my own.
