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My gaze flicked over everything in the span of three seconds. We were seated a level above the dance floor in a semi-secluded area with a plush sofa made to fit four comfortably and a small knee-level table filled with fresh drinks the second we took our seats.
Pinned between both men, each held a hand captive. Now what? Only when Jace stood to close the curtain did I get the use of a hand back and all I could think to do was rub the sweaty side over invisible wrinkles.
“Guys, it’s great seeing you both again, but really, I need to get home. I have an early shift tomorrow and I’m working a double. So, you know.” I patted Jace on the knee and stood, but Cade still held my hand in his. Stroking a thumb over my knuckles, he held my gaze.
Cade’s only darkened, like he knew something I didn’t. “I’m sorry I can’t let you do that,” he said softly. A little too softly in fact.
I leaned in. “Excuse me?”
Wrong move on my part. His gaze did a slow, easy glide to my cleavage, making my nipples react on the spot. Traitors that they were. When other men looked their fill, I had no problem shrugging off their rudeness but when Cade did it, I liked the way the heat of his attention made me feel. Even after all these years.
My brows did a big jump, and I let out a yelp of surprise when he tugged on my arm and I slipped into his lap. Nothing about the instant memories roaring through my head were good. The last time I sat like this ended with him taking my virginity.
Dark eyes pierced mine, and I whimpered when he cupped my face. Without warning he crushed his mouth to mine, devouring my lips with his as though he starved for me. He tasted divine. The deeper he probed my mouth the more I opened for him. He took everything I gave and then took some more. Alpha, hot, and all male. Still the same Cade I remembered. For a moment I forgot we hadn’t seen each other in ages and it felt like no time passed at all. I allowed myself to believe the lie until our air ran out and we broke away, heaving.
Jace didn’t waste time before he had my legs over his lap, pinning me in place with his massive arm anchored overtop my thighs.
“You heard what Cade said, Elle. No more running for our girl.”
I was truly locked in place, but my brain locked onour girlinstead of worrying about two huge men restraining me.
Clearly, I was losing my mind.
“Our girl? What does that mean?”
I stared between them and studied their expressions. They looked closed off at the moment, but right before Cade kissed me I saw a flicker of heat and desire in his eyes. True emotions. When that happened, he became most vulnerable.
I guessed they couldn’t afford to be exposed. Not with being in the public eye. I didn’t follow their careers, but every once in a while, I looked them up. Not married, never spotted out with girls dripping from their arms like expensive accessories. Their teammates, on the other hand, cornered the market on how to date multiple girls and make it look easy.
Okay, so I might have stalked their social media on long winter Seattle nights. A girl got bored and had the right to feel melancholic over a guy or two.
Instead of answering my question, Cade grasped my arm, not like Michael had, but in a firm grip all the same. He turned my arm around in the club’s dim light. Anger flashed across his expression. I chanced a glance at Jace, and his face was pulled into a tight frown.
Purple and black finger marks were already forming just above the elbow and encompassed her entire arm. Great—now Maddy would keep me up all night wanting every single sliver of a detail. That was if I got out of here anytime soon.
“It’s nothing,” I offered and pulled my arm back.
Power surrounded me, and I shivered in Cade’s arms. It rolled off them in intoxicating waves. Not overbearing but strong, masculine, and it stroked against my libido like a lover’s feather-light kiss.
“What are you doing here, Elle?” Jace started, swiping at a tendril of hair brushing against my temple. He was always the gentler talking of the two men. Not that either of them knew I used to compare their quirks and mannerisms.
“I know I should leave. I don’t really belong in a place like this, never did. I should have never come. I thought a couple of dances with a cute guy wouldn’t hurt anybody.” Boy, had I been wrong. I tapered off my explanation, not really wanting to dive head first into the why and how of me being on the floor dancing with a stranger.
I shot up in Cade’s lap. Blood drained from my face. “Oh, crap.” My hands went to his jacket. “I forgot all about him. The bartender. We were dancing.”
Jace chuckled. “Don’t worry about Shawn, baby. He’s already back to serving drinks and looking for the next dance.”
With a mortified stare, I followed Cade’s finger to where he pointed at the bar below. True enough. There Shawn stood working on sweeping a single lady off her feet from the looks of it.
My hands dropped to my lap. Damn. I didn’t know why, but the sight sent a pang of hurt through me.
Slowly, Jace ran a hand up my bare leg and settled it just at the hem of my dress which already rode high on my thighs. My heartrate matched the thudding of the bass pulsating through the club. My attention roamed over the crowd and settled on Jace’s eyes. He looked at me, and I felt the power of his gaze tenfold. “Don’t worry about him,” he soothed. “He works fast and he’s a player. Moves from one pretty face to another every break rotation.”
Still...ouch.
Cade picked up where his friend left off. “Enough about him though.”
When both only crooked a brow, irritation drove me forward. “Okay, look just because I was having a good time on the dance floor with Mr. Bartender down there, and Michael made it look like I slept around...It doesn’t mean that I do. I don’t know what you two are playing at but, seriously. I don’t belong here.”
