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A grin widens across his face. “Candice Swanepoel, Victoria’s Secret supermodel. I named my bike after her.”
A booming laugh tears from deep in my chest. “Why am I not surprised?” I ask just as his phone chimes from deep in his pocket.
Dalton lets out a heavy sigh, almost sounding irritated at having our night interrupted, and reluctantly fishes his phone out of his pocket. He swipes his thumb across the screen and quickly glances over a text before sighing again. He goes to put his phone away when another text comes through just a second later, this one making his lips press into a hard line, his gaze becoming stony and cold.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says, dropping his phone into his pocket and glancing back at me, his eyes still sparkling in the moonlight, trying to shake it off. “But we better get going. It’s getting late.”
I nod, scooping up my half-eaten kebab and dumping it in the trash as Dalton presses a hand to my lower back. He leads me toward the elevator and we don’t have to wait for the doors to open. We sail back down just as fast as we came up, and I find myself glancing over at him.
“What?” he questions, not missing a damn thing.
“Why do you call me Firefly?”
A soft smile settles over his face, not smirky or wicked like I usually get from him. This one is sincere and makes his eyes soften, stealing the breath right out of my lungs. “You really want to know?” he asks.
“Would I ask if I didn’t?”
The elevator dings our arrival on the ground floor and we step out together, walking out to the valet parking. Dalton doesn’t respond, just simply nods toward the valet who hastily retrieves the keys to his bike and hurries off to get it.
We stand in a strange silence for a few moments, and I start to wonder if everything he said to me up on the roof was all bullshit just to get me to spread my legs for him, but when the familiar rumble of his bike sounds through the underground garage and finally arrives at our feet, he dazzles me with a wide smile. “After you,” he says, offering me his hand.
I take it greedily and he helps me onto the back of his bike, and not a moment later, we’re taking off, heading out of the city and back toward our apartment complex. He pushes his bike to its limits and we fly through the unfamiliar streets until we pass by Danny’s Bar and then finally pull to a stop in the parking lot behind our building.
Pressing my hand to his shoulder, I balance myself as I climb off, and as I go to step back and give him space, he captures my hand and pulls me in closer. “The reason I call you Firefly,” he murmurs, his voice so soft I can barely hear him, “is because when I first saw you walking through the darkness, you lit up the night like a fucking firefly.”
Warmth spreads through my body, and I don’t know how to respond, but he doesn’t give me a chance before he’s moving off his bike and nodding toward our building. “Come on, maybe tonight you’ll even let me walk you to your door.”
I laugh and roll my eyes. “Don’t think you’re going to get lucky again,” I tell him as he slips his key into the main door of the building. “I’ll have you know, I’m a lady.”
We step in through the door and let it fall closed behind us, and not a moment later, my back is up against the wall. “You’re anything but a lady,” he growls, his lips brushing against my throat as he presses his body up against mine, setting me off once again.
Hunger blasts through me. “Okay, I changed my mind. You can definitely get lucky again.”
His soft chuckle is like music to my ears as he steps back, putting space between us and offering me a chance to catch my breath. That twisted smirk returns, and I roll my eyes, enjoying his company far more than any girl should. I’m in dangerous territory, but I stand by what I said on that rooftop. I don’t want anyone falling in love with me, and I sure as hell won’t be returning the favor. I’ve got college to get through and rent to make. Casual, hot, steamy sex with dangerously wicked men is where it’s at.
We start making our way down to my apartment, and I fish my key out of my pocket as he patiently leans up against the wall. Though, if we were smart, we’d take this to his apartment. As far as I know, he lives by himself. He hasn’t mentioned anything about a roommate, and I know Cara is cool, but I’m not so sure how she’d feel about listening to me ride this asshole until the sun comes up. Though to be honest, she’s probably the type to listen through the wall and get off with us like some kind of messed-up threesome.
The door unlocks, and just as I glance toward Dalton, I hear the soft click of a door behind me. Knowing exactly who lives across from me, my heart kicks into gear, a gasp of fear sailing through my lips.
I whip around, but I’m too late. He’s already here, towering over me. A scream tears from between my lips, and like lightning, his hand shoots out, capturing me behind my neck as his other slams up over my face, a cloth wedged between us, muffling my screams.
I fight for breath, inhaling the strange scent on the cloth, my mind instantly going fuzzy as I desperately try to fight for my freedom, searching around, but Dalton is nowhere to be seen.
Fear like I’ve never known consumes me, and as I look up at this terrifying stranger towering over me, I know this is the end. My body goes limp, my eyes close, and just like that, I fall into his strong arms as my world turns black.
Chapter 8
OAKLEY
Mybodyslamsagainsta hard wall, my head foggy and disoriented. I hear scuffles and roars of protest around me, but I can’t open my eyes, can’t scream for help. I try to pull myself from the fog, but it’s impossible. My body feels too heavy to even attempt to fight.
What did he do to me? Where has he brought me?
My hands are yanked behind me and roughly bound, and my shoulders scream in agony just moments before something sticky covers my mouth.
“Oakley,” I hear a familiar tone calling through the fog. “Firefly, come on. Wake up.”
