AllFreeNovel
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It’s past ten thirty when we head to the club, the muscular bouncers politely checking us out as we enter. They notice Max, tall and strong; they check out Ben because he has an intense vibe going on tonight. Sam offers a cheery, “Evening.” Coolly,Laurence walks in, nodding a greeting.
A wall of sound hits us as we head to one of several bars. Heavy base beats thump though my bones, making my body dance of its own accord. The centrepiece is a large dance floor, half full of moving bodies as blinding lights swirl above.
Jen passes me a bottle of beer. Tonight, I’m determined not to limit my exposure to what should be a normal, happy occasion. We’re celebrating being friends; we’re celebrating the imminent marriage of Josie to Kyle, though that looks less likely. And we’re celebrating life, a rebirth in a way. My rebirth.
We leave the guys at the bar and head to the black, silver-flecked dance floor.Reactby Switch Disco and Ella Henderson enticing us and a wave of others to join the throng of dancers. The lights dim, hiding shapes and forms barely an arm’s length from me. A strobe light illuminates Josie’s face, or Jen’s, or Tabi’s. All the while Max and his friends stay by the bar, my eyes constantly seeking him out. Whenever I look his way, his intense gaze is already on me. Occasionally, he gives his friends the briefest amount of attention, but as I move to the music, our gazes locked, I feel his desire like a thick rope bound around our middles, tying us together.
His undivided attention is welcome. It’s debilitatingly predatory, but deliciously so. It leaves me breathless with anticipation and endlessly curious about what kind of lover he is. I’ve seen a gentle, sweet side of him, but I’ve seen a determined, uncompromising side too.
“Fuck me,” Tabi yells in my ear. “The way Max is eye-fucking you is making my toes curl. Girl, you’ve gotta mount that golden retriever alpha or you’ll regret it.”
My eyes fly back to Max, his dark, relentless gaze a heavy weight on my skin. A sharp pang of longing hits me in the womb and I realise I’m falling fast for this man.
Losing myself to song after song, it’s when Rui Da Silva’sTouch Methumps from the speakers that Max makes his move. Eyes on me, the strobe lights illuminate him for a split second before he’s lost to shadow. Over and over his intense features are lit up like a summer night’s storm before skipping away, his movements appearing jagged and out of sync. Haltingly, he moves through the crowd towards me, my pulse in time to the crazy beat of the music.
His presence is a tangible thing, pressing down on me. I can’t look away as he moves to my side and then behind me. Assured hands slide around my waist, the familiarity of him making me sink into his hold.
“I can’t stop looking at you,” he admits, his voice vibrating down my ear and into every cell I’m made of. “You’re so fucking pretty.”
His cheek brushes against mine. The rasp of fresh stubble against my skin is intriguingly sore, Max chasing the pain away with a gentle, owning kiss on my cheek. Vetiver and bergamot wash over me, making me heady with want. And it’s much harder to bear when he notches himself against my arse and sinuously grinds his hips with mine.
Rotating my hips, the rhythm of the song brings out my baser instincts. And I’m surprised to find I have them, that the want inside me is expanding and growing until I can’t focus on anything else but what Max is hiding behind his jeans.
I want to look at it. I want to touch it. I want it inside me.
My heart races as the lyrics drum through my head, perfect for how I’m feeling right now. I want to be healed by his loving. I want to know what this is.
When a new song emerges through the dying beats, Sam and Laurence join us. Ben remains by the bar, watching on sadly. Always sad.
Josie holds up her phone to take pictures. “Memories!” she yells at me over the music, but I’m mostly lip-reading. I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to see, but I take her phone from her and point it in her direction too.
Sweat slicks my neck. I motion towards the ladies’ toilets, telling Max, “I need the girls’ room.”
“I’ll come with you. I’m not the only one who can’t stop staring at you.”
“The girls will come with me. Meet you back at the bar.”
He snags my hand, looking conflicted, but then he nods.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell him, secretly happy at his need to protect me.
Josie, Tabi and Jenny glue themselves to my side like three overprotective bodyguards as we weave through the crowds. It’s then that we find the club has an outside terrace bar, open even in the dead of winter.
“Cool!” Tabi cries, pushing through the external door. “Let’s hang here for a bit.”
“We’ll freeze!” Jen complains.
“We don’t need to stay long,” Josie offers. “Just enough to cool off.”
“I’ll let the others know where we are,” I suggest. “I told Max we’d only be a minute.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jen offers, but because I feel I should push my boundaries tonight, reestablishing freedoms that are less secure, I say, “Do you mind if I go alone? I feel I need to be able to walk unaccompanied through dark spaces with leering men.”
And there are rows of leering men, all standing behind each other around the dance floor, checking out the girls. We passed a whole bunch of them.
“Er, uh huh,” Jen agrees reluctantly. “Of course.”
“Back in a few.”
