AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I softened at his praise. “I know what you like, Jareth. I had you in mind when I slipped the dress on, not bothering with panties or a bra, because I wanted you to approve.”
When I was with Jareth, that’s what I wanted—his approval, because that equated to his arousal, which then led to mine. It was a give-and-take relationship, a power exchange. He controlled me, and that’s what I needed. It wasn’t an act. It just… was.
Nothing else mattered in that moment, not all these people around us, not the fact that we weren’t actually alone. Because it felt like we were. It was just him and me.
He leaned in close and inhaled deeply. I forced myself not to close my eyes and moan, the small act turning me on.
“Do you want a drink?”
I licked my lips and nodded. His voice was smooth, deep, and thick. It reminded me of the whiskey I wanted, the whiskey he’d no doubt get for me, because he knew me well enough.
He gave me a half smile and pushed away from the wall, giving my body one more look up and down before finally turning and heading toward the bar. His movements were fluid, precise. He was like a predator making his way through the crowd. People actually parted for him, moving out of the way. I sighed, a feeling that I was falling down this rabbit hole taking over.
But in this moment, I wanted to fall into the nothingness with Jareth.
He disappeared behind the thick sea of bodies, and I glanced around the room. Several minutes passed before I felt someone approaching, looking at me. Glancing to my right, I saw a man walking toward me, not someone I’d seen at the office before, but then again, he could have been new, an intern, or a plus-one.
He wore a simple black suit with a white button-up shirt underneath, the collar undone. He held a glass in his hand and had a smirk on his face. His focus was trained right on me, and I straightened, looking behind me to see if maybe there was someone else he was directing that grin to. But there was no one behind me except the associates Jareth worked with.
“Hey there,”he said a little loudly, clearly trying to make sure I could hear him over the music playing.
I gave him a friendly smile.
“I’m Shawn.” He held out his hand and I took it, thinking he’d want to shake it or something, but instead, he brought it to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. I pulled my hand away quickly and a little forcefully and saw the surprise on his face. He held up a hand in mock surrender. “I’m sorry. No harm,no foul.”
He cleared his throat and looked away, and a smarter man would have taken the hint and left, but I could practically feel the drunken arrogance pouring from him. He looked back at me with a big, confident smile on his face. I was about to tell him he’d get nowhere with me, but before I could say anything, he started talking again.
“Do you work for the company, or are you a guest of one of the employees?” He leaned against the wall, a little too close for comfort, so I took a step back.
“I work for the company,” I said and left it at that. I looked back at the bar for Jareth, but I couldn’t see anything but the wall of people clamoring to get another drink.
“What do you do at the company?”
I looked back at him. I knew where this was going and needed to shut it down, because letting him think I was interested in any way was just bad news.
“Listen, Shawn—”
“Before you turn me down, hear what I have to offer.” He grinned wider. He brought his glass up to his mouth and took another drink of the clear liquid, the ice clanking against the side.
“I think you’re getting the wrong vibes here.” Although I wasn’t sure how he could think that, seeing as I sure as hell hadn’t led him on. But I knew this type of guy. They were the ones I’d seen in college who were far too cocky for their own good, and getting turned down wasn’t something they accepted easily.
He smelled like he’d already had about six of whatever he was drinking, the alcohol coming from his pores strong enough to make me drunk from the fumes alone. That was one of the problems with these gatherings. People tended to really let loose, leave their inhibitions at the door.
“So let me tell you about myself,” he said and went right into his spiel before I could stop him. Just walking away sounded pretty good right now, or I could try and hunt Jareth down, but with so many people, we’d end up going around in circles trying to find each other.
“I subcontract for the company and kind of tagged along tonight. So I work for the company, but I’m also a plus-one.” He grinned, flashing straight white teeth.
Yeah, he was definitely one of those arrogant guys in school. No doubt he probably flashed those fake pearly whites that had all the girls’ panties dropping.
I didn’t know if he thought it was going to go on with me, but he was wasting his time.
“I’m taken,” I said, but he just kept right on talking. Going on about mergers and acquisitions, numbers and contracts. His salary. Yeah, he actually went there.
I kept searching for Jareth, my mind on the man I loved, and everything else faded away. I was about to tell Mr. I Get Whatever I Want that I wasn’t interested and he needed to move along, but I watched as he straightened from the wall and looked behind me.
His expression was guarded… hesitant.
I glanced over my shoulder and felt a shiver race along my skin as I saw Jareth standing right behind me, his big body towering over mine, two drinks in his hands, his focus trained right on Shawn. Jareth looked pissed, and if I was being completely honest, the possessive expression on his face was a little scary.
