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His lips touch the side of my neck just below my ear. The kiss sends a shiver down my spine and I try to break free from his grasp.
He’s not holding tight, so I’m able to escape, but the whole temple feels suddenly smaller. The room we’re in claustrophobic even with the doorways open.
I walk to the other side of the porch to check out the engravings, but now that he’s touched me, I’m anxious to leave. Now I’m thinking about the car ride home, whether he’ll eventakeme to my home or if we’ll go straight to his. I don’t want to go to his penthouse. I don’t want to be forced to spend another night with him. I only promised one more date, not necessarily anything else, but I know the chances of going home untouched are miniscule.
I feel trapped by more than just the temple walls, but I think it’s the sandstone structure making me feel so claustrophobic.
“I’m finished,” I tell him, hoping he won’t want to stay longer.
Calvin lifts his dark eyebrows. “We haven’t even stepped inside the first room yet.”
“I don’t think we’re supposed to.” Last time I was here we waited in line to check out the porch room and we could look into the interior temple rooms, but no one was actually allowed inside.
Calvin walks under the lovingly engraved doorway, lifts his pointer finger to his lips as if to say, “Shh,” then steps into the next room.
My eyes widen and my heart plummets. I glance back at the guard outside, but he still isn’t really watching us. Perhaps he thinks anyone willing to shell out however much money to rent this temple for a private dinner will be more respectful of the place than a slew of tourists would be, but he clearly doesn’t know Calvin Cutler.
“Calvin,” I whisper furiously, ducking my head into the next room, but not crossing the threshold. “You can’t be in here. It’s not allowed.”
Since no one is meant to enter, the interior rooms aren’t as well-lit as the porch was. Light from the porch streams in, but the first room is dimmer, the second room darker than that one.
Crossing the threshold into that next room isn’t something I’m at all comfortable with, but I’m worried the guard will come over to check if he glances over and realizes he no longer sees us on the porch. I shouldn’t care at all if Calvin gets in trouble for his wrongdoing, but my rule-following instincts compel to make sure everyone in my party is doing what they’re supposed to, and tonight, that’s Calvin.
I know it isn’t, but when the toe of my heel gingerly touches the floor in the next room, it seems so loud and distinct, I’m certain the guards will come running. They’ll know immediately I’ve crossed the line and entered the rooms we’re not allowed in.
Tension gathers in my shoulders as I straddle the threshold, one foot where it’s supposed to be, one where it isn’t allowed, and lean in to try and get Calvin’s attention without attracting any from the guard.
“Please come out of this room before you give me an anxiety attack.”
Calvin seems amused, walking deeper into the room and glancing at the mostly empty walls. Only the borders around the doorways of the interior rooms have carvings. The porch where we’re allowed to explore is the most decorated part of the temple.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious?” he coaxes, meeting my gaze as he unashamedly walks around this ancient room.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Yes. But, unlike you, I’m able to control my impulses.”
“I’mableto,” he says. “Sometimes I just choose not to.”
Before I can beg him again to get out of the forbidden temple, he moves into the next room.
“Calvin,” I whisper furiously, darting a glance behind me one last time before fully stepping into the interior room.
My stomach pitches being somewhere I know I’m not supposed to be. I certainly won’t stay long, but I might as well look around while I’m here. In the center of the room there’s a statue atop a column surrounded by a protective shield. I’ve seen it from a distance, but never up close.
“Lovely, isn’t it?”
Calvin’s voice from the doorway just behind the statue startles me and draws my attention back to him. “We have to go,” I tell him softly.
“Don’t you want to see the last room?” he asks, trying to tempt me.
It won’t work. “No. I want to leave before we get arrested or your membership gets revoked or whatever happens to jerks who can’t be bothered to follow the rules.”
Calvin’s lips tug up in a smug little smirk. “You know what happens? They get experiences the rule-followers don’t.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, your careless disregard for others and selfish entitlement are so unique and admirable. You’re so special to possess such qualities. Rules exist for a reason, you know. This temple is ancient and it has already been damaged by the world. It’s supposed to be protected here. Ithasto be so that it can be preserved for generations to come.” Shaking my head, I say, “This is exactly why I don’t date rich men. You think it’s your right to take up so much more space than the average person. You need therapy. I’m going back to the table. If you want to break all the rules, you can do it by yourself.”
I turn to head back through the doorway to the porch, but before I get there, I’m stopped short by Calvin’s steely grip.
With one hand he grabs my upper arm, the other my hip. After halting my movement, he pushes me forward until my breasts are smashed against the temple wall. The sound of my beaded bodice scraping the sandstone surface makes me panic more than his hands on me. Terrified my dress will leave a mark, I try to shove myself away from it, but I only pull back a couple of inches before my backside is met with the heat of Calvin’s muscular body.
