Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Chapter Seventeen
Daisy
When Brick said that he was going to take me dancing, I never expected this. In high school, we’d used our fake I.D.s to sneak into a local club, but it was just a nauseating mix of sweat, alcohol, and vomit.
Iniquity was different. Downstairs, they had the usual grinding bodies, pumping music, and dizzying light effects, but Brick had immediately steered me away from the crowd and up a hidden and private stairwell. Up top, there were several private balconies where we could be alone, dance, drink, and watch the people below.
“This place is huge,” I murmured. I didn’t think that Brick could hear me over the music, but his sly smile told me that he could.
The whole evening had been a dream. Not just the amazing food and wonderful restaurant, but Brick himself was attentive and curious. When he was near me, his hand was always on me. It kindled the fire of desire in my body, but there was something else there too. Not exactly possessiveness but security. Comfort. He could walk me into the most dangerous part of the city, and I wouldn’t feel a moment of trepidation.
At the prospect of walking through a flood of people running on alcohol and hormones, I didn’t experience any fear. Brick was right there, and I knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
“I didn’t really take you for the dancing type,” I teased and leaned over the railing. The champagne had adequately warmed my belly, and my head was pleasantly spinning.
“What makes you say that?”
Feeling bold, I turned back on the crowd downstairs and tugged on his shirt. “You’re very buttoned up. You just don’t seem the type to cut loose on the dance floor.”
“Miss Daisy.” As he raised his eyebrows, he cuffed my hands. “Are you drunk?”
“Maybe a little tipsy, but that’s okay. It means I can move and not care that I’m a horrible dancer.” To prove my point, I whirled around and stumbled. He caught me by the waist and led me to the center of the room.
“I think we should stay away from the balcony,” he murmured in my ear as he pulled me closer to him. “I don’t like it when you put yourself down like that, Daisy. The only person that you need to prove anything to is yourself. This whole low self-esteem thing will be gone by the end of our time together. So dance for me, Daisy. Dance with me.”
With my back pressed against him and the palms of his hands lightly touching my abdomen, I closed my eyes and swayed to the feral beat of the music. His heat surrounded me, engulfed me, and I knew that if I was drunk on anything, it was on him.
His lips skimmed my neck, and a sigh of pleasure escaped me. Time stood still as I danced in his arms and forgot about everything else. About the contract and the money. About how this was only supposed to be sex. In his arms, it felt like I belonged to him and everything else faded away.
“You don’t ever have to say again that you don’t dance well,” he murmured as his tongue teased my ear. “Believe me when I say that your body dancing against mine is exquisite.” Slowly, Brick released me and stepped away. “And if you don’t distract me, I’m going to fuck you right here and now.”
I was most definitely not opposed to that idea. I wanted to tell him that too, but as he walked towards the private bar to pour himself a drink, I felt the loss of his heat and my confidence. Wrapping my arms around myself, I bit my lower lip.
“A picture of submission,” he chuckled as he watched me. “Except that I know better. Have I embarrassed you?”
“Not at all. Tonight has been the best night of my life,” I blurted. Horrified by the admission, I turned bright red and gasped. “I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t want you to think that I’ve forgotten our arrangement. I just…”
“Have a drink, Daisy.” He handed me a glass of wine that warmed by body even more and was gone almost immediately. “I imagine that you’re feeling overwhelmed. It’s okay. Let’s talk about something else.”
“What would you like to talk about?”
“How did you meet Ralph?”
Ralph. My boyfriend. The man that I was supposed to be planning my future with. The alcohol turned my stomach, or maybe it was only my emotions. I’d forgotten all about Ralph. If nothing else, I prided myself in my loyalty.
Why would Brick bring that up now? Was he trying to remind me that there was no future between us? It seemed like a guilty-free way on his part to remind me of my place. “He used to stop by my job during lunch and after he got off work,” I said and took a deep breath. “I like to meet new people, so I was chatty. After a few visits, he asked me out.”