Page 51 of After All This Time

Chapter 20

Amelia

Ileft my purse at the bar, and after running away from Tobias, I find myself strolling into the empty building. I hesitate, glancing around. Where is everyone? The door was unlocked, but the entire place has been abandoned.

I walk over to the table, but my purse is nowhere to be seen. I know I left it right here, but it's gone.

"This what you're looking for?" Zane emerges from the darkness, my purse dangling from his hand. He moves like he owns the space—part shadow, part promise—familiar yet impossible to fully see.

"Oh my god, thank you," I say, reaching out, but as the bar door flies open with a loud bang, he pulls it just out of my grasp, his smirk almost playful, as if he's challenging me.

"Amelia!" Tobias strides in, shirtless, his skin catching a faint glow that shouldn't be there.

"Why are you following me?"

"You forgot something," he says, and before I can respond, his mouth is on mine. Hard. Possessive. The kind of kiss that rewrites reality.

My head spins as I pull back, breathless. When I turn to look at Zane, he's also shirtless, and somehow my purse has appeared on the table as if by magic.

"Sit on the table, Amelia." Zane's voice is thicker, his Southern accent stronger. "And spread your legs."

"Do it, Firefly," Tobias whispers in my ear, his breath warm against my skin. "Do what he says. You know you want to."

My skin prickles with anticipation as I find myself sliding onto the table, almost like I'm moving through a thick fog. Delicate pink lace replaces my white dress, and I don't even question it—nothing feels out of place here.

Both men close in, their hands tracing over my skin, their lips brushing my neck, thighs, and my chest while their fingers thread through my hair. Every touch blurs together, dizzying and consuming, leaving me weightless, and caught between them.

Zane lowers himself to his knees, his breath hot against my inner thigh. "You can only have one of us, Amelia."

"One?"

"Those are the rules, Firefly," Tobias murmurs, pulling my head back, his tongue sliding against mine. "Choose."

I glance down, where Zane waits between my thighs, his face obscured, hidden in shadow.

Tobias's hand slides into my hair, pulling my gaze back to him. "You know who it is, Firefly. You've always known." His lips brush against mine, not quite a kiss, but a promise. And I know I don't need to say a word; my answer is already written in my eyes, a truth that only he understands.

It'll only ever be him.

His smile pulls me in as his mouth traces the lace of my bra, lips warm against my skin. I tip my head back, eyes on the ceiling, and for a moment, I'm lost in the sensation, the room fading away as his mouth trails over me… kissing… sucking… beeping… beep… beep…

I turn my head and catch sight of Harry running toward me with his mouth hanging open, and a robotic "Beep… beep… beep" leaves him as he jogs in place, his legs moving but not actually taking him anywhere.

"Look at me, Mills," Tobias's voice cuts in, his tone commanding, grounding me back to him. My eyes snap to his, but the beeping grows louder.

"Beep… beep… beep," Harry chants, and my gaze flicks between him and Tobias. But then I look down, and there's Zane, gazing up at me from the floor, his eyes dark like he's waiting for me to say something—to guide him.

"Me, Mills, look at me." Tobias's voice breaks through again, pulling me back to him, but the beeping morphs, stretching out in a low, endless beeeeeep…

I shoot up in my bed as the remnants of my dream cling to me. My mouth feels like it's been stuffed with cotton, and I slap blindly at my phone, silencing the alarm that's screaming at me like it fucking hates me.

I groan, sinking back into my pillow, practically begging sleep to pull me under again just so I can fall back into the hazy, forbidden dream that I shouldn't be okay with. But try telling that to the traitorous little pulse between my legs that's got other ideas.

Not that I should even want it back, given the questionable content. I mean, dreaming about somebody else's guy?Messy. Though, if we're getting technical, Tobias was the only one who really touched me—the only one who kissed me, so maybe I get a pass? Besides, it's hardly my fault that I wassurrounded by stupidly attractive men last night. If a few of their faces wandered into my subconscious and made themselves comfortable, well, that's between me and my dreams.

However, there's one twist that I never saw coming.

Tobias finds me attractive.

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