Page 27 of Tempt

“I want you to do something for me, okay?” I bit my lip, looked down at him through my lashes, and sighed so my breasts moved up and down in just the right way to attract his attention.

“All right.” He swallowed.

“I don’t want you to say another word unless it’s to tell me to stop.”

His breath hitched. Then he pressed his lips together, doing exactly like I asked. The good news was that I had a lot of his attention by redirecting his thoughts. The bad news was that I had to keep it up until he forgot whatever was troubling him.

The music reached a particularly triumphant part of the song as I ran my fingers over the exposed part of his chest and slowly unbuttoned his shirt before sitting in his lap and running my fingers over his smooth skin. I traced along the edges of his tattoo, then up his neck, before gripping his hair and tugging him down for a kiss.

I had to give him credit, he gave it all he could. Theo was as enthusiastic as ever, his tongue soft but insistent to be inside me… just like the rest of him. But he was distracted. It was more habit than intent, and that was when I had a very disturbing thought.

I couldn’t fix this with sex. That realization was a hard one to swallow and more than a little bit enlightening. I hadn’t realized how hard I’d started to rely on sexual distractions for fixing easy things.

Bad mood? Sex.

Work went wrong? A blow job can fix it!

Unexpected news? A little exhibitionism can go a long way.

But too much stress? One night of mind-blowing sex can certainly help, but it won’t fix it. I needed a new plan. Arealplan. One that involved stepping outside of my role as a secret lover and into my planned role as a friend. Theo didn’t know it yet, but what he really needed (other than my uncanny ability to find his orgasm) was a friend. A real friend. Not someone who was related to him, and not someone who worked for him, but someone who simply wanted to hang out and shoot the shit. Or drink a beer. Or watch soccer.Futball. Whatever.

I shook my head and stood up, grabbing his large hand and pulling him out of the chair. “Take me dancing, Theo.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I’m tired, Allison.”

“Nope,” I said and put my hands on my hips. I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Take me dancing, Theo. Let’s go have fun. Just a guy and a girl dancing until we can’t breath and we’re so horny from rubbing up against each other we can’t stand to be apart for another second so we fuck in the coat check, have a shot of whiskey when we’re done, then stumble back here to have another round between the sheets before we pass the fuck out from exhaustion.” I grinned to drive the point home. “I promise you won’t think about anything but dancing with me for at least two straight hours.”

To my delight Theo shrugged. “Okay. We’ll stop by your place on the way so you can change.”

I looked down. I was wearing a dress and heels, like usual. Not exactly dancing wear, but I could make do. “I don’t need to change. I’ll manage.”

Theo shook his head and his eyes lit up with full-on Theo Sutherland mischief. God, it was hot. “Oh no, you’ll need to change for the kind of dancing I have in mind.”

I lost my breath as my heart kicked up a notch.

* * *

My favorite partof going somewhere with Theo was the way people scurried. Like cockroaches when a light bulb goes on. Body guards always seemed to appear out of nowhere, pushing the simple peasants out of sight, humble hosts practically bowed before him. It made for fantastic people watching—both them and Theo. I think I got more information about the mysterious genius by watching how he reacted to situations than anything he actually said.

Everything was always prearranged by Martin, so we didn’t have to worry about being seen. When we got to the speakeasy that night I wasn’t surprised to see that this was the location Theo had picked for dancing. I had a feeling he enjoyed the secrecy and anonymity the club provided. If we were going dancing, then we were sure as heck going dancing somewhere he felt comfortable being seen.

What surprised me was how well everyone knew Theo. Since he was painted as anti-social by everyone I spoke with, I had developed a picture in my head that Theo never went anywhere but his flat and the office. Sure we’d met here, but I’d just assumed it was a very rare occurrence.

Maybe I was wrong.

But then again, I didn’t have time to dwell on any of that because the moment we were ushered behind the fake bookcase I was instantly back under the spell of the club. The musty smell, the fast music, the chatter of voices. It was like a drug hitting my veins at full speed.

“Drink first?” Theo asked. His arm was curved around my waist as he bounced in time to the fast song. About six couples were doing the Lindyhop and I could tell by the yearning in his dark eyes that Theo would much rather get to dancing and leave the drinking for later.

“Show me whatcha got.” I smiled up at him.

We were on the dance floor as fast as Theo could drag me there. It was a good thing he’d insisted I change. As I looked around, I realized things were a little different than the last time I was here. That first night had been a Friday and everyone was carefully dressed—jewels, nice clothes—you could practically hear the money moving around the room that night.

But now it was a Tuesday and even in a city like London that meant things were different. It was more casual. The band was more casual, leaning into their instruments, ties loose, drinks set nearby—drinks that were clearly not water, I might add.

There wasn’t much of an audience either. Instead of booths filled with well-dressed men and women sipping expensive drinks, they were empty. The tables were littered with drinks that the dancers were pounding between dances. The men had their shirtsleeves rolled and their collars loose. Only half the women were in heels, and those heels were the sturdy, wider kind that I usually danced in.

But tonight Theo had strongly recommended I stick to flats. I’d cursed a few times and told him where to stick it, that I’d pick my own damn shoes, but then he got that twinkle in his eyes again and I forgot how to think.

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