Page 14 of The Princes of Stone and Steel

“Kori. Looking gorgeous as always.” The bartender, one of the highly-tattooed, highly-pierced, leather-and-denim-wearing masses, shot her a sly smile. “What can I get you?”

“Two of my usual,” she answered dryly, looking around everywhere but at him, as if already bored with the conversation.

“Coming right up.” Bartender-man’s tone wasn’t dry, and I got the sense that this was some sort of game the two played on a regular basis. “Who’s your friend there?” He gestured with his chin toward me.

“This is Mils. We work together.”

“Mils.” He smiled that same slick smile my way and handed off my bottle.

“Come on, girl.” She took my hand, leading us straight into the middle of the dancefloor. “Time to have some fun.”

Well, dancing had never been my forte but following Korrigan’s lead, I swayed my hips with my arms lifted in the air. Pretty much whatever move she threw out, I copied. Men pressed up against her backside dancing. Men pressed up against my backside dancing. A different guy than the one currently attempting to grind against me, most likely intoxicated, rather loudly asked my name again.

“Mils,” Kori answered just as loudly right as the music died to start a slow song. When I turned around to see who had asked my name, it didn’t matter once I sawhimwalking my way. I’d never seen such a stunningly handsome man before in my life. My mouth went dry and my feet forgot how to work. A zing of electric excitement trilled down my spine when we locked eyes. Holy-ever-loving-moly. Did I say my mouth went dry? Because it did and I became momentarily stupid.

Short, spiky blond hair the color of rose gold. Even through the haze of smoke, his eyes shone just short of glistening this startling silver-gray, reminding me of brushed aluminum. Majestically high, slightly rounded cheekbones and straight nose. Tall and toned, his sculpted biceps pushed the boundaries of the black T-shirt fabric’s stretch. In short, he appeared before me, the epitome of my ideal male perfection. Like a dream, he kept walking until we stood face to face, not moving.

“Mils?” he whispered, running a finger lightly up the length of my arm, spiking the tiny hairs along with my blood pressure. I was lucky to get my head to nod. Why he’d be paying me a lick of attention when Korrigan stood mere inches from us dumbfounded me.

“D-Do you have a name?” Great. Stuttering now. My embarrassment quickly waned, though, as a look flashed in his eyes when I asked his name. Disappointment, maybe?

“You can call me ‘Steele.’” Steele. His voice deep and smooth, but almost metallic at the fringes. I had the feeling that maybe I should have known him, possibly a local celebrity.

“Nice to meet you, Steele.”

“Nice to meet you,Mils.” Humorlessly, he laughed at the way he said my name and pulled on the hem of my leather vest until no space remained between us.

On any normal day, I’d have been put off by being laughed at. Today, however, was no normal day, and I found myself too mesmerized by the man to care.

Then, with his hands low on my hips, he swayed us slowly.

The moment might have been calm, but someone forgot to inform my heart because the way I felt it pounding in my chest, it must have thought we were slam dancing. Steele rested his forehead down in the crook of my neck. The whole experience felt glorious until his lips brushed my skin. He trailed his finger up and down my arm as he pressed his lips to the pulse on my neck. I stilled in his arms.

“Mils? What’s wrong?” Those eyes captured me, pulled me into them with the gravitational force of a black hole.

“I’ve never been… That is…” I released a long breath before continuing. “No one has ever kissed me before.”

There. That flash of disappointment in his eyes again.

“Then let me be your first.” Steele brought his mouth up so close to mine, his glorious scent, some mixture of fruity and minty, filled my nose. I closed my eyes as he closed the minute gap, brushing his lips softly at first against mine. His breath hitched. My breath hitched. And then he pressed deeper, not hurried, but like he cared about this kiss. The electric trill spread from my spine to all my extremities—arms and legs and fingers and feet.

When he pulled back, it took me a moment to collect myself. I wanted to scold him for doing so. I wanted him to kiss me and keep on kissing me until neither of us could stand any longer. Or until the bar closed and they kicked us out where we would have to go somewhere else to keep on kissing.

He began to sway our bodies again, and it didn’t matter that the song had switched back to fast, heavy and hard-hitting. Our dance felt intimate, as if he and I alone danced in this room full of people. My reaction to this stranger confused me yet felt as natural as laughing at the same time.

“Will you remember tonight?” He spoke softly into my ear. A curious question.

“Of course, I’ll remember tonight. I don’t think I could ever forget you.”

Korrigan stepped up to our left, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We should go, Mils. It’s getting late.”

“I… I don’t think I want to go,” I protested.

He smiled a pained smile, brushing his hand along my jaw. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. But Kori is right—you should go.”

“Will I ever see you again?” I asked.

“You should go, Mils,” Steele repeated himself in lieu of an answer, yet his hand came to rest on my neck and he kept it there. His touch felt like a lead weight staying me to the spot, unable to leave even if I wanted to. Staring into my eyes, his mouth came close enough to my face that each breath danced across my skin. We were once again consumed by a moment meant for just us. He was about to kiss me again. I just knew it.

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