Page 88 of Reputation
Dancing with Mandy, Eavie spotted Jax on the upper level, scouting the dance floor below.She carefully kept him in her line of vision as she spun, shimmied, and moved to the music.She’d noticed immediately when he’d stood up, gazing right at her.Hiding her smile, Eavie carefully kept her gaze averted as she tracked him.When she saw him turn and disappear, his stride confident, she knew he had seen her and was on his way.A thrill shot down her spine.
When the song ended and another began, she leaned forward and shouted to Mandy, “I need a drink.”
The mansion was a maze of rooms and hallways, some the Savard’s had turned into mini haunted houses.In her mind, she reviewed what she had learned of the general layout, calculating Jax would take the shortest route to her, likely through the study turned bar.Eavie looked left through the crowd as she moved right.She walked slowly, keeping a careful watch on the open doors that led to the bar.After a minute, she caught sight of a black cape around the corner.
Smiling, she whirled and took the last few steps to the other side of the room, where a door led to a narrow hallway.Eavie moved purposefully, ensuring the train of her dress blew out behind her.
As she turned the corner, she caught sight of him again.A sharp thrill went through her as their eyes connected.The flare of heat in his sent excitement rushing through her veins.
Flashing him a saucy smile, she winked before disappearing around the corner.Her heart beat madly in her chest as she wandered through the maze of rooms on the bottom floor, drawing the game out.
As she did, she caught small glimpses of him stalking her.She kept a careful distance between them, sometimes letting him see her and other times, only letting him see the train of her dress as she disappeared behind a crowd or another corner.
She was breathing hard, and an excited giggle burst from her lips as she felt a heavy gaze land on her.Coyly, Eavie turned her head just enough to see over the feathers of her left shoulder.Behind her, on the other side of the small room set up in an elaborate Halloween scene, Jack the Ripper stood at the door, eyes fixated on her.
At that moment, the music vibrating through the house changed, and the slow rendition of Beyoncé’sCrazy In Loveflowed smooth and seductive out of the speakers.
Turning her head back around, Eavie slowed as she stepped through an archway draped in a black velvet curtain.It led to a nearly pitch-black hallway, except for the slow flashing lights that lit it seconds at a time.She paused, waiting for the lights to flash to make sure it was empty.
Confident she was alone in the hidden passage, she matched her steps to the beat, the music throbbing through her body as she felt the sensation of being stalked walk its icy fingers up her spine.Her heart beat with the throaty caliber of Beyoncé’s voice, making the heavy ache pulse in her core.
Eavie strolled down the hallway, carefully picking her way around the decorations hanging from the ceiling.She dragged her fingers down the wall, adding extra sway to her hips.
She felt the second he crossed through the curtain; the air going taught with an electric charge.Her breath turned ragged in her lungs as her excitement, her need, her burning for his promise licked up her body as he closed the distance between them.
Halfway down the hall, she risked a look over her shoulder, only for her to see the space behind her was empty.Confused, she paused, turning fully in the direction she had just come.Eavie focused her vision in the flashes of light, trying to see if he was blending into the dark spaces the light didn’t quite reach.
Biting her lip, she looked back in the direction she had been heading, wondering if she should keep going or go back and see if she could find him.Going forward was the safer choice.She could continue to lead him through their game of cat and mouse until he eventually cut her off.
Orshe could chance the danger of their game and retrace her steps.
Even though she was aware, in the back of her mind, that Jax had just turned the game on her, Eavie couldn’t resist the pull of him.
Slowly, she retraced her steps, her heart beating in her throat as she moved.The thrill of the game, mingling with the euphoric excitement of breathless energy at the possibility he could catch her at any moment, ran through her.
She counted her steps, using it to try and calm her racing heart.
Three, she counted, waiting for another flash of lights.
Five.She stepped through torn strips of various materials.They brushed against her hyper-sensitized skin, sending goose bumps down her bare arms and legs.
Seven, another quick burst of flashing light.Her heart beat erratically at the intoxicating thrill of being chased.
Nine.She breathed.
As she was about to take her tenth step, an arm shot out of the dark, wrapping around her waist.A gasp burst from her lips at the sudden movement.Before Eavie could make sense of what had happened, darkness engulfed her as a hot, hard body shoved her into a wall face-first.The space was pitch black, only small flashes changing it from black to dark blue.
Hands wrapped around her wrists, lifting them above her head and placing her palms flat against the wall.Her heart thundered against her ribcage as the smell of citrus and musk flooded her senses.
“Mine,” his voice growled into her ear.
Her pussy clenched, aching to be filled as his words sent a hot rush of fire burning through her veins.
God, why was that so fucking sexy?
Vaguely, she realized the dull flashing in the small space were the lights from the hallway, subdued by another heavy curtain.Jax had pulled her into an alcove she hadn’t seen and was about to take her in the middle of a party teeming with people.The danger surrounding the possibility of being caught added to the intense fervency of the moment.
The only sound that filled the space was the slow beat of the song and their heavy panting.Jax’s breath fanned her cheek in ragged puffs.The sensation of it—hot against one cheek and the cool of the wall against the other—sent her body into overdrive.
