Page 2 of All Hallows' Maze
“Yeah.” As I nodded, I hoped he took my flushed face as a sign of effort and not sexual frustration.
“Under, under,” he said, mimicking going under my legs. “See, not that hard.”
In proper execution, it would’ve looked as seductive as intended, but I managed to hop like a baby deer. He laughed, releasing my hands and moving his to flatten over my stomach. My delusional mind told me the gentle strokes of his thumb meant nothing.
“This is where I come in with you. Step out like the first move, but circle in an eight count.” He guided my free arm up and placed my hand on his neck. Instinctively, I pressed my hand over his and made him hold me tighter. This close, his cologne made me delirious, and I just wanted spin circles around the room with him.
He stopped too soon.
“Perfect. Put it together this time.” Dakota stepped away, leaving me with a draft as he turned up the music.
The beat thumped in my chest and the nerves settling in my stomach had me on the verge of vomiting. When I looked over, he stripped off his hoodie and t-shirt. A god-sculpted physique adorned with brilliant tattoos was my only focus. I’d seen him shirtless plenty of times in our decade long friendship, hell—last week he napped with me in my bed shirtless. But in that moment, it was another chip at my composure.
Dakota holds up three fingers behind me as he counts us down. It was a bit rough jumping and trying to smooth out the sequence, but he was right that the overall technical aspect was easy. I watched how we moved in the mirror, but he didn’t look up from me once.
He grabbed me for the turn around the room and I laid my head back, looking up at him. His fanged piercing flashed with his smile, and I resisted the urge to bite my lip. They weren’t sharp, I’d played with the tips before. His natural canines carried a finer point, but I still wanted to feel them on my skin.
“Again,” he panted, reaching into my hair taking out the two hair ties only to slide them onto his wrist.
The rounds didn’t stop, even after I’d found the fluidity of the routine. Each time he took me, he was closer—his mouth at my temple, his hand wandering the plane of my stomach, his hips pressed to my ass. I didn’t want him to dance with anyone else. It was selfish, always had been, but this was the closest we’d ever be for the foreseeable future.
“Last time, Bunny.” His well-practiced American accent slipped, and that posh British accent laced my name.
Sweat rolled down the valley of my spine and my thighs started to ache. His chest tattoos glistened and a flush spread from his neck. His grip was rough when he pulled me against him. A hand snaked into my loose hair and exposed my neck. He rolled his hips into me as his teeth grazed the sensitive flesh below my ear. I whined at the torturous contact; my feather-soft touch turned into nails biting into his skin.
I told myself he didn’t say it. Dakota didn’t moan, “Fuck,” in response. And my arousal didn’t wet my underwear because of it.
He night as well have fucked me in the center of the studio.
The song’s loop finally came to an end, and in the quiet space we stood glued to each other. Our chests heaved as sweat dripped and, from what I felt pressed against my ass, desire took over momentarily.
“Perfect,” he whispered across my skin. He didn’t allow me an inch of room to pull back in. “Dance with me.” Dakota squeezed wherever he touched. “Your membership is waived as my parent. I don’t want to dance with anyone else.”
“Yes, sir.” The sarcastic quip came to the surface before I could stop it, and the energy of the room wicked away the sarcasm. “I—”
“Grab some water,” he said, laughing and releasing me. “Victor planned a movie night for us, and I don’t want to make you late.”
Make you late.
Those words and their many implications would keep me awake tonight. He stepped away for his shirt and hoodie, but I left the dance room as fast as possible with drawing suspicion from him. I snatched the water bottle beside his keys and pushed through the exit and into the fresh air.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
CHAPTER2
Vera
June— Before That Breakup
June was hot.Even in the shade under a big tree, I felt the heat push in. My day was coming to close, and I found myself at the park with Dakota. Sitting in silence and enjoying each other’s company had never been an issue before, and it wasn’t exactly a problem now, but this was weird territory.
I plucked at the blades of grass between my legs expecting a sense of calm with a monotonous task. Dakota was determined to thwart that calmness with the incessant tapping on his phone screen. He was somewhere behind me last I checked over my shoulder, within his arm’s length at least. When he arrived, he was silent, and his face held a deep scowl. Since he planted his ass behind me, his phone had been going nonstop.
A series of rings sounded off to prove my point. He cut them short, but it prompted another call. After denying four calls in a row, the message pings returned.
“Who is trying to reach you so desperately?” I laughed; from the outside it was quite comical to see someone call Dakota. He wasn’t big on phone calls for people outside of me, Vic, and his parents.
“Meredith.” Her name dripped with contempt…which was odd, considering she was his current girlfriend.Not at all a sore spot for me.
