Page 18 of Through the Flames
Instead of loud, pounding music, I opted for something low and sultry, the bass vibrating through the floors like a pulse.
The clinking of actual glasses could be heard. I wasn’t serving top-shelf liquor in fucking red plastic cups.
The guys from the team who dared to question me kept asking why I threw this. They didn’t get it, and they didn’t fucking need to.
Shewould be here. That was the reason. Theonlyreason.
This wasn’t just a party. It was a test to see how close I could get before I did something I couldn’t undo.
She stepped over my threshold like she belonged here, and I swore something in me came unstrung.
If she knew the shit I wanted to do to her in this house, she’d run. Or maybe she wouldn’t.
Maybe she’d beg.
I’ve imagined her here. On my stairs. On my couch. In my bed.
She didn’t know she was walking through a blueprint I drew in silence. She was in my space. Where I could watch her. Where no one could take her unless I let them.
And watch her I did. I was greedy. I wanted every single piece of her.
Leaning against the kitchen door frame, she threw her head back and laughed brightly and effortlessly.
Just out of my peripheral vision, I basked in the joy radiating off her. That is, until my gaze shifted to the person responsible for her laughter.
Some random motherfucker was trying to close in on my girl. In my fucking house. She laughed for him, not for me. Which was a problem — a problem I was about to fix.
The guy touched her back, then leaned down and said something that made her smile even wider.
Rooted to the spot, I watched their every movement from where I was standing. If I moved so much as a muscle, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to hold myself back.
Her smile should’ve been mine.
The first man to touch Blaze in this house would beme. Matter of fact, the only man who’d be touching her in general from now on would be me.
She was in my world now.
Jaw clenched, I watched as she excused herself and headed further into the house. I waited for her to slip away before pushing off the wooden frame to follow her, inconspicuously.
She moved through the house like a firefly, and I was simply following the glow of her light.
Watching her disappear into the bathroom, I positioned myself strategically. Then I waited.
When she emerged and came my way, I let her pass me before grabbing her from behind, quickly and quietly.
One hand was covering her mouth, the other curled around her waist. A shocked squeal, muffled by my palm, escaped her lips as I dragged her backward.
I pulled her into the dimly lit hallway by the stairs — the one unseen and unused by anyone because I’d roped it off. The sound she made would haunt my dreams tonight.
Her velvety-smooth skin felt warm, and a shower of sparks danced across my hands where I was holding on to her. Dark red hair, smelling like orange blossoms and heat.
She stiffened in my grip, startled and gasping for breath, but didn’t fight back as hard as I’d expected. She didn’t even try to scream.
Pressing her front against the wall, our bodies flush, I let out a deep groan at the unbelievable rush coursing through my entire body at the contact.
Lowering my head slightly, my breathing heavy, my voice was low against her ear.
“You have no idea what you do to people, do you?”
