Page 2 of Dark Temptations

Ariana didn’t feel better, but she nodded. “That’s fine.” She just about ran when they pulled up outside a tall steel and brick building with blacked-out windows. The place was scary as hell, and she hadn’t seen the inside yet.

One of the girls paid the man and pulled her out of the car.

“Come on,” Kelly said. “Everything will be okay.”

Macy was behind, nudging her along. They got her through the door, and she froze. The lights in the place were dim, and the music pulsed, making her body hum. It should have soothed her but instead made her even more nervous.

“Twenty dollars each to get in, girls,” a huge man said.

Kelly gave him the money for all. The man stamped the back of her friends’ hands and then took hers. He scowled.

“What’s wrong?” Ariana asked.

“Are you sure you want to be here?” he asked.

Ariana nodded. “Yes, I think so. My friends said it would be fun.”

The man grunted and looked at Macy and Kelly. “You guys watch out for her.”

They nodded. “We will.”

Ariana smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

“If something scares you, find a man with a red vest. He’ll help you. Tell him to bring you back here.”

“She’ll be fine,” Kelly said and tried to tug her away.

“You better hope so. All I can see is trouble. They’re going to eat her alive.”

Ariana looked back at him as her friends pulled her into the club. “What did he mean by ‘eat me alive’?”

Macy snorted. “It’s a metaphor. It means the guys are going to love you. It’s a good thing.”

“Look,” Kelly said and pointed to a tall empty table a few feet away. “Let’s grab it.”

Ariana looked around with wide eyes as she pulled herself onto the high stool. There were so many people, and they were all dressed provocatively. She was shocked that some women wore only bras, and some guys had no shirts on at all.

She squinted when she looked into one of the dark corners and would swear she saw people having sex. She turned to her friends to tell them, but they had their heads together, laughing and pointing at a group of men several yards away.

Ariana sighed and looked around. This place was so far out of her league that it made her extremely uncomfortable. If she had been alone, she would have hightailed out of there, but she’d promised her friends she’d give it a try. Since they’d only been there a few minutes, she guessed they’d think she hadn’t given it a chance at all.

“Hello, ladies. Can I buy you all a drink?”

Ariana turned to see a handsome man standing between her and Kelly’s stools with his hands on the back of each, and it was making Ariana feel uncomfortable with how close he was to her. She jerked away and frowned at him when she felt him touch her hair.

She noticed her friends were gushing over him, and Ariana wanted to roll her eyes.

“What about you, honey?”

She hated the way his eyes roamed over her. “No, thank you. I’m good for now.”

“How about a dance?”

“No, thank you. We just got here.”

She could tell he didn’t like or wasn’t used to being turned down, but she didn’t care. As handsome as he was, he probably always got what he wanted, especially women. He just gave her the creeps, and she hated that he continued to run his fingers over her hair.

“Please stop touching me,” she whispered to him.

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