Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
I shake my head to dismiss those thoughts. Marsha reassured me over the phone that this club is known for its discretion. It has to be if this is where the billionaires come to play.
I step inside, my heels sinking into the plush carpeting. I accept the first champagne flute that I’m offered by a waiter and guzzle half of it in an instant. It does nothing to calm my nerves like I’d hoped.
I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being watched, but that’s crazy. No one knows I’m here tonight other than Bobby, and I’m certain that he’s already on his way back to his apartment.
I try to scope out the room, but it’s hard. Everyone is in masks. I’m not sure who it is that’s staring at me.
My palms are sweaty, so I lift the menu and browse it. I quickly realize it isn’t a food menu at all. It’s more of a directory, detailing which rooms to visit depending on your tastes. There’s even a live show happening in a few minutes.
My cheeks heat as I imagine not just watching but starring in one of these shows. What would that be like, to feel an audience watch me in the throes of passion?
A flash of something black and metallic glitters from my peripheral, interrupting my thoughts. I turn in time to see a man in a gleaming mask stride through the crowd. The crowd parts for him, and it’s little wonder with his large shoulders and hulking frame.
While the room might be filled with billionaires, they don’t hold a candle to the power and confidence this man carries. He moves easily on his feet, a man perfectly comfortable in his place in the world.
As I take in the way his tuxedo stretches across his body, I can’t help but be reminded of the way Ford moves. He has the same level of confidence.
But when I raise my gaze higher to the stranger’s face, I’m disappointed to discover it’s not Ford. It can’t be him. This man has a beard that’s neatly trimmed with light, silvery threads in it that can only be seen when they catch in the light. His hair is also too short to possibly be Ford. I think of Ford’s long hair that dusts his shoulders, luscious locks that I’ve often fantasized about running my fingers through. No, my mountain man looks rough and unkempt while the stranger before me is polished and sophisticated.
He comes to stand in front of me, and I wait for him to say a word. But he doesn’t. Instead, he lets his gaze travel the length of my body, from the top of my head to my toes. There’s not an inch of my skin that his gaze isn’t caressing. The room suddenly feels hotter, and my throat is parched.
Any minute now, he’s going to speak. When a full moment of silence has lapsed between us, I finally decide he must be nervous. I start the conversation, “Is it your first time here?”
He still says nothing. But his gaze is all over me, like I’m his personal playground and he can’t decide what he wants to touch first.
“It’s my first time here too.” I take a sip of my remaining champagne.
There’s something about being near this stranger. He makes me more aware of my body than I’ve ever been. Suddenly, I feel every breath in my lungs, every nerve firing underneath my skin, and the very insistent press of my nipples against my bra. I’ve never had them bead up like this, at least, not in front of anyone that wasn’t Ford.
Finally, he speaks. His voice is rough, like an uncut diamond. “You’re breathtaking.”
I blush and quickly realize that I’m in trouble. “My dress–”
His stern look makes my knees go weak. My insides feel squirmy in a way that I can’t explain.
“The dress doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it. You’d look just as stunning out of it. No, this is one hundred percent you.” I love the way he speaks with such confidence, a man fully certain of what he knows.
I throw back the last of my champagne, passing the flute to a nearby waiter. “Do you want to dance?”
In the room across from the big foyer, couples are slow dancing to a live band playing classical music.
To anyone that glanced in the room, it would look like a perfectly nice, upscale New Year’s Eve celebration. Only those in attendance know what’s really happening. How filthy and depraved most of these guests truly are.
I wonder if this hulking giant in a tuxedo is like the rest of them. I hope so. Because I desperately need to know what it feels like to be in this man’s arms.
This man who’s staring at me with such primal hunger and need in his gaze. His aura is powerful, and for the first time tonight, I don’t think that maybe coming here was a terrible idea.