Chapter 3 : Forbidden Touch

AUTHOR 

The air in Club thickened the moment Adrian Valente’s lips left Grace’s. Everyone was in shock and what Adrian Valente had said, sent shivers down their spines.  “ You just made the biggest mistake of your life, Grace. “ 

Enough. Kristy finally found her spine. “Enough, Grace- you’re drunk,” she snapped, voice cutting through the stunned silence around the booth. She stepped forward and her own hands shook only a little, and gripped Grace by the arms. With one firm tug she pulled the girl back.

A gasp escaped her lips as Grace stumbled. Her legs were shaking, and she collapsed against Kristy’s chest. Her arms looped around her friend’s neck in a sloppy, needy hug. A soft, broken whimper escaped her throat. A half giggle, half sob.

“Girls, come on,” Laila hissed, already scooping up purses and jackets. “We’re leaving. Now.” The girls quickly gathered their stuff ready to leave when two men approached him. Tall. Suited. Expressionless.

“ Adrian. It’s time to leave. “ A man approached nearly as tall as Adrian but still a few inches down,  black suit and hair sleeked back. 

Laila struggled to keep Grace on her feet who was swaying dangerously,giggling one second and whimpering the next.. “Grace, come on, baby- ” Laila pleaded, arm locked around her waist.

Grace suddenly sat bolt upright.

Her glassy eyes, wide, impossibly innocent, darted around the circle of faces. She pointed at each of them in turn, shaking her head slowly, like she was trying to solve a puzzle only she could see.

She shook her head and hiccuped because of the alcohol. Then her finger stopped. On him. Adrian. She shrieked. A delighted, drunken sound escaped her that seemed to hit right at the devil’s heart. 

She grinned and launched herself forward with open arms. The girls widened their eyes and lunged to grab her. Too late.

Adrian caught her by the waist mid-fall. His one arm wrapped around her like steel. Her body arched into him and one foot lifting slightly off the ground in a perfect, accidental dancer’s dip.

The position was almost romantic. Almost. Grace giggled up at him, cheeks flushed crimson and her eyes sparkled with alcohol and something dangerously trusting. Her dainty body was nothing compared to his beastly build. 

Everyone watched stunned as the girl was calling for her own destruction because all of them knew what she had actually done by stopping him but it was only her who did not know what forbidden deed she had performed. 

Adrian stared down at her. His face was stern and he was amused but his face kept it hidden from the world. All of a sudden, a muscle ticked in his jaw. No woman had ever dared approach him like this. No one had ever clung to him whether drunk or sober, with such reckless, unguarded affection.

They feared him. They wanted him from a distance. They never touched him first.

Until her. And the devil who’d been hungry for years had finally found something to prey on. 

“Grace. Enough,” Kristy scolded, her voice cracking with panic. Stella threw her hands up. “Who told you all to get her this drunk?!” Michelle shot back, “Who knew she’d end up this drunk?!” The girls started arguing over each other in panic, voices rising in a frantic chorus.

The man beside Adrian- his bodyguard, Damien stepped forward, reaching out to handle the situation for his boss. “Let me- ” before he could step forward to touch her,  Adrian’s hand shot up. One sharp motion and Damien froze.

Grace gasped at the sudden movement and her eyes widened in drunken alarm. She shrieked again and burrowed deeper into Adrian’s chest. Her arms wrapped around his neck like he was her only safe harbor.

His heart that had been cold, mechanical for years, gave a strange and uneven thud. “Save me- ” she whimpered against his throat. Her voice trembled, small and frightened despite the alcohol and her breath ragged as she struggled to breathe properly. 

He shifted her and pulled her upright so both her feet touched the floor again but she didn’t let go. Her arms stayed locked around his neck and her soft fingers threaded into the hair at his nape. 

Her body pressed flush against his. Her body was tiny, fragile, warm and her breasts soft against the hard planes of his chest, her thighs brushing his. Innocent skin on ruthless skin. And in that single, suspended heartbeat, something irrevocable shifted.

The pure, innocent soul of hers, brushed against the sinner’s. And began to belong to him.

“Save- me- ” she whispered again, voice cracking like she was in real pain now.

Stella stepped forward and her eyes widened with sudden understanding. “Grace… baby, let’s go home. "She talked like persuading a baby. “ Eric is home.”

Grace pulled back slowly, hearing the name. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drum. Adrian’s eyes fell on her face. Her pale cheeks had turned pink. The tip of her nose had turned red. Her eyes were swollen and red  and her lusciously plump lips glistened with her own tears. 

She batted her wet eyelashes and her heart clenched. She looked at Stella. Her eyes tried to find assurance in Stella's eyes and burst into fresh tears.

“ Grace, “

Stella rushed in and instantly wrapped her arms around Grace, murmuring soothing nonsense. The other girls quickly closed in, surrounding her like a shield. They stroked her hair, wiped her face and whispered promises of home and safety.

Laila paid the bill in cash, more like slapped it on the table and hustled Grace toward the exit.

Adrian didn’t move. He did not say a word, not even batted an eye. His eyes followed her, his gaze tense as he watched every step she took away from him.

The sway of her hips. The way she clung to her friends. The last tear that slipped down her cheek before she disappeared through the crowd. No one had ever been able to take over his mind that quickly but she did. 

Damien cleared his throat. “Boss?” Suddenly, the corner of Adrian's lips twitched into a slight sinful grin. Adrian’s voice came out low. Rough. “I need to know everything about her.”

Damien frowned. “Who?”

Adrian’s gaze stayed fixed on the door she’d vanished through. His hand slowly moved up to his chest as he felt her own heartbeat. It thudded like, never before. His head tilted slightly to the side and a sinister smile appeared on her lips. 

Satan had started to crave an angel.

“Grace.”