2 - LEXI - "YOU´RE ENJOYING IT"

— There’s no way you think what we just saw back there is normal — I say as we walk back down the hall.

His face is unreadable.

— Isn’t it? It’s sex. It’s always been what drives the world. — He arches a brow at me, a smile curling with irony. — Even angels fell because of it.

I shake my head, still in disbelief, and decide to change the subject.

— What did you put on my arm?

— Antiseptic.

— But there’s nothing here. I was hurt. The cut was big… it bled a lot.

Now my voice is a mix of shock and doubt. And fear. Did I imagine it?

He stops and steps closer. Slowly. One hand takes a strand of my light, curly hair and tucks it behind my ear.

— Just a scratch. You heal well.

The softness in his tone is so sweet it sends heat rushing through me. I can’t help closing my eyes, letting the warmth sink in.

And when I open them again, it’s like the whole subject doesn’t matter anymore. It isn’t important.

We keep down the hall until Samiel opens another set of double doors, revealing a game room.

The pool table is the first thing I notice. Then poker. Then foosball. Sofas scattered everywhere. The low lighting could’ve made the room relaxing — except there’s nothing relaxing about the way every gaze turns on me the moment we walk in.

Ten, maybe twelve pairs of eyes fix on me.

The women sway in the corner, dancing seductively, pressing their bodies together. The men — all of them — are gathered around the pool table.

All but one.

He’s on a sofa, right across from the game, with a woman sprawled in his lap like a pillow, though the rest of the seats are empty.

— Lexi, this is Cael, my… partner here at the club.

If Samiel’s beauty is hypnotic, like a slow poison, Cael is the other extreme.

Dark hair falls in a messy fringe to his mouth, shorter in the front. His sharp jaw isn’t handsome in any ordinary sense—everything about him is flawless… but in a way that spikes my pulse.

And his eyes… steel. Not just the color of his irises, but the way they pin me — cold, unyielding — like they’re saying: You won’t escape me.

— Nice to meet you — I tell the second lie of the night.

He grips the woman at her waist with both hands and sets her down on the cushion beside him, as if she weighs nothing. Then he rises.

So tall my head tips back to keep his gaze.

So close my lungs seize.

And then — he turns and leaves.

— Charming — I mutter to Samiel, who only smiles.

—--------------------- // ------------------------- // ---------------------------

The club’s lights swallow me whole as Samiel pulls me into the center of the dance floor. The music is so loud it feels like it’s crawling under my skin, vibrating through my bones.

The heat is almost suffocating, but no one seems to care. Around me, bodies grind, mouths crash, people devour each other in public like the world will end at sunrise.

Samiel slides in behind me, his large hands moving down my waist with easy confidence. My core throbs. Wet.

He guides my hips to his rhythm — not the beat of the music.

It’s good. 

So good it feels wrong.

— There’s something… wrong, Samiel, I’m

— …enjoying it — he finishes for me.

Yes. But that wasn’t what I was going to say. What was I even thinking?

My mind feels like fog.

I tilt my head back against Samiel’s chest — only to have my eyes lock on another.

At the bar, Cael stands with his arms crossed over his chest, jaw tight… watching me. Serious. His stare is so electric I blink slowly, as if in answer.

And then… he’s behind me.

I don’t know how he crossed the floor without me seeing, in less than a heartbeat, but now it’s his chest pressing solid against my back. The height difference disappears as he bends, bringing his mouth to my ear.

His hot breath grazes my skin, and at the same moment, the thick press of his arousal grinds against my ass.

Shocks rip through me, legs weak, but he holds me steady, moving me with him.

Our hips never part, and I arch back harder, shamelessly stroking his length with the roll of my body.

Every beat of the music slows the friction down, making it almost… unreal.

My eyes slip closed without my permission. I’m dancing — but it feels like sex.

His body caging mine, his breath ragged in my ear, the heat climbing my thighs and spilling everywhere.

And just when I think I’m about to lose myself…

Cael is gone.

I blink my eyes open, dazed, but it’s only Samiel in front of me, wearing that ironic little smile.

— I think you need to rest… you’ve had too much to drink.

Wait… drink?

— I haven’t had anything — I try to say, but my voice is swallowed by the pounding music.

He steers me off the dance floor and all the way to the club’s door.

— Get some rest, okay? It’s late. — His thumb brushes over my lip, heating my skin. — I’ll be in touch.

— You don’t even have my…

— I’ll manage —  he cuts me off, already turning his back.

I fumble for my phone to call a car and…

My God!

Almost five in the morning?

How? It was barely past eight when I was standing in line… I lost a few minutes blacked out in the office… maybe an hour dancing at most…

Wasn’t it?

I stare at the screen again, and ice floods my veins. Fifteen missed calls.

Brinna.

I forgot my best friend’s birthday.