3

The balcony was a reprieve from the assault of sound and bodies inside Voltage. October air cooled Julia's flushed skin as she leaned against the railing, looking out over the city lights. Up here, on the third floor, the music was muted to a distant thump, and she could finally hear herself think. That was the problem. She wasn't sure she wanted to think.

"Better and I was just playing with you…my name is Mikal" He says after he appeared beside her with two bottles of water, offering her one.

"Much. Thank you Mikal" Julia accepted it gratefully, not realizing how thirsty she was until the cold water hit her throat. "How did you even know about this place?" "The balcony? Most people don't. But I've been coming to Voltage for a couple years now. You learn the secret spots." Mikal leaned against the railing beside her, close but not threatening.

"So, Julia. What's your story? You don't seem like the usual Voltage crowd."

"Is that bad?"

"It's refreshing." His smile was genuine in the dim light.

"Let me guess—good girl gone temporarily wild? Rebellion phase? Or just curious about how the other half lives?" Julia laughed, surprised by his perceptiveness.

"All of the above? I'm a freshman at Christian university. This is my first time at a club. My first drink. My first..." She gestured vaguely at everything.

"Your first everything," Mikal finished. "That's a lot of firsts for one night."

"My roommate convinced me to live a little." Julia took another sip of water, feeling the alcohol buzz settling into a pleasant warmth. "I've been sheltered my whole life. Homeschooled. Religious parents. They still think I'm in my dorm room studying right now."

"Are you?" Mikal's eyes glinted with amusement. "Studying?"

"I'm definitely learning something." Julia surprised herself with the flirtation in her voice. Who was this girl? Not Julia Morrison from the conservative household. Not the good daughter who'd never questioned or rebelled. Someone new. Someone braver.

"What do you want to learn?" Mikal moved closer, and Julia's heart rate picked up for entirely different reasons than fear. She should step back. Should make an excuse and find Kate. Should remember that she was a twenty-year-old virgin who'd never even been properly kissed, and this man was looking at her like he wanted to devour her. "I don't know yet," she whispered.

"Then let's find out together." When Mikal kissed her, it was nothing like Julia had imagined her first kiss would be. There was no courtship, no parental supervision, no promise of forever. Just his mouth on hers, skilled and sure, his hand gentle at the back of her neck, and the taste of vodka and possibility. Julia had been taught that kisses should be saved, that physical affection was a slippery slope to sin. But there was nothing sinful in the way Mikal kissed her—tender and patient, letting her set the pace, pulling back when she needed air.

"Okay?" he murmured against her lips. Julia nodded, dizzy with sensations she'd never allowed herself to feel.

"More than okay." They kissed again, longer this time, and Julia felt something unfurling inside her. Want. Pure, uncomplicated desire for more—more touching, more feeling, more of everything she'd been denied.

Julia turned in his arms, heart pounding. "I've spent my entire life being careful. Being good. Making safe choices." She reached up, touching his face. "Just for tonight, I want to be reckless." The first kiss was gentle, giving her time to change her mind. The second was deeper, more urgent. By the third, they were stumbling toward the lounge sofa, shedding clothes and inhibitions in equal measure. Julia had been taught that losing her virginity should be a sacred act—wedding night, someone she loved, commitment and forever. But there was something sacred in the way Mikal touched her, reverent and patient, murmuring reassurances when she tensed, asking permission with every new intimacy.

"You're sure?" he asked one final time, poised above her.

"I'm sure." It hurt, at first. But Mikal was gentle, moving slowly, kissing her through the discomfort until pain gave way to pressure, then pressure to pleasure, then pleasure to something transcendent that Julia had no name for. Afterward, wrapped in his arms with the city lights filtering through the windows, Julia felt transformed. No longer a virgin. No longer the sheltered girl her parents had raised. Someone new, someone who'd chosen pleasure and passion over propriety.

"Stay for a while," Mikal murmured sleepily, pulling her closer. Julia knew she should go back to her dorm. Should check in with Kate. Should maintain some semblance of responsibility. But she stayed. She fell asleep in a stranger's arms, having given away something precious, and felt nothing but free. When she woke up next it was to the voice of Kate.

"Julia!" Kate's voice cut through the haze. Her roommate stood in the balcony doorway, looking worried. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere. We should probably—" Then she noticed the state Juliet was in and her eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell happened to you? Did some body rape you? Please tell me you're your okay?"

Julia sheepishly grinned before her stomach made his presence known by growing trowing up all the alcohol from her system.

"Listen, Jules, I think we should get going. It's getting late!"

As Kate pulled her back inside, Julia touched her cheek where Mikal had kissed her, feeling transformed. She'd been kissed. And gotten rid of her unwanted virgin status. They were almost to the exit when Kate suddenly stopped, her grip tightening on Julia's arm.

"Don't look, but Don Massimo is watching you again." Of course, Julia looked. He was descending the stairs from VIP, surrounded by men in expensive suits who moved like trained predators. But his eyes—those impossibly dark eyes—were locked on her. As their gazes met across the crowded club, he stopped walking. Just stopped, causing his entire entourage to halt around him. For a moment, the noise and chaos of Voltage seemed to fade. There was only him, looking at her with an intensity that made Mikal's interested attention seem tepid by comparison. Then he smiled. It was a dangerous smile, full of dark promise and absolute certainty.

Julia couldn't breathe. "We're leaving. Now." Kate physically turned her toward the exit and marched them both outside into the cool night air.

"What was that?" Julia gasped, her heart hammering. "That was you catching the attention of a very dangerous man." Kate flagged down their Uber with shaking hands. "Please tell me you're going to stick with guys like that other guy you danced with..whats his name?"

"Mikal"

"Mikal, good so forget all about Don Massimo." Julia nodded, but as they climbed into the car and drove away from Voltage, she couldn't shake the feeling of those dark eyes on her skin. She'd been wrong earlier. Mikal had given her her first kiss and made her a real woman but Don Massimo had given her something else entirely. Her first taste of real danger. And God help her, she wanted more. ---