by L. P. Rose
Inside was dusky and dank, the intermingled scents of smoke and sweat instantly assaulted my nostrils as I inhaled deeply. Nikoli glanced back towards me and winked as he pulled my body through the pulsating throng of people all gyrating up against each other.
My jaw slackened as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, these couples weren’t just gyrating, they were in a world of their own, completely lost in the music and each other, it was like something from dirty dancing. I could feel my face going red and my eyes moved to look at the tacky carpet under the dim light of the club. I felt Nikoli loosen my hand but I didn’t look up.
I felt a pair of hands on my waist behind me and I jumped. Turning quickly, my eyes locked with Nikoli’s, there were no words that I could use to describe the intense way he stared at me. His hands fell from my hips, and my skin bristled at the touch, he undid the belt on my jacket and pushed it back from my shoulders, his eyes flickered over my black satin dress that sat halfway down my thighs and he smiled. Perfect he mouthed to me, then carefully led me to the bar where I ordered a triple vodka and lime.
I knocked it back in one go to calm my nerves and boost my confidence, I knew deep down that being here wasn’t just for me to observe what was going on around me, Nikoli was going to get me to dance, and without the alcohol I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. I signaled to the barman for another and smiled gratefully when he handed it over. Nikoli pulled me from the bar and stood me in front of the railing on the other side of the club.
“Slow down, Myshka. I can’t take you back home drunk,” he rasped in my ear.
“And I can’t do this, please don’t expect me to dance like this with you,” I shrieked turning to face him. My chest sat flush against his and I felt his breath tickle over my heated skin when he leant his mouth closer to my ear.
“Rumba is the most erotic and sensual of all the Latin dance styles due to its slow rhythms and hip movements,” he said huskily.
I felt myself squeeze my thighs together to hide the fact that his proximity, the atmosphere around us, the stench of the revelers sweat and arousal that permeated the air, was stirring things up, it shouldn’t in my lower region.
“Turn around and watch,” he ordered as he placed his drink down on the table next to us. Greedily, I knocked back my drink again and nodded.
Come on Raine, don’t be a prude.
Nikoli took my empty glass and I removed the hair tie from my wrist and shoved my hair haphazardly on top of my head. The slightly cooler air now hitting the back of my neck, provided a welcome relief. I turned around and grasped the railing then I peered down onto the dance floor and watched. I couldn’t tell where one person started and the other finished as I watched couple after couple passionately dance Rumba to the sensual, enticing music.
Nikoli’s hands gripped the railing next to mine and his chest was suddenly pressed into my back, effectively penning me in. I quickly straightened up when I heard him hiss then I felt his nose skim up the back of my neck, “Close your eyes,” he mumbled in my ear.
I shook my head. I tried to move but I had nowhere to go, then he was in my ear again with his hands lightly clasped around the tops of my arms. “Do you trust me, Myshka?”
I nodded. I didn’t know him very well, granted, but I felt safe with him, I felt free with him. With him I could be me, just Raine.
“I’m not going to try and kiss you, I promise. I just want you to feel the music, I want you to open yourself up and completely let go. Now close your eyes.”
I rolled my head, shook my arms then sighed as I closed my eyes and let the music consume me. I didn’t even flinch when I felt his hands glide down the curves of my sides and rest on my hips, I could feel the touch of his hands burn into my skin through the flimsy material of my dress. He pulled me back into him and I felt myself melt against his broad chest, my body fitted with his perfectly, like we were made for each other.
My hips began to sway gently and I felt myself begin to loosen up as Nikoli’s hips swayed with mine slowly and sensually then built up to a crescendo. He ground his groin into me and I matched him. My heart raced as his scent engulfed me taking control of all my senses, I felt dizzy from his touch when his hands moved from my hips to caress my bare thighs, his wrists brushing against the hem of my dress pushing it higher when his fingers kneaded into my hot skin. I felt naked, but I didn’t seem to care.
My arms found their way up and my hands clamped behind his neck as I rested my head further back into his shoulder. I gasped when his hand danced over my abdomen then up over my breast and slid up my neck, where he stroked the skin tenderly. “I fucking love your neck,” he growled in my ear. I couldn’t speak, I could barely breathe and I wilted under his words, his touch, his scent, and his moves.
My breaths came out in ragged pants as we continued to grind hard against each other. He let go of my neck and spun me around to face him, my eyes lazily opened as the droplets of sweat began to form over my body and I caught the look of lust and desire brimming in his eyes as he silently yanked me closer to him.
My right arm wrapped around his neck and my left hand cupped his face. We were nose to nose and I smiled widely as we seductively moved together as one, every move I made was attached to him. He hooked his hand under my left knee and raised my leg from the floor, running it against his hip and I felt my chest move away from him as I bent myself back, then he was over me trailing his hot, wet tongue up my neck causing goosebumps to prickle over my skin and I realized when he brought me back up to meet him, that I no longer had control over my own body or mind. He did.
He grinned as we systematically swayed lower towards the ground then back up again, my hands dug into his shoulders, his hands gripped my behind and squeezed, he dropped his head lower towards my chest and I closed my eyes again. Drinking it all in, drinking him in.
I’d never experienced anything like this before, it felt like we were the only two people in the club as I continued to lose myself in him. I felt like we were making love to each other but without doing the deed. When his mouth found its way to my neck again and my fingers balled into his hair, a euphoric smile tugged at my lips.
This was wrong, but it felt so right.
I could feel the passion exploding between us and I knew, as we continued to get down and dirty with each other, that this one dance, where all my inhibitions were completely stripped away, would leave me craving for more.
So much more.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
My heart felt like it was trying to break free of my rib cage, it was pounding so fast, so hard and there was no way she couldn’t feel it against her own chest, as she continued to seduce me with her body. It was taking every ounce of strength I had left in me to keep my arousal from showing when she dragged her fingers through my hair once more and threw her head back again exposing my weakness, my Achilles heel, where she was concerned. Her damned neck.
My right hand was sat at the small of her back with her dress bunched between my fingers, my left hand slid up the damp, tender skin of her neck. It felt like silk, it smelt intoxicating, it tasted like honey and it was just like a drug, addictive. As my mouth devoured her neck again, I felt a murmur reverberate in the back of her throat, which stoked at the embers of the fire burning through me. With that one sound echoing through me, my whole body erupted into flames of desire. My hand slid back down her neck, and over the swell of her breast, and her nipple peaked as my thumb grazed over it, teasingly and with agonizing slowness, then continued down the contours of her body. She brought her head back up to meet mine and gripped my neck as her hips continued to rock, sway and grind against mine. How the fuck she could say she couldn’t dance was beyond me, this woman could move and she moved dangerously.
Everything going on around me was a blur, my whole focus was on this moment, this dance, this silent conversation between the two of us where our bodies were the communication and our movement was the tone. I was seducing her before she would even realize she had been sed
uced, bringing out her passion, stimulating her imagination and satisfying a need, a need she may not have even been aware of, until now. A need to feel sexy and alive.
Her lips were parted, her chest swelling as the sweat rolled down her skin and twinkled like tiny diamonds under the dim lights of the club and my eyes were taking the time to appreciate every single inch of her, committing it all to memory as the sight drove me into a haze of such yearning and sensory overload, it almost felt dreamlike.
She was enchanting and infatuating and the lust and passion driving through me was becoming excruciating. I didn’t care that she was married, I didn’t care if she wasn’t mine to dance with like this, and I didn’t care that I was effectively making love to her right here in the middle of the club for all to see, all I cared about was what I was doing with her, to her and for her. The side of her face rested against mine and her hand cupped my cheek tenderly, her lips were turned towards the edge of my mouth. If I moved a fraction, my lips would meet hers. I wanted to kiss her, I wanted to drag her home and make love to her, show her how a real man treats a lady. She deserved nothing more than to be showered with love and affection, treated with respect, adored and idolized, not used as a verbal or human punching bag at her husband’s discretion.
The thought of Max instantly brought reality crashing down around me and I carefully untangled her hands from around my neck and stepped away. Her silent stare was soft, her eyes teeming with emotion and they glowed with warmth. She looked so fucking sexy, just like a lioness toying with her next meal.
If she was mine, I’d never let her go. But she wasn’t mine, yet I already knew I wasn’t letting her go.
She took a step closer towards me and smiled, “I need a drink,” she said, dragging her arm across her forehead then proceeded to whip her hand back and forth in front of her face, trying to cool herself down. I knew exactly how she felt, my whole body was alight and the rage of hormones running through me indicated I’d be taking a stone-cold shower the second I got home.
Smiling, I tried to even out my heavy pants and passed her my lemonade. “I need alcohol,” she pouted.
I shook my head and smirked, “No, Myshka. You’ve had two triple vodkas already, how will you explain that to your husband? I can’t take you back home drunk!”
At the mention of the word husband, her eyes went wide and panic set in across her face. She placed the drink back on the table and bent over. My hand instantly went to her back, “What’s wrong?” I asked in her ear, stooping over her.
“How long have we been here?” She gasped.
I checked my watch, I was surprised to see we had been here nearly three hours. Time really does run away with you when you’re enjoying yourself. “It’s 3pm,” I told her and felt her relax under my touch.
“I need to get going, if Max is out of court early and I’m not there…” She stopped talking and clamped her hand across her mouth.
My chest constricted. I pulled her upright and into my arms, my thumb gently stroked her cheek as my mouth moved into her ear, “I thought you said he’d be home late?”
Her hands balled into the back of my top, “What he says and what he does are often two different things. I can’t take the risk. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I understand, come on let’s get you home,” I replied through my clenched jaw. I didn’t want to leave, I didn’t want my time here with her to end and I certainly didn’t want to return her back to that prick. But I knew, for now, I had no choice.
Holding her jacket out for her, she slipped it on and let down her hair, then turned around to me and gave me a smile that seemed so completely genuine, but with a hint of shyness to it, that unexpected warmth flooded through me.
With a deep sigh, I begrudgingly led her from the club and out into the pouring rain. Her hand slipped from mine as we ran towards the car. I stopped to look back. “Myshka, what are you doing?” I shouted over the loud pellets of rain.
She let out a hearty laugh and spun around in a circle, her arms out to her sides, her face up to the sky while she squealed childishly, “Don’t you just love the rain?”
I brushed my wet and heavy hair back from my face and laughed. I watched her twirl and spin in the rain. I was completely soaked through and I shivered with the shift in my body temperature from the heat of the club to the coldness of the afternoon air and the ice-cold rain. Her hair had become one with her face as it lay wetly draped over her cheeks, but her smile of joy had reached right up to her eyes, and she took my breath away.
“Dance with me?” She shouted.
“What?”
“You’re my dance instructor, are you not? Dance with me,” she demanded as she pushed her hair back and mouthed the word please.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head as a lopsided grin etched its way onto my lips. When I stood toe to toe with her, I held my hand out and bowed, “Raine Peters. Please may I have this dance?”
“You may,” she laughed, slipping her wet hand into mine. I led her into the waltz, right there in the carpark of Havana’s underneath the umbrella of the pouring rain, and it was exhilarating.
I slowed the dance down to a near standstill, and I dipped forward and locked eyes with her, my hand slid from underneath her shoulder blade and tightened on her ribs, my other hand pulling her hips closer, her arms reached up and locked behind my neck, and we gently swayed from left to right to a silent melody only we could hear.
My hand left her hip and I traced her arm up behind my neck, unclasping her fingers I took her hand and pushed her away then I reeled her back in and kissed her nose. She let out a heart-splintering laugh, then I spun her out. Unable to let her go just yet, I spun her back, but she stumbled. My arms instinctively caught her and wrapped around her protectively.
She raised her head to look at me, “I had a great time with you today,” she said quietly.
“Me too,” I whispered. My lips threatened to brush against hers.
Her expression became serious then, and I watched her eyes dull. “I don’t want it to end.”
My hands released her shoulders and cupped her cold, wet cheeks, my forehead fell against hers and I closed my eyes, savoring the moment. “Neither do I, Myshka.”
“Maybe we can do it again, sometime?” She asked. I heard the hope and desperation in her voice. I had given her a few hours of freedom away from the shackles of her problems at home, I had given her hope amidst her desperation and it pained me to be taking her back to him.
I nodded and swallowed hard, “Whenever you want. I’ll be right here waiting.”
I moved my head to search her eyes, a period of silence passed between us as we held fast to each other’s gazes. The distant sounds of the cars rushing past with the wipers in full swing, the dull thud of Latin music, the chatter of people leaving the club, the radios of the doormen and the rain that was now lightly tapping like chimes, all melted away and once again this moment became ours alone.
When her lips gently found mine, jolts of static energy circulated my entire body. My mouth slowly opened mirroring hers, and as my tongue skimmed the inside of her mouth, our kiss exploded in a hot, passionate, and most demanding way. My hand fisted in her hair, pulling her closer, her hands were coiled in my top to hold herself upright and I could feel myself struggling to breathe as she continued pressing relentlessly against my mouth.
This was wrong, she’s a married woman and that thought made me want to pull away before I categorically lost myself, but I couldn’t seem to. This kiss felt like my salvation and my nightmares all rolled into one. I would live for them in the stolen moments we might share in the future but they would torment me in the times we would be apart.
“Oh, my God! What am I doing!” She suddenly cried as she pulled herself away from me and pushed me back. “I’m married!”
I stood immobilized. The shock, fear and embarrassment she felt was clear for me to see when she brought her trembling fingers up to her mouth. “I’m so sorry,” she mumble
d and raced to the car.
“Raine,” I called after her. I strode towards her and spun her around to face me. “I should be the one apologizing. I promised you I wouldn’t kiss you.”
“We can’t do this, Nikoli. It will end in tears and heartache for both of us. Please, just take me home.”
I wanted to tell her what I knew about Max. That the prick was already cheating on her, that whilst she’s at home lonely, waiting for him to come back, he’s out wooing another woman. But I bit it back knowing she would hate me for it, knowing she would think I was lashing out for her rebuttal. I had the proof in the form of the dozen photos I had taken that night, and I’d make sure she had them one way or another. But not now, not like this.
Silently I opened the door for her. She may be a prisoner in her shit-ass marriage, but I was fast becoming a prisoner of her myself, of all things Raine Peters.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
The drive back to the end of my road was unbearable. The deafening silence between us was palpable and neither of us seemed brave enough to look at the other, let alone speak. Today, for a few hours I had let go of the stiff, sophisticated Raine Max had trained me to be, and with Nikoli I had found my inner vixen. When his hand had slid up my throat and he growled in my ear, it was the catalyst that triggered me to let go of my worries, pain, and sorrow. Right then I was living, and nothing else seemed to matter.
I’d allowed him to take me to another place in my mind, a place where we had become one, and when he unclasped my hands from around his neck and stepped away from me, I was filled with sadness at the loss of his touch. I knew I had to go home but I was desperate for more, so I demanded he dance with me in the rain and I felt myself blossom under his captivating gaze once more.
Then I kissed him.