Unspeakable

by Elisabeth Naughton

  Harper’s skin warmed as Rusty placed a hand at her lower back, just where her dress met her naked spine, and let her walk in front of him. The archway opened into a small room. The walls were black, the ceiling so dark she couldn’t see it. Red lights created a sultry ambiance, and a raised, circular platform was set up in the middle of the room with ten or so plush chairs pushed up around it. There weren’t very many couples in the room—maybe ten or twelve—but it was enough to make the place feel crowded, and when someone at her back pushed her forward, Harper stumbled and accidentally bumped into a woman at her right.

  She mumbled an “Excuse me” to the blonde, then turned toward Rusty and said in a low voice, “What is this?”

  “I don’t know,” he whispered back. “But I don’t see any doors to escape through, so we better just hold tight for now.”

  “You’re new, aren’t you?” said the blonde on Harper’s other side.

  Trying not to be irritated the woman was eavesdropping, Harper checked her gut reaction and forced a smile as she said, “Yes. First time. The girl at the door said this is an introduction?”

  The blonde smirked. “You could say that. It’s where they set the stage for the night. Don’t worry. You’ll definitely enjoy it.” She smoothed a well-manicured hand down the man’s arm to her right—an older man, Harper noticed, who was checking out every other woman in the room and not paying any attention to his companion. “I still remember my first time.” She shivered and let out an excited sigh. “You’re in for quite a treat.” She glanced past Harper to Rusty. “Both of you.”

  Wide-eyed, Harper turned toward Rusty with a we-should-get-out-of-here look she knew he didn’t miss.

  Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her in front of him. In her hair, he whispered, “What do you say you and I stay in the back?”

  Okay, she really liked his arm around her like that. “I’d say that sounds like a goo—”

  Instead of pulling her back, he pushed her forward, his body coming up flush against her spine until she felt everything—hot and semihard and big. She sucked in a breath and turned to look at him, only to realize he was staring down at her. He mouthed the word “sorry” but didn’t move back, and one glance was all she needed to see that he couldn’t—another couple was pushing him forward.

  Harper opened her mouth to tell the pushers to knock it off, but before she could even get a word out, the double doors at the archway slammed shut, and a male voice from the doors called out, “Masters and mistresses, the show is about to begin. Masters, take your seats and open your senses to a feast of pleasure.”

  Harper’s nerves shot up all over again, and she glanced over her shoulder at Rusty with wide eyes. “Show?” she mouthed.

  His lips thinned as he glanced over the crowd. People were already pushing them forward, and before she realized it, someone shoved Rusty into one of the plush chairs near the raised platform, and another set of hands maneuvered her down onto his lap.

  Heat rushed to her face. She shifted quickly, trying not to make either of them more uncomfortable than they already were, and scooted over, perching herself on his thigh. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer when she would have pushed away, and she realized it was because he thought she was about to fall. Her skin grew hot. Every inch of her body tingled. Beneath her, she heard him whisper, “Relax. Don’t make a scene.” And she was trying not to, dammit, but holy hell . . . this was not what she’d expected.

  Bracing a hand on the back of his chair, she managed to sit upright so she wouldn’t lean into him more than she had to, so she wouldn’t get too comfortable. Because that was suddenly all she wanted to do. Slide fully onto his lap, melt into all his sultry heat, and get lost in the scent and feel of him right here in the middle of this room.

  The lights went out. The voices around them quieted.

  In the silence, Harper’s heart picked up speed and she became hyperaware of everything—Rusty’s big hand perched on her hip, holding her still, his muscular thigh beneath her ass, strong and thick, his chest brushing her side where she was trying not to lean into him, his breaths, not as slow and steady as they’d been when they were dancing, but faster now. Shallower. And his scent. His heady, sexy scent that was swirling around her, making her light-headed, making her envision things she shouldn’t be envisioning.

  A drum beat ahead of them. One drum. Then another to the right. And another to the left. The beat picked up speed until it was frantic rhythm, like war drums before a battle, vibrating through the floor, up through the chairs and into their bodies. Footsteps sounded in the darkness, circled the outside of the table in time to the beat, then echoed from the far side of the circle, coming closer until they stopped.

  The drumbeats halted. A single light came on over the center of the platform. A woman stood in a hooded red cloak, her face and body hidden from view, the only thing visible her small bare feet. Slowly, she lowered to her knees, her features cast in shadows as she faced the crowd, then the light went out and another came on. The second light shone behind the raised platform, illuminating a man in a leather loincloth wearing a mask that covered all but his mouth and rose to two large bull horns on the sides of his head.

  A primal feeling stirred inside Harper. One that sent a shiver she couldn’t control straight down her spine. Against her hip, she felt Rusty’s grip tighten, but she was unable to look his way. Unable to do anything but watch as the bull man climbed up onto the platform, stopped behind the woman, and reached down with one hand to draw her back against his lower body.

  The hood fell from her face, revealing her delicate features and blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He gripped her jaw, then pressed his thumb along her lips until she opened and sucked on the digit. A groan echoed from the woman, and then the bull man whipped the cape from her body, revealing that she was dressed in nothing but a sequined bikini top that left nothing to the imagination and a gauzy skirt that looked like something straight out of a harem.

  The man tugged the woman to her feet, and the two moved in a sultry dance around the platform that wasn’t visually pornographic but was laced with so much heat and erotic foreshadowing Harper could barely look away. Their bodies undulated together in time to the music, pulled apart, then came back together. Fingers touched, arms and legs twisted around each other. Sighs and grunts filled the room along with the music, and the beat grew louder, faster, stirring up a frenzy between the two dancers and deep inside Harper’s blood.

  She tore her gaze away from the dancers and glanced down at Rusty to gauge his reaction, then drew in a surprised breath when she realized he wasn’t watching the show. He was watching her. Closely. With a heat in his eyes that told her he was just as affected by the atmosphere as she was. His hand shifted from the arm of the chair where it was resting near her back, and his fingertips brushed the silk of her skirt near her outer thigh. Tingles raced up her leg and into her hip. Tingles and an awareness, the longer he stared at her, that maybe he wasn’t reacting to the show at all. Maybe he was reacting to her.

  Her blood ran hot. Her pulse picked up speed. Her gaze dropped to his lips, and she licked her own without realizing what she was doing, unable to keep from wondering if he tasted as good as he looked, if his mouth was as hot as his body heat seeping into hers—beneath her, against her, all around her. Wondering even more if he was thinking the same thing as her and just what he’d do if she leaned into him and kissed him as she suddenly couldn’t stop thinking of doing.

  The lights went out. Instinctively, Harper looked up and around even though she couldn’t see anything. Mumbled voices echoed from the stage at her back. Followed by a sigh and a groan and the sound of fabric tearing. But before she could look over her shoulder to see what was going on, Rusty’s arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her body up against his chest. And he whispered, “Stay with me.”

  His hot breath tickled her ear, her neck, sending shivers across her skin. She closed her eyes, lost in the
sensation, and turned back to him. The sounds behind her faded. His scent, his heat, and the roar of her pulse overwhelmed every thought until the only thing she wanted was to get closer, to be touched, to give in to the fire seconds away from incinerating her.

  This is a bad idea. Don’t do anything stupid you’ll regret later . . .

  Her subconscious screamed at her to back away, to be smart, not to fall into the same bad-boy trap she’d fallen into once before. But she was past the point of listening. Biology took over. She shifted closer until his heat was all she felt. And when his arms tightened around her, she gave in and pressed her lips to his for a kiss that completely rocked her world.

  Her lips were like candy, and he’d denied himself sweets for far too long. And when she opened and drew him into the heat and wetness of her mouth, he realized he’d been wrong. She was a drug—as strong as heroin—and he was never going to be satisfied with only one hit.

  He tightened his hand against her bare thigh, loving the silky-smooth feel against his palm, and lifted his other hand to her jaw so he could tip her head slightly to the side, so he could taste her deeper and lose himself entirely in her kiss. She answered with a groan that rumbled from her chest into his and sent his blood singing, and when she shifted closer, when she pressed her breasts against his chest and licked into his mouth, it was all he could do not to tug her dress up to her hips, shift her fully onto his hips, and free himself so he could sink deep inside her.

  She licked into his mouth again and again, lifted her hands to his face and tilted her head the other way, kissing him deeper, exploring his mouth as if it were her playground. And he let her. Let her do anything she wanted because this was the hottest kiss he’d had in . . . shit, forever.

  Slowly, he became aware of sounds, coming not from the raised platform behind Harper but from around them. He tore his eyes open just as the lights came on and blinked several times in the red hue. Against him, Harper drew back a breath from his lips, but she didn’t release her hold on his face, didn’t move her sweet little body off his lap, didn’t even put space between his chest and hers. And her eyes . . . her glittering green eyes stayed locked on his, glazed with a heat he felt everywhere as she stared down at him and licked her swollen, wet, succulent lips that had just been fused to his.

  “The doors to Club Euphoria are now opening,” the same man who’d ordered them to take their seats earlier announced in a booming voice. “We hope you enjoyed the show. Be sure to sample all the delicacies Club Euphoria has to offer.”

  People pushed chairs back and rose to their feet, but Harper still didn’t move, and neither did Rusty. He was almost afraid to. Afraid to break the moment in case he’d only imagined it.

  “Well,” the blonde who’d been talking to them earlier said in a victorious voice. “I guess from the looks of you two, you enjoyed your first show. Maybe we’ll run into you both later in one of the interactive rooms.”

  Rusty didn’t want to break his gaze with Harper, but he couldn’t stop himself from acknowledging the woman who was getting entirely too close, if for no other reason than to send her a back-off warning. She didn’t take it. Only licked her lips and winked, then turned to catch up with her partner.

  But that split second was enough to break whatever spell had enveloped Harper, and before he could stop her, she slid off his lap and nearly stumbled before righting herself.

  He pushed to his feet and reached out to help her, but she stepped back and, without looking at him, said, “I’m fine.” Smoothing a hand down her dress, she straightened her spine, then turned quickly for the door where everyone else had already exited. “Now’s our chance to blend in.”

  A chill spread over him, one that dampened at least some of the heat he was feeling, at least enough so he could walk without pain. She was embarrassed by what had just happened. He could see it in the tense line of her back and the rigid set of her shoulders. But he knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He’d seen it in her eyes and felt it in her kiss. And even though he knew it was dangerous, even though he knew it wasn’t smart, considering where they were and what they were supposed to be doing tonight, he was already plotting ways he could get close to her again. How he could feel that sinful body pressed up against his. How he could make her moan like she had when she’d been rocking against him in that chair.

  He followed her out into the red-lit hallway. Music pulsed out of speakers hidden in the ceiling. The corridor opened to a large room complete with another bar and dance floor surrounded by plush velvet couches. But unlike the main dance floor, this one was occupied with couples in various stages of undress, some grinding and dancing obscenely together, others on the couches making out, not caring who could see, even more heading off in twos or threes to the interactive rooms past the second bar.

  Debauchery was all around them. His blood heated as he envisioned pulling Harper into a dark room, pushing her over the arm of one of those velvet sofas, lifting the back of her dress. He glanced to his right to see what her reaction was to the scene, only to draw up short when he realized she was gone.

  His gaze quickly skipped over the room, searching for anyone who could have grabbed her. And when he spotted her, pressed up against the wall with a guy in a leather bunny mask getting right in her face, every protective urge he had rushed right to the surface, destroying his control.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Rusty crossed the room in three strides, grasped the guy in the ridiculous bunny mask by the shoulder, and jerked him back. “Hey, buddy. Back off. She’s spoken for.”

  The guy’s gray eyes narrowed on Rusty. He was a couple of inches shorter but solid muscle, and even though Rusty knew he could take him, he didn’t want to draw that kind of attention. Not unless he was forced to.

  “Single woman alone in this place means she’s available,” the guy said in a low voice.

  Oh, fuck that. This guy had predator written all over him. Rusty was just about to pop him in the nose to show him just what he could do with his “availability,” but Harper sidled up to him, slid her arms around his waist beneath his jacket, and pressed in close. “My fault. Silly me, I got distracted by everything going on around me. I’m definitely not available.”

  She lifted her chin and pressed a kiss against the stubble on Rusty’s jaw, and even though he was vibrating with the need to pound his fist into this guy’s face, tingles rushed all through his skin at the silky-soft contact.

  “See?” he said to the guy, wrapping his arm around her and holding her even closer. “Not available.” He looked down at her. “You need to stay close to me, baby doll. I warned you about getting lost in here.”

  She narrowed her eyes in a way that said Call me “baby doll” one more time, and you’ll lose a testicle. And the reaction was so her it defused his need for blood and pulled a smile from his lips.

  He looked back at the dick in the bunny mask. “’Scuse us, would ya? We’ve got things to do.”

  He steered her around the scowling guy and out the doorway. She stayed plastered to his side until they reached the hall, and then she pulled back and smacked him on the arm with her clutch. “‘Baby doll’? Don’t even think of using that one again.”

  He chuckled at her reaction, then winced when she smacked him again. “Ow. Careful. I told you that was a Thursday-night thing.”

  “I have a feeling it’s already going on in one of these rooms.” She glowered his way. “We have to get out of here now. Before I pull out my gun and start shooting people.”

  She moved down the dark hallway, and he picked up his pace to keep up with her. “Just promise you won’t shoot me.”

  “No deal if you call me baby doll again.”

  He smiled.

  They passed a room where three women were going at it in the middle of a giant bed with several couples standing around to watch, and another room where groups of three and four were rolling around on mattresses laid out on the floor. Huffing, Harper moved faster, averting her gaze
from every open doorway and only slowing down when she reached an intersection and had to decide which way to go.

  Rusty watched her. The rigid line of her spine, the way her muscles flexed beneath her silky skin, and the flush to her face that told him she wasn’t completely disgusted. She was turned on. Hopefully not by what she was seeing and hearing but by being close to him.

  She turned the corner and whispered, “Finally,” and as he followed, he saw what she’d already spotted: a dimly lit sign at the far end of the corridor that said EXIT.

  She pushed the steel door open and stepped into the dark stairwell that went both up and down. As the door snapped closed behind him, surrounding them in darkness, she fumbled through her clutch. “My phone’s in here somewhere.”

  Maybe it wasn’t smart. Maybe he should have just let things lie. But he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Before she could flip on her light, he closed his hand over her wrist, stepped in front of her, and pushed her up against the cold stairwell wall.

  “What are you—”

  He couldn’t see a damn thing, but he knew right where her mouth was, thanks to her protest, and he didn’t even hesitate. He let go of her wrist, lifted both hands to her face, and lowered his mouth to hers.

  She sucked in a surprised breath, and he used her shock to his advantage, tasting all that wicked heat that had nearly driven him mad only a handful of moments before.

  Her protest died on her lips. Her clutch clattered to the floor at their feet. And then her hands were beneath his jacket, clawing at his dress shirt, her body straining toward his, her mouth wild and reckless and scorching beneath his.

  He wanted her. Now, right now, right here in this stairwell. More than he’d wanted any other woman. And realizing he was seconds away from taking her, from shredding her dress and thrusting hard inside her, was the only thing that pulled him back from the edge of a control he’d very nearly lost.