Mine to Steal (Mine to Love) (4 page)

“A friend of Em,” I answer, knowing he has no idea who Em is.

“And she would be?” he asks for clarification.

When I don’t answer, he nods his head and carries
on a conversation with himself since I’m of no help.

“Ah, so the chick that was crying today,” he says, grabbing his beer and swallowing down a swig. I guess he’s more observant than I give him credit for.

I don’t bother to answer his question, opting to check my email instead. A wide smile spreads across my face, and he waits expectantly for the reason why.

“I got an email from
the client out in Chicago, so I’ll be flying out tomorrow morning to meet with him. I think I’m going to head home.”

“Like hell you are. I got in town
today, and your bitch-ass has had one drink,” he calls out as he walks back to the bar. He’s gone so fast I have no time to stop his retreat.

Jett leaves me standing at the table, my eyes scanning the vast crowd, but they land on one person in particular. I have no idea who she is; I’ve never seen her before, but she’s sexy, at least from this distance. The stage lights in front of her provide a blinding effect, so it’s hard to see her features, but her long hair and
the athletic curve of her body aren’t so easily masked. She’s standing with a group of people as the band announces they will be taking a short break after a few more songs. The music starts and she moves effortlessly to the sound. Watching her might be the best thing to happen tonight.

My
trance is broken when my brother slams his palm on the table in front of me. “It’s a three-drink minimum before you go home, Dick.”

“Jett,” I drag in a warning tone, “I have a lot to take care of for tomorrow.”

“Drink this or go talk to the chick.” He nods his head in the direction of the woman I was checking out moments before and ignores my comment. Instead of answering, I down the shot and slam it to the table, noting Jett’s victorious grin. “There ya go.”

I can feel the shot burning as it makes its way down my throat, leaving the aftereffects in the pit of
my stomach. I take a swig of my beer in an attempt to get the taste out of my mouth, but it takes a while before it dissipates. When I can finally talk, I wince and force my voice to sound. “What in the hell was that?”

“Mach5
.” He smiles, lifting his own shot into the air before swallowing it. His mouth puckers as he feels the same burn, but he forces a smile to cover his pain.

I take another sip of beer and try to listen to the music, but Jett mutters something over it and disappears before I can ask him to repeat it. I’m no lightweight, but I feel like I’m experiencing aftershocks from the damn shot. When he finally returns, he has two more shots in hand and a girl on his arm. “How long were you gone?” I ask with a laugh. He pushes the shot in front of me, holding his up until I finally raise mine
before he downs it. The girl is wiggling around to the music and gives his arm a tug, but he’s waiting.

When I don’t drink mine he
looks to the glass in my hand and waits expectantly. “I just finished the last one. Give me a minute. Okay?”

Jett nods and whispers something to the girl who walks off with a smile. He
glares at me and crosses his arms across his chest. “She wants to dance, but I told her I’ll meet up with her after my brother stops being a pussy and drinks the Flatliner I got him because I haven’t seen his ass in eight months.”

I grab the shot and swallow
it down waiting for the after burn again, but my throat is still numb from the last one, and I barely feel anything.
That can’t be good.

“Go!” I nod in the direction
of his waiting one-night stand, but he lingers for a few minutes before finally disappearing.

I lose track of time, listening to the end of
a song before the band takes their break. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a news alert that is nothing worth reading. But since I have it out, I search for the contents of the shots Jett got for me. Tequila, Sambucca, and who knows what else in the first shot? I’m no lightweight, but those two shots, back to back, can’t be good.

The band is no longer on stage but most of the people remain on the floor as dance music filters through the place. I’m not sure what song is playing, but the beat is decent and I find my eyes glued to the same woman from before. I grab my beer and move to get a better view, feeling the impact of the alcohol. A mere ten feet away, I can finally see more of her, but she hasn’t turned in my direction
, and I want to see what she looks like. She’s wearing tight jeans that hug her curves and a black top, but I still want to get a better view of her.

“Wanna dance?”
someone asks from behind me. I turn my head in the direction of the feminine voice and find an attractive blonde smiling at me. I don’t want to dance, but if I do, maybe I can get close enough to the woman who’s somehow caught my attention this evening. I take her hand and lead her to the floor and let the alcohol take the lead, moving in time with the beat. She pushes closer to me, writhing around and rubbing her body against mine. She looks up at me with eyes so intense I know everything that is going through her mind with the single glance. She spins around and grabs my hand, pulling me off the dance floor. It’s clear what she has in mind, and I’m all too willing to follow. That is, until my eyes land on
her
again.

The brunette is in her own world, oblivious to the hungry eyes watching her. My legs are glued to the spot I was so eager to escape moments before because I’m captivated by this woman. The blonde sticks her bottom lip
out in a pout and attempts to tug me toward her once again, but I pull her back to me. I do my best to convince my dance partner I’m into her, but my attention has been stolen. There are so many people around us, I can’t tell if I’m dancing with her, or the woman next to her.

There’s an idea.

We continue
swaying to the music, all the while, getting closer to my intended target. I still have not seen her face, but her body and the sheer unencumbered way she moves leaves me with one goal - get this one.

My dance partner has taken to moving all over the place, and leaving me for someone equally as drunk as she is. S
he doesn’t notice I’ve turned my back to her as I fixate on the one I want. My eyes never stray from the sexy woman who is now within my reach. Her friends are dancing together, and she is in her own world, dancing alone, or so it seems.

In my current state, the dimly lit dance floor seems almost black, and I do something I
was never able to do with Em.
Take what I want.

My hands extend to
touch her, but before they connect, she spins around to face me, and I find myself wishing I could make out her features through the flashing lights and alcohol goggles. She reaches up and places her hands on my shoulders as if she’s been waiting for this moment all night, but it’s almost like she’s seeing through me.

My hands fall onto her hips and grasp firmly
while we move in sync to the music. The lights make it hard to see anything distinguishing about her other than the curves of her body. I wish I could tell what color her eyes are, or if they’re even open. Her lips turn up as I lean down to ask her name. Our mouths are inches apart, and I can’t help the way my body reacts to hers. I can finally see her eyes that are glassy and wide as she stares into mine, the music fading away.

As my eyes adjust to t
he sight in front of me, her lips part, as if she wants to say something, but she remains speechless. We continue dancing, both of us waiting for the other to look away, but neither of us do. Her arms glide from my shoulders to my neck, and I want to know what her lips taste like. I’m vaguely aware of the people around us as the music and lights come back into my consciousness. She tugs my head toward her and rises up on her toes, our lips mashing together in a fiery kiss.

It’s as if I no longer have control over my own limbs when my hands travel
from her hips, enveloping her in a hold that is too intimate for strangers. With one hand at the small of her back and the other at her nape, I tug her closer to me and deepen the kiss. Her lips are soft and full, and she tastes of mint, or maybe something sweet. I’m not sure what it is, because the moment her hand grazes my cheek, as if she’s meant for only me, all thoughts fade away. The only thing I want is to feel every inch of her. It’s possibly the most amazing kiss I’ve ever encountered, but she breaks away too soon. This woman leaves me breathless and more than a little turned on.

Somewhere behind us, someone shouts something that catches her attention. She looks over her shoulder and spots
one of her friends waving her over; a shorter woman who looks pissed off. She shakes her head before looking back to me and I watch the woman walk away with a scowl before she turns around once more and says something about faith. I have no idea what it means, and I don’t care. I look back to the woman in my arms and lean in to kiss her again.

“I need to get out of here,”
the sexy little brunette moans between kisses while unwrapping her arms from me. She starts to walk away but I gently tug her hand so she looks at me.

“My place is five minutes away.”

She watches me for a moment, and gives me a look I’ve only seen once before, but it disappears as quickly as it came.

And so does she.

A beautiful woman in one hand and keys to my apartment in the other, this is shaping up to a damn good day. Although, I’ll be the first to admit this is not how I expected my evening to turn out. I was surprised she took me up on my offer
; so much so that I left Jett back at the bar. He can figure his own damn way home.

“Hurry,” she murmurs, her lips dragging over my neck as I fumble with the key to unlock the door.

“Say it again
.” I laugh as her teeth nip at my skin, and I groan, turning to catch her lips with mine.

“Get this damn door open before I change my mind
.” She smiles against my mouth before her tongue tangles with mine. Somehow I manage to get it open and wrap my arm around her waist so she doesn’t fall when I open it. My keys clatter to the floor as I close the door behind me and stare at the figure of the woman in my arms.

We resume
touching each other’s bodies, and I’m vaguely aware that she might change her mind at any moment and end this drunken dream. I don’t beg, but for her, I might be inclined to if she wanted to stop.

This nameless woman is incredibly sexy and intriguing, two things I’m finding hard to resist.
Not that I’m trying.

She has said very little
. Fortunately, words aren’t needed.

“Wait… I, just - you taste like bourbon -,” she says as she pries herself from my arms and gives herself some space. She’s breathless when she speaks again, “give me a sec.”

So much for no words.

I can’t find my voice anyway, so I nod and
lean against the door while try to restrain myself from reaching for her again. The lights are still off, and our only source of lighting is a streetlamp outside, but it provides little help for me to make out her features. She steps back to rest against the couch behind her, and I can hear every sound she makes.

Her labored breathing.

The way she shifts her feet against the carpet.

I think I can even hear the internal battle that’s waging in her head.

“We don’t -”

“You got me here, didn’t you?” she asks, though it’s not a question. Before I have time to react, she is storming toward me and grabbing my face to kiss me again. The urgency in that kiss makes all doubt disappear. “Where’s your room?”

I don’t wait for any other questions or hesitations to enter her mind as I lift her up and carry her to my room. She wraps her legs around my waist, and her hands fist in my hair as she deepens the kiss.

When she separates her lips from mine, her head drops to the side
, and I don’t give a moment’s thought to kissing my way from her neck and working my way to her jaw. Every step I take toward the bed feels like an eternity. I’m torn between prolonging the foreplay or dragging her to the bed and burying myself in her as quickly as possible.

My knees hit the edge of the bed and she unwraps her legs from my hips, dropping her knees to the surface. From this angle, she has to look up to see me, but in the darkness, I’m not sure there is much she can make out. A sliver of light helps to illuminate her silhouette
, and I notice her tongue darting out to wet lips.

“Shirt,” she whispers as her hands run along the waist of my jeans. I start to pull it off, but her hands stall mine, “
lemme get that.”

She makes quick time of taking it off, and the shirt hits the floor as her hands roam over my bare chest. Electricity charges through me when her lips
trail light kisses down my stomach.

I drop my hands and grip her hips firmly so I can hold her against me. My jeans are tight from my hardness
, and I’m fighting the urge to take control. And in my booze-filled state, I’m disappointed when she pulls away.