One Dance (The Club, #7) (3 page)

His only problem was his own want. He wanted her. The desire he’d felt the minute his eyes landed on the brunette was unexpected and he’d put it down to lack of sex in his life, until their hands had met. The touch of her skin against his palm had made him glad he’d worn a blazer—his reaction was that fast. He’d gone from flaccid to a rock solid erection within seconds. So much so that he’d felt the tingle of pre-cum as it had raced along the length of his dick the more he stared at the
beautiful
Emma.

Too long without a woman...

What Emma must think after Dahlin had accused him of having his pick of women every night. That ass had it coming to him and Maverick just hoped he would be the one to give it to him.

Maverick had worked at The Club now as a ‘suit’ for around eight months and in that time, he’d worked all the floors and never had a hard-on. He’d even entered one of the rooms about a month after he’d started working for The Club. He’d seen a naked woman spread-eagled with her ankles and wrists tied to upright poles in the floor. The guy had been naked and kneeling between her spread thighs while he ate her out. Her breasts had been large and swayed with her movements as she thrashed in pleasure against her restraints. Maverick had walked back out without even a twitch in his pants.

With a heavy sigh he knew he needed to check on Emma, and now.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he used the ‘suits’ way of communicating—earpiece and mic at their shirtsleeve—and had someone come and stand in for him at the door.

It wasn’t the most wanted job, but it was a job and being part of the security team paid well, which was why he’d stuck it out for as long as he had. If his buddies could see him now, they’d laugh their asses off at him working in a BDSM Club.

He sighed. It definitely didn’t tie into his plans. He’d been thinking a lot lately about putting down roots, and as he crept closer to forty, he’d even thought about a wife and kids.

The minute a wife and kids popped into his head, his mind drifted off toward Emma and her nervous eyes. She was too damn sweet for The Club...she was also too young for him. That didn’t prevent him from wanting to make sure she was okay. He could do that without getting involved with her.

He hoped.

“Hey, Mav,” Cole said as he appeared. “What’s up? I didn’t think you liked being in the club.”

“I don’t, but I want to check up on a guest.”

Cole smirked. “Wouldn’t be the chick who came in with
Mr. Dahlin
would it?”

Maverick’s eyes snapped to Cole, unable to control the anger that would be clear as day in the icy green depths.

“Oh, that bad, huh?”

He clenched his jaw...Cole was an idiot and probably got off every night in the voyeurism room.

Maverick wasn’t about to give Cole any ammunition to use against him during his last day of working here.

How the fuck anyone became obsessed with someone so quickly mystified him, but that had happened. Thirty minutes ago, he’d had no clue she existed and now that he did know, he had to do something about it.

“I’m heading onto the floor if anyone wants me.”

With that said, Maverick entered the club without letting Cole see how much he wanted to knock the fucking idiot’s head off.

He quickly gave a once over of the first floor before he walked around the booths, his eyes scanned the dim space as he looked for where Dahlin was hiding with Emma.

Coming up empty, he avoided the security office, and used his security clearance to move up to the second floor. He made a casual once over of the Deuxieme Bar area as he walked through and still came up empty.

He’d noticed the looks that one or two other ‘suits’ had thrown at him in surprise when he’d crossed their path, but nothing had been said. That was the way they worked though—stay hidden until they were needed.

As he made his way past some of the private rooms, he noticed only a handful were in use and he prayed the
fucker
Dahlin wasn’t in one.

The stairs up to the next floor were through the VIP lounge and it was as he headed through that he finally spotted Emma.

It was as though she knew she was being watched because, at the same time he froze with his gaze fixed on her, Emma lifted her head. Her eyes widened and filled with pleasure before they dimmed in sadness.

The light that was set in the center of the table gave her features a soft glow, and as she placed her drink onto the table, he noticed a slight tremor to her hand.

Was she nervous because he stared at her like he’d never seen a woman before or because she didn’t want to be in the club?

He had to find out.

He shook himself out of the lust he’d felt the moment he’d gazed upon her and strode over to where she had been left alone.

Without being invited, Maverick took the seat beside her. She shifted deeper into the booth as he crowded her. He liked the fact that she didn’t cower from him but simply made room for him. His size didn’t seem to bother her like it did a lot of people, and women usually turned the other way once they’d taken a look at the scar that covered one side of his face. He, and many of those women, considered it hideous. He used it to his advantage on more than one occasion to put the fear of God into someone. Right now while he sat next to Emma, he wished he didn’t have it.

“Where is he?” Maverick asked, wanting her to answer that Dahlin had left, even though Maverick knew he hadn’t. “Tell me, Emma.”

“He went to talk to someone. Said he’d be back in about thirty minutes...and not to move.”

Tears appeared on her lashes before she turned her head and blinked them away.

“How old are you?” he blurted.

All of a sudden, he needed to know her age because she looked so damn young that it frightened him.

His question had startled her, but she answered, “Twenty-two.”

Maverick’s heart sank. He knew she was young, and hoped that she looked a lot younger than her actual years, but she wasn’t.

He watched her as she waited for him to say something to her, but what he needed to do was back away instead of encouraging the attraction he knew they both felt.

“I’m thirty-eight...and sometimes I feel a lot older,” he admitted. “That’s sixteen years older than you.”

She offered him a wry smile. “I did quite well in math at school.”

Nodding, he didn’t find any humor in her witty reply because he wanted to crush her soft, curvy body against the hard contours of his own. But instead, he replied, “That’s the problem...you still remember how you did in school where I can’t even remember the classes I took.”

Sixteen years...She was beautiful and fresh faced...He needed her...

Reaching out, he took Emma’s hand and pulled her out of the booth with him. “I want to dance with you. Just
one dance
.”

“No one else is dancing.”

E
mma had her hand wrapped up in Maverick’s and her whole body quivered with desire for the man. What was wrong with her? She’d met him briefly when she’d walked in the door...and had him in her head for the past thirty...forty...minutes since she arrived.

She was inexperienced with men, although she’d had sex with a couple of guys while she’d been in college. In fact, one of those had been her boyfriend, but that had fizzled out after five months. Apparently, she lacked imagination, which was why he’d been fucking someone else on the side.

Even though Maverick looked to be all muscle and could probably get anyone he wanted, she had the feeling that he was a one-woman man. Something told her to trust him.

As her eyes met his in the dimmed room, her heart started to crack open. It was the last thing she’d expected to happen, and for once, she was going to go with it because her blood hummed with desire, and it had since their eyes had met.

Looking at him, she had the feeling he was upset by their age difference. Sixteen years was a wide gap and she knew it bothered him more than it did her. Mature men always attracted her attention, apart from Mr. Dahlin that was. Dahlin was just a creepy asshole at any age.

Within a minute of being dragged from her seat, Emma found herself in the stairwell with Maverick’s breath caressing her neck as he stood close against her. The heat from his body seeped inside her and started to warm her from the inside out. Her cheeks felt warm with a blush as he moved her to one side.

“This is the only blank spot for the camera. I can’t be seen with a guest,” Maverick whispered into her ear, sending shards of pleasure straight to her core.

Her panties melted when he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and hauled her against his body. With his other, he reached up and used his hand to cup the back of her neck, his thumb caressed the line of her jaw.

Their eyes met and held.

“What’s happening,” Emma moaned, and turned her face into his palm. She placed a tender kiss there and felt him shudder against her.

“I’ve never felt a connection with anyone the way I did when our eyes met downstairs. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’d been drugged.” Maverick pulled Emma flush against him so that every last contour of his hard body could be felt.

He really was
hard
all over, which tempted her to want to see him naked. All that hard muscle on display for her eyes only, and her hands as she would caress over his skin.

She gasped and buried her face into his chest with the X-rated thoughts. When he started to sway to the music that drifted around them, she knew she was in big trouble. She wanted nothing more than to crawl inside him and stay there forever.

The more they swayed together, the more aroused they became. She could feel Maverick’s arousal against her stomach and decided to tease him. As their bodies clung together in dance, Emma pressed her hips forward and rubbed her body against his hardness.

He gasped and jerked against her in response. It made her feel as though she could do anything, which was how she found her fingers running through his dark, cropped hair.

Their breathing was heavier and the air was filled with desire as Maverick moved his hands to her bottom. He hauled her up his large body. Emma yanked her dress up so that she could wrap her legs around him. His hands slipped onto her panty-clad bottom and held her against him. His arousal was thick and heavy between her spread thighs as he pushed against her wet panties.

Once...twice...she was so close...

“Fuck,” Maverick cursed, and dropped his forehead against Emma’s as he tried to control his body’s response. “I’m sorry,” he groaned as he slowly released her, and met the embarrassed look in her eyes.

“Please don’t do that,” he continued. He cupped her jaw to keep her gaze focused on him. “We shouldn’t have been here in the stairwell, but I would still have you in my arms if the security link in my ear hadn’t buzzed...I’m needed downstairs.” Maverick wiped a hand over his face as Emma watched.

He was a handsome man and the scar that ran down one side of his face only added to his appeal.

“Emma, I don’t want to leave you, but I don’t have a choice right now. Go back into the VIP lounge and don’t let him take you anywhere else. I’ll be back for you when I’ve sorted the mess out downstairs.” Maverick backed her up against the wall, his eyes searching hers. “Promise me you’ll scream for help if he tries anything? Promise me Emma, or I’m going to walk out of this place right now and take you with me.”

Stunned was an understatement about how she felt. No one had ever cared enough about her to want to protect her the way that Maverick seemed to. At least, not since her parents had died. Chloe didn’t really count, she wasn’t old enough to do much right now, although she’d keep that thought away from her sister—little, miss bossy boots.

“Emma, I really need to go...and I really need that promise.”

“I promise to stay in the VIP lounge.” She smiled and reached up to Maverick. Her lips touched his in a quick peck before she turned and moved to the door. She just caught the look of pure joy that crossed Maverick’s face at her unexpected touch.

As Emma nervously touched the door handle, she was pulled back against his chest. Maverick planted a kiss to the top of her head...then he was gone.

* * * *

E
mma was unnerved about being back in the VIP lounge after the heat Maverick generated inside her. She took her seat again and looked around her. No one noticed her arrival, but with the dimmed lighting, more so in her corner, she was hidden from view. She started to watch the other guests who milled around the room, some she didn’t know why they’d bothered dressing considering the skimpy outfits they wore. As she watched one couple in particular, she wondered how long it would take before they disappeared into one of the
rooms
to finish what they appeared to have started.

“You miss me?” Dahlin asked, making her jump as he joined her again.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” She took a long swallow of the drink he’d placed in her hands.

He laughed and proceeded to ignore her.

This new drink was delicious. It was pink in color and slid down Emma’s throat like a dream. She shouldn’t really be drinking alcohol while with him, but the drink was so good.

“What’s in this?” she asked, holding the glass in front of her face.

“I think it has strawberry and cranberry syrup, which is why it’s such a girly color and so fruity... You want another one?”

“Yes, please.”

Dahlin nodded to his driver, who Emma hadn’t noticed before. She’d assumed he was waiting in the car instead of following them into the club. His name escaped her. She stared at him, her vision as blurry as her brain as she struggled with his name...she was usually good with names. Why couldn’t she remember his?

The empty glass was removed from her fingers and a full one was in its place. This one even had a cocktail stick lying across the top with a strawberry.

Eating the deliciously sweet fruit, Emma took another long sip of her drink. The more she drank, the more she wanted. What was wrong with her? She never drank like she was tonight. She couldn’t stop.