Zed didn't respond to that comment; he just hummed a sound that could have been approval or disagreement and calmly sipped his drink before placing it back down on the table. I put mine down too, not totally sure I wouldn't spill it from how hyperalert I was to his touch.
Curious, and somewhat emboldened by our anonymity, I shifted to peer up at him. "You like to be watched, don't you?"
His brows lifted and he looked down at me with an edge of surprise. "I do." His tongue swiped across his lower lip, and I swallowed heavily. Damn, I wanted to kiss him. Did he know how turned on I was?
"So," I continued, chasing my thought train, "do you also like to watch?"
A bemused smile touched his lips, and he shifted his grip to pull me closer as he dipped his face. His mouth was so close to my ear when he replied that his breath tickled my skin, making me shiver.
"Are you asking whether I liked watching you and Cass fucking in my garage before the fight," he murmured, "or watching you riding his dick after his funeral the other day?"
I gave a throaty laugh. "You didn't just watch that time." He didn't respond, clearly waiting for me to answer his question. "Yes, that's what I'm asking." My breath rushed out at that admission.
Zed's nose teased a line along my neck, and I needed to stifle a moan as his lips brushed a kiss across my skin. "Well then, yes. I watched it, loved it, replayed it again later with my dick in my hand and came harder than I have in fucking years."
Oh fuck. My pussy throbbed at that mental image, and I found myself clenching my thighs on reflex. I couldn't hide how my breathing had spiked, though, not with Zed still placing hot, open-mouth kisses against my neck.
"Zed," I whispered, hoarse with need. He heard me, though, and heard a hell of a lot more than just his name. He raised his face from my neck and caught my lips with his in a kiss that shattered my reservations like a hammer against fragile glass. I leaned into him as his tongue traced the line of my lips, coaxing them apart so his mouth could devour me in the sweetest way.
His hand moved to my thigh, sliding up the bare length from my knee and teasing at the short hem of my dress. I wasn't even worried about the fact that we were in public where anyone could see us. I just so badly wanted his hand under my skirt, for him to finish what he’d started in my bedroom when I’d challenged him.
"Well, I have to say I didn't expect this kind of show tonight," a sickeningly familiar voice said, and a deep shudder of revulsion ran through me as I pulled out of Zed's embrace.
Outrage, disgust, and fury vied for dominance within me as I glared absolute, violent death at my ex-fiancé, who'd just dragged a chair over from another table and sat his ass down.
"Chase," I hissed. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
Zed radiated tension beside me, his fingers on my waist tight enough to leave bruises, but I wasn't complaining. "Oh, damn," he growled. "Looks like this club has a roach infestation."
Chase, smarmy fuck, just clicked his tongue and grinned. "Now, now, no need to be hostile. It's so rare to find you two alone these days; I couldn't resist the opportunity to catch up. Just like old times, hey Darling?" He shot me a lascivious wink that made me want to gag.
Then again... "Was that a wink or a blink?" I pondered aloud. "So hard to tell." There was no mistaking the venomous glare he responded with, though, and I snorted a laugh.
"Fuck off, Chase," Zed drawled, deliberately forcing a slouch into his posture, like Chase was beneath our concern. Like he was nothing more than an annoyance. "Dare and I were in the middle of something."
Chase ran his tongue over his teeth. "So I saw. Please, don't let me stop you. Continue." He waved a hand and sat back in his seat like he was settling in for a show. Deluded fucker.
Simmering with anger that he'd ruined what was turning out to be a pretty great night with Zed, I sat forward and picked up my cocktail to take a sip. It gave me a moment to gather my thoughts and formulate a quick plan.
"Fuck this," Zed spat. "Let's go somewhere with a more discerning guest list, babe." He punctuated that suggestion with a slow and deliberate kiss to my shoulder, marking his territory as surely as if he'd pissed all over me. Luckily, this was one situation I didn't even remotely mind it. It infuriated Chase, and that made me smug as fuck.
"Actually," I replied, humming thoughtfully, "maybe Chase has a point. We could just have a drink and talk out our differences like adults. After all, the three of us used to be closer than blood. Remember that, Chase?" I tipped my head to the side, forcing softness and sincerity into my eyes.
His single eye narrowed at me suspiciously, and his gaze darted to Zed, then back to me. A brittle smile creased his lips. "How could I forget? We were going to rule the world together." He snapped his fingers in the air, calling for one of the waitresses in a latex bodysuit. "Three Sazeracs, gorgeous," he demanded when the woman stopped to take his order.
She nodded and murmured acknowledgement, then leaned down to gather our almost empty glasses. As she bent over the table, though, Chase grabbed a rough handful of her breast, squeezing and twisting until she cried out in pain.
It took every inch of my willpower not to pull a gun and shoot him right then and there. The fury made my hands shake, and I needed to disguise the tremor by pulling my phone from my purse. Forcing myself to ignore the way Chase assaulted the waitress right in front of us, I swiped through my phone and checked messages.
He was taunting me, testing me. As badly as I abhorred sexual assault, it'd take more than that for me to show my hand. Not when I'd invested so damn much into my long game. My plan to deal with Chase wouldn't be so simple as splattering his brains all over the pretty floor of Meow Lounge. Nor would it be so quick and painless.
So I swallowed my disgust and kept my calm as he released her and left her to retrieve our drinks from the bar.
"I see some things haven't changed," Zed drawled. "You still can't get women willingly."
Chase barked a sharp laugh. "It's always more fun when they scream and fight back. Isn't that right, Darling? I can still hear your sweet, terror-filled screams like it was just yesterday. Tell me, gorgeous, are you still afraid of the dark?"
I locked down my emotions tight, not allowing even a hint of my true reaction to crack through my expression. Chase wanted me to play his game, and he was shit out of luck.
"Nothing scares me anymore, Chase," I replied in a cool voice, meeting his hungry eye unflinchingly. "Nothing and no one."
He held my gaze for a long moment, a sick smile playing across his lips. "I don't think I believe that, Darling girl. You thought you were so untouchable once before, too. Remember? When really all you needed was the right motivation to scream for me. A bigger monster and blacker darkness." He gave a sexual groan, biting his lip as he reminisced.
I drew a steady breath, desperately clinging to my inner calm and drawing strength from Zed's solid warmth glued to my side. He was keeping quiet, letting me handle Chase, but he also made it abundantly clear that he was more than ready to jump in if I needed him to.
"Is that what you did to Maryanne Green?" I asked, taking a guess. "Made her scream while you got your rocks off, then killed her?"