I had to swallow the lump in my throat. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
A throat clearing behind me broke us apart, and I turned to find Ian awaiting introductions, all humor and jokes missing from his eyes.
“Jake, you know Ian. And Ian, this is Jackson.”
Handshakes and congratulations were exchanged. Ian was stiff, and as soon as his hand left Jackson’s, it went to my waist, pulling me close to his side.
“Make sure you save a dance for me,” Jackson said.
“We’ll see if I let this wild woman out of my arms,” Ian joked, but a hard edge cloaked the light words.
A part of me wanted to be embarrassed about how possessive he was acting when we weren’t even a couple, but in that moment, it felt good to have someone to be possessive over me. Even if it wasn’t real.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Jake said. His eyes flicked between the two of us before giving me a knowing smile. Except he didn’t know. Because Ian and I weren’t a couple.
Ian led me to the table only to set our glasses down before pulling me out on the dancefloor.
He twirled me out, my silver silk dress flowing around my legs, before pulling me back into his chest.
“I may have to do that again so that I can see the peep show again.”
I scoffed. “That was hardly a peep show. At most, a thigh.”
“The most delicious thigh I’ve ever seen.”
Biting my lip, I held back a sigh, heat blooming on my cheeks at his compliment. My dress was a floor-length wrap that—when moved the right way—exposed a slit that reached my upper thigh.
“You look beautiful,” he said smoothly, holding me so close to him, I could feel the words rumble in his chest.
“You don’t look too bad yourself. Your silver tie matches your eyes perfectly.”
“I was just trying to match you. I wanted it to be like prom night all over again. Sorry, I forgot the corsage,” he joked.
We settled into a comfortable silence and moved around the other couples on the dancefloor. We were in a long stretch of slow songs and the way his thighs brushed against mine, the way his shoulders flexed deliciously under my touch, they could have played slow songs all night.
Something about the comfort of his arms around me, or the way he saw the hurt that still lingered, had me confessing. “It’s my fault, you know,” I said, staring into his chest. “It’s my fault that he left me.”
When he laughed, I looked up to find one eyebrow arched high. “How’s that?” he asked.
Slicking my tongue across my lips, I took a deep breath, about to admit what only the three of us knew. “I invited Jackson into our bed.” Ian gave barely any reaction beyond that arrogant, all-knowing eyebrow lowering. “I could feel the distance between Jake and me. Or maybe it was harder to lie to myself about the fact that we were just friends, staying together because it was comfortable. But it was my crazy plan to have him join us in the hopes of masking it all with sex.”
“You had a threesome?” Now both his eyebrows shot high.
“For a while.”
“So, this wasn’t a one-time thing. A wild night?”
“No,” I said slowly, waiting for the judgment.
Like the Cheshire Cat, his lips curled up, and his silver eyes turned charcoal. “You dirty girl.”
I was so shocked by his reaction, a bark of laughter escaped, and I looked around to see if anyone noticed. But it was still just us like we were in our own bubble.
The smile slipped, and his eyes turned serious, his hands tightening on my waist. “It’s not your fault, Carina. He made those decisions when he could have said no.”
I hadn’t had anyone to really talk about the breakup with. Not the real reason or the part I played in our demise, and until now—with Ian staring down at me, looking more serious than I’d ever seen him—I hadn’t realized how much I needed someone to say those words to me. His hands tightened around my waist, slowly creeping closer to my ass. They were so large they almost spanned from the curve of my bottom to my shoulder blades. Leaning down to make sure I couldn’t look away, his chest brushed mine and my nipples pebbled from the contact.
“And just so you know,” he growled, his tone full of possession. “I would never, ever, share you. You would belong to me and only me. I’d take care of you, fill you up, so there was no room for anyone else in our bed.”
Everything faded as I stared into his eyes, my chest heaving over my panting breaths. I tried to swallow the desire burning through my veins at his words. Had there ever been anyone that had looked at me so wholly, I knew they couldn’t see anyone else? Heat bled through my chest, down my abdomen and sinking into my core where it throbbed. I rubbed my legs side to side, and the ache felt impossible to ignore. It consumed me.
I twisted out of his arms and latched onto his hand, dragging him behind me to grab my purse and head out the doors to the lobby. I didn’t say goodbye or acknowledge anyone staring. My pulse pounded with a need I couldn’t pretend didn’t exist anymore.
Ian caught on to my plan and muttered, “Oh, fuck yes.”
Then he was the one leading me, dragging me past people lingering in the sitting areas staring at the couple damn near running through the hotel.
He pushed through a door, and I saw the men’s bathroom sign before he dragged me inside. He checked the stalls and locked the door.
I was in the middle of the large bathroom when he turned to face me. He prowled across the room, his dark suit doing nothing to mask the power and command underneath.
When he reached me, he didn’t hesitate, he gripped my ass and hoisted me up, turning and walking to set me down on the counter.
As soon as I was steady, he attacked my mouth. Our lips clashed, and our tongues fought for dominance. I buried my hands in his hair and held him to me, not even wanting to come up for air. But I had to pull back to gasp when his fingers slid into my panties and tore through the thin lace at my hips.
Ian, the consummate jokester, towered over me with the promise of domination, and I was ready to submit. He tugged the underwear free and shoved them in his pocket as he sank to his knees, shoving mine apart.
The skirt of my dress was pushed to my hips, and cold air caressed my wet folds. I almost jerked off the counter when a rough finger slid from my clit to circle my opening.
“Such a pretty pussy. So wet.” I held my breath as his head lowered, and he dragged an illicit tongue from below my opening up to circle my bundle of nerves.
“Is all this wetness for me? Do I make your cunt wet and beg for more?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
His smirk was the last thing I saw because as soon as his mouth latched on to my pussy, my eyes rolled back in my head, and I did nothing but feel.
Feel the way he sucked on each fold. Feel the way his tongue pushed in and out of me as his thumb circled my clit. Feel the way he bit at the tender flesh as two fingers slid into me slowly. Feel the way they curled as he sucked me to one of the best orgasms I’d ever had. I was biting my palm, barely holding back my screams when he eased me back to earth.
He peppered kisses everywhere he could reach from his crouched position.
“Carina.”
Just my name and I knew I’d used my last life. There was no more pretending this wasn’t happening. And right then, in the men’s bathroom of my ex-fiancé’s wedding, I didn’t want to.