Chapter 73 - 75
The sentiment erases my frown as Vance takes my hand, spinning me into an effortless twirl. Laughter bursts from my chest as we fall into a spirited rhythm, moving together like kindred spirits existing beyond this plain—transcendent from time. The crowd, the pounding music, the heavy air—all of it dissolves. I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard, the kind that makes my stomach ache. It feels reckless and free, like dancing on the edge of a precipice, daring the world to pull me back or push me over.
"You dance like a politician at a rally," Vance teases, his grin crooked and charming, his voice giddy with the haze of the moment.
"And you dance like you’re about to go into cardiac arrest," I counter, breathless and grinning.
We collapse into laughter, leaning into each other, our bodies shaking with unbridled joy. But then the music shifts, the beat slowing into something sultry, a rhythm that curls around us like smoke. Vance doesn’t hesitate; his hands find my waist as he draws me closer. His presence is magnetic, almost disarming, and I find myself unable to meet his gaze. My pulse thrums beneath my skin, caught in a dangerous current.
"Mind if I cut in?"
The words pierce through the moment like a jagged blade. A hand grips mine, spinning me out of Vance’s grasp and straight into Landen. His movements are smooth as he slides my arms over his shoulders. He grins, his smug confidence burning into me, but it’s the weight of Vance behind me that sends the world tilting.
Vance doesn’t back away. Instead, he closes in, his hands gripping my hips firmly, possessively, pulling me flush against him. My balance falters, and I fall into his hold, my head tipping back to rest against his shoulder. His lips brush the column of my neck, feather-light kisses whispering to my collarbone. I can’t see him, but I feel him—his arousal, his presence, his heat, the way his eyes flick upward to challenge Landen.
Landen steps closer, his smirk unwavering as he leans in. His face dips into the crook of my other shoulder, his breath searing against my skin as his lips trail a heated path upward, my head forced straight as each brother claims his side.
A lance of clarity slices through the haze like ice water on my overheated senses. I wrench myself free, the sudden loss of their touch a sharp contrast to the heat that still lingers. My breath comes in ragged gasps as I stumble away, disoriented and appalled. My skin feels alight with confusion and shame, and yet, beneath it all, the remnants of the haze refuse to let me go.
One shot. That’s all I had, and yet the room tilts and sways as if I’ve had a dozen. My hands tremble as I push through the crowd, desperate to escape the suffocating mix of desire and betrayal.
I would never do—allow such a thing—but why did I?
I go for the entrance but Alec obstructs my path with an obnoxious laugh. "Leaving so soon?" he asks with a shark-like grin, clear that he has no intention of letting me leave.