His Captive, The Unabridged Collection: Billionaire Dark Romance (20 page)

Leaning on one elbow on the bar to keep the room safely stabilized, I let my gaze wander back over the throng. They swayed so dramatically, I felt like I was on the verge of vertigo, or on the verge of being washed into them like a pebble plucked off the sand by the tide.

A large white screen bordered the back end of a raised platform. It glowed softly violet, changing color slowly, brightening almost imperceptibly. As I watched, shadows seemed to appear on it, the silhouettes of dancers with their arms raised, hair tossed, hips swivelling. After a moment, I realized they were back lit, and must be behind the scrim.

Curious, I walked on to the stage and stood, moving my shoulders and swaying in time to the music. The bass was so dense I could feel it thrumming through my whole body. Breathing deeply, I let the music push me back and forth. The shadows on the scrim looked like my backup dancers, I thought with a tiny, private sigh of delight. Even though we were yards apart, I felt utterly connected to the dancers. Their rhythm was my rhythm.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and leaned my head back slightly just to feel everything coming through me. Deliberately pushing any remaining awkwardness aside, I let the music flow. Soon I was swaying and pulsing in time, matching the shapes of the shadow on the wall in my mind. I opened my eyes again to see them, and then caught my breath in my throat, nearly choking.

William stood just inches from me. His arms were crossed over his chest and his chin was lowered. His pale eyes burned from under his knit brow, and a lock of wavy hair fell down to his cheekbone. His expression was so intense, I immediately thought he was furious with me and frantically searched my mind for a reason. Was I in trouble? I felt like a little girl who had been caught stealing candy.

I stood as still as a deer in headlights, waiting for some sign from his expression. What should I do? My mouth opened and closed fruitlessly. It was too loud - he would never hear anything I said anyway. So I just stood there for a few seconds, panicking, and then I shrugged and attempted a charming smile, just like at home.

He cocked his head slightly, as though my smile didn’t make any sense. Then he rocked back a little and his nostrils flared as though he had laughed, maybe just a little. I could have sworn his expression softened. I watched him closely. Was there more? Could we talk? Why was he looking at me like that?

But suddenly he turned on his heel and stalked away. I watched him for a few moments, my heart thundering in my ears. I felt that same intense longing that I used to, the feeling I had worked so hard to crush out of my mind. Whenever William was around, I wanted to fall into him like a magnet. My thighs quivered and I felt the sticky damp of my panties clinging to me. And now he was disappearing around the side of the scrim and it felt like a piece of velcro was being torn off me.

Before I knew what I was doing, I darted after him. Turning around the corner of the screen, I saw the crowd of people and stopped. There were so many of them it took me by surprise. William had disappeared.

I searched the crowd frantically. The dancers had closed ranks and moved like a single being. He was gone. Disappointment flared in me.
What are you doing?
I scolded myself.
Let it go! Don’t follow him!

But then a flash of violet to my left turned my head and I saw him vanishing into a brief void among the dancing bodies. Dashing forward, I tried to fit myself between them before he was gone. It was like chasing the white rabbit. Flesh and fabric pressed against me on all sides as I pushed through. His shoulder appeared, and then disappeared, and I stumbled ahead, trying to keep up.

When I finally reached the other side of the throng, he was nowhere. I searched the bar ahead of me, then glanced backwards and to the sides.

Stop and think!
I commanded myself.
What would you even say to him? Just let it go…

Another flash of blue and violet rounded the bar to my right and I set off after it, temporarily blinded by an intense strobe. Shielding my eyes from the light, I stumbled around the bar and back. It was a dark hallway, leading to a few doors. Trailing my fingers along the wall to keep my bearings, I hurried forward. I came to another corridor on the left and took it abruptly, not knowing where it led but needing at least to try. The mission overtook my mind.

Find him.

But he wasn’t in the hallway and it just seemed to get darker, the longer I walked. Soon even the music was farther away and I could hear the sounds of my own breathing and the clack of my heels against the hard floor. I paused for a moment, holding the wall and panting. How did I get so out of breath?

OK, this is crazy. Just stop now.

Listening to my heart beat, I leaned my head on the wall. It was cool and hard like plaster. I tried to get my bearings and some sanity back into my rushing thoughts.

This isn’t high school, Camille. That’s your stepbrother. Get over it.

Slowly, deliberately, I gathered my composure. I wasn’t a kid anymore with a childish infatuation for the handsome older boy who happened to live in my house, I told myself. I could control this. I needed to get myself together and head back, if I could find my way. Maybe lose myself in the crowd, just dance until all my thoughts lost their words and became just primal notions of music and community. Find some other man and fuck his brains out, finally, just to bust that cherry that was like a constant reminder of something I was saving for someone who would never have it.

That was it. That was a good plan.

But why was he staring at me like that?

Cursing myself, I let out a frustrated sigh and stood straight. This would not ruin my night, I told myself firmly, the way it had ruined so much of high school. I would not let my weird, unrequited obsession take over. I was going to go back out there and dance, and that was that.

With my fingers on the wall, I walked slowly back out the way I had come. My eyes had adjusted to the light but everything looked dim and snowy like a poorly tuned in TV station.

I rounded the corner and stopped dead in my tracks, my breath hitching in my chest. He stood casually against the wall as though he had been waiting for me. When I came around, he raised his jaw slightly. I stood still and waited, fighting an intense vertigo.

He jerked his chin slightly, indicating the hallway I had just exited. Slowly I backed up, but I wouldn’t let him out of my sight. I wanted to make sure he was real, and not just an apparition I had invented.

He stared intensely at me as we entered the corridor. A million thoughts tumbled forward in my mind but I bit them all back, afraid of what I might say if I opened my mouth.

Pivoting slightly, I found myself with my back to the wall. He came closer. His eyes stared intensely at me, almost glowing in the low light. I swallowed, hard, and pressed my palms to the cool wall.

“What are you doing here?” he said finally. His voice was low and sexy and set something burning in the pit of my belly.

I shook my head, unsure what to say.  A thousand thoughts rushed through my brain, including crazy notions from my pussy like
Ask him to touch you! Tell him you want him!

“I asked you a question, Camille,” he said in a low voice.

He stepped closer to me. We were about the same height, I realized, because of my heels. It was strange to meet him eye to eye like this. He had the broad, muscular chest of a college wrestler. His collar was open at the neck and I could see his pulse fluttering between his collarbones. Vaguely I wondered where his tie had gone. Hadn’t he been wearing one? I was almost sure of it.

The low light from sconce above my head gleamed softly off his full lower lip. I swallowed hard. My mouth had gone as dry as sand.

Meeting his eyes was a struggle. Half of me wanted to run away before all my secret thoughts came flying out, and the other half of me wanted to fall forward. I could smell his warm, bourbon breath and the musk from his skin. Breathing deeply, I let his scent fill my nose and mouth like honey.

He came closer to me. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it. I stayed completely still as he lowered his face slightly, nearing my neck. Was he smelling me too?

“What is it you’re looking for, Camille?” he murmured in my ear. My heart flip-flopped.

“I— I was looking for you,” I breathed. It was the truth - I had practically chased him all over the club.

“Looking for me? Why?” He drew back and fixed me again in his intense gaze. All I could do was nod. Words wouldn’t come.

“Tell me.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t.

“Because you want me, Camille?”

You want me, Camille?
The words sounded thrilling coming off his tongue. He said my name. My pussy throbbed in my panties. I nodded tentatively, shocking myself.

“Then you have to say it.”

“What?” I stammered.

“Tell me what you thought of. Tell me what you want.”

My mind raced. I couldn’t just
tell
him. What if he laughed at me? But if I didn’t say anything, I was terrified he would leave this place.

Just tell him
, I urged myself.
Tell him now.

“I— I used to think about you.”

He nodded slowly. “Tell me what you thought about.”

Fear gripped me. How could I say it all? After I worked so hard to suppress it?

“I used to think about us… alone together.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I used to think about you… Taking me.”

“Taking control?” he said in a silky, confident voice.

I shuddered with longing and nodded.
Yes,
I thought.
Yes!

“Like how?” he asked.

I bit my lip as a surge rushed through me. I wanted to touch him. Making me think of all these things was unlocking the desires I had so carefully hidden. But now that he was in front of me, I absolutely pulsed with all that pent-up want.

“I used to think about you… Just taking me. Taking over. Making me yours,” I said in all in a rush, startling myself by my boldness. But it was true. A million times I had imagined him tossing my school books to the side and pinning me against my rumpled bedspread in one of his wrestling holds.

He broke
into a small smile. It seemed like ages before he spoke, but it must have only been a minute. I saw his eyes darting over my body, sizing me up.

“Do you still want that?” he said softly. I nodded.

“No,” he said with a sudden firmness in his tone, as though I was being scolded. “You have to say it.”

“I still want you to,” I answered in a shaky voice.

He nodded. “That’s better.” Leaning back, he flared his nostrils and looked me up and down. “That’s very good.”

Internally, I wriggled like a puppy dog under his praise.

“Turn around,” he said.

“Wh-what?” I stammered.

He crossed his arms and stepped back a couple inches. It felt as though the sun had gone out. I needed him closer and only barely stopped myself from reaching out to him.

“Camille, let’s get something straight here.”

I stared at him.

“Please answer me when I speak to you.”

“Oh… OK,” I said.

“When I ask you to do something, I want you to do it.”

His eyes bored into me.

“Answer me,” he said through gritted teeth.

Terrified I had already displeased him, I quickly nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I— I understand.”

“That’s good,” he said in a calm voice. I felt my fear instantly soothed. “Because I need to know that I can trust you. Can I trust you, Camille?”

“Yes, William,” I said in as clear a voice as I could manage.

He smiled, crinkling his cheeks into two long dimples. I was so filled with gratitude I wanted to lick the stubble from his jaw.

“We’re adults now. There’s nothing to stop us from taking what we want. Do you agree?”

“Yes, William,” I repeated obediently.

He nodded. “That’s good. And you can say no at any time, all right? Simply say the word. You are totally safe with me, Camille. All you have to do is tell me No. Do you understand?”

An edge of fear flickered in my mind. What was he saying? I crushed the feeling. “Yes, William,” I said again.

He leaned forward, brushing his jaw against my cheek. That one, electric moment of contact sent waves of desire through me and I heard a small moan escape my lips.

“Turn around,” he said in a low voice.

I took a deep breath and turned to face the wall as my pulse rushed noisily in my ears.

“Put your wrists over your head,” I heard him say. Obediently, I clasped my hands and put them over my head, leaning against my forearms. The wall sconce above me glowed faintly blue.

“Now widen your feet.”

Trying not to hesitate, I slid my feet shoulder-width apart. The sensation of having my legs spread made me feel instantly vulnerable. That plus being able to only see the wall sent shivers of fear through me. What was he doing? He wasn’t touching me in any way. Was this insane?