Page 13 of The Grand Duel
“Have you been drinking?”
Shit. I shake my head.
He watches me carefully. “Have you been to any place like this before?”
“Never,” I tell him, a little nervousness stirring in my gut. “But I’m kind of liking the vibe of it already.”
“Alright.” He nods. “If you want to leave, just tell me. Don’t shit yourself in silence.”
“You have a real way with words, don’t you,” I note.
He doesn’t acknowledge what I’ve said, walking a little further down the hall. When he reaches the closest lit-up room, he stops and watches through the window, emotionless for a couple of seconds before flicking his chin at me to come to him. As I step up next to him, he inches back, putting himself behind me and out of my line of vision.
My heart was already pounding at the possibilities of what I might find up here, but the moment my eyes settle on the window before me, the couple beyond the glass, it erupts into a beat so erratic I struggle to catch my breath. I frown, emptying any air left in my lungs, losing my train of thought as the man’s hand dusts up the back of the woman’s neck, fingers splaying into the roots of her hair. He works her body up and down on his lap, and in a moment of pure unbridled need, I drop my eyes to where their bodies meet.
I’ve never seen two people have sex in the flesh. And although there’s a glass screen between them and me, this—I swallow, trying to wet my now dry mouth—this is so very real. Raw. I can’t look away.
They’re both beautiful, the woman’s hair cascading down her back in soft blonde waves, her body full but toned. It’s not just how beautiful they look, though, it’s them. The way he looks at her as if she’s making his world spin, and the way she touches him as if she doesn’t want it to stop.
There’s tenderness between them.
He leans up and whispers something into her ear, and I lean forward, as if I might be able to hear the words leave his lips. And for some reason, it’s what brings me back down to reality.
The silence around me as she smiles, dipping her head as if his breath tickles her skin, forces me to remember myself and where I am.
I close my eyes and reposition my feet, flustered by them and the heat crawling up my neck.
“You okay?” Christian asks.
Every inch of my body feels like someone has struck a match across it, my pulse is fluttering, and I have an ache, which has been non-existent for months, growing deep down in my pelvis.
I don’t look at Christian. I can’t. “It’s not what I was expecting.” It’s not what I was expecting at all. It’s intimate. Dirty, yet hot. I expected a bad porno, but this… “He’s…I’ve never…”
“Are. You. Okay?” Christian repeats more firmly.
“I’m fine.” I turn to look at him, searching his eyes. “I’m fine, I swear.”
He nods and steps forward, his shoulder brushing mine as he stands with his arms crossed at the chest. “You wanna know what I like about it?”
I swallow. “Tell me.” My eyes follow the couple as they reposition, the tip of the man’s tongue now trailing up the length of the woman’s abdomen.
“One of them works here. The other is a member.”
“What does that matter?” I ask, my heart thumping as the man dips his head. And for some deranged, messed up reason, I want a better look. To be closer. In there.
Why are these strangers making me want to call my ex? Especially when he’s been an ex for over three years—and for good reason.
“Well, tell me, which one is the member?”
I frown, observing them a little more carefully. “I…I don’t know.”
“Exactly. And yet one of them is spending money whilst the other is earning it.”
“It doesn’t feel like it’s about the money.” My chest falls a little deeper, heavier, as his head dips further, the ache between my legs making me heady.
I feel Christian’s eyes on me and meet them, hoping my foundation is doing enough to hide the arousal heating my face. “It’s always about the money, Shoes. Why are you here?”
I drop my gaze to the shoes Edna lent me, knowing if I tell him the truth, I’ll sound like a complete loser. Money is the half-truth. A stupid truth, really, which makes me sound like a stupid, spoiled brat.