Page 13 of Worth Every Game
I nod, and she begins. Her delicate fingers move across the strings, plucking and strumming in a miraculous pattern that weaves a sweet tune throughout the room. I don’t know the song, but the combination of chords has chills running up my spine, and when Elly opens her mouth and starts to sing, goosebumps scatter over every inch of my body.
The sound is so sultry, so low and sweet and intense that I swear her voice filters straight through my ears and directly into my bloodstream.
By the time she crests to the peak of the song I’m convinced that I’m sitting before the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.
How the fuck did I not know she could do this?
I’m barely breathing, held completely captive by Elly and her singing and the notes and her voice, which is like a scrawl of molasses over the carpet between us. I want to sink in it, bathe in it…drown in it.
She strums the last few notes, letting the sound echo in the air before she places her hand on the strings to still them. Neither of us moves.
“This really is surreal,” she mutters.
A gulping affirmative pops in my throat.
Get a grip.
I propel myself off the sofa. I need to get out of here before my dick gets hard. “It’s official.” I fist a hand and press the knuckles to my lips, then release it. “You definitely can’t sing at Nico’s party.”
A scandalised look crosses Elly's face. “Why not?”
“Because everyone in the room is going to want to fuck you. Including Nico.” If the tension wasn’t thick enough before, it increases tenfold. I’m going to fucking choke on it. The colour drains out of Elly’s cheeks. “And that really wouldn’t be fair on Kate.”
She’s staring at me like a startled deer, her blue eyes all wide and…scared?
“I should get going,” I say, edging towards the door.
Her brows draw together, and she continues to stare at me as I move away. I’m convinced she’s not going to say a word, not even goodbye, when she speaks. “Hey, Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not real. What you’re feeling right now… it’s not real. It’s just the music.”She knows. “It wears off a few minutes after the song is over.”
I want to tell her that I’ve listened to a lot of music, and I’ve never felt like this before. But instead, I say, “So I can go ahead and growl, then?”
If she looked scared before, she looks worse now. Blotches of colour appear on her throat, rising up her neck, and she presses a hand to her cheek. “Gosh. No. Don’t do that.”
She’s flustered.Seeing her that way, and knowing I caused it, thrills me so much that I have to smother the grin that tugs at my mouth. “Okay. But you should probably keep those slippers on until you hear me drive away, just in case.”
I don't hang around to hear her response because, honestly, I might be a little fucking flustered too.
4
ELLY
The minute the door closes, I’m acutely aware of the pounding of my heart. I’d been joking when I’d told Jack he’d want to fuck me after he heard me sing. Winding him up. Teasing him. Maybe even flirting… but the look on his face when I finished was… frightening. Like if I’d given him the go-ahead, he would have torn me apart with his bare hands.
I’ve never been looked at like that before. It was so carnal. Soanimalistic. So different to the way Jack normally looks at me, and Ilikedit.
And to tease me about the growling.Dear Lord.I wish I’d never mentioned it. If any kind of deep, manly, rumbling sound had come out of his mouth at that moment, I would probably have jumped up to lock the door and not let him leave until…
Until what? What the hell am I thinking?
I’ve never spent any time alone with Jack until tonight. I barely even know him, really. He’s Kate’s older brother who appears at parties every so often, flirts with everyone in the room, and then leaves with some beautiful woman dangling off his arm.
I set down my guitar and tune into the pounding of my heart, and the steady beat of my pulse that I can feel right in my core.
I know I shouldn’t, but I slide my hand into the waistband of my pyjamas. I close my eyes, praying a futile prayer that maybe Jack Lansen hasn’t turned me on.