16. Laurie

"Get your hands off of him." It was Worth. He'd come to my rescue.

I'd never seen him look so furious. His eyes were pure ice, and his voice was low and full of menace. Maybe he was more like his friends than he thought.

"Fuck off," the man said, "we're just talking."

"He's made it clear that he's not interested."

"And who the hell are you?" the man snarled.

"His protector."

Worth took a step forward. The man let go of me and moved closer to Worth. The stranger was massive, his arms bulging with muscles. Worth might be strong enough to toss me on the bed, but a one-on-one contest with this man couldn't be a good idea.

Fortunately, the club's security guards came to the rescue.

"Is this man causing trouble?" One of them asked Worth.

"All I was doing was dancing," the guy snarled. "Then this asshole comes up and interrupts."

Worth looked at me, obviously wanting me to have the chance to speak for myself. I reached for his hand. He took hold of me and squeezed gently, giving me the courage to find my voice.

"I told him I didn't want to dance with him. He kept talking to me, my…friend came to my defense."

One of the guards motioned to the other two men. "Get him out of here."

They were big men themselves, but they had to fight to get my assailant's arms behind his back so they could cuff him. Once he was restrained, they frog-marched him toward the door.

I turned to Worth and tried to thank him, but the room spun around me, the flashing lights adding to my dizziness.

"Bring him some water," Worth ordered the remaining guard. The man simply nodded and went off to do his bidding. Worth focused on me. "Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you?"

I tried to answer, but I couldn't speak as panic raced through me. "What if you hadn't been here?" I finally managed to say.

"Princess, I'm not going to let you out of my sight. You're mine, and no one is going to hurt you."

I wasn't sure how far the man would've pushed it, but after what I'd been through, I was terrified of any overbearing man.

"Do you want to go home?" Worth asked.

"Not now. I need to sit down."

I took a wobbly step before Worth scooped me up into his arms and carried me to our table. I realized many of the people in the room were staring at us. Some were making swoony faces, a few even clapped. I turned and buried my face against Worth's shoulder as heat filled my cheeks.

He sat me down, and pulled his chair close so he could put his arm around me. "If you're up to it, I'd like to take you back out there and dance with you."

"We…we shouldn't."

"Princess, I can't stay away from you. I don't want to stay away from you. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I don't want only one night from you, I want so much more."

He was right. I shouldn't believe him, but I did. Was it because I felt the same way? Was it because he made me feel magical, made me feel whole and strong? I looked up at him. "I want to believe you. It feels so good when you hold me."

He brushed the backs of his fingers over my cheek.

"I want to hold you all the time. I can't explain it, but I know you're mine. That doesn't mean you can't be exactly who you were meant to be. I don't want to put you in a cage. I want to keep you with me and give you what you need to be yourself."

The dizziness, the fear, the panic all faded away. I downed the water the security guard had brought us, then I stood and took both of Worth's hands in mine. "Let's dance."

I knew better, but I followed Worth without protest. He held me against him, and it felt so fucking good to dance with him, so right. I wasn't less when I was with him like I'd been with Tommy. If anything, I was more. Worth didn't hold me too tight. He let me dance like I wanted to, and he moved with me. The feeling was intoxicating.

I'd had my back to him, but when I turned and he pulled me close, I wrapped my arms around his neck. I don't think either of us made a conscious decision, but suddenly we were kissing. His lips were soft against mine, gentle at first, then hungrier, needier. By the time he pulled away, I had a leg hitched over his hip, and we were working our hips against each other. We stared at each other, both hard and breathless.

"Are you ready to go back to the villa?"

I nodded. "What's going to happen when we get there?"

"What do you want to happen?"

My heart was pounding even harder than it had when I'd danced my fastest. I knew what I wanted, but I also knew why it wasn't a good idea. I had kept so many secrets for so long, hiding what was happening with Tommy, hiding my true self from him and his friends, hiding all my feelings. I didn't want to hide anything anymore, but I also didn't want to risk Beck hating me.

"You don't have to decide right now," Worth said. "Come on. Let's go."

We got our jackets and Worth buttoned up my shirt, took my hand, and led me to the front of the club. Our ride was already there. How did he manage to have everything arranged perfectly and precisely on time? Maybe this was all a dream. I hoped to hell not. I didn't want to lose what I had found.

Worth held my hand in the car, stroking the back of it with his thumb. I looked out the window, glad the ride was short. I wanted to climb onto his lap to straddle him, to kiss him again. I wanted to be wrapped up in him. That was dangerous because I needed to learn to rely on myself.

Worth closed the front door of our villa and turned to face me. I stood, frozen, not sure what I wanted—or rather what I would dare let myself have. The feel of his body against mine on the dance floor had been exquisite and it had brought back every moment of the night before.

"Laurie? What do you want?"

I licked my lips and tried to swallow as my pulse pounded in my ears. My body ached for him. Riding beside Worth in the car with his thigh pressed to mine had gotten me hard again, and now my cock was begging me to pull Worth into my arms and demand he fuck me.

"I don't know."

"I want you. I want to strip off your beautiful clothes, lay you out on the bed, and make you come so hard you see stars, then I want to do it all over again."

"Fuck."

Worth nodded.

"I…We…."

"I know all the reasons why I should send you to bed and not touch you again, but all that really matters is what you want."

The decision was too much. I could listen to my friend and my conscience, or I could take a risk with my heart, my soul, my friendship with Beck, and experience bliss again.

"Kiss me."

Worth closed the distance between us in an instant. I wrapped my arms around him, and in seconds, I was just as desperate for him as I'd been on the dance floor.

His hands dropped to the fastenings of my pants as his tongue thrust into my mouth like he was fucking me with it.

"Worth." I didn't know what I was asking for, but as soon as he closed his hand around my cock, I knew that was it. I wanted his hands on me everywhere. I wanted friction. I wanted to come. "Yes. Please."

"You're so fucking hot. I could spend the rest of our time here in bed with you."

"I might never walk again if we did that."

Worth scoffed. "I could carry you."

"You're incredible."

He worked his hand up and down as I tried to get his pants open, needing to feel his cock against mine. I finally freed him, and he captured us both in his hand, tightening his grip for a hard, rough stroke that made us both groan.

"You feel so fucking good," he said.

"You too. Need you. Need this."

My phone buzzed in my pocket. No one should be calling me now.

"Ignore it," Worth ordered.

I did, but the call came again. "Fuck." I pulled out my phone and saw Beck's name on the screen. He'd texted and called me several times.

"Goddamn it." Worth must have seen the name too. He let me go and stepped away.

I didn't answer the call. No way in hell could I talk to Beck when I was standing in front of his brother with our cocks out.

I sent a text.

Can't talk now. Out dancing.

You're safe?

Yes, Worth is watching out for me.

Call me tomorrow.

Okay.

Good night.

Good night.

I set the phone down on a table by the couch and tried to force air into my lungs.

Worth ran a hand over my hair. "Are you okay?"

My stomach churned, and I prayed I wasn't going to vomit. "Not really. I lied to him. I'd told myself I'd never do that again once I was away from Tommy."

"I think…" Worth blew out a breath. "I think you should go to bed."

I couldn't fuck Worth now, but I hated the thought of sleeping alone. "I'm sorry."

"Beck's the one who interrupted us."

"I know, but…." Was that good or bad? I couldn't decide.

"We have plenty of time to decide what we want to do."

"Worth, I…."

He kissed my cheek and stepped away. "I'll wait."

"I don't know if…."

"Then I'll wait until you do."

He entered his room and closed the door without looking at me again.

Tears burned my eyes as I stumbled to my room, kicked the door closed, and collapsed onto the bed. Why was this so fucking hard?