20

If we were meant to be alone, we wouldn’t have been given two hands.

One to sustain me, the other to cherish you.

Raziel led them past the line of guests waiting outside and strode directly to the front, his long legs cutting through the crowd with ease.

Some people in line protested, but as soon as they noticed the mask covering Raziel’s face, their objections quickly faded, and they found somewhere else to direct their attention.

Women openly ogled Takeshi as he prowled forward with his head held high. One woman, with platinum blonde hair cascading in ringlets to her waist, wearing a nearly transparent black mesh dress, reached out to grab his elbow.

“Hey, baby,” she cooed, “Dance with me inside?”

Something hot coiled in Khalani’s chest.

Must be remnants of the strong alcohol.

Takeshi didn’t respond to the woman. He barely glanced her way. He simply wrenched his arm free with a look of disgust and continued walking, leaving the woman’s jaw dangling open.

Khalani couldn’t stop the small grin tugging at her lips, even if her life depended on it.

When they reached the velvet red rope, Raziel whispered into the ear of one of the guards. He seemed to pass something quickly, but Khalani couldn’t catch what it was. The guard, visibly paler, nodded at Raziel and unclipped the rope, letting them through.

She nervously entered a narrow hallway lit only by a line of fiery torches on either side. The air was thick with smoke that swirled and pulsed with each groan of the deep bass that reverberated along the black walls and pounded inside her chest. Khalani hesitated, worried about a potential fire, but Raziel strode confidently ahead.

The music grew louder and louder as she continued to follow him through the tight, dark space.

When the smoke cleared, they stood in a vibrant, grand room with glass-topped bars lining the perimeter and multiple bartenders serving the throngs of revelers. At the center, a massive dance floor was packed with hundreds of people.

The air was humid, dripping with condensation.

Several cages hung from the ceiling, each containing women in lingerie, shifting and arching in an intricate, sexual dance that had multiple men and women in the room glancing upward, lust heavy in their gazes.

Hanging in the back of the club was a large bronze statue. It depicted a man wearing a suit with outstretched arms, as if he were rousing everyone in the room to stand and worship him.

A chill crawled up her spine.

“Who’s that?” she asked Raziel, her voice barely rising above the music.

Raziel followed her gaze. “That’s Milo Hendrix. He founded the first casino here a couple hundred years ago and helped shape Hermes to what it is today. When he died, the city took over his casino and businesses, but his legacy remains.” He dismissed the statue with a nod and turned to the bar. “Let’s grab a drink.”

She felt Raziel move but her eyes remained locked on the statue. Something about Milo Hendrix seemed familiar.

His inanimate, handsome face smiling over the dancing, sweaty crowd. His outstretched arms reminding her of someone else she met. Someone—

“Kanes.” Takeshi tugged on her arm, pulling her out of her trance.

He flicked his head to the bar, where Raziel was already engaged in conversation with the bartender, who nodded vigorously, sweat beading on his forehead.

When they walked over, Raziel handed them tiny clear glasses filled to the brim with a blue, smoky liquid.

“What’s in this?” she shouted.

“It’s a shot.”

Her eyes bugged out. “An actual bullet is in here?”

Takeshi glared at Raziel, who let out a heavy sigh, like he was dealing with mindless children.

“It’s just a small drink to loosen you both up.” He leaned closer, pulling their shoulders together so no one else could hear. Khalani tried to pull away, but Raziel’s grip was surprisingly firm.

“In case you two forgot,” Raziel continued, “You’re supposed to be a young couple, married and in love. You two look like you’re about to fling the other off a balcony and are so tense that even my blade would have trouble slicing through. If you’re going to convince the Dealers that you’re indeed the Davenhues, you need to act the part and drink what I give. Especially you.”

“Me?” Khalani reared back. “What did I do?”

“Your face is as gaunt as a playing card, sweetness. Just swallow that down and act like you’re enjoying yourself. Remember, this might be your last drink for a while.” Raziel raised his glass in a mock toast before sliding it under his mask and downing the contents.

She held the shot nervously, glancing at Takeshi who simply stared at her, waiting.

“Aren’t you going to tell me to stop?” she tested.

“Would you listen?”

Fair point.

She raised the glass to her lips, making a soft noise in the back of her throat as she swallowed the liquid in one gulp. Surprisingly, the drink had a sweet aftertaste following the initial burn. Her tongue brushed over her lips, and she felt her muscles release their tension.

Okay, this wasn’t so bad.

Her entire life in Apollo had been about suppressing desires and serving the underground city with unwavering loyalty. She’d snuffed her feelings to the point where she convinced herself they no longer existed.

But this night might be Khalani’s only chance to reclaim those parts she’d lost.

And if they were about to enter captivity, a few hours of freedom to release her inhibitions might not be terrible.

“Can I have another?” she asked Raziel, a little too eager.

Raziel raised a brow, but a glint of amusement danced in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. The bartender quickly appeared and handed Khalani another smoky glass. Raziel offered one to Takeshi, but he held up his hand, declining.

“You’re not going to keep drinking?” she asked Takeshi, who just shook his head, leaning against the bar while his lethal gaze swept the room, assessing every exit and potential threat.

“You’re no fun,” she grumbled, but Takeshi either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her.

After her fourth round, Khalani’s limbs definitely felt looser.

A tingly sensation rose from her fingertips and everything around her seemed to glow a little brighter. She instinctively swayed to the rhythmic beat and turned her attention to the dance floor.

Bodies shifted against one another like splashes of water. The movement was enticing, and the music pounding against her skin was like nothing she’d heard before.

A woman’s sultry voice began to sing over the speakers. Something about her hypnotic words and thumping bass made Khalani want to join the others on the floor.

In fact, she was going to do just that.

“I’m going to dance,” she declared, not asking for permission.

Takeshi’s head whipped toward her, but Raziel merely chuckled and set down his drink. “Go on ahead. I need to have a quick word with your friend. We’ll watch you from over here.”

Takeshi’s jaw clenched, about to argue, but she wasn’t going to stand around and wait for his inevitable objection. She pivoted on her heels and headed straight for the crowd.

The alcohol warmed her stomach as she maneuvered through the guests, all of them lost in the melodic rhythm. Finding an opening in the center of the floor, Khalani finally stopped.

Elated men and women surrounded her, grinding with partners, pushing their bodies together as if they could become one being.

The air was hot and heavy. Her eardrums felt ready to burst from the beat, and her heart pumped faster. For a moment, she considered returning to the bar, but she steeled herself, letting her body be present.

Feeling the music. Letting the scents invade her nose and her vision absorb everything around her.

Khalani felt her body sway side to side. Her arms slowly uncrossed from her chest. Her fingers began to tap against her thigh in time with the rhythm.

“I know you don’t want me, baby. But I can hold myself better than you.”

The woman’s voice sang over the speaker, and the crowd started to sing, knowing every word, tilting their heads back as if the music was an extension of their souls.

“And I’m better off now, my love. Too bad I can’t say the same for you.”

Khalani’s grin widened as she embraced the freedom around her. Her hips swayed more. Her shoulders loosened.

A short girl in a tight blue dress smiled at her, her eyes bright with encouragement while a man kissed her neck from behind. Khalani lifted her arms, closing her eyes as she surrendered to the erotic beat.

For the first time in memory…she was having fun.

And the thought that made her smile even wider?

Winnie would be proud.

An unknown person approached from behind, placing their hands on her waist. She immediately tensed and turned.

A man with blond hair and a captivating smile stood behind her. He pulled her hips closer, encouraging her to dance with him.

Her first impulse was to push him away, but she forced herself to relax. This was her one night to be a different version of Khalani. She could lose herself in the music like the other girls dancing around her, unburdened by the weight of survival.

She pressed her backside into the stranger, letting herself be free.

Khalani didn’t necessarily enjoy the way his fingers gripped her waist or the hot breaths in her ear, but she closed her eyes, pretending it was someone else.

Suddenly, the man behind her was ripped away.

A loud, powerful punch cut through the music, and before she could react, a stronger, taller figure came up behind her.

Goosebumps prickled her skin despite the heat of the room.

The newcomer’s left hand gently cupped her neck, his thumb resting behind her ear, while his right hand pulled her back against him.

She didn’t need to look to know who it was. Even blindfolded, she would recognize Takeshi by his touch alone. No one else was built like him or radiated this chaotic energy that pulled you in before he carved you apart.

Get another drink, the logical part of her brain said. Get some fresh air. Distance herself from the one person who could eviscerate what was left of her fragile heart. She knew Takeshi would let her go the second she asked him to stop.

But every place his fingers brushed felt as though her skin had never been touched there before. As if her body were a desert to explore.

The music echoed louder in her chest, and she swayed back and forth.

“And you know they can’t stop staring at me. But my eyes were made to look at you.”

His fingers spread across her lower stomach, guiding her movements with his hips.

“They never believed in us, baby. I dare you to make a believer out of me, too.”

Her hands stretched to the ceiling as Takeshi grasped her elbows and pulled them behind his neck, fastening her to him. His head bent, and she felt his lips trail gently across her skin.

They didn’t need to speak. Their bodies whispered for them.

As if dancing were another way of saying, ‘Hide from the world with me.’

She let her head fall back against him as he held her close, moving his hand down the front of her body. His strong fingers glided past her exposed collarbone, lingered around her breast, and traced a path down her stomach to the hem of her dress.

She breathed faster, the constant, resonant beat matching her racing heart. Everyone disappeared around them, like they were the only ones standing beneath the surface of the Earth.

Her eyes fluttered open as Takeshi’s fingers moved under her red dress. In front of everyone.

She initially glanced around, a terrifying exhilaration taking over her body, but no one was paying attention. The lights dimmed, and the crowd was lost in their own world of desire and bliss.

Takeshi’s deft fingers hypnotically slid back and forth on her upper thigh. Though the dress still covered her, she felt naked to him, nearly groaning as his finger moved slightly higher, teasing against her skin.

Every moment of pleasure she’d ever experienced couldn’t compare to the thrill and heat she felt in that moment. Takeshi’s mouth grazed her ear, his soft tongue sliding against her, and she bit her lip. When his strong hand gripped her thigh, her neck craned back.

Go higher, she nearly begged.

His touch was an electric current burning her alive. Erasing every previous lover from memory—completely ruining her for any other man.

His fingers caressed her neck, and he whispered in her ear, “Breathe for me, Kanes.”

Her breath hitched as his nails gently scraped against her upper thigh.

She pressed her hips back, arching against him, indifferent to who surrounded them. Raziel was probably watching them from the bar right now, but they were lost in a universe of their own making.

“If I touched you right now, what would I find?” Takeshi whispered. She licked her lips, her mind too scrambled to answer.

“Tell me, Kanes. How soaked are you for me?” His teeth tugged the end of her ear.

She gasped, her core on fire. Khalani was certain that at any moment she’d melt at his feet like a burning candle.

So, she pushed him further. “Not in the slightest.”

His chuckle was laced with darkness, his index finger gradually moving up her thigh, tracing higher and higher.

“I want to put my head between your thighs and swallow all your decadent lies.”

Her lips parted.

The human language shouldn’t be so dirty.

So capable of obliterating every sentence that came before.

“Tell me one more thing, Kanes. Tell me that you’re not mine.” Takeshi’s voice lowered, taking on a rougher edge, as if the same anarchy that coursed through her veins flowed into him.

Takeshi embodied the ruin in her life. But he didn’t make her want to run. No. He helped her embrace the terror.

Ignoring Takeshi was like running from the sun.

You could hide from it, but its light would always live on the surface, waiting to burn and show you the boundaries of the world.

She clung to her last thread of sanity and said, “I’m not yours.”

Takeshi tilted her head to look at him, cupping her chin between his thumb and forefinger. She lost herself in a sea of black, when he said,

“I’ll let you keep thinking that.”

She gasped as his finger touched her exactly where she wanted and his mouth found hers, devouring her next breath. Their lips melted together, and his tongue stretched out, dancing with hers like the melody that wrapped around them. His left hand gently gripped her neck, and his right index finger rubbed a circle between her legs, showing her without words whom she belonged to.

And he was right. Khalani was soaked.

She tightened her hands around his neck and kissed him back with equal abandon. The world could’ve ended in a blaze of fire and terror, and she would’ve still clung to Takeshi, letting her mouth express what she’d been too afraid to voice.

She must’ve had a similar effect on Takeshi because he groaned and pulled her closer.

Fuck…he knew what he was doing with his mouth. And his hands.

She was convinced that when God created Takeshi, He accidently poured an entire bottle of attractiveness over him and muttered, “Shit.”

Takeshi pulled away, just enough for them to breathe, but he still held her tight, reluctant to let go. The shadows in his eyes intensified, like he wanted to hijack time and extend this moment forever.

Suddenly, Raziel appeared at their side, glancing at Takeshi with a knowing smile, clapping him on the back.

“Well done, Takeshi. You played your part perfectly. Couldn’t have done it better myself.”