Rival Page 49

And then I was his.

A shudder ran through me, and I felt the dampness between my legs immediately. His heat on my lips made me hungry.

He sucked in a breath and whispered, “Because I like the way you taste, okay?”

His mouth took mine once more, covering it with heat and command like he knew exactly how my body worked and what it needed.

Hell, yes.

I pushed into him, kissing him back as his arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me up into his mouth.

Hard.

I threaded my fingers across the back of his neck and moved my tongue into his mouth, massaging and tasting him. It was just us. Just this.

His lips moved across mine, going in deep, his tongue working mine, flicking out again and again to rub over my ring. He devoured me. He drew my bottom lip between his teeth, and a moan escaped me as I squeezed my eyes against the sweet pain.

Not that it hurt at all. Just kissing him, touching him, inhaling him was too much. It was like an overload on my body, and the pleasure made me want to cry out. His fingers dug into my back, and I could feel his erection through his jeans.

God, what are we doing? We were on a crowded dance floor. He had a girl with him! Jared, Tate, and Jax were probably either trying not to watch or had left already. Opening my eyes for a second, I noticed that no one was watching us though. The couples around us were focused on themselves.

“Madoc,” I barely spoke, my voice almost like a cry.

He pulled his face away, cupping my cheeks and keeping us nose to nose. We were both panting.

“I want to be inside you,” he groaned, and I thought back to our night at the skate park in the rain. “But . . .” He straightened up and dropped his hands, “I’m not going to.”

His voice was flat, void of any of the heat that was there just a minute ago.

And he walked away.

CHAPTER 20

MADOC

I almost abandoned my whole plan the minute I held her in my arms, the second I touched her lips, the instant she moaned my name.

But there was no way in hell I was going to watch her walk again. No, not this time. I’d be the one to leave.

And the corner of my mouth turned up as I made my way through the crowd. She was as stiff as an ice cube when I took her from Aidan, and then she’d melted like liquid in my arms. Now she was a puddle all over the dance floor.

I am the man.

Who cares that she looked like sex standing up on that stage? Or that I’d been a little jealous when Aidan started dancing with her? Or ready to kill him when I caught sight of his hand inside the back of her shirt?

Fuck him, and f**k her.

“Fuck you!” Ashtyn screamed at me as I came back to the table. I saw her rear her hand back, and I ducked out of the way just before her hand would’ve landed across my cheek.

“Seriously?” I held up my hands, laughing. “Calm down. It was just a joke.”

I guessed she’d seen the kiss.

“You’re an ass**le!” she shouted and stomped out of the bar.

People around us chuckled, including Jax, while Jared shook his head and Tate scowled.

“Oh, please,” I begged sarcastically. “You missed me, and you know it.”

Tate rolled her eyes and stood up, straightening her shirt. “I thought I did.” Looking around, she sighed. “You boys play nice. I’m going to go dig Fallon out of the bathroom.”

I didn’t know how Tate saw her head to the back of the bar through the clusters of people, but she was up and gone in no time, pushing through dancers, in search of her friend. Taking a seat, I downed the rest of my beer and lurched forward when Jax slapped me on the back.

“You’re not going after either one of them?” he asked, locking his fingers behind his head and leaning on the back legs of the chair.

“Tate and Fallon?” I peered over at him. “I think they can take care of each other.”

“No, I meant Fallon or Ashtyn. Isn’t Ashtyn your girlfriend?”

Girlfriend. The word made me want to dunk my head in mud and not come up for air until I was dead.

“No.” I looked back to the dance floor. “When do I have girlfriends?”

I locked eyes with Jared across the table, and he didn’t speak. He said enough with his eyes, though.

He knew something was going on, and he knew I was off the rails. But like a good friend, he didn’t feel the need to state the obvious.

Just knowing he was there, and that he got it, helped.

I caught sight of Tate’s red T-shirt coming out of the crowd, and I sat up straight when I noticed that she was alone.

“Well,” she sighed, putting her hands on her hips, “I guess we can head out. I’m done for the night.”

She smiled down at Jared, a look going on between them that said they weren’t done for the night. But I was confused.

“Where’s Fallon?” I asked.

Tate busied herself, slinging her purse across her chest, barely meeting my eyes. “Oh, Fallon? Yeah, she’s . . . I guess . . . heading out to another bar with that guy that was sitting here before. What was his name? Aidan?”

Anger radiated out of my pores, and my eyebrows pinched together painfully.

“What?” What the f**k?

Tate finally looked my way and fixed her lips into a thin line, looking like it was no big deal. “Yeah.” She shrugged. “I went to grab her from the bathroom, and she was chatting with him in the hall. They headed out the back way.”

I pushed out of my seat, glaring at Tate.