Vik (Shot Callers 2)

No. Six shots later, I was caught up with the girls, and a cozy thrum vibrated in and around me. My head felt light, my eyes grew heavy, and the longer I peered at the aloof man in the jeans that did nothing to hide his size, the closer I pushed into him.

His chin dipped, and although his expression came off as hollow, the heat in his gaze gave him away and warmed my anxious stomach.

This thing I was feeling… this sticky, relentless desire… it had to be mutual. It just had to be. I know this, because when his heavy brows lowered at the sight of my cleavage as I leaned over the bar to place another order, he pulled me back slightly into him. I felt the front of him press into my spine. The heat of his body had my nipples budding. The fabric of his shirt against the bare skin of my neck was overwhelmingly stimulating.

His warm breath heated the shell of my ear. “Get any action tonight?”

A muted grin stretched my mouth.

Was he jealous?

He sounded jealous.

There were so many ways I could respond to that. I could lower my eyes and shake my head submissively. I could be cool and aloof, showing him that I didn’t much care for his asking. Or maybe I would tell him I had, just to screw with him. But when I turned leisurely, making sure my body swept against the length of his in a most tantalizing way, I tilted my head to look up at his gorgeous, brooding face and almost choked on my tongue. I found I didn’t have the will to mess with him tonight.

His open palm touched the curve of my hip, kneading and caressing the flesh through the thin fabric of my dress with a tenderness that made my chest ache, and I wanted to rub up against him lazily, in a most feline way.

His bored scrutiny spoke loudly. He wanted an answer; that much was clear.

Of all the things I could have said, that I should have said, I chose the truth.

My eyes dropped to his tight grip on my hip. I returned my gaze to him before slowly searching the dark shadows of his face. He looked drained. “Not from the person I wanted.”

A moment passed between us. Heavy, suffocatingly so.

“Oh yeah?” His glacial inspection of my pouty mouth had my tongue swelling.

It was hard to speak. I breathed out, “Yeah.”

Vik turned to block my body from the others, the large hand at my waist rounding slowly to rest on the curve of my ass, his fingertips burning a trail over my skin.

Damn near breathless, I blamed what I said on the alcohol.

I moved with meaning. Placing a gentle hand on his stomach, I toyed with the buttons there and felt his abs twitch in response. “Come home with me.”

I wasn’t a complete moron. I knew sex wouldn’t solve our problems, but we were both consenting adults, and I was feeling it. Could I have looked for some unnamed Joe and fucked it out? Sure, I could. But I didn’t want sex with anyone but Vik. Being intoxicated made me brave enough to admit that.

A pained look crossed his face, and then he groaned, and it was a sound so familiar—from a time when an identical groan was triggered by my release and how well my body milked him—that I bit my lip and slid a hand down my body to cup myself. His eye flashed, and he gripped my wrist hard, stopping me from reaching my center.

“Baby, don’t.” His words were harsh but his eyes regretful. “If you weren’t drunk, we wouldn’t even make it that far.” Leaning in, he kept his heated look on me, his voice rough. “I’d take you back to my car, sit you down on my cock, and make your ass bounce ’til you cream.”

My full lips parted at the explicit scene that flashed in my mind.

Oh God, I wanted that. I wanted it so bad. Now. Right now. Let’s go.

My expression must have been eager, because Vik’s lips thinned, and when he shook his head, my insides shriveled, then died of mortification. “Not gonna happen. Not tonight.”

Not tonight?

Oh God. This was the first time he’d ever turned me down. Humiliation fell over me like thick black tar.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, his tone severe but his eyes soft. “I’m not gonna take advantage of you, kiska, no matter how badly you want it. This is what you wanted, Nas. Space.”

Was it?

Sure. Only now that I had it, I hated the distance between us. It was cold and lonely in that space I so desired. I felt isolated without him. Deserted. Abandoned.

It felt unnatural. Just… wrong. Like part of my heart left me.

Oh shit. Don’t you dare, Nas. My eyes prickled. Don’t you dare cry.