If I’d Known (Cursed 1)

I nod.

"Vic, stay the fuck away from us," Nina threatens.

We move past him, his dark eyes following us as we enter a dimly lit stairwell. A giant pink neon arrow points up, so we do as instructed and climb the stairs. I feel the bass pounding above us before I can hear the music. On the next level, a green neon star marks a red door. As soon as Joey opens it, we're engulfed by electronic beats and lasers cutting across the room.

We step inside. The door falls shut behind us as we stare in wordless wonder. I've never been to anything like this before. I can't move for a minute, needing to take it all in. The entire space is surrounded by large screens, displaying images and colors pulsing to the music. The DJ is at the far end on an elevated stage--a bouncing silhouette between a lit booth and a wall of screens. It's what I imagine a club in Vegas or LA would be like. And to think they set this up for one night in an abandoned building is beyond insane.

"I can't believe I'm here," I utter in awe.

Everywhere I look, people are dancing, even along the mezzanine that wraps around the upper level.

Joey turns to me, his eyes lit with excitement. "Ready?" He offers me his hand, eager to get lost in the crowd.

I laugh. "Yes." Taking his outstretched hand, I let him navigate us toward the stage.

I glance over my shoulder to make sure Nina, Lincoln and Tori are behind us.

"Go!" Nina yells after me, still by the door.

When I realize they aren't following, I pull Joey back toward them.

"We'll find you after we go to the bar."

"Will you hold my jacket then?" I ask her, already feeling too warm. Shrugging out of it, I toss it to Nina before they disappear in the opposite direction.

Joey clasps my hand again, and within a few feet, we're swallowed up by the crowd of jumping, swaying and grinding bodies.

When we're completely immersed somewhere in the middle of the madness, he turns to me and places his hands on my hips, drawing me to him. "We'll get a drink in a little while. I've needed this all night."

I drape my hands over his shoulders and lose myself to the bass, rolling with the wave of intoxication that has finally taken over. With his hands gripping my hips, Joey guides our bodies until they're moving in unison. He's really good at this. Maybe too good because I'm so overwhelmed by the feel of him against me that everyone else disappears. His hands glide from my hips to the small of my back, pressing me firmly against him. If we were any closer, we'd dissolve into each other.

I've never wanted a guy this badly before. Then again, a guy's never made me feel like this before. My body responds to his slightest touch. My pulse quickens every time his voice rumbles low in my ear. I'm held captive by him--willingly. I could seep into his skin and lose myself.

Joey dips his head down and slides his mouth along my neck. I draw in a quick breath. When he reaches my lips, he breathes against them, continuing to tease and torment me. I close my eyes, needing to taste him, but he refuses to kiss me. I exhale slowly, unraveling.

A few songs later, a tap on the shoulder wakes me from my Joey-induced haze. Tori is standing next to us with Lincoln and Nina dancing behind her. We separate to include them. Nina hands me a bottle of water with a knowing wink, and I could kiss her. My mouth is so dry, it's like I've swallowed sand.

Every so often Joey brushes his hand against mine, playfully interlacing our fingers. I know he's trying not to give Tori a reason to throw her drink on him. But it's too hard for us to resist. We're overcome with a compulsion to touch. Within a song, he surrenders to the pull, moving in close behind me. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he trails his hand down my side. Our bodies ease together in a fluid, singular motion.

"I think I need a drink," Joey murmurs in my ear before tasting the sweat on my neck.

I squeeze his hands on my hips. "Yeah, me too." I look to Tori and Nina. "Bar?"

They nod and we cut through the crowd to the other end of the open space.

Just when the dancers start to thin out, we run into a wall of people waiting to order drinks at the glowing square bar.

"There you are!" I look back to see a hand on Joey's shoulder. "I thought I told you to stay downstairs when you got here and I'd come give you your keys."

I turn to find Parker Harrison standing before us.

Parker and Joey may look alike in many ways, but while Joey's disheveled and sexy, Parker's polished and powerful. Joey's hair is displaced from raking his fingers through it, and Parker's is trimmed and neatly parted to the side. Joey's boyishly charming in an untucked button-down while Parker's jaw-droppingly kempt in a sports jacket. He looks ... important.

I find myself captivated by eyes the same shade of electric blue as the boy I've been grinding against for the past hour. But I don't expect the betrayal I see reflected back in them. Whatever lecture he was about to give his brother about being here is lost.

"Lana? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Parker." My stomach twists when his focus darts from Joey to me in confusion.