to watch the ten o’clock local news. Lizzy wasn’t sure why The
Dom even invited the geezers. Few of them were ever invited to
membership. It almost seemed like taunting, though most showed up
with subs. Lizzy wasn’t attracted to the cotton swabs. She liked
her men virile, and strong, and young, and exotic.
While Lizzy danced with Theo, her attention
wandered back to Mr. Smolder. He was talking to a young woman, a
brunette with long hair, and he had his hand wrapped in her hair.
His face was serious but not angry.
That was the possessive move of a Dom with
his sub. Mr. Smolder was taken.
Relief washed through her. If Mr. Smolder had
been interested in Lizzy, she would have been tempted by his
glowering and the darkness that she could practically see falling
off of him like a black mist bleeding into the night outside the
windows.
But Mr. Smolder had a sub, and Lizzy was
dancing with Theo.
Beyond Theo, Georgie was dancing with some
other guy, not even the guy she had been talking to when she had
been standing behind Theo. Georgie ran through men like a psychotic
tiger through a herd of paraplegic gazelles. Lizzy doubted Georgie
would ever be able to stand monogamy.
Lizzy stood back from Theo because he was
hugely tall. She hated feeling so shrimpy when she was dancing.
People in the West were taller than in Jersey, she could just
swear.
Theo seemed startled by how close to the
ground she was, too. At least she was wearing spiked, platform
hoochie shoes so she was around five-four. Most of the other women
were wearing slut shoes, too, so Lizzy was still one of the
shortest women on the dance floor, but at least the height
differential between her and Theo was minimized.
She was fretting about being short so much
that she almost missed that Theo was a really good dancer.
Really good.
Lizzy had been going to clubs since she got
her first fake ID when she sixteen, so she could see the influences
of hip-hop in Theo’s feet and samba in his hips. He wasn’t doing
the white-boy shuffle or hogging the dance-floor like a show-off.
He felt the beat and let it roll through him. Theo upgraded from
from merely gorgeous to sexy-as-chocolate on the dance floor, and
Lizzy hopped closer to him, dancing with her hips.
Theo took a long look down her wiggling body,
like he could finally look, and his light hazel eyes scorched her
when they finally met hers again. He stepped closer. Only an inch
of air separated them, and warmth rolled off his body, wafting over
her bare arms and legs.
Lizzy turned her back to him while she
danced, giving him a view of her muscular ass. The skin on her back
prickled as she imagined him looking down her strong back, bared in
the light gold dress.
The warmth of his body intensified, and
Theo’s fingers alighted on her hip. He wasn’t grabbing or groping,
but the heat of his hand fell through the gauze of her dress.
The crowd swayed in front of her, and a rift
opened between Lizzy and Mr. Smolder.
Mr. Smolder was still leaning against the
wall, holding a drink, though he looked off to the left. His long,
black hair was caught behind his shoulder, and his square jaw
worked like he was mulling something over. He drank from his
highball glass, a controlled motion like his bicep was so big that
it bunched up when he bent his arm.
His chest rose and fell, a hard sigh, and his
blue eyes roved around the room.
He caught Lizzy staring at him, and he smiled
at her. His smile just curved his full lips, but it was still half
a glower.
Lizzy raised an arm and danced harder,
staring at Mr. Smolder with Theo’s fingers just grazing her
hip.
She bit her lip and swiveled to face Theo,
who was so close to her that his forehead was nearly pressed
against hers. When she turned, his hand caressed her hips, dragging
across the pale gold material of her dress.
His light eyes, always laughing before, had
sharpened with desire. She almost stepped back, unbalanced, but she
stepped forward instead, and her hands
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