by Bethany-Kris
“How did you figure out which dorm building was mine?” Kim asked.
“Lucky. I was close behind Franco’s idiots and they were right on your ass before they pulled into that Starbucks. I just drove into the first lot and caught sight of you walking up to the entrance.”
“Fair enough. You really want to party?”
“That’s what I said, wasn’t it? Not a club, either. I spend five days a week in those fucking places back home working. It’s not fun for me, it’s a job. Give me something new to look at, Tesoro.”
“I can do that. There’s a spot downtown,” Kim said, resting back into the seat. “It’s hard to notice it unless you’ve gone. The outside looks like a warehouse. That’s kind of the point. Anonymity. There’s not a place for parking. Most people walk or catch a cab. They don’t advertize; they want a certain kind of patron who wants a certain kind of party, and they definitely don’t want the police skipping in to ruin the fun.”
“Underground, then?”
“Yeah. That what you’re looking for?”
Giovanni grinned, heating Kim’s blood instantly. “That’s exactly what I’m looking for.”
• • •
Pulse was packed. The place was a hotspot for people who wanted free reign on how they partied. Lights were non-existent but for a few spotlights. Glow in the dark neon paint was splattered from floor to ceiling. Stairs led to an upper section. Music never stopped, which meant the people didn’t, either. While there was a bar for liquor, separate tables were also set up along the far walls with bottles of unopened water.
It wasn’t a huge secret why Pulse was as popular as it was in the underground network of club goers. For the ones who really wanted to party, be that with whatever they desired to drink, pop, or smoke to get them there, they could—freely. The water kept the goers from getting dehydrated in whatever state they were in.
A hand to Kim’s lower back reminded her of Giovanni’s presence. Not that she could forget he was there. Every damned inch of her knew it.
“This good?” Kim asked loudly to be heard over the pumping music.
“Yeah, this is good,” Giovanni replied. “Perfect.”
Giovanni never left his spot behind Kim as she made her way to the bar. Patrons were everywhere. Hidden in shadowed corners, up above looking down, and all the spots in between. The venue already felt hot. That was what she liked about Pulse. No cares, judgment or bother. Everyone wanted to have a good time.
At the bar, Kim rapped her knuckles down on the counter to catch one of the three bartenders’ attention.
“What do you drink?” Kim asked Giovanni as he leaned with his back facing the bar and his front to the crowd.
“I’m not here to drink. Order whatever you want. I assume it’s all cash.”
“Always,” Kim answered. Without a word, his hand disappeared into the inside of his leather jacket only to reappear with a small roll of bills he handed to her. Kim took the money with hesitance. “You don’t need to pay for me, Gio. You’re not drinking.”
Giovanni smirked. “It’s Gio, now?”
Kim wasn’t entirely sure why she used the shorter version of his full name. Maybe because she heard it used by others. That was a Giovanni she didn’t know. One she might possibly be able to separate from the man she did. If anything, it was a way to keep from tumbling into more trouble. A shitty way, but a way.
“Everyone else calls you that,” Kim explained.
“Most do, sure.”
“I also heard the whole Skip thing. Seems there’s quite a few people who know you by that, too.”
Giovanni glanced at her from the side. “But not you.”
“I can’t see that one working for me, anyway. It doesn’t really fit.”
“You don’t need to see it at all,” Giovanni said, turning back to stare at the crowd. “Skip is a thug, a gangster because he needs to be. Sure, he’s a lot like me, but he isn’t all the same. I’d prefer if you didn’t have to know him, or rather, that side of me at all. That’s why you can’t see it and why you don’t need to.”
Kim didn’t know what to say to that.
Giovanni didn’t give her the chance to figure something out. The bartender waited for Kim to order what she wanted, and the chick looked like her patience was wearing thin. “Get your drinks and I am paying, like it or not.”
When Giovanni pushed away from the bar, Kim asked, “Where are you going?”
“This place isn’t on the legal side of the law, obviously. I told you I wanted to have fun, so I’m going to go find some.”
Kim could read between the lines. “Stay on the floor where nobody stops moving.”
“Good to know,” Giovanni murmured, slipping his jacket off and handing it to Kim. Just as easily, he pulled a few bills from the roll in her hand. “Because I’ve been itching for two weeks to have a date with Molly.”
• • •
“Do you trust me?” Giovanni asked, his mouth so close to Kim’s ear his lips ghosted along the shell.
“I’m still not sure,” Kim replied honestly, spinning around on her barstool to face him.
Giovanni held an opened bottle of water in his hand. He’d been gone twenty minutes at least. Long enough for Kim to throw back three rounds of gin and tonics and to find a place to sit at the bar.
Kim gave Giovanni another once over, as best she could in the mostly dark venue. A lazy smile, calm features, and hooded lids said he must have found what he was looking for in the crowd. Anyone who didn’t know any better would probably think he was just relaxed. Not Kim. She’d been there, done that, and couldn’t bring forth a lot of memories about the time to show for it.
Giovanni thoroughly enjoyed the state he was in. A casual, confident aura wafted from him. His arms crossed over his broad chest were wrapped loose instead of tight. The dismissive expression he usually viewed the room with was gone, replaced with a playful regard he leveled entirely on her.
Kim was attracted to the attitude he sported before, but she liked this carefree—or was it careless?—side of him, too. Even if it was brought on by something unnatural. He was sexy in his dark wash jeans and gray V-neck shirt. The dimness of the room shadowed his strong features and made him seem all the more mysterious. It certainly added to the dangerous appeal he wore like a second skin.
Giovanni stepped in close enough to her body that the heat of his danced along her skin as he placed the bottle of water down to the bar. Then, when the warmth of his palm grazed along her neck unexpectedly, Kim barely managed to hold back the groan building in her chest.
She was so screwed.
“So, do you trust me?” he asked again.
“Should I?”
Giovanni chuckled. “Probably not.”
Giovanni’s hand slid down under his leather jacket Kim wore, stopping to grasp at her waist. She hadn’t wanted to forget his jacket somewhere or have it end up stolen. It was hotter than hell in the place with the jacket on, but Kim wasn’t about to take it off when wearing it surrounded her in Giovanni’s scent, driving her wild.
Evidently, Kim was failing at tampering her more lustful thoughts.
The hand at her waist tightened, his thumb sweeping under the hem of her shirt to brush against pebbling skin. A pulsing beat passed from his digit to her body, a shocking sensation coiling in her middle. It reminded Kim of what it felt like to be wearing nothing at all and having every inch of him surrounding her totally.
“What are you doing?” Kim’s throat felt thick at his proximity.
Giovanni released Kim’s waist only to pinch her chin between his forefinger and thumb. He tilted her head up, locking her gaze with his. “I like red on your lips.”
“Oh?”
“Mmm. Your hair down free is better than being up. Easier to wrap my hands around it.”
Kim laughed lightly, her nervousness taking back over. “Stop it. You’re high.”
“And honest,” Giovanni replied. “You’re not a mess, Kim. Being twen
ty-one means you still get to do crazy nonsense, make mistakes, and figure out who in the hell you want to be down the road. Don’t let him take the things away that make you who you are.”
Kim’s chest ached in knowing Giovanni heard every bit of Franco’s controlling abuse earlier. She suspected he had, but his words confirmed it. This was probably going to be bad for them both and she didn’t even care. “I’m trying not to.”
“Good. Open up that pretty mouth of yours, Tesoro, and let me help you bleed him out.”
Giovanni traced her bottom lip with his thumb, keeping that heavy stare of his on her all the while. On its own accord, Kim’s mouth opened and when his digit stopped at the middle of her bottom lip, she felt his index finger slide onto her tongue.
He seemed to be watching her expression with more interest as something shaped like a half-circle pressed to her tongue. Trust, he’d said. Kim reminded herself of that as the artificially sweetened taste of a chalky tablet began to dissolve almost immediately when it mixed with her saliva.
It wouldn’t be the first time Kim took something here at Pulse without first knowing what it was. Was it stupid? Completely. Overly irresponsible and thoughtless to the point of insanity. Oh, she was aware of just how dumb it was but she couldn’t find it in herself to give a fuck.
Kim’s earlier encounter with Franco left her in a terrible place where the only thing she had to fight back against him with were her actions. The relentless intent from Franco to trap and smother her in a life with him she didn’t want left her rebelling more often than she wanted to admit.
Drugs were dangerous, no doubt about it. Knowing so didn’t stop her from encompassing Giovanni’s finger still holding the softening half of a tablet down to her tongue. Kim was not above punishing herself if it meant it would feel good while she did it. Tomorrow, she would handle the consequences of her foolishness. Tonight, she just wanted to have a good time. The future she had to look forward to would be nothing but torture.
The taste of Giovanni intermingled with the chalky taste. All too soon, the pill was dissolved completely and he withdrew his finger from her mouth. Kim swallowed what bit of him lingered behind.
“Molly,” Giovanni explained. “Have you tried it before?”
“A couple of times,” Kim admitted.
“Good, then I don’t need to explain what it’s going to do to you. Only a half, considering the time and you need to be back in decent shape for the morning.” Giovanni nodded at her. “Give it a half hour …” He touched his lips with two fingers like he was considering the way they felt all the while raising a brow. “Make that twenty or so, and you’ll be flying.”
“With you.”
“Does that scare you, Tesoro?”
“Far from it.”
Giovanni’s grin was roguish. “Good. It’s always better to fly with two.”
• • •
The music had turned into a living, breathing creature for Kim. All of the reverberating sounds didn’t simply make the noise of a beating melody, no, they literally fucking lived. From the tips of her fingers right straight into the Molly crawling through her veins, the sounds floating from surrounding speakers drifted over her consciousness and body like the experience it was meant to be.
Nothing had ever felt quite so sublime.
Nothing that was, except for the hot hands of Giovanni exploring the expanse of her skin under her thin spaghetti strap tank top. At some point, the air had turned much too warm for Kim, and after pulling the leather jacket off, she discarded her Henley shirt.
She couldn’t stand not having the scent of Giovanni surrounding her, so she’d been quick to snatch his jacket back and pull it on once more. Oddly, the warmth inside the venue didn’t overtake her again even with the heavy leather on.
Murmurs of conversations floated around, but Kim didn’t really hear them. Movement was constant. Light. Bodies. Shadows. Sounds. Even the music felt like wispy threads swaying in her vision. Good God. It was glorious.
She was left with the sensation of bliss filling her whole. Nothing was a bother. Everything was entirely good. The faintest brush of her body to anything made her want more of the feeling. She couldn’t get enough.
Giovanni’s hands slid down to the waistline of Kim jeans, his fingers prodding into the exposed skin where her top had risen up. Behind her, his frame moved with her body to the beat of the music pumping through the floorboards. He pushed her harder into him so her ass was firm against his groin, her back was to his chest, and her head was tucked into the junction of his neck and shoulder. Heat flooded her stomach, but it wasn’t a bad kind.
The way Giovanni swayed with her movements was addictive and her nerves were practically clawing their way out of her system because of it. He danced like he fucked. Controlled and confident. Knowing and unhurried unless she wanted more. Kim fit to him perfectly. She would happily stay lost like this. There was no need to come back where life awaited just yet.
Giovanni moved her free flowing hair over her right shoulder while his lips whispered faintly across the back of her neck. Just the ghost of his mouth trailing over her skin sent Kim’s desire spinning. She couldn’t stand not being able to feel the body of the man holding her, so she turned. Giovanni adjusted his grip on her hips accordingly, keeping her moving to the beat all the same.
Up under his shirt her hands went, his muscles jumping at the touch. A throaty groan tumbled from his chest, rocking her straight to the core. Kim looked up to see green eyes leveling on her with a predatory gaze. Like he wanted her.
Christ. It was beautiful. He was beautiful … in a way that made her ache.
A thought passed through her mind so fleetingly she almost missed it. Almost.
What would it be like to be only his?
Kim’s hands, still under Giovanni’s shirt, snuck around to his back. Gently, she scraped her nails along his lower back to see what reaction she could get from him in doing so. Giovanni shuddered.
“You’re intoxicating, you know,” he said low.
Kim’s mouth felt dry. “Am I?”
“To me. It’s dangerous.”
Kim was aware the Molly in her body was having an effect on her attraction and hunger for Giovanni. It wasn’t the only reason. The substance enhanced the lust she already felt. Problem was, she wanted him long before she swallowed the tablet and she would keep wanting him when the high was gone.
She had him already and knew what he could do to her. Kim wanted him again.
Strong, deft fingers tapped a tantalizing beat to her side. Shivering sparks burst on Kim’s skin. The sensations traveled as quickly as lightning straight down to her sex. A throbbing began there though she was doing her best to ignore it.
“I want to touch you,” Giovanni said, the words almost disappearing into the vacuum of sounds surrounding them.
So much for ignoring what her body was saying. With just that statement alone, Kim’s entire being seemed to pulse right along with her sex. “You are.”
“No, not like I want.”
If he wanted to talk about dangerous things, those words certainly were. From the moment Kim started to feel the beginning wisps of the drug, Giovanni took notice. He kept her close to him, looking after her while the high peaked. Other than the innocent touching and close dancing, he hadn’t crossed any lines.
Not in Kim’s mind, anyway.
“Where do you want to touch me?” Kim asked, knowing damn well she shouldn’t.
“Do you really want to know?”
That was a loaded question. Their dancing stopped. Kim had no idea what time it was. Being tripped on Molly meant seconds, minutes, and hours tended to blend together until it really didn’t exist at all.
Giovanni raised a dark eyebrow. “I should get you back soon.”
Kim didn’t think so. “No, I want to know where you want to touch me.”
“All the places I already have, Tesoro. All over again. Just to see if my memories do your body and the sounds you m
ake any justice. I don’t think they do, but it hasn’t stopped me from thinking about it. A lot.”
A surge of pleasure rushed through Kim at his admission. She liked it entirely too much that he thought of her—fantasized, even. She already broke every goddamn rule set out for her tonight. Was one more time really going to make a difference to the things she already did?
“What if I wanted you to?” Kim asked.
“Touch you?”
“I want more than just touching.” A lump lodged in her throat, threatening to quiet her because she knew what she was doing was wrong. Kim forced it back down. “A lot more.”
“You’re rolling,” Giovanni replied. “That’s all.”
“Not enough to keep me from knowing what I want. I’m aware it’s stupid. I just don’t care.”
“Stop. Kim, you don’t understand what this …” Trailing off, Giovanni swallowed thickly, his tongue peeking out to wet his bottom lip. “Fuck it. I never did pretend to be good. At least I know exactly what’s coming for me this time.”
Kim wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. “What?”
“Let’s go.”
Giovanni grabbed Kim’s wrist tightly. Tugging her along, they moved fast through the crowd of people. When he finally did stop, Kim wasn’t sure where in the club they were. She didn’t have time to figure it out before she was being turned fast. Kim’s back met the wall hard. Giovanni pinned her in place. Darkness surrounded them more there than on the floor and while some patrons were close, no one paid them any mind. Giovanni yanked his leather jacket down her arms until the coat was bunched up. With the jacket down low across her backside and tangled around her wrists, Kim couldn’t lift her arms.
It effectively kept her immobile beneath Giovanni’s suddenly wandering hands. Heat spiraled down to her clenching sex as one of his hands slid under her thin shirt and up to the bra she wore. His fingertips glided under the satin, circling around her pebbling nipple, making her skin bloom with a burning fever. His other hand came to rest on the button of her jeans, his fingers curling around the metal globe before popping it open.
