Which made me ask, “So what’s the point of bringing me here? I’m finding it hard to believe that Mr. “You Can’t Sleep Here” wants to be seen out and about with me.”
But did Han answer me? Of course, he didn’t. He just asked Yaron in English, “Has the champagne been sent?”
I’d figured out over the last few weeks that the guys –who refer to themselves as STs—mostly speak Cantonese with each other. But there were a couple of STs in their ranks who didn’t understand it, including Yaron and Bui, this one guy from Vietnam.
But even with them speaking in English, I didn’t understand what was going on. What champagne? And who did they send it to?
“Look directly to your right,” Han instructed as if I’d asked those questions out loud.
I did as commanded…and my breath caught.
K Diamond sat in the same kind of throne chair as us in the VIP section on the other side of the club. He was laughing and joking around with his own crew and what looked to be like several strippers, judging by their dresses which were somehow even skimpier than mine.
However, all laughter stopped when a waitress appeared with a bucket of champagne. K Diamond shook his head…then turned his head to find us across the way.
Even from this distance, I could tell he wasn’t happy to see Han and me. He stared at us, his face stony underneath the bright lights.
I quickly turned away to ask Han, “So you’re still playing the claiming game? Why? I’m old news as far as K Diamond is concerned?”
Han tilted his head. “I can tell you truly believe that, so I’ll spell it out for you. He wants you. And he’s my enemy now. So it’s important that he understands that not only can he not have you; you belong to me.”
“You belong to me…”
The words sent several waves of emotions through me, most of them bad. I didn’t want to be here. And I hated this. I hated him saying such possessive words to me only because he wanted to prove a point to his enemy.
He rose to his feet and took my hand. “Let’s dance.”
An order, not an invitation. He pulled me out of my seat without waiting for an answer.
We went down to the dance floor just as another remix of a SAINt JHN track started playing overhead. Not “Roses” but “Lust,” another super-throbby vibe disguised as a song.
I was actually a pretty good dancer. A lot of surfing is rhythm once you get up into the advanced levels. Plus, I’ve got a whole lot of nighttime dance-worshipping to the gods around a fire on both sides of my ancestral DNA.
But as it turned out, none of that mattered. Han turned me around and pulled me to his chest. He slid his hands down to my hips and pressed himself hard and pulsing into my back as we started swaying to a rhythm of his choosing. Did it match the song? I wasn’t sure.
He slid his hands down even further to caress my inner thighs. And his lips grazed my neck, finding two erotic pressure points I didn’t know I had. The sensations, one soft and seductive, the other firm and possessive, sent unexpected fissures of pleasure through me, making my blood pulse to the beat of the song.
I no longer cared about pulling at the skirt, about making sure that not too much of me was exposed. The good girl with the sponsorship contracts disappeared, replaced by someone who danced hot and nasty with a known criminal in the club.
What is he doing to me? And why can’t I stop it?
HAN
What is she doing to me? And why can’t I stop it?
Han had never been this hard in his life. He’d brought her down here to rub his ultimate victory in K Diamond’s face, to give him a preview of what was to come when Han not only wrapped the Golden Circle deal but stole the rest of Kuang Jr.’s clientele as well.
That was Han’s ultimate plan. To bring his growers enough business that they never had to deal with K Diamond again. To secretly recruit enough of 24K’s unhappy soldiers that when Kuang Jr. figured out what Han was doing, he’d have no one left to fight on his side.
However, all those plans fell out of Han’s head as he danced with Jasmine.
Even worse, weird, ugly jealousy rose inside of him when he looked up to find Kuang Jr. standing at the railing, openly watching them with petulant malice shining in his beady little eyes. The girl who’d been snatched away was dancing with another man, and that surely enraged him. Even so, he reached down to adjust himself because he was so turned on by the sight of Jasmine, despite her being in another man’s arms.
