The lounge ringed the first floor on three sides, offering a great vantage point of the dance floor and the DJ. Large half-circle booths lined the space, each with a set of sheer curtains that could be pulled for at least an illusion of privacy. A thin illusion, she thought as Declan led her past two women making out while a third woman watched.
They stopped at a booth that had a reserved sign, and she scooted around the table, sinking into the soft leather. The music seemed muted in the protection of the booth, and she was impressed at the thought that had been put into the design.
“So Breá and Reign. How much of the city do you own, exactly?” she asked once the waitress took their drink order.
“Enough.”
She laughed. “This is what you always wanted. The empire. Is it everything you thought it would be?”
His stare was intense, and she shivered. “Almost. Even until his death, my father didn’t really understand the vision I had for the syndicate. I think he always assumed these businesses were an excuse to get out of my duties to the family.”
“But they’re so much more than that. They’re a gateway into levels of society you can’t reach underground.”
He smiled as their waitress set their drinks on the table and left. “You were the only one who ever really understood what I was trying to do.”
“How did he die? Your father.”
“A freak accident. He ran off the road during an ice storm and wrapped his car around a tree. I imagine going out like that probably pissed him off.” He chuckled. “It felt weird to realize I was an orphan.”
“Do you miss her?”
“My mom? I don’t know. Aidan is still big on celebrating her birthday every year, so I guess it comes up from time to time. But I wouldn’t say it was a constant ache. It won’t be like that for you forever.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Tell me something about you I don’t know.”
He lifted a brow at her over the rim of his whiskey glass. “How could there possibly be anything about me you don’t know?”
“Ten years is a long time for things to happen to you that I don’t know about.”
He twirled his glass on the table, thinking. “I hate sharks.”
She threw her head back with a laugh. “How can you hate sharks? Have you ever met a shark?”
“Why do I have to meet a shark to decide I don’t like them? What, I’m going to have a conversation with one and suddenly change my mind?”
She chuckled again. “Okay, fine. You can hate sharks. Although I think they get a bad rap. I went cage diving with sharks in New Zealand once. It was amazing.”
“Were you there for work?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Just for fun. I was living in Dublin at the time and desperately wanted to get away from the winter. So I fled to New Zealand for a few weeks, got a nice tan, met some sharks.”
He reached up to wrap one of her curls that had fallen loose from her bun around his finger. “You are fascinating. What are you thinking right now?”
“That I’m not wearing anything under this dress.”
His eyes darkened and he slid closer to her, thigh brushing against hers as he leaned down to skim his teeth across her bare shoulder. “What else are you thinking?”
“All the sinful things I want to do to you.”
He slid his hand up her leg, fingernails scratching lightly against her inner thigh. When his fingers found her bare, as promised, and wet, she had to swallow a groan. He pressed against her, his fingertip stroking her clit in slow, deliberate motions.
She tried to wriggle her skirt up so she could spread her legs wider, but he held her in place, slipping a finger inside her and capturing her moan with his lips. He pumped his finger in and out, thumb circling her clit in painfully slow circles that sent shock waves through her.
Her fingernails dug into his thigh as his lips brushed her earlobe, tugging it between his teeth before whispering, “I want to feel you come for me.”
Her breath hitched, and her hips jerked against his hand as he fingered her faster, his tongue and teeth working the sensitive skin behind her earlobe. He pressed and circled and rubbed her clit, his lips trailing across her jaw to her lips as she shuddered.
And when she came apart in his hand, he stroked her to another orgasm until she dropped her forehead to his shoulder with ragged breaths. He slipped his hand out from between her thighs, eyes locked on hers as he slid his finger into his mouth, licking it clean.
