Chapter 103
Riley’s P.O.V
The club was louder than anything I’d ever experienced. Music throbbed through the pavement like a second heartbeat, and colored lights spilled from the windows like neon blood. Just getting in had been a blur. Zoey had flashed a fake ID and whispered something to the bouncer that made him laugh and wave us through. I didn’t ask what she said. I was too busy trying not to trip over my own feet.
The dress felt shorter now under the blue lights. Tighter. Like it had shrunk in the fifteen minutes it took to walk here. My legs were bare and goose bumped, and my heart had been slamming against my ribs since we left her house.
Inside, the air was thick with perfume, sweat, and something else I couldn’t quite place—something electric and heady. Bodies swayed to the music, arms tangled in the air, mouths laughing or kissing or shouting over the beat. The bass was a living thing, vibrating up through the soles of my shoes and into my chest like it was trying to rearrange my bones.
I should’ve turned around. Should’ve gone back to the North Tower and begged the guards not to tell my parents.
But I didn’t.
Zoey dragged me through the crowd like a girl on a mission. We wound between clusters of dancers, past booths packed with leather-clad strangers and tables littered with glowing drinks. Everything was a blur of movement and color and heat.
We landed at the bar, where she leaned over and ordered something without asking me. A moment later, the bartender handed us two glasses of shimmering gold liquid that looked like bottled sunlight and smelled like rebellion.
“What is it?” I asked.
Zoey grinned. “Liquid courage.”
“I’ve never—”
She clinked her glass to mine.“First time for everything.”
I hesitated. The glass was cold in my hand, slick with condensation. But she was watching me, and my heart was still hammering like I was being chased.
So I took a sip.
It burned. Sweet at first, then sharp, like fire dripped in honey. I coughed, blinking back tears.
Zoey laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”
I took another sip. Then another. By the time we finished, my fingertips were tingling and the music didn’t seem so loud anymore. The lights weren’t as blinding. The people didn’t feel like a threat.
They felt like freedom.
We danced.
At first, I barely moved—just kind of swayed awkwardly, watching Zoey twist and spin like she’d been born under a disco ball. But then the drink hit me full force, and suddenly, I didn’t care that I didn’t know what I was doing. I threw my arms up. I laughed. I let the music carry me.
I was weightless.
Until I wasn’t.
It hit me when I stopped to sit for a moment, dizzy and flushed. I sank into a booth near the back of the club, letting the red lights wash over me like blood. I tried to wave at Zoey, but she’d vanished. One second she was dancing next to me, her hair sticking to her neck, her grin wild and gleaming—and the next, she was gone.
Panic fluttered in my chest.
I stood, wobbling slightly. “Zoey?”
No answer.
I pushed my way through the crowd, scanning every face, every flicker of hair or laugh that might be hers. My head was spinning. My legs felt like water. The music throbbed like a war drum.
And then I crashed into someone.
Hard.
“Oh—sorry—” I started, looking up.
He was tall. Muscular. His shirt clung to him like a second skin, black and simple, but it did nothing to hide the breadth of his chest or the definition in his arms. His jaw was sharp, shadowed with stubble. And his eyes—gods, his eyes—were dark, glittering with something primal.
Before I could even blink, his hand shot out and gripped my waist.
Then he kissed me.
Rough. Sudden. Hungry.
I froze—but only for a second.
Because then my body melted. He grabbed me tighter, kissing me roughly. My arms found their way around his shoulders, dragging him closer. My lips parted, inviting more, and he gave it without hesitation. His mouth was fire and smoke and sin, and I drank it in like another shot of liquid courage.
His hands roamed—one sliding down to my thigh, the other squeezing my breast through the thin fabric of my dress, hard enough to make me gasp. He pulled one hand of my dress, pressing my bare breast as he went down, sucking it hard, that it hurts. Not painful, but pleasure. Gosh! I couldn’t feel any good. He sucked it hard, as he grabbed my ass tightly, as i moaned into his mouth. He swallowed the sound with another kiss, pinning me against the wall like I was something he wanted to consume.
It felt so good. So wild. So not me.
And I didn’t care.
I moaned softly, pulling him closer. My hips moved instinctively, pressing against him, needing more. Needing everything.
“Please!” I said softly, moaning. But i never knew what i was begging for. But i was sure i never wanted him to stop. I pulled him more closer taking everything and more if possible.
But just when I thought I might lose myself completely—
He stopped.
Pulled back.
And vanished.
One blink he was there, body heat and desire and danger. The next—gone. No footsteps. No apology. No explanation. Just air.
I stared at the spot where he’d been, panting, confused, lips still tingling.
“Riley!”
I turned.
Zoey was pushing through the crowd, breathless and grinning. “There you are! I was just dancing at the corner near the DJ booth. You disappeared!”
“I—I thought you disappeared,” I said, still trying to catch my breath.
She grabbed my hand. “Sorry! Club rule number one, never lose your wingwoman. Come on. Let’s get more drinks.”
I opened my mouth to say something. To tell her about him. But the words stuck to my tongue like syrup.
Zoey pulled me back to the bar, and the music swallowed everything else. She ordered another round, this time something pink and frothy that made my teeth buzz.
We danced again.
And again.
We laughed until we couldn’t breathe. Spun until the lights turned to ribbons. I didn’t think about the North Tower or the guards or my parents. I didn’t think about how the guy had kissed me like he knew me—like he wanted to ruin me.
I just let it all go.
That night, we partied until the sun was threatening to rise.
And for once, I wasn’t porcelain.
I was fire.