CHAPTER ONE
The Beginning
Music. Booze. Hotties. Hunks.
Red lights, green lights, blue lights.
There were people who were taking drugs. Some already had someone knotted in dark alleys, looking for pleasure as if it was air.
Others simply sat—awaiting to be touched, to be desired, to be picked.
Jayden sat at the end of the bar, fingers wrapped around a half-full glass of whiskey, observing the destruction like a monarch overseeing his domain. He wasn't seeking anything. Not tonight. Not so much.
And then. he spotted her.
Crossed legs, legs stretched out. Silky caramel-hued flesh. A miniskirt so tight it clung to her thighs mere inches—when she shifted her weight, he glimpsed black lace under it. Her top was carelessly flung over one shoulder, exposing the soft curve of her collarbone and the deep indentation of cleavage.
Her hair fell in thick dark curls down her back, untamed and sexy. Her lips were full, glossy, and parted ever so slightly like an invitation.
She looked like a fantasy. One he didn't know he'd been craving until now.
Jayden stood, heart pounding for the first time in weeks, and crossed the room without a second thought.
"Hi. I'm Jayden," he said smoothly, voice low.
She turned, slow and deliberate, her eyes scanning him. Her gaze lingered on his chest, his lips, his jawline. Then she smiled, a wicked little curve that made his pulse kick.
"Hi, I'm Ella."
"Ella…" He let the name roll over his tongue. "That's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."
"Oh my god, thanks." She laughed—giggling, out of breath. It was flirtatious, but also dangerous. As if she had a clue what she was doing.
"So, Ella," he said, leaning in just a little closer,
"what are you doing all alone here?"
She smiled at him slowly, then took a sip from her cocktail. "Waiting for you, I guess."
Jayden's eyebrow went flying. "Is that so?"
"Mhm."
He grinned, and she turned away, flushing.
"Wow," she breathed.
"What?"
"Your smile… it's lovely."
That flushed him a little. He wasn't accustomed to compliments with no ulterior motives behind them.
"May I sit?"
"Oh yeah, go ahead, Jayden."
He drew the big barstool next to her and sat, facing her totally now. The fluorescent lights bouncing off the glint of her eyes and the shine of her lips.
"So, Ella," he said to her, voice falling into something unhurried and smoky, "I know it sounds corny, but I really would like to get to know you."
She shifted back on her heels, grinning. "Oh, I don't think that is at all corny. I'd like to get to know you too."
He nodded. "Okay… so where are you from?"
She laughed—a short, staccato burst.
"Oh please, that's crap."
Jayden blinked in shock, but he was intrigued. "Why would you think that?"
"No offense," she swirled the liquid around in her cup, "but I know the kind of guys you're into. And asking me where I'm from is pointless because we both know how the evening is going to finish."
His smile unfolded gradually. "Oh, Ella."
"Yah?"
"Who cares where you're from when you look like this?"
They both laughed, and the air between them grew thick like warm syrup.
"But I'll tell you this," he said, running the back of his knuckles along the edge of her glass, so that they made contact with her fingers, "I'd like to spend the evening with you tonight. I'd like us to be silly. Just the two of us. No expectations. No questions. Just… silly. Alright?"
"I'm down," she said, her tone slow and measured.
Jayden could feel the buzz strike his chest. "Good. So, Ella, what do you want to drink?"
"I think you know your beverages," she softened. "Surprise me."
He glanced at the bartender. "Red wine."
"We only serve that by the bottle, sir."
Jayden didn't even raise an eyebrow. "The bottle then."
When the bartender was pouring it, Ella edged in close and whispered, "You always this smooth?"
He grinned. "Only when I want something desperately."
"And tonight?"
His gaze met hers. "I want you."
She chilled, not from the chill—but from the way he'd spoken it. As though it wasn't about getting it on. As though it was a foregone conclusion.
He topped off her glass and placed it in her hand, his fingers touching hers. A flash of electricity.
"To no questions," he said.
"To just fun," she countered.
They sipped. Leisurely. Eyes locked.
And the night had barely begun
A reluctant pulse hid beneath the music, though between them time had been thick and syrupy. Ella's leg pulled alongside his under the bar—a calculated, tempting caress that left Jayden gasping.
He trapped her hand against him before she could withdraw it, his thumb outlining lazy, teasing patterns over the crests of her knuckles. She raised her eyes to meet his, challenge unspoken within them.
He leaned in, voice barely a whisper, "You're playing a dangerous game."
Her lips curved in a sultry smile. "I like danger."
Jayden's jaw clenched. The heat inside him grew, wild and untamed. He swallowed hard, fighting the urge to close the space between them, to taste those lips, to explore every curve his han
ds could reach.
Instead, he settled for a slow, lingering gaze.
Because the evening was young—and the best yet to come.