The Farther I Fall by Lisa Nicholas

her back and held her tight against him. “Having a good time?”
    â€œI am. Your brother is very charming.”
    Lucas tried to keep from wrinkling his nose. “Yes. He does ‘charming’ very well.”
    She grinned up at him. “You looked like you were having fun.”
    He gave her his best Cheshire cat smile. “I always have fun.” Feeling her body against his was distracting, with its hard, honed muscle beneath feminine curves. He had his hand in the small of her back and fought the sudden urge to cup her ass and bring her in tight against him. He still had on the leather pants he’d worn onstage, which left little room for him to get an erection. His body hadn’t gotten that message.
    She knew it too, from the way her smile changed to a wicked smirk. “Is that for me, or are you thinking about your friend over there dancing with Maggie?” She started dancing not so much with him as on him, turning her back and shimmying down the length of his body like he was a pole onstage. It took an enormous effort of will not to pull her up and carry her off the dance floor. When she stood up, he pulled her tight against him, daring her to pull away.
    She closed her eyes and leaned back, giving him a luscious view of the line of her neck and torso as she rubbed her ass tight against his body. When she lifted her arm and curled her hand back around his neck, he bent over her in a repeat of the first time they’d danced, his mouth hovering over her throat.
    He could feel her breathing, smell her skin: sweet soap with a perfume underneath he couldn’t quite place. He wanted to eat her up, right there. He wanted
her
. The desire he thought he’d felt for the club kid was burned clear away. At first it had been pure physical attraction, the same spark that still drove him mad every time she touched him, by accident or otherwise. Getting to know her had only made it worse. Maggie was right. He had it bad.
    He wrapped his arms around her waist and they spent the remainder of the song not so much dancing as embracing. When it ended, she turned around. Her eyes were dark and the tip of her tongue darted against her bottom lip. He lowered his mouth to her ear. “Why are you fighting this? We could be so good together.”
    â€œI’m not sure about that.”
    â€œI am,” he said. He leaned down again to murmur in her ear and, if he was honest, to get closer. “I want you so bad I can’t think straight. Do you really not feel the same?” He felt her shiver against him and knew she did.
    She looked up at him, uncertainty and desire evident on her face. “I really can’t,” she said. “I—I should go.”
    He caught her by the arm. “You can’t keep running from this forever.”
    She twisted loose and pushed away from him, her cheeks flaming red. He tried to follow, but her smaller size gave her an advantage at running through the crowds. She disappeared into the darkness of the club.

Chapter Five
    Gwen made it into the ladies’ and found an empty stall. She closed the door and leaned against the cold metal until her breathing stilled. The pounding in her head had nothing to do with the music outside, nor with the beer she’d drunk—no, any trace of tipsiness had vanished, leaving her exhausted.
    What the hell had she been doing? That first night, she’d panicked. The noise, the heat, it hadn’t been entirely about Lucas. Tonight, though—it wasn’t fear that made her run, but the lack of it. Dancing with Lucas was one thing, but she’d been ready to crawl into his pants. Had Lee seen her?
    Lee was charming, and every bit as gorgeous as his brother, but dancing with him had been fun, nothing more. A little flirty. Watching Lucas dancing with another man had given her a sick twist in her stomach she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager, watching her crush flirt with her best friend.