Page 5 of Her Captivated Hero

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Hadhe really just said that? God, she hoped so. Two peach Bellini’s and she’d lost her damned mind.

Her sister Anika had given her that stun gun when she’d first started going to the university, and never in her wildest dreams had she thought she would use it. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to allow some strange man push around Miranda’s friend, he could have really hurt her. For the slightest second she’d been scared, then instinct had taken over and she’d had the weapon in her hand and the man was on the floor.

Okay, so she hadn’t defended Kenna because of the alcohol, she would have done it no matter what. But taking off her jacket, when she knew that her shirt was riding up and showing her belly button? Well, that was definitely the fault of the second peach Bellini. She’d thought her shirt was okay when she left the house, but as soon as she started to move at the club she’d realized it wasn’t staying in place so she was stuck with her jacket, but that thought flew out the window when she saw Gray.

So here she was in his arms, behaving like another woman, and loving every minute of it.

Thank God he was so strong, because he held her up when her legs turned to jelly. Not jelly, melted caramel. She clutched Gray’s neck and inhaled his scent as she found herself pressed against his chest.

She shook her head just a little, trying to clear it.

“Does that mean you want to stop dancing?” he asked as they swayed together.

“Huh?” Her eyes shot up at him for just a quick moment, then she looked back down at the floor. “Oh, no, I love dancing, at least with you. I don’t always like dancing, but with you, it’s great. Just not always.”

“Honey, just how much have you had to drink?”

“Two peach Bellinis,” she admitted.

“I thought I smelled peaches and raspberries.”

“The raspberries are from my shampoo.” She shifted so that she could get a better grip on him. He looked down at her with crystal clear blue eyes.

“How often do you drink?”

“I don’t know, once a quarter, maybe. I’m just feeling a little floaty. I couldn’t have stunned idiot-boy if I was drunk, that took a little bit of focus and eye-hand coordination. But my inhibitions are lowered enough to appreciate how you look in your jeans and ask you to dance.”

Riya slammed her face into his chest. Was it possible to smother herself in his shirt? She’d never heard of death by cotton, but she’d been the first in her class, why couldn’t she be the first one in the world to kill herself this way?

She heard a low hum of laughter at the same time that she felt it against her cheek.

“So you like how I look in my jeans, huh?”

“A gentleman would have pretended he didn’t hear that.”

Gray moved her around the dance floor and then whispered in her ear. “You’re right, a gentleman would not remind you of what you said.” Gray slowed them down and once again they were swaying in place. Riya felt his thumb move. Just a little, then a little more. Then he began to draw intimate circles on the small of her back. It took everything in her not to shudder. Riya looked up and saw Gray watching her. The man knew the havoc he was wreaking.

“Can I tell you how much I like your shampoo? I think raspberries are the perfect metaphor for you, tart and sweet.”

Gray Tyler spoke directly to her feminine core. Riya had seen him sitting off with Kenna and Miranda’s husbands and there he’d seemed safe enough, but boy had she’d figured that wrong. Dex and Griff were cuddly teddy bears compared to Gray.

How long was this dance going to last?

Forever if she had anything to say about it. Somewhere in her hormone saturated brain she thought she heard the singer say something about a dress hitting the floor and the world going black. Riya felt her nipples tighten. Was it the song? Or was she picturing herself wearing a dress that Gray would peel off her body?

Gray applied the smallest bit of pressure and she swayed closer against his rock hard frame.

Am I out of my mind?

Why had Gray stopped moving? Darn it all, she’d liked the way their bodies had swayed and flowed together. Why were they standing still?

“The band’s taking a break, Riya,” Gray whispered softly.

That was when she realized everyone was leaving the dance floor. The music had stopped. She blushed. How had she missed it?

“I better get back to the girls.” She pulled her hands away from his neck, but he didn’t let her go.