Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 120326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Robert’s cologne fills my senses as his hard chest presses into my back. “I couldn’t help myself,” he says into my ear over the music. Not having enough willpower to pull away, I allow him to continue holding me, melting into his touch.
“You thirsty?” he asks.
“A little.”
“I’ll go get you some water, ’kay?”
“Okay.”
He leaves and returns with two plastic cups of ice water. I swallow a big mouthful, not realising how much I needed it. I’m vaguely aware of the Pet Shop Boys being on stage now, but I can’t for the life of me focus my attention on anything other than Robert as he gulps back his water, his throat moving and a trickle of liquid running down his neck. When he finishes, we stare at each other for a long time.
He has this look on his face like he’s remembering each and every one of our sexual encounters and letting them replay in his head. Quite frankly, it makes me blush. Bringing his hand to his neck, he wipes away the drop of water. I let my eyes fall to the ground and then avert them to the stage, hearing him chuckle.
“Can you even see up there?” he asks huskily.
I tilt my head and shrug. “Sort of.”
“Come here. You can sit up on my shoulders. That way you’ll have the best view in the house.”
I eye him dubiously. “Won’t that be kind of uncomfortable for you?”
He raises an eyebrow, giving me a cynical look. “Lana, I lift weights heavier than you at the gym. Come on, climb up.”
He bends down so his shoulders are low enough for me to throw my legs over. Bracing a hand on his right shoulder, I lift one leg, and before I know it he’s pulling me astride his neck and standing up straight again, lifting me into the air. I squeal nervously, my thighs clenching around him, afraid I might fall. I always knew Robert was tall, but being up here feels ridiculously high.
“You’d better not let me drop,” I say, my voice anxious.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he purrs, bringing his hands to the outsides of my thighs, holding me in place. For a while I get lost in the performances, in awe of how I’m able to see everything from my current position. Sometime later Robert moves his head to the side slightly, his stubbled jaw brushing the inside of my thigh. I can practically feel the scrape of each hair as they send tingles all the way to my sex. I quietly gasp when I see him inhale deeply.
“Sorry,” he apologises. “I had a little crick in my neck.”
Sure he did.
“I should get down now.”
“No,” he says, gripping my knees tightly. “Don’t move. I’ve never been happier to be between a woman’s legs as I am right now.”
His voice has dropped several notes, hitting me right in the pit of my belly. And then, like a punch to the gut, I realise how terribly I’m behaving, leading Robert on by allowing him close enough to touch me, when I know it can’t go anywhere. That at the end of the night it has to end. I’m being cruel to him without even realising it.
Before he can react, I scramble down off his shoulders. “I owe you an apology, Robert. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”
“Lana, shut up,” he says, cupping my cheek in his hand. I step away out of his reach.
Sasha and Poppy are oblivious to us, going wild for Annie Lennox, who’s zooming around the stage on a massive moving contraption, the setting all black and red and striking.
“I probably shouldn’t have come here tonight,” I say, looking at him in agony.
“You’re over-thinking things,” he counters, trying to get close to me again, but I keep moving. All of a sudden, I feel caged. There are too many people around me. Robert’s very presence surrounds me entirely, and I have the violent urge to get away.
Without breathing another word, I turn on my heel and begin weaving through the crowd. Robert follows after me, calling my name, but soon I vanish among the throngs of people and I can’t hear him any longer.
Nineteen
It takes forever to get out of the stadium; there are way too many security guards and people getting in the way. When I finally reach the outdoors, I gasp in air and continue walking speedily away from the venue, feeling frantic, not in my right mind. Before I know it, I’m standing on a city street I don’t recognise, trying to get my breathing to calm down as cars zoom speedily by.
I stare at the headlights, my eyes becoming blurry and my head dizzy. I should hail a taxi and go home, get some food and some rest.
“Lana!” I hear Robert call my name and I turn around, seeing him running toward me from halfway down the street. Unable to face him, I start walking again.
“What the hell are you playing at?” he yells, closer now. Seconds later he’s gripping my arm, stopping me in my stride.
Trying to slow my breathing, I tell him calmly, “Let go of me, Robert. I can’t be around you.”
“Why? Why are you so determined to make something that could be so simple so complicated?”
“Because it is complicated. You and I are the very definition of complication. I just – being around you isn’t good for me. It only hurts, only makes me sicker. Go back to the stadium. I’m going to catch a cab home.”
Before he can reply, I see a gap in the traffic. There’s a taxi rank over the road, so I begin walking towards it.
“Please don’t walk away from me,” says Robert desperately. I’m halfway across the road when he catches me around the waist, trying to pull me back. I struggle to break free, not noticing that the traffic has started moving again. The horn of a gigantic truck sounds loudly in my ears as I glance up to see it approaching us from only feet away. Just in time before we get knocked down, I push Robert off the road hard and we both fall to the concrete path, me on top of him.