A game with Eros.
Who’d succumb to the other first?
CHAPTER 19
Dani
After our date, Eros stood next to me in the elevator, leaning against a shiny—almost shimmering—silver wall and stared at me. His eyes were dark, hooded, and oh-so-sultry. This was going to be harder than I thought. I didn’t know how the hell I was going to win this, but I knew damn well that I was going to try. And, if I didn’t, what would be the worst that could happen? We have sex and I do, in fact, have a heart attack.
I shifted from foot to foot, feeling the warmth pool between my legs, and hoped that the doors to our floor would finally open. “So, how do you know Kasey?”
“She’s my sister.”
My eyes widened. “Your sister?” Why didn’t she tell me? God, I’d been telling her everything about Eros. And by everything, I meant everything. From the first day that I met him to the bar incident. She knew every single intimate detail.
“That would explain a lot,” I said.
He chuckled, his shirt tightening against his chest when he did. “Are we that much alike?”
“Yes.” They both seemed… turned on—all the time.
The doors to the elevator opened, and I stepped out as quickly as possible. It was getting hot in there. Eros walked me to my door, hand dangerously close to mine. “I had a good time,” he said, posting a hand against the door frame, the muscles in his arm flexing.
My eyes fell upon his lips for a moment. “Me too.”
Keep your cool, Dani. Remember: You will not break first.
He smirked, leaned down, and grazed his nose against mine. “We’ll have to do it again sometime,” he mumbled to me.
His lips were so close to mine. So damn close. His breath was sending me into a daze, the way it did the first time I met him. I didn’t even know how he was doing it. All I knew was that I wanted more. More of him. More of this.
I’d been craving the feeling of his lips against mine since the day I met him. And I had the chance to close the distance. I stood on my toes, bringing my lips closer to his—waiting for him to close the distance. My fingers traveled up his torso.
“I thought you didn’t want me to kiss you.” He smirked against my neck.
Don’t do it, Dani.
I stopped myself from falling into his little trance and mirrored his smirk. “I don’t.”
He trailed his nose down my jaw, and I suppressed the urge to shiver at his touch. He brushed his lips against my ear. “You do, Dani,” he said. I dug my fingernails into his chest. “But if you want to break me, you’re going to have to try harder than this.”
Then, he stepped away from me with that stupid smirk on his face like he had total control of me. And, for a moment, I swore he did.
I took a deep breath and smoothed out my jacket. I needed to find a way to get under his skin. I needed to find his weakness. But, most importantly, I needed to step up my game. It was time to show him that he wasn’t the only one who could play. And I knew just the way to get the upper hand.
As soon as Dr. U let me off of work, I hurried to Kasey’s apartment—determined to get all of my answers. She hopped onto her couch and curled into Aarav’s arm. “How was the date?”
I raised a brow and threw a pillow at her. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were setting me up with Eros?”
“So…” She smirked. “Last night was good?”
“That’s not the point!” The point was that, even after our date, my mind was buzzing with thoughts of him. I couldn’t get him out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt his fingers brushing against my cheek, down my hips, up the insides of my thighs. And it was getting awfully tempting to just crumble beneath his fingers.
“Why didn’t you at least tell me that he was your brother?”
She grinned. “That wasn’t important at the time.”
The only thing I thought was weird about this whole situation was that she knew Eros would like me dressed as a demon for Halloween. She surely didn’t dress me as one for Trevon. But what was even more bizarre was that I literally dreamt of him as a demon with those horns.
Kasey grabbed my hand. “Tell us about it!”
“We just… talked,” I said. I scratched the back of my head, wanting to tell her about the game we were playing. I needed her to help me get the upper hand, but knowing that she was his sister made it a bit awkward.
“That’s it?” She sat on her knees. “Come on, you can tell me! I know that you’re dying to. And, besides, Eros and I tell each other everything.”
I took a deep breath. “We’re playing this game.”
Aarav raised an eyebrow. “A game?” he asked. So, I explained the game—from how it started to the lack of rules to how I nearly lost already. And, when I was done, Aarav shook his head. “Good luck with that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’d give it a couple days before you break,” he said.
Kasey slapped his arm. “What he means is that Eros will be… well… he’s good at this type of thing.”
My brows furrowed, and my heart clenched. Was this something he did all the time? With other girls? Maybe he’s played this game a million times before, and I was just someone else that he could play with.
“Does he do this often? With other people, I mean?”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. I can’t even remember the last time he even liked someone enough to play with them.”
“I can’t remember the last time he liked anyone,” Aarav said.
Kasey turned to him, brows furrowed together. “He liked one of my friends. They were dating for a couple of months last year.”
Was that who Luci was? The woman who kept calling him when I was with him?
Aarav snorted. “He didn’t like her. She was a pet to him.”
“She was not.”
“Yes, she was.”
“No, she wa—”
“A pet?” I asked.
“Like… uh…” Kasey said, gazing at Aarav for support.
“Like a friend with benefits,” Aarav said.
I nodded my head, not wanting to know any more about Eros’s past lovers and what he did with them. I was still trying to figure out his true intentions with me. All I hoped was that I wasn’t a pastime for him like everyone else had been.
Right now, it was mostly physical between us. But I wanted more, craved more, desired more.
Kasey crawled over to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I think you have what it takes to break him.”
Aarav raised his brows. “You think.”
Kasey stood and pulled me up with her. “Yes! Look at how sexy she is.” She stood back, gaze raking down my body. I didn’t miss the way Aarav’s did too. “Eros won’t be able to resist you, especially after I give you all the tricks.” She lightly bumped her hip into mine. “I’ll show you everything tomorrow. We have a date with Mycah tonight.”
CHAPTER 20
Dani