Who He Is (FireNine, book 1) (16 page)

Gage pushed through the mass, the rave lights flickering above. They danced off the walls, reflected off of the shimmering sweat within the crowd. The atmosphere was thick, hype. Some people were so close t
o one another they could’ve passed as Siamese twins.

Gage finally reached the kitchen, which was even more congested, and stopped to look around for the drinks. As soon as he found them on the island counter, he told me to stay put until he came back. I
leaned against the wall, but a couple was making out right beside me and I took a leap back, frowning as I watched their tongues slide in and out of one another’s mouths.

I noticed a few people standing on the patio, blowing thick puffs of smoke. Among the crowd was Montana with his mohawk slicked back again. His eyes were lower and lazier than usual and a girl was glued to his hip, his arm around her. Her hand was on his chest and she gi
ggled a little too dramatically whenever he said something. I was more than certain she wasn’t going to be giggling within the next twelve hours when Montana kicked her off the tour bus.

Gage finally returned with two plastic yellow cups and handed me one. “What’s to drink tonight?” I asked, standing on my toes to get near his ear. I could hardly hear myself over the music, but he managed to hear what I said.

“Tequila.” He winked. “Can’t forget the salt and lime.” He held out two limes and I took one. He then dipped his finger into his cup of tequila and ran it across his hand. He sprinkled salt onto it and then looked at me. “Before each shot, lick the salt away. After each one, suck the lime.”

I nodded, sort of eager to try it, as I swiped liquid across the top of my hand and then sprinkled it with salt. I licked the salt away, took a sip of the tequila, and the liquid was strong—way stronger than the vodka from the club—but I kept it down and sucked my lime right after.

“Looks like you’ll need a few more limes.” Gage chuckled, observing my shriveled lime slice.

I nodded my head, my face puckering. “Yeah,” I breathed. “Most likely.”

Gage went back to grab a few more limes and with a few gasps and puckered faces, we finally finished our cups of tequila. It had to equal out to about three shots. The woozy feeling I caught was automatic. I couldn’t believe how much of an amateur I was. I’d gotten drunk that fast while Gage seemed perfectly fine.

“Are you okay?” He laughed.

I grabbed his arm, nodding quickly while aiming to steady myself. “Fine. Maybe we should go dance?”
Woops
. That couldn’t have been me. Had I really asked that? I laughed at the thought and at myself for asking Gage to dance.

Chuckling, Gage placed a hand against the small of my back and his touch alone caused my skin to tingle. He grabbed my hand before stepping through the crowd. As we pushed through, I found out why everyone was having so much fun and why the cro
wd was so wild. Everything looked so different. Who knew tequila could get someone out of it so fast? I’d heard many things about tequila (mainly from my mom and her husband), but I never believed anything they said about it. They tried to force me to drink it once. Since then, I’ve hated alcohol, but this… drinking with Gage was… different.

We finally hit the middle of the dance floor and Gage turned around quickly, pulling me against him as a few
people jumped up and down and bumped against us. His fingers inched along my spine, running down to my hips. Gage had bought me a purple dress that revealed a bit of cleavage and legs. It was short, but he begged me to wear it, and since he was the one buying it, I gave in. I couldn’t really complain much. I guess if I wanted to fit in with the boys, I had to start getting used to wearing less clothing.

The
pace of the music picked up. It was techno with a heavy dub-step bass. I turned around willingly and buried my hips between his. I don’t know whether he grunted or said something, but I ignored it. I didn’t want to hear anything. I just wanted to party.

His hands found their way to my waist and he pulled me closer to him. I wanted to dance then. As one of his hands moved up my stomach, the other down my thigh, I nearly melted. I was panting, grinning, and I didn’t even know it. I was enjoying myself. This wasn’t like the club. This was better because there were fewer lights and more people. I couldn’t be seen as easily. I could actually be free without being
watched or judged. Everyone was in their own little world.

Gage leaned forward, his rock-hard chest pressing against my back. He pulled my hai
r away to place his lips behind my ear and I brought my arms back, hooking them around his neck to keep him close. “Damn, Ellie,” he murmured, causing my legs to lock just a bit. His bedroom voice heated my core. It was my motivation to keep going—to keep pressing against the thick, hard muscle in his pants. He kissed me behind the ear and my head rolled to the side. “God, I want you so much.”

I smirked as he whispered in my ear. He had no idea how much or how long I’d wanted him, too. Even though he’d pissed me off to the extreme within the past forty-eight hours, I was starting to forget about it. I was having fun and there didn’t need to be any hostility between us, so I dropped all anger and frustra
tion. I decided to just go with it.

We continued dancing
and soon sweat built up between us. It was getting sticky, hot, and heavy, but I didn’t mind it one bit. With the people dancing around me, I couldn’t seem to focus. I couldn’t seem to do anything else outside of dancing, grinding, and moving against Gage. I wanted him to feel it all—to at least crave me like I craved every part of him.

“Do you think there’re any open bedrooms in here?” I asked, spinning in Gage’s arms. I was talking before thinking—which was bad—but a part
of me wanted to take a risk. I wanted to see what it would be like to be in a room alone with Gage Grendel.

He grinned down at me and I bit my bottom lip. “I don’t know, but we can try looking for one.”

I nodded and he took my hand in his and pushed through the crowd. A staircase came into view and he went for it. I didn’t know how the hell I was going to make it up those stairs feeling as lightheaded as I did, but I didn’t care. I would have let him carry me if it came to that.

Surprisingly, I managed to make it up. The music seemed to follow us upstairs, but we didn’t stop rushing ahead. Gage hissed some mild profanity beneath his breath when he saw none of the bedrooms were available. I was about to tell him never mind and to just go back to the dance floo
r, but before I could, he jerked me forward and rushed into one of the last rooms available.

The door slammed behind us and as soon as we were in
side, he pressed against me, not even hesitating to wrap his arms around me. I laced my arms around his neck and he groaned, kissing the hollow of mine while picking me up to wrap my legs around him. We fell on the bed, but he didn’t pull away from me.

He
continued kissing my neck, trailing down to my chest and then the curve of my breasts. My panting increased as he came up to my lips and looked down at me, the moonlight shining on his face through the curtains.
What is he waiting on?
His lips were so close. We were so close. I could feel his cock throbbing through his pants, ready to take me. At that moment, I would have let him because I wasn’t me. I wasn’t in my right state of mind; therefore I didn’t care much. I would have most likely regretted it the next day, but that was the now. Nothing outside of it mattered. Tomorrow didn’t matter. The next hour didn’t matter. All that mattered was what was sparking between us, the music blasting from downstairs, and his lips barely brushing mine.

Th
en, finally, Gage’s lips crushed mine. I moaned, hooking my arms around his neck as he pushed up and cupped my waist to bring me to the middle of the bed. He tasted good. He felt good against me. His breathing was rigid and sounded almost painful, but he didn’t stop. I knew he was having a hard time controlling himself because I definitely was. I wanted this to happen.

One of h
is hands crept beneath my dress to pull my panties down, the other cupping my breast.

And then he added something else to the kiss. Something smooth, wet, and laced with tequila.

His tongue.

Oh God
, his tongue
. It sent me into overdrive. I couldn’t control myself any longer. I wanted to rip all my clothes off for him. I wanted to let my tongue play with his for the entire night. I wanted to taste him until I couldn’t taste anymore. He sank between my legs, his cock digging into me and causing me to moan.

“Fuck, El
iza,” he growled against my mouth. Our lips were swollen, throbbing, yet I wanted more of him. I pulled his head down to kiss him again and he kissed me back, but it wasn’t as strong as before. I didn’t question it—in fact, I didn’t really notice it much because being near him was more than enough for me. “I just wanna take you here. Now. Damn, I want you so bad. I don’t even think you realize it.”

My response was
a breathy moan against the hollow of his neck. A friction built up between us and soon after, he picked me up, hooking my legs around his waist again and climbing off the bed. I was amazed he’d done it so quickly. That my back had hit the wall and he was sucking on my skin greedily, thrusting against me, making sure no space was between us.

“You can’t tell me you aren’
t feeling this,” he growled. I yelped pleasurably. “You can’t deny it anymore.”

I shook my head because I couldn’t deny it. I didn’t want to. I would’ve done anything with Gage during this moment.
I was drunk, vulnerable, and ready. I ran my fingers through his hair as our lips collided again. He spun around, placing my back on the bed and pulling my dress up to run his hands from my thighs and up to my stomach. I’d completely forgotten he’d taken off my panties. I was drenched between my legs, something I’d never felt before, but it felt good. I was ready for it. I was ready for
him
.

I’d heard a lot of things about how much it hurts to lose your virginity. I was also told that right after the pain there’s pleasure, and I was seeking it. The pleasure after the pain. The satisfaction after so many years of
boring celibacy. It was about time. I was a woman and it was time to test my limits.

My head swam as Gage bent down on his knees, pulled me to the edge of the bed, and kissed up my le
g, his lips then touching the center of my thigh. He was so close to my entrance that I bucked against him, but he shook his head through the darkness. “Don’t move. Let me,” he growled, placing my feet on his shoulders.

I couldn’t fight it. I lost a bit of the tension and placed the back of my head against the bed
, my legs hoisted up by his large shoulders. He started from the bottom of my thigh and kissed his way up. His fingers were hooked on my waist, his head moving up gradually. I was panting, anticipating, wanting to move wildly, and he wasn’t even there yet.

He groaned as his tongue slipped over one thigh before moving to the other. I moaned, squeezing his hand. He was teasing me. I could feel him laughing silently
every time I shuddered. His hot tongue slid between my legs and then he pushed them apart completely, leaving me wide open.

“Get ready for me,” he murmured, his warm breath running across my core. “Eliz
a,” he whispered so faintly I thought I was imagining it. “I don’t want you to lie to me again after tonight.” He kissed the top of my knee, but I frowned, confused. “Don’t tell me we’re ‘just friends’ again. I’m about to show you we aren’t anymore. I don’t wanna be. I want more of you…”

And then, before I could even speak, his tongue
leisurely slid across my clit and I gasped. The heat consumed me, warmed me, and he groaned deeply as he sucked and licked. “Tastes so good, Sweet Ellie,” he murmured, his mouth still glued between my legs. I screamed, and I couldn’t even count how many times I ran my hands through his silky hair or hooked my arms around his neck. I was squeezing his hand so tightly at one point I thought I was going to burst.

I began to pulsate, clim
ax, and I’d never felt anything like this before, but it felt right. I was overheating below, my chest sinking and rising, my breath catching with each lick and flicker of his tongue. He was spinning and swirling his tongue around me, groaning and grunting as he slid a finger in and out.

“Come for me, Eliza,” he grumbled, his tongue never leaving
my swollen nub.

His voice was obviously all I needed to hit the ultimate climax because slowly I ruptured, he growled, and I screeched as he clutched m
y waist, my legs flying in the air. I bucked against his mouth again, shuddering and quaking and gripping his hands. My eyes were squeezed shut so tightly I saw stars. Had he really created that feeling for me? Had I really gone so high? I couldn’t believe it. Amazing just didn’t seem like a good enough word for how his mouth felt between my legs.

Gage pulled up and kissed my collarbone. “How’s that for friends?” he asked, grinning. The moonlight was still reflecting off his face and I laughed, shaking my head.

“So… is this the part where you ask to take my virginity?”

In an instant he frowned. “No.”

My head tilted. “Why not?”

“I can’t… Someone like me can’t take that away from you, Eliza.”