Eloise

The moment his lips pressed back against mine, my whole body lit up like a struck match. I’d kissed men before quick flings, mistakes, bad decisions but never like this. Never with this kind of heat. It wasn’t me leading him in; it was him pulling me under, drowning me, stealing the ground out from beneath my feet.

I was supposed to be the one seducing him. That was the job. The plan.

Instead, every brush of his lips, every slow stroke of his tongue, was unraveling me. He was the one seducing me.

My knees nearly buckled when his hand slid to the small of my back and tugged me flush against him. I gasped, and he used the sound as an invitation to kiss me harder, deeper, until the thundering of the music was drowned out by the thundering of my heart.

Then suddenly he tugged at me, breaking the kiss only long enough to catch my hand in his. No words, just a silent command in the way his hazel eyes burned into mine. Follow.

And of course, I did.

My stranger-danger alarm had been fried to ashes by that kiss. My brain said run, but my body leaned into him, willingly led through the press of the crowd, down a hallway, and into a dimly lit side room.

The door shut behind us with a heavy click. Before I could process anything, he was on me again, his mouth crushing mine, his breath hot and intoxicating. My back hit the wall, his hands framing my face like I was something precious instead of something dangerous.

For one dizzy second, I almost forgot.

Almost.

But I forced myself to think past the way his mouth tasted like whiskey and fire. My fingers slipped into the small clutch at my side. The tiny packet Mac had pressed into my palm earlier before I went to dance.

I eased away from him, just enough to create space. His brow furrowed like he didn’t like the distance, but I smiled sweetly and brushed a thumb across his jaw. “Wait here,” I whispered, my voice softer than I meant it to be.

I crossed to the little table by the wall, my heels clicking against the floor. A glass sat there and I filled it with a splash of liquor from the bottle resting beside it, then without hesitation lifted it to my own lips. A long sip, slow, deliberate. Proof.

Then, carefully, I tapped the edge of the cup, letting the powdered drug hidden beneath my fingernail dissolve into the amber liquid. My heart hammered as I turned, smiling like nothing was out of place.

He watched me with sharp, unreadable eyes.

“What?” I teased, carrying the glass back to him. “Are you scared I’m going to poison you? I already drank from it.” I held it out to him, fingers brushing his.

A flicker of something crossed his face. He was amused.

“I’m not scared of poisons,” he said, his voice low, steady. “I face worse things every day. And yet I’m not dead.”

I gave him a look. What did that even mean? What could he possibly face that was worse than poison?

I didn’t have time to figure it out, because he took the drink without another word and tipped it back. The muscles in his throat flexed as he swallowed, emptying half the glass in one go.

I was relieved and feeling dreadful at the same time.

He set the glass aside, and I did what I had to do: I climbed onto his lap, straddling him, forcing my smile wider than I felt it. My lips hovered just above his, and I whispered, “See? Not so bad.”

But then his body jerked beneath me. His hazel eyes rolled back, and before I could react, he slumped hard against the back of the chair, unconscious.

My heart leapt to my throat. I scrambled off him, my breath shaky. That worked so fast.

The door opened behind me.

“Good job,” Mac’s voice drawled, calm and satisfied. He stepped into the room as though he’d been waiting just outside. “I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.”

I pressed my hands against my thighs, trying to stop the tremor in them.

Mac gave me a sharp look. “Leave now. I’ll handle him. I’ll text you where to come later.”

I hesitated, just a second, staring down at the man whose kiss still burned on my lips. Then I forced myself to nod, slipping past Mac and back into the pounding chaos of the club.

My mission was complete.

So why did I feel so bad about this?