The Enigmatic Temptation

They hadn't offered, but it was expected. I understood how things worked in our world. So I obliged.

Once I placed the glass on the table that sat between my brother and me, I also stood. "Gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

"You're leaving?" Forrester looked put off.

"I am. I have a few things I need to take care of."

"Suit yourself, but you're missing out. These ladies are top-tier." Parker brushed away thoughts of me not joining them. I was sure he didn't want me to.

"Not my thing."

"Women or the women here," Parker taunted, and before I could move toward him, my brother was between us. "Lyle, let's go."

My eyes remained on Parker until I felt my brother's hand on my arm. I looked down where we were connected and inhaled, reeling myself back in enough to walk away. I left, not caring about anything else I was leaving behind.

"Lyle."

"What?"

"What the hell was that?"

"That was me doing what you asked. I came. But I can't change who I am. WhatI am. How do I react to someone questioning my sexuality?"

I had never, in all my years, been attached to a woman. No dating, no long-term love—not even as far back as high school. Being diagnosed as bipolar kept me guarded most of my life. I fucked women, sure. There were plenty of them, but I never shared myself with them. Had I chosen to, at some point, they would have learned about my disorder. For my father, it was a weakness, and you didn't expose weakness. I became so accustomed to hiding who I was that it became a habit. Even after I no longer cared about his opinions of me, I continued to hide that part of myself.

Ez searched my eyes, and I laughed arrogantly. "I'm fine. My head is clear. That had nothing to do with whether or not I took my meds this morning." This week, month, or year, consistency was the thing with bipolar. "That was strictly about me not liking that muthafucker. Move."

Ez lifted both hands in surrender, palms facing me, and stepped out of the way. I left.

"You'll still meet with Christian tomorrow?" He said it to my back.

"I gave you my word," I answered honestly, not bothering to halt my steps.

As soon as I was back in the main area of the club, I exhaled the frustration that had been coiling in me since the minute I'd walked into that room with them. I hadn't been completely honest. Sure, Parker was a dick, but my reaction wasn't just about that. Being here, back in Crescent Falls, submerged in my father's world, was the underlying factor in my reaction. This world, which now belonged to my brother and by default to me, challenged my restraint. I wasn't completely sure I could handle what that meant without compromising everything I had accomplished since I'd stepped away.

I looked around, trying to find my exit, but before I could make sense of where I needed to go, something else caught my attention—or rather, someone else. Across the club, separate from the individual sections, was a main stage. Red lights illuminated it, and there was a woman. Diamonds covered her skin, and the way they reflected from the light made them appear red.

The devil.

But the way she moved was heavenly. Only an angel could move the way she did. But only the devil could make it look so sinful.

I was drawn in. I couldn't take my eyes off her. The heat that pooled in my gut, warming me from the inside out, was such a foreign feeling that I barely recognized the reason behind the change. This woman. She seemed oblivious to anything around her. All that appeared to matter was the way she moved and glided across the stage. She was fluid, her body moving in seductive motion. She had the attention of all the men in the room. Even those with their dicks sliding between other women's lips, along with those enmeshed in pussycats, focused on her, thinking of her and wanting her, and that made me angry.

I wanted her too, and that meant they weren't allowed to have those thoughts.

A low growl rumbled in my chest, and I could no longer see them, or someone would feel the pain of my irrational thoughts. She had me. All of me. My attention and everything else fell away. She was so fucking beautiful, and every part of me awakened with awareness.

Of her.

And there I stood while she enchanted everyone else in the building until she finished her dance. The lights went off, and then she was gone. My head moved from left to right. My eyes traveled from body to body, face to face, but she wasn't there. A shockwave of energy pushed through my veins and prickled over my skin.

That was all she had.

Once I stepped out of the club, I inhaled a deep breath, trying to regain control of myself. It had been years since attraction and lust paired in a combination. I was completely taken by surprise.

How the fuck did this happen?

It had been so long since anyone had my attention. Since she had my attention, it lingered past the moments my eyes left her. Thoughts of her lingered so much that I stood in the dark, for God knows how long, until I caught the flicker of something in the corner of my eye. A woman is moving toward the parking lot. She hit the locks on her car, and from the way she moved, I knew it was her. I watched her until she slid into the driver's seat of a pearl Range Rover, and it took every bit of restraint I had not to follow, but I watched. I watched her through the windshield while she tossed her bag in the passenger seat, then turned. The gods of favor worked with me because her phone illuminated her face, giving me a glimpse of the angel without her mask, and fuck if I hated being here in this moment.