Free A Gentleman in the Street by Alisha Rai Page B

salute.
    The man at her side leaned in to whisper something to her, and her attention shifted. God damn it, who was that man? Her date?
    She had never brought an escort to any of her mother’s parties—strange, since that would have been an ideal way to annoy the other woman—but she had often found companionship when she got there. He’d become an expert at finding excuses to leave the room or avert his gaze when she sidled close to someone, an intimate look in her eyes.
    It stirred too much inside him to watch her trail her fingers over another man’s arm or face. Envy, because of the man’s right to stand so close to her, to touch her and be touched. Lust, over thoughts of what she would do to the stranger when she got him alone. Greed, because he wanted to both be the object of her desire and have a front row seat to it.
    He felt all those things now when the man’s perfect face pressed far too close to Akira’s. But he couldn’t look away. Not this time.
    Not even when she offered the man a blinding smile and pressed her body against his. Or when she snaked her hand through the crook of his arm.
    They slipped away from the crowd surrounding them as if they were accustomed to sneaking off on their own. Just before they disappeared through a doorway, Akira turned her head, the tips of her hair brushing over her spine, and made eye contact. She lifted her hand languidly.
    And crooked a finger at him.
    With a sultry smile, she disappeared.
    “Jacob?”
    Spell broken, he jerked, startled, and looked at Elizabeth, who was studying him with curiosity.
    He should forget about Akira and her bizarre beckoning. He should spend the evening with proper, safe Elizabeth, and wipe Akira from his mind entirely.
    He had done it before, all those other times she had disappeared with some other man. He’d buried his desire down deep and soldiered on.
    Not tonight.
    The thought came unexpectedly, but once it took hold in his brain, he couldn’t shake it off. He couldn’t march away like a good boy. This time, he was going to feed all those emotions swirling in his chest.
    “Excuse me,” he said to Elizabeth, aware he was a shade too abrupt, but unable to correct his behavior. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
    She patted him on the shoulder and said something to him. Perhaps he agreed to see her later. He couldn’t quite recall.
    He was too intent on finding his prey.
    A deserted hallway lay beyond the door Akira and her man had exited through. Like Akira’s office building, this place was another converted mansion, used for events instead of offices. As he moved down the hallway, the sounds of the party became muted, assisted by the thick carpeting and solid walls.
    There was nothing, in fact, to disguise the noise that made him stop in his tracks, his muscles locking.
    Surely she wouldn’t…
    He took another couple of steps and heard it again, a feminine gasp followed quickly by a man’s sigh.
    Moth to a flame, a magnet to metal…there was nothing that could prevent him from following that sound. The door was ajar. He only had to nudge it open so he could peek inside. Bare and plain, the room beyond was an unremarkable storage closet.
    What made it remarkable was the woman leaning against the shelf. Dark eyes clashed with his, daring him to…do something. What, he wasn’t sure. He was fairly certain he had no blood left in his brain to manage any sort of cognitive functions.
    Akira’s dress was peeled down to her waist, her small, firm breasts propped up on the shelf of her black corset. The dim light from the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling gleamed on her date’s head as he sucked one long brown nipple into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing with each motion.
    Red-tipped fingers tightened on the fine fabric of the tux covering the man’s shoulders. “If you’re going to watch, come in and shut the door,” she drawled.
    Shameless. That’s what she was.
    The man lifted his head at Akira’s words.
    Good. Yes,