Free Sugarbaby by CRYSTAL GREEN

me, and I gasped, pushing back at them, starting to fight my way out. My gaze met Noah’s.
    His expression seemed to change, panic taking over as I reached for him . . .
    Out of nowhere, two men in black shirts appeared, dragging people off me one by one, and as the room swirled around me, I was aware of only one other thing—Noah, picking me up, throwing me over his shoulder, parting the crowd as he busted through.
    I was too shocked to do anything, but at least I could breathe now that I was out of that mob. Too bad that every breath I tried to take was thwarted by the fact that my lungs were tight, due to the fact that I could feel his hand on the back of my bare thigh as my dress rode up.
    The contact sent delicious shivers over my skin, webs of heat spinning through me. It wasn’t until he set me down near a back staircase far from the action that my heart started up again. But his hand was still there, his fingers pressed over the back of my leg as I struggled for breath, my pulse beating in time to the flashing lights.
    His skin—soapy and nice. His body—so close . . .
    I told myself to push his hand away, to stop myself from sliding down the wall that was holding me up and get out of here quick. But his mouth was inches from mine—so near that his breath bathed my lips with warmth and set them to tingling.
    Don’t fall into another boy trap
, I thought.
    Yet I was at least tripping, fast and hard, into his gaze.
    He bent even closer, his mouth only a soft word away from mine now—a word that felt like
Yes
. And when he eased his fingers higher up the back of my thigh, to the curve of my bottom, I couldn’t think of any words at all.
    My body took over, doing the talking for me, my hips shifting, giving him silent permission to inch up farther until his finger swept under my panties, catching my bare skin.
    Just a flutter of a touch.
    Just a caress that made my sex clench.
    As my vision went blurry, I gripped his sweater, expecting a kiss, just a whisper more . . .
    My eyes half-closed as I held my breath.
    Then, much to my shock, he pulled back, and my sight cleared, as if ice water had wiped it clean. He had a look of self-loathing to him that made me pull back my hand from his sweater and wonder what had just happened.
    He retreated, acting remote, maybe even remorseful for taking advantage of the situation.
    Was he being a gentleman? I wasn’t sure about that, either.
    As I wobbled, he started talking.
    â€œSome of the people I invited obviously tend to go overboard,” he said over the music, which wasn’t as loud here in this nook. “I don’t know who the girl in the Christmas trimmings is, but she set off the drunks, and some of those drunks don’t care who they crash into.”
    â€œYou mean you didn’t plan for all this insanity?” I asked, and, somehow, my voice wasn’t even shaking.
    â€œI just wanted a party,” he said quietly.
    His cologne . . . or maybe it was his soap . . . whatever it was, I could smell it on me. It was subtle, unlike all these loud lights around us. I fought the urge to close my eyes in the pure delight of smelling him.
    Keep your eyes open
, I told myself.
You know better
.
    â€œI should be more careful about who to invite.” He was shaking his head. Was he blaming himself because I’d nearly gotten run over by the crowd?
    â€œIt’s okay,” I said.
    â€œNot really. I invited people who posted on online boards about . . . let’s say ‘alternative entertainment.’ If they seemed like they’d be interested, I told them to come here without screening them, because I wanted . . .” His jaw tightened. “Maybe I wanted some variety. But I contacted the kids on the regular Hellfire list, too, even though I don’t see many around now.”
    â€œThat’s because you hijacked their Club.”
    He