Burning Up

Baby

Walking into the marble hallway of a mansion in the middle of the woods had me feeling as though I'd entered the wrong address for a college party.

"God if it wasn't for the music, I'd run for fear of being prosecuted for trespassing." I muttered under my breath, smiling as Nadia scoffed out a laugh.

The hallway in question was wide and grand, with an imperial staircase that stood proudly in its centre, and a hanging chandelier which took up a great portion of the ceiling, by far an upgrade from what I would have previously considered to be the grand frat house entrances me and Nadia were used to.

I fought the urge to adjust my top self-consciously as several sets of eyes turned to us.

"Should we go in?" Nadia asked, gesturing towards the archway that led into what had previously been a living room but had now been transformed into a dance floor, with bright disco-coloured lights spinning around, illuminating the faces of people who were otherwise engulfed in darkness.

"Yeah." I agreed, eager to get out of the bright hallway.

As we walked into the main room, I was stunned to see that the music thrumming through the floorboards was coming from speakers embedded in the ceiling.

"You look for the boys, I'm gonna go and get us some drinks." I nodded in agreement, scanning the room as Nadia disappeared into the crowd.

It didn't take me long to find Iago's tall and muscled physique. He was standing with his back to me, illuminated in blue light, talking to one of the guys in our history class.

I smiled to myself, making my way over to him, pausing on occasion to say hi to someone I knew.

"Hey." I greeted once I'd pushed my way through the final barricade of dancing people, leaning up on my toes as I wrapped my arms around Iago's waist from behind, brushing my lips against his ear. He grinned, his teeth flashing in a way he reserved only for me.

Turning to face me, he paused momentarily, his eyes raking up and down my body as the guy who he'd been talking to understood that their conversation was finished and morphed back into the crowd.

"Mmm, I wasn't expecting this." Iago murmured, his hands moving to skim over my hips.

My laugh quickly transformed into a gasp as he grabbed me and pulled me against him, leaning down to press his lips against mine in a passionate kiss. His hands were warm and strong where they gripped my waist and I felt myself melting into his touch, my own arms coming up to wrap around his neck as he held me closer.

"What took you so long?" He asked, his breath warm against my lips. "I missed you."

I looked up at him, my breath hitching as our eyes met and I was instantly reminded of the first time I'd seen him. His eyes still held the same darkness that they always had, his gaze just as intense as when I'd realised he'd caught me staring that first night at the party, and yet there was something more that had blossomed beneath the surface, something sweeter, softer. Something that resembled trust.

"Seems like warming up the crowd went well." I said, burying my emotions as Iago smirked, his eyes flickering momentarily to the crowd of students smoking outside before meeting mine again.

"You could say that." He answered, his thumbs moving softly against the exposed skin of my stomach. I grinned at him, unable to keep my eyes off his lips as his tongue darted out to wet them.

"You're awfully cocky this evening." I teased, laughing as he crowded me against the wall, the noise of the dance floor and music dissolving into nothingness as my focus fixed solely on him.