Vitality (Vitality Series #1)

Chapter 17 Electric

The air was thick and moist. It moved through Ava with every jump and every turn. Every tiny breeze swept through her hair and body like another chance to move again. In and out, around her body and up her back, it swirled against the falling sweat, threading through each strand of mucky hair. Every breath was difficult to inhale. She felt vigorous from the vibrations. The music in the air was lifting. Gravity was losing its grip on her, every movement and every feeling more pronounced. Excitement, anxiousness, and seventh-day thirst coursed through her painfully and exploded softly through her rhythm. Her body was taken over, but her focus remained sharply on the crowd.

"I'm soo hot!" Dahlila shouted, her curls and brown eyes seeming extra bright and shiny in the dark club. Her peach halter-top and tight linen pants looked sweet on her.

Ava laughed with fire in her eyes. The colored lights shifting around them reflected over her short, silky maroon dress as it slid sensually over her body while she moved. Her layered red hair was scrunched with extra volume. Though she normally only wore a little eyeliner and mascara, her makeup tonight had a deeper edge to it.

They had been dancing for hours. When Shane saw Dahlila and Danny inch a little closer to each other, he inched his way to Ava, and she let him dance, knowing when to create space. She was on the lookout though, with only one thing on her mind, and that was her dark stranger.

Every time she closed her eyes, he was there, waiting. The only thing that opened them was the desperate hope he'd be there in front of her, something she could touch. She needed to touch him. Somehow, the possibilities of him not wanting her could not even breach her determination to get to him. He was hers.

Her eyes flew over to an opening and stuck there with anticipation. The three of them walked in; her legs stopped moving, and, for a second, she suffocated. Ava swore the music became louder. She felt it, felt it like an aftershock from a faraway bomb. He was as real as anything. And so was she.

They skimmed the club with their eyes, their morbidly dark tones underneath edging their search. His eyes wanting. Theirs showed nothing.

Then he found her.

She tried not to show the frenzy inside as she continued on as she was. He watched her as he stood against the wall with his friends. Why did he just stand there, his eyes so still? He watched her dance with someone, and it was doing something to him, a movement building inside. She was dancing with them, but waiting for him.

Movement thrived them. Ava could see it in his eyes. They were cold, black, and starved, but with every movement, an edge grew, and she thought she would bleed under his gaze. Closer — he started in, leering over at her as he moved towards the crowd. The look disoriented her.

Every time Ava looked at him, he was closer. Was he coming her way? Had to be. Did they even notice him, eyes abroad them, moving closer? How could anyone not?

He circled around them like a vulture; for a second she thought she saw dark mist or black smoke trailing off him. She tried with all her might not to blink, not to lose him, and he was still moving. It wasn't fast enough; she needed to get closer to him. Ava broke out of the circle she was in and through the crowd. She lost eye contact with him completely and ended up circling herself. He was gone. Not again.

Then the music stopped. At least for her.

Her heartbeat intensified. Ava could smell him; a hard familiar scent, invigorated her, full of memory and desire. His breath touched her neck. His touch taunted her back, a hand barely touching her arm, so chilling. Ripples. It brushed through her insides, raising soft goosebumps from her flesh, tightening the skin on the back of her neck. And then his body closed in on hers; Ava felt her pupils expand as the sight around her became electric. She could almost feel the sensation of melting ice between her lips, cold against warmth and dripping.