“Jack,” I breathed.

“I told you I couldn’t be gentle, flower,” he ground out, fingers pumping while his thumb found my clit. The pressure was delicious, perfect, and I knew it wasn’t going to be long before I came.

“I want…to…ask you a question.”

His tongue licked at the shell of my ear. “Then ask.”

“Why do you call me flower?”

I didn’t have to look to know he was smiling that glorious smile, the one that lit up his face from the inside out.

“Because when I touch you, you fucking bloom,” he answered, and it was right on his final word that I came with a startling intensity. His fingers left me and rubbed along my folds. “I’ll never get tired of the way you feel. This is mine,” he grunted into my ear, but I had no answering words. All I could do was nod. When I finally found my voice, I let out a breathy, “Yours,” and it felt like his entire body vibrated with approval. Just as he was setting my dress back to rights and I was nibbling at his neck, my face pressed into his hot skin, the door to the club opened, and someone stepped out.

A moment later I heard Jay call, “Jack, Lille, are you two out here?”

It only took a moment for him to spot us. I was still coming down from my orgasm, my body trembling against Jack’s as he held me in his arms. My hands were fisted in his shirt.

“There you are,” said Jay, a knowing lilt to his voice. I glanced at him for a moment to see him smirking to high heavens. Jack shook his head at his brother’s cheery demeanour and said, “We’ll be in in a minute.”

Jay raised his hands in the air. “Hey, no rush. Matilda’s in the bathroom, powdering her nose or whatever shit women do in bathrooms. She’s been gone a while, so I was wondering if Lille could go check on her, but I see she’s otherwise indisposed at the moment.” I bristled with embarrassment, self-conscious that Jay could see the “I just came” flush to my cheeks. I drew in a deep breath and ran my hands down my dress.

“It’s okay. I can go find her,” I said, and slid out of the cage of Jack’s body. I tried to put one foot in front of the other, which was difficult given my current state, but I just about managed to reach the door. Jay held it open, Jack heavy on my heels, and I stepped back inside to the throbbing beat of the music. Just before heading to the bathroom, I turned around to see Jay reach out and ruffle Jack’s hair, like he was congratulating him. Jack half scowled, half grinned at his brother and gave him a little shove. It made my heart squeeze so see them acting like such siblings, and I hurried on to find Matilda. When I reached the bathroom, she was standing by the sinks, washing her hands.

“Lille,” she said when she saw me. “Oh, you look like a woman who just got what she wanted. I take it you and Jack are back on track, then?”

I looked away sheepishly before replying, “Yeah, I think we are. I really should thank you for inviting me to dinner. I’ll be honest, when I first realised it was a setup, I kind of wanted to strangle you for a second, but I know now that your heart was in the right place.”

She seemed taken aback by my words and gave me a shy smile. “You’re welcome. I’m happy to help.”

A moment of quiet elapsed while Matilda reached inside her purse and retrieved some money to give to the bathroom attendant. I stood there, suddenly overcome with the need to embrace her. She must have noticed, because when she looked at me, she asked, “What?”

“This is going to sound weird, but can I give you a hug?”

She laughed. “Of course you can.”

I went to her, wrapping my arms around her small frame. I guessed that after all we’d been through reuniting Jack and Jay, I felt a sense of kinship towards her.

“I suppose we’re sort of sisters-in-law now,” she said warmly.

“Well, if Jack and I ever marry, it won’t be for a long time, but yeah, I suppose you could call us that.”

Matilda grinned as she pulled away. “Hmm, I don’t think you need a ring on your finger with Jack. The way he looks at you says it all. You’re it for him.”

“It’s a little early to say that,” I hastened, but she cut me off. The shine in her eyes told me she was tipsy, which explained the soppy sentiment that came out of her next.

“Oh, Lille, there’s never too early when true love is involved.”

Her words made me grin, because she’d definitely had a few. I let her lead me back out into the club. We didn’t immediately find the brothers, but a song came on that Matilda liked, so I let her lead me onto the dance floor. We danced for a minute or two, the crush of the bodies surrounding us strangely liberating, when I felt familiar arms come around my middle.

“I can still smell you on my hand,” Jack growled into my ear, his voice sending delicious spikes of awareness right to my core. Our bodies moved to the beat, and I looked to see Jay join Matilda, taking her into his arms and doing a cute little dancey hug.

“Wait ’til I get you home tonight — you’re gonna fucking ache in the morning.”

I twisted in his hold to face him, my breasts pushing into his hard chest as we continued to dance. I trembled, enjoying the friction between our bodies.

“I’m already aching for you,” I said, going up on my tiptoes to shout into his ear.

His lips tipped up at the edges as he swept my hair over my shoulder and gripped the back of my neck. “What do you want me to do to you, flower?”

The loudness of the club, the heat, the sweat, and Jack’s potent masculinity all combined to make me brave, more open with my desires. “I want your tongue between my legs,” I said, and I felt rather than heard the rumble emanate from Jack’s chest. “I want you to make love to me so hard I end up sore.”

His other arm squeezed tighter around my waist, and when I met his eyes, they practically blazed with his desire for me. I could feel him hardening again, and it gave me a little thrill to know my words had done that to him, to know there were hundreds of people surrounding us. Jack used his grip on my neck to tilt my head back, and before I knew it, he was sinking his tongue deep inside my mouth, moving it in slow delicious thrusts that made me envision his cock inside me.

By the time we came up for air, the DJ was playing a completely different song, and Jay was tapping Jack on the shoulder.

“I think it’s time we get out of there,” he shouted as we followed him to the bar, where it was quieter. Jack held my hand in his. “How about we head out to the circus? I want to meet the people you live with.”

Jack nodded, and a couple of minutes later we were huddled in a taxi. Jay sat in the front and began doing a card trick for the driver. Matilda scolded him for distracting the man, saying we’d all end up in a crash. I watched in fascination, the side of my body moulded to Jack’s as Jay shuffled a deck of cards in a way I’d never seen before. At least not in real life.

It looked like the show had just ended when we arrived at the circus, because there were dozens of cars blocking the road as the audience left the tent and headed back into the city. We got out, the cool night air kissing my skin. Jack led the way to the gazebo, where most everyone would be hanging out after the show. I thought he seemed a little excited to introduce Jay as his brother. Before we got there, though, we stopped in our tracks as a terrified scream rang out somewhere close by.

“What was that?” Matilda asked, moving closer to her husband, a wary look on her face.

“It sounded like a scream,” I said, skin prickling. This was eerily similar to the night Lola was attacked, and when I met Jack’s gaze, I knew he was thinking the exact same thing. Before any of us could say another word, we heard footsteps pounding hurriedly toward us, and I jumped in fright when Julie emerged around the side of a camper. She was wearing a silk robe that was torn at the shoulder, her stage outfit on underneath, and blood was trickling down from a cut on her eyebrow. Her eyes were wide and full of terror