Healed by the Alpha

Man in the Dark

I’m still staring at the empty space where Kade had stood, my eyes scanning the shadows like I might somehow snap him back into existence. Then, a sudden warmth settles at my back. The brush of someone standing behind me and the soft fan of breath on the back of my neck.

The crowded club hasn’t changed. The music still pounds, bodies still press and sway beneath the lights, but there’s a shift in the room all the same. The air feels thicker and charged, like the moment right before a storm breaks with pouring rain.

A breath stirs the hair by my ear. “Careful,” a low voice murmurs. It’s smooth and dark, threading through the noise like it was only meant for me. “You keep looking like that and people might get the wrong idea.”

My stomach does what feels like an acrobatics routine before I turn. First, all I see is a chest enclosed in a black t-shirt that fits him so incredibly, deliciously well. My eyes trail upwards to the sharp cut of his jaw, taking in the shadow of stubble that dusts his skin. The same slightly unruly hair that looks like he ruffled it when he woke up and left it that way.

And then his eyes. Storm-grey and heavy, filled with an intensity that steals the air from my lungs. For a split second, my mind stumbles over itself.

My lips part, but no sound comes out right away. The memory of that night, blurred at the edges but vivid in feeling, rushes forward all at once. My cheeks heat at the thought: I’ve slept with this man. This movie star that every woman ever has fawned over, but I can barely remember that night. Did the tension between us then feel as thick as it is now? Though, the longer he stands mere inches away, the more about that night I seem to remember.

I clear my throat. “You disappeared,” I manage, my voice quieter than I intended. It gets swallowed by the music, but the lift at the corner of his mouth tells me he heard me just fine.

“So did you.” Kade’s gaze moves over my face, slow and deliberate, like he knows something about me that I don’t.

My cheeks heat. He’s not wrong. The morning after our…passionate, drunken night together, I slipped out of the hotel suite before he had woken up. A stereotypical New York night.

“You were watching me,” I say, meeting his gaze and trying to will the embarrassment away. “A strange man hidden in shadows watching a woman across the bar.”

The slight smirk returns. “I was observing,” he corrects smoothly, grey eyes twinkling with a hint of amusement.

A small scoff escapes me. “Is there a difference?”

Kade’s eyes flicker again, something sharper beneath the surface this time. “There is.”

The answer settles like a heavy weight between us, and he doesn’t choose to elaborate. I study him for a moment, my gaze flicking across his face.

God, he’s intense. Not just the way he looks, but the way he is. Everything about him seems like it’s dialed just a little too high. Is that why things with him went from a night I nearly forgot to a night I now can’t get out of my head?

His gaze drops to my mouth, just for a moment, and in a blink, something changes. Subtly enough that anyone else might miss it, but I don’t. Kade’s shoulders go rigid for a fraction of a second, the muscle in his jaw tightening as if he’s holding something back. Not discomfort or hesitation. Control. But just as quick as it appeared, it’s gone, smoothed over so fast I almost convince myself I imagined it.

“Drink,” Kade says, nodding toward the glass still in my hand.

I blink, thrown off by the sudden change of subject. “What?”

“You haven’t touched your drink since I walked up.” His eyes lift back to mine. “It’s getting warm.”

Despite the dozens of questions racing through my head about this interaction, I lift the glass and take a sip. There’s something about the way he said that sentence. It wasn’t quite a command, but close enough that my body had reacted to it before my brain could catch up.

The taste of alcohol is sharp on my tongue. I barely register it, though, because of the way he’s watching me. His gaze follows every little movement, including the move in my throat as I swallow. It lingers there just a second too long before it drags back up to meet my eyes. Heat once again rushes to my face, blooming bright on my cheeks.

Frustration shortly follows. I’m acting like a school-age girl with a crush. What is wrong with me?

“You seem to be very observant tonight,” I mutter, looking away, before taking another swig from my glass.

Kade tilts his head slightly as he leans on the support post beside him. “I notice the things that matter.”

My chest tightens. “And I matter?” The question slips out before I can stop it, but he answers immediately.

“Yes.”

The way he says it with no hesitation, no teasing undertone, hits me harder than it should. It’s full of certainty, and it knocks something loose inside me that I’m not ready to examine. It throws me out in left field, where I sit reeling. The way Lance tossed everything away made me feel like I didn’t matter. And I needed the validation from an A-list celebrity? I almost scoff at myself.

I let out a breath, shaking my head to clear the feelings he stirred. “Do you say that to all the girls you corner in clubs?”

Kade blinks. “I don’t corner anyone.”

I raise a brow in response. “You literally appeared behind me like some kind of ghost.”

There’s a brief pause as he silently studies me. When he speaks, his voice is softer.

“You didn’t seem like you’d mind.” I glance away for a second, barely catching the way the twinkle returns to his eyes. “Considering the way you were staring at me across the club.”

“I wasn’t staring,” I say, trying to defend myself, but I fail. His mouth twitches again, this time a bit closer to a smile than the last. “I was just trying to make sure it wasn’t some random man creepily watching me.”

Now, it’s his turn to raise an eyebrow. “Am I not a random man?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Considering you and I have had a…very close encounter the last time we met, I don’t think that classifies you as random anymore.”

Kade pulls his gaze away to glance around the club, suddenly seeming disinterested in our conversation. Finally released from his intense eyes, I take the chance to adjust the hem of my party dress and the neckline. It only takes a few moments before I’m done, fidgeting with my half-full glass instead.

The silence stretches on between us almost to the point of awkward, letting the noise of the club rush back in. For a moment, I can’t help but wonder where the hell Josie went.

“Dance with me,” Kade says.

When I look back at him, his eyes are already on me. I don’t miss the way it was only a statement.

I study him for a moment, chewing on the inside of my lip. “You’re not big on asking, are you?” I finally say.

Kade’s gaze doesn’t waver. “No.” The one word doesn’t leave room for an explanation.

Everything about Kade sets off quiet warning bells in the back of my mind, something I don’t remember from our previous night together. I should say no to his offer-not-offer to dance. Things with him seem too easy to fall into right now. But yet…

“That depends,” I reply, tilting my head. “Are you going to charm me back your hotel bed?”

This time, his lips finally turn into a full smirk. “Not unless you want me to.”

The playful seductiveness that seeps into his words makes my heart thud. Against my mind’s wishes, heat pools between my legs even though those thoughts are the last thing I need. However, I can’t say I’d complain if things got as good as they did last time.

“Fine,” I agree before I can overthink it. “Once dance.”

Immediately, Kade’s hand is in mine. The second our skin touches, it’s like striking a match. Heat rushes up my arm, sharp and sudden, spreading like it’s following a fuse to my chest. I almost gasp and my steps falter, the sensation catching me off guard. His grip tightens on my hand enough to distract me from the feeling.

His voice sounds close to my ear, his tone low. “You okay?”

I nod quickly, trying not to give away the jumble of nerves I’m slowly succumbing to. “Yeah. I’m not used to heels.” The lie is weak, but he lets it go.

Kade leads me onto the dance floor, moving through the crowd with an ease that feels almost unnatural. People seem to shift without realizing it to make space for us. And when he pulls me in close, my breath hitches.

There’s barely any space between us now with my back flush against his chest. The heat of his body bleeds into mine, his hands settling at my waist like they belong there. It’s a small gesture of possessiveness that I kind of almost really like.

This doesn’t feel like just plain attraction or a level of lust. The fire between us the last time we were together only burns hotter tonight.