Hidden Temptations

Chapter Fifteen

I walk out the front door, preparing myself for all of the questions, “how are you doing?” and hugs. My mom watches me walk down our porch, I shoo her inside and she closes the door. I look down at my feet making sure I don’t stumble on my way next door. I get to the sidewalk by the road, I look up, there he is. Ian is standing 10 feet in front of me. I stop in my tracks. He’s perfect. This 6ft 2 man was wearing a black tux that fit his muscular body so well, he is wearing a light blue tie how did he know that I was going to wear light blue? His face is hidden behind a gloss black masquerade mask with light blue beading on the right side. It almost matches mine perfectly, but my mask is white. His body looks so good in his tuxedo. He is perfect. I bite my lip. He turns sideways and holds his arm out. I walk to him, slip my arm into his and we continue next door to Sarah’s. We get to the door. Ian leans down and whispers in my ear, his breath on my neck catches me off guard.

“You look stunning tonight.” He knocks on the door. A man I’ve never seen before answers and ushers us in. Sarah must’ve paid for a door man. The music is loud, everyone wearing stunning ball gowns, suits and masks. As I walk in everyone stops and stares at me, a spotlight shines upon Ian and I. A photographer snaps a picture of us, we are looking at each other smiling, not worrying about everything else around us.

“Everyone, the guest of honor, Adeline Marten!” The Dj announces us as we walk through the crowd of people. Everyone is starting to whisper. Sarah appears in front of me. She is wearing a ball gown similar to mine but a deep red, her favorite color, she gives me a hug and talks into my ear.

“You two look amazing.” She backs off and yells, “NOW, WHO’S READY TO GET THIS PARTY STARTED!?!” Everyone cheers, the music starts and Sarah takes my hand. I look at Ian, and he nods and smiles, and I go off with Sarah. So far the party was better than I imagined, I’m taking it slow with dancing because my thighs are still sore, and I’m getting hugs and questions just like I thought. Before I know it a slow dance comes on, I am now standing alone in the middle of the floor, as I look around Bryan Davis is standing in front of me.

“Dance with me.” I nod and he steps closer, wraps his hand around my waist and his other hand he tries to grab mine, but it's too awkward with my cast. I slip my arms around his neck, and we start to dance. It’s awkward. He’s stumbling around and isn’t looking at me. “I saw you came in with Mr. Matthews.” He sounds snarky.

“Yeah, he’s here in case anything happens. He is a police officer too.” I look around looking for Ian, I spot him standing in the corner by the door and there are teenage girls swarming around him. As our eyes meet my heart starts to race, I get butterflies in my stomach. Ian looks angry, jealous maybe, that I am dancing with Bryan. I can see him say goodbye to the girls around him, he makes his way through the crowd, and ends up standing right next to me and Bryan.

“Can I cut in?” Ian taps Bryan's shoulder.

“Uh, sure I guess.” Bryan walks away, smug.

“You looked like you needed some rescuing, again.” He pulls me in close, my breasts up against his chests, his hands around my waist, our eyes never leaving one another’s. My arms go around his neck, I bite my lip, wishing his were pressed against mine.

“Yes I did, thank you.” I blush I don’t know what to say, he’s got me speechless.

“I haven’t changed my mind Adeline, I still want you.”

“Ian, I,” should I tell him how I feel? This is all so fast. “I need you.” I whisper into his ear. He smiles, is this it? The time I get to finally kiss him? He doesn’t move in, I don’t think he wants everyone to know how he feels about me. I sigh.

I lay my head on his shoulder and we dance. He lets go of my waist, grabs my hand and spins me. I smile, tonight is perfect, almost. He pulls me back in close, I lay my head back on his shoulder, it’s getting close to the end of the song. We are in our own little bubble, I see Sarah dancing with her ex-boyfriend Branden Loft, they were always on and off, have been like that throughout high school.

“What’s that?” I stand straight up, and stop dancing.

“What?” Ian looks.

“There, in the window, someone’s out there.” I point, Ian looks, he sees him too, then he’s gone.

“Stay here. Don’t go outside.” Ian rushes out the front door.

Ian’s POV

I slipped off my mask, and pulled out my gun that was in my hip holster, and crept around the corner of the house. I point my gun up, I see a figure in the distance, I take a few steps forward, and turn my flashlight on, gun still up.

“Freeze, don’t move.” I yell.

“Mr. Matthews what are you doing?”

“Woah! Put the gun down dude!” I put my gun away, and shook my head.

“You guys should really not do that s**t outside of the window, get back inside.” All they were doing was smoking some weed. Thank god Adeline is safe.

Addie’s POV

“Ian?” I couldn’t stay inside while he was out there alone.

He turns around and looks at me, “I told you to stay inside.”

“Yeah I know.” I step closer, “I noticed it was only people from the party outside.” Ian steps closer. “Here come with me.” I grab his hand and take him to Sarah’s backyard into the gazebo. It’s all done up with white twinkling lights. It is overlooking her pool and bushes that cover the side of the gazebo facing the house. Even the fence in the back yard is tall enough where if my mother was in our kitchen she couldn’t see us. We are completely alone.

“Thanks for coming to my party, I know hanging out with a bunch of 18 year olds isn’t what you would want to do on a Saturday night.” I lean on the railing of the gazebo looking out at the pool. Ian is standing behind me a few feet back. “Also, thanks for not leaving my side after you found me this morning, You have made me feel safe.”

“Spending time with you is all I want Adeline. I’ve been wanting a moment alone with you since you first walked into my classroom. And I can’t say that it was my job to stay with you, because it wasn’t. I was supposed to be back at the station after I found you, but I couldn’t leave you, I needed to know you weren’t alone.” I can hear him step closer, I stand up and turn around to look him in the eyes. He grabs my waist, our bodies touching again. Our eyes locked once again, and this time we couldn’t hold ourselves back.

He grabs my face, I grab the back of his neck and our lips are pressed against each other. His fit perfectly with mine, he kisses me so passionately, I want the rest of him. I let my hand wander to his chest, and back up to his neck. His tongue touching mine for a brief second. He slides his hands down my waist, and pushes his lips into mine one last time, and just as quick as our kiss started, it was over.

“We better get back inside.” He grabs my hand, “I don’t want Sarah to miss you too much.” He winks.

“Yeah, lets.” I can’t wipe the smile off my face, I’m walking on air right now.