Forbidden Fling

📖 Forbidden Fling: Chapter 1 The music blasted through the dark club like a second heartbeat, vibrating under Aurora’s bare feet as she stepped onto the stage. She wasn’t Aurora here. Here, under neon lights and hungry eyes, she was Candice, the girl men would sell their souls for if she smiled at them. The girl who moved like smoke, who made them forget their wives, their guilt, and their empty bank accounts. The girl who made them believe, for a few minutes, that they could have her. But they couldn’t. She swayed her hips, fingers tracing the pole, pretending she didn’t see the way hands twitched in laps, credit cards sliding into fists, desire tightening in the shadows. She pretended the red glow wasn’t swallowing her whole. She pretended she wasn’t tired. Or broke. Or scared every time she walked home alone. She flipped her hair, letting it spill down her back as the beat dropped, her body moving to the rhythm she’d learned to survive. She didn’t see him at first. But she felt him. Dark eyes, hot and heavy, watching her with a focus that cut through the haze of cheap perfume and sweat. She looked out across the club, past the regulars who leered and the men who thought they were kings here. And there he was. He sat alone in the VIP section, a glass of something expensive untouched in his hand, his eyes locked on her. He wasn’t like the others. He didn’t blink. He didn’t smirk. He didn’t look away. The suit he wore was tailored, dark, and clean, but there was something dangerous about the way he held himself, like he was waiting for something to happen. Or for someone. Her heart stuttered, but her body kept moving, trained to perform even as her mind screamed: Don’t look at him. But she did. Their eyes met, and it was like the world around them dropped away. His gaze was cold, assessing, but there was something else there, too. Possession. She’d seen it before, but never like this. Never so raw. He lifted his glass slightly, a silent toast, his lips curling into a half-smirk that made her stomach twist. Aurora tore her eyes away, focusing on the music, on the way her body knew how to move even when her mind didn’t. But she could feel him, even when she turned her back, his gaze crawling across her skin like fire. When her set ended, she stepped off the stage, ignoring the men calling her name, waving bills in her direction. She made it backstage, her breath catching, her hands trembling as she grabbed a towel, wiping the sweat from her neck. She needed to breathe. She needed to get out of here. But when she stepped out, he was waiting. Tall, broad shoulders, dark hair falling over eyes that shouldn’t have been so cold and so hungry at the same time. He was closer now, his presence suffocating, the air thick around him like smoke. “Candice,” he said, his voice smooth, low, like silk over steel. She froze. No one used her stage name off the floor. His lips curved, dark amusement dancing in his eyes. “Or do you prefer Aurora?” Her blood ran cold. She swallowed, forcing herself to lift her chin. “Who the hell are you?” His eyes darkened, a spark of something dangerous flashing there before it disappeared under the calm. “Someone who wants a dance.” He lifted a crisp bill between his fingers a single bill that wasn’t like the others. She caught the edge of it, pulling it from his hand. Two thousand dollars. For one dance. Her breath caught, her eyes flicking up to his. “Why?” she whispered. He stepped closer, so close she could smell the expensive cologne, feel the heat radiating from him, see the darkness in his gaze. “Because,” he murmured, leaning down so only she could hear, his breath brushing against her ear. “I always get what I want.”