HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) by Zara Cox Read Free Book Online Page A

nearly knocking her off her feet.
    Heart racing, she whirled,
feeling momentarily dizzy. Keely grabbed her arm, concern stamped on her face.
“Hey, are you okay?” she yelled to be heard above the music.
    Bethany shook her head and turned
her head sharply her gaze darting around the ambient space. Aside from a few
VIP guests who’d drifted in to join them about an hour ago, nothing seemed out
of place.
    And yet…
    Remembering when she’d first
experienced that sensation - on the first day of her Indigo Lounge trip,
staring up at Zach’s office in Newark - she shivered.
    Heart hammering faster, she
glanced around again but all she could see were bodies moving to the music and
her own reflection on the mirrored walls. Her face appeared flushed and her
eyes sad and haunted. She looked away quickly, unable to face the truth that
stared back at her.
    “Hey.”
    The guy who’d asked her to dance
stood in front of her, his smile wider, his gaze expectant. From the loud
speakers, Rihanna demanded to know where some guy had been all her life.
    Bethany started to smile just as
another tingle surged up her spine.
    She heard a gasp beside her
before Keely’s “Shit!” exploded in her ear.
    Zachary Savage materialized out
of the darkness, pure fury vibrating from him, just as Blond Guy stepped
forward, his hand extending to slide around her waist.
    He never made the connection.
    “ What the hell!” His smile turned to a grimace of shocked pain as
Zach grabbed the back of his neck, his fingers digging in deep.
    “You lay one finger on her and
I’ll break every fucking bone in your body.”

 
 
 
    Chapter Six

 
 
    Bethany stumbled out of the club
into the smoky night air, her heart racing with equal parts anger and…oh God,
she hated to admit it but… excitement .
    Behind her, she heard Zach’s
heavy footsteps and Keely’s lighter ones coming after her. She quickened her
steps, sucking in desperate breaths.
    “Where the fuck do you think
you’re going?” Zach snapped behind her. She turned to face him and almost
wished she hadn’t.
    This close, his body, his face,
stunned and dazzled her into near incoherence.
    “I think the better question here
is - who the fuck do you think you are, Savage?” Keely, suffering no such
debilitating compunction, demanded. “It’s a free country. And she’s single.”
    “No. She isn’t,” he snapped
without taking his eyes off Bethany. She stared back at him. Fury, hunger and
deep, dark possessiveness blazed from eyes turned almost black with his chaotic
emotions.
    “Zach,” she rasped, then stopped
to wet her dry lips. “You can’t keep following me around—”
    “And you sure as fuck can’t go
around hitting people, you know,” Keely flung at him.
    Zach’s gaze didn’t waver once
from Bethany. “Trust me, if I’d hit that asshole, he’d know about it.” The
menace in his voice was unmistakable.
    “Jesus.” Keely threw out her
arms.
    She finally attracted Zach’s
attention. He faced her, hands on his lean hips, his jaw tight enough to break
through concrete. “I trusted you to take care of her. You let me down. As of
now, you’re relieved from that task.”
    Keely’s mouth dropped open. “Are
you kidding me?”
    Bethany finally managed to unglue
her tongue to string words together. “Wait, what do you mean you trusted her to
take care of me?”
    Both Keely and Zach stared at
her. Guilt flicked over Keely’s face but Zach remained tight-jawed and
unapologetic.
    Her insides hollowed out.
“Someone better answer me, right now. Did you plan tonight with him, Keely?”
    Her friend flushed and shook her
head. “No. Not exactly.”
    “Then how… exactly ?”
    “He was just supposed to turn up
and wish you happy birthday. At least that’s what we agreed. I had no idea he
was going to turn into a homicidal maniac the moment another guy looked at
you.”
    Zach’s hands curled into tight
fists at his side.
    “He was doing a hell of a lot
more than