CHAPTER 7 #3
This was it. He was going to kiss me. I would never be the same after this moment I wanted so badly. But just before I closed my eyes, Sasha was barreled into by a bunch of drunken guys looking for a fight.
His head smashed into mine and I would have fell backward if I wasn't in his arms.
“Fuck!” I screeched out and held my mouth.
His hands wrapped protectively around my waist and he used his body as a shield to walk me backwards away from a fight that had nothing to do with us.
I was just about to round on whoever knocked into him, my blood boiling instantly.
We hadn't even heard the fight start in the tunnel of lust we were in.
My stomach clenched at the thought of him getting into a fist fight. On the ice was one thing, but real life, fighting was not sexy. As he turned to go back to the men who were shouting I grabbed his shirt.
“Don't do it, Sasha.” His hands clamped on mine.
“I'm just going back for my team. Stay here.” After his words he was quickly gone into the fray.
Women were screaming and chairs were being thrown and for the life of me I couldn't just stand there.
I had never been in a bar room brawl, but there was no way I could just stay put.
Stay? He told me, no way in Hell. I raced to the last place I saw him, avoiding a man thrown at my feel and two women pulling out each others extensions, just in time to see him dragging Jonesy and the other guys to safety.
Relief washed over me at the sight of his stoic face tugging on his drunken teammates, pushing them towards the door.
“I thought I told you to stay.” He pointed a finger at me and gently turned me towards the exit. His voice gruff, his eyes void of anything but what was in front of him. He was doing his job.
“I might howl Sasha, but I never obey.” I laughed at his annoyance. At the way he thought he could tell me to stay like he was my master and I was some dog.
But my mouth snapped tight with the look he gave me. All in one gaze his face went from calm to hungry and I knew, without a doubt, he wanted to make me howl. He wanted to see how much I disobeyed.
I swallowed hard. My throat dry, my body going warm. Sweat and adrenaline pumping through me. My body reacted to his look, to his touch, in a way I had never felt before. In one moment, I was ready to do whatever he wanted. I wanted to let him do whatever he wanted. And I wanted it all.
Let's be honest, for Sasha, I would totally obey.
He pulled me towards the door, hand tightly around mine.
His eyes searching back and forth to make sure his teammates were heading into the same direction and we weren't getting caught in the fray that had bouncers yelling and bottles crashing.
By the time we were all outside we could hear the sirens start.
“I swear, after midnight everything goes to shit.” Jonesy slapped his hand against his pants.
“People can't hold their liqueur, but thanks, Sarge.” The dark haired guy with glasses clapped Sasha on the back.
“No problem, Reeds.”
“Did you say after midnight?” I dug into my purse and looked at my phone. It was 1:15 a.m. and the last train home left in a half hour. “Shit, I have to go. I have a customer picking up a table at eight a.m.”
“Let me see your face.” Sasha grabbed my chin. A concerned look reached his eyes and furrowed his brows.
I winced in pain. My lip was sore, probably from his head butt. I had forgotten all about it in the hysteria.
“That wasn't what I was trying to do.” His thumb grazed my lip where I could feel a puffy bruise start. My eyes rolled back as I got lost in his touch.
“I know that. I– I– But I need to get to the train station.” It wasn't what I wanted to say at all.
Damn it! I yelled internally at the reality of my life. I had a job to get back to. I couldn't just shirk my responsibilities to get laid.
“You can let me get you a hotel room and then leave in the morning. What if I don't want this to end?” His fingers lingered on my face, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
“No, I have to go.” There was no way I was going to be one of those girls that gave everything up for a man. My business was my life no matter how much I wanted to say “Fuck the business, take me now!”
“Afraid I won't behave myself walking you to your room?” Sasha raised his eyebrows up and down.
Why did he have to be flirting right now?
The pain it caused in my chest was unexpected.
It had been so long since someone looked at me the way he did, it woke something in me.
And while a huge part of me wanted to take him to bed, another part wanted to see if this spark was real and true and not some flickering flame that would extinguish with the slightest breeze.
Was I in the position to take a chance? After all he could just be flirting to get me in bed to never talk to me the next morning.
No, I was not. But would I risk missing out on his kiss tonight to keep this feeling a little while longer?
Yes. Because Sasha made me feel that one thing that was missing in my life. Desired.
“No, but I know I won't.” I patted his cheek with a wink. His soft blond beard tickled my fingers. I used my sarcasm to hide my devastation.
“The torture.” He grabbed his chest and then walked me to the train station.