Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THORA
I don’t know what it is about him, but being near him makes me smile. Somehow, he has a way of making even the worst day feel a little easier.
I can tell how unfamiliar all of this is for him. Talking to me, comforting me, holding me the way he just did. His body was rigid at first, his arms hesitant around me until he slowly began to relax. And the fact that he asked whether it was okay…
I bite back a smile. That was sweet.
I would never say that to his face, of course. He’d probably glare until I took it back.
When I look up at him again, I find myself wishing the night didn’t have to end here. I want more time with him, though I doubt he would ever admit to wanting the same.
Then again, maybe he does. Maybe asking is the part he doesn’t know how to do.
“I should probably head inside and tell my friend that I’m leaving.” I brush my hands down my dress, needing something to do with them. “If I don’t, she’s going to come out and find us.”
He studies me. “Does she not like me?”
I huff out a laugh. “It’s not that. She just…knows who you are. And she likes to protect me. They all do.”
His knuckles brush underneath my chin, sending warmth shooting through me. “You don’t want to be protected?”
“Depends who’s doing the protecting.”
His eyes lower to my mouth, and my pulse stumbles beneath the intensity of his stare. The same hunger burning through me is there in him too, held back by whatever keeps him from closing the distance.
“Okay, so this might be a really crazy idea, but…can I come over?”
His brows jerk, and heat floods my face.
“I don’t mean like that,” I rush out. “I’m not talking about sex or anything. Oh my God, I shouldn’t have even said that. Wow. Okay. I’m just gonna…”
I back up a step, wishing I could rewind the last five seconds of my existence.
“I just don’t feel like being alone tonight, and I figured maybe we could…I don’t know, hang out?”
He continues to stare at me with a blank expression like I’m an alien. And right now, I sure as hell feel like one.
“Forget I said anything,” I start, hoping I can exit this embarrassing conversation with some grace.
“Okay.”
I jerk my head back. “Really?”
“I said okay, didn’t I?”
“Okay, cool. I’ll just run in and tell Blair I’m heading out, and then we can go. I can follow you to your place.”
“No.”
I pause. “What do you mean, no?”
“If you’re coming with me, you’re getting on my bike.” His full lips cant with a silent challenge, and a hot pulse zaps between my thighs.
“What? No. I can’t do that.”
A low, gravelly chuckle rolls from him. “Okay.”
He turns and starts marching away.
“Wait!”
He stops, though he takes his time whirling back.
“How would I get my car?”
“You give me your keys and one of my men will bring it back to my place.”
This is stupid. I can’t possibly get on a death trap.
But it’s with Anton.
Ugh. Damn it.
“Okay, fine.” I fold my arms over my chest. “But you have to promise not to drive super fast.”
That same almost-smile drags over his mouth. “Sure.”
I narrow my eyes. “That didn’t sound convincing.”
“It was convincing enough.”
I blow out an exhale. “You’re impossible.”
“Yet you’re still getting on my bike.”
I hesitate for half a second, then lift my chin. “If I die, I’m haunting you.”
That half-grin deepens. “Then I guess I’ll make sure you don’t.”
I hurry back inside before Anton can change his mind and find Blair at the bar, talking to two women.
“Shit,” she says when she spots me. “Took you long enough.” She gestures between them. “This is Mallory and Taylor.”
We exchange quick hellos, and I’m relieved she won’t be alone after I leave.
I lean closer and lower my voice. “I have a headache, so I’m going home. I’m sorry. I did have fun, though.”
She huffs. “Sure you did. We both know you only came for me.”
I laugh and pull her into a hug. “Text me when you get home.”
“I will.”
“Love you.”
She waves back. “Love you too. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Then I make my way back through the crowd to Anton, who’s still waiting for me, by some miracle. A part of me wondered if he’d leave.
The second he sees me, he nods toward the lot to the right. “Bike’s over there.”
I follow him, falling into step beside him. The silence between us should seem awkward, but it doesn’t. If anything, it makes me more aware of each easy stride, each glance he steals when he thinks I’m not looking…and that mouth I want to kiss curving slightly at the corner.
When we stop next to his bike, he reaches for the helmet on the handle and holds it out.
I stare at it, then at him. “Wait. What about you?”
“I only have one, and you’re taking it.”
“I can’t take your helmet. It’s yours.”
“You’re taking it.”
“Anton…”
One brow lifts. “You said you’d haunt me, remember? Last thing I want is to never get rid of you.”
I let out a laugh. “Wow. Are you always this charming?”
He says nothing, staring at me with that intensity I’ve come to enjoy. Seconds stretch, tension winding between us as his mouth draws closer and he lowers the black helmet over my head.
When his fingers brush my jaw while he adjusts it, I feel it everywhere, all the way down to my marrow. His knuckles graze my skin again, sending another shudder through me, and everything else falls away until all I can focus on is him.
The craving in his eyes tells me he wants the same thing I do: to touch me and lose himself in this long enough to quiet whatever is tormenting him. I could give him that escape, and I know he could give me mine.
But he doesn’t kiss me. His hands drop, only to settle around my hips a breath later.
“Hey—” A surprised laugh slides out as he lifts me like I weigh nothing and sets me on the seat.
He turns and swings onto the bike in one smooth motion, like nothing just happened between us. When he glances over his shoulder, my heart’s flipping.
“You ready?”
“I’m gonna have to be.”
“Hold on, printsessa.”
My arms wind around him, holding on as he pulls us onto the road, the engine roaring beneath us and making my nerves drop straight to my stomach.
He doesn’t go fast, keeping his promise, and that means something to me. Little by little, the tension in my shoulders eases, my grip loosening as I get used to the movement until it doesn’t scare me anymore.
It feels…freeing.
“This is amazing! Go a little faster.”
A deep chuckle vibrates through him, and I hold him a little closer, my cheek settling against his back as he gives me exactly what I asked for.
And I swear, I feel his heart beat just a little faster too.