Chapter 6 #2
“I can’t watch this,” I shout to Sofia over the raucous crowd and before she can respond, I’m already heading back up the stairs to the bar, leaving the sound of people revelling in someone else’s pain and needless violence behind me.
“What can I get you?” the guy behind the bar asks.
He’s Lawless too, early to mid-thirties, short thick brown hair and handsome face.
But I know not to let a pretty face fool me, because like the guy currently knocking seven bells out of his opponent downstairs, he too looks like trouble.
And I definitely don’t need any more of that.
“Just a soda, thanks.”
“And here was me thinking you were sweet enough already.” He must see the look on my face and cringes. “Too much?”
I shrug. “It’s not the worst line I’ve heard.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Your buddy with the beard and the tats downstairs currently beating that poor guy to pulp already tried and failed last week.”
“Kill? That surprises me. If ever there was a guy who could melt a pair of panties off a beautiful woman with just a smile, it’s him.”
“Well, either I’m not beautiful or I’m immune to his charm because my panties are still firmly in place.”
He chuckles. “I like you. And you definitely are beautiful.” He shoots out his hand in front of me. “I’m Jett.”
I take his hand. “Kaia.”
“It’s a pleasure. Soda it is,” he smiles, reaching down to the fridge below the bar. “Haven’t seen you round here before, you just move here?”
“Just moved back.”
He pops the lid off the soda and slides it towards me. “That explains it. Couldn’t imagine missing a face as pretty as yours.”
The door to the basement opens as people begin filtering back into the bar, the quiet replaced with rowdy chanting.
“Well, that didn’t last five minutes, gotta be a new record, man,” Jett comments.
A body slides up beside me and I already know who it is without having to look, I can feel the testosterone radiating off him waves, but I do so anyway.
“Told you, piece of cake.” His eyes flick down to me.
“We meet again,” Killian rests an elbow on the mahogany bar top, his sweat-soaked hair almost black in the bar’s low lighting, wispy strands falling over his eyes.
He’s still shirtless, the skin of his ripped torso still glistening in perspiration and I fight the urge to let my gaze linger a little too long, reminding myself who this man is.
“I’m starting to think there’s someone up there smiling down on me,” he grins.
“Good for you, over here they’re crapping all over me,” I reply dryly before taking a sip of my soda.
“Ouch, there’s me thinking I made an impression last week.”
“Oh, you made an impression alright.”
“I like this girl,” Jett says, sliding a beer across the bar top towards his friend. He then turns to me. “Be careful of this one, sugar. He’ll talk his way into your panties faster than you can blink.”
I huff a laugh. “Not a chance.”
Jett smiles. “When you get tired of this asshole, you give me a call, I’ll show you a good time, like a gentleman should.”
“I wouldn’t waste your time with this one, brother,” Killian replies, his eyes flicking back to me. “She looks all warm and friendly but I wager she’s got one hell of a nasty bite.”
“Want to test it out?” I ask.
He grins. “I like a girl who’s a little kinky, and biting during sex makes me hard.”
“You’re disgusting.” I turn my face away from his, fighting the urge to vomit.
I search the bar for Sofia, desperately hoping I can catch her eye and call her over to get me away from this guy, or provide back up at the very least. I spot her in the far corner, draped over her boyfriend’s lap in one of the leather couches, all but sucking off his face for everyone in the bar to see.
“Aren’t you gonna congratulate me on my fight?” Killian asks, drawing my attention away from my friend.
“I didn’t stick around long enough to watch until the end. And besides, something tells me you don’t need me to stroke your already overly-inflated ego, I’m sure you do a stellar job all by yourself.”
From behind the bar, Jett snorts a laugh, slapping a hand over his mouth to stifle it, his eyes darting between the two of us. “Okay, I really like this girl.”
Killian shoots Jett a glare over the bar before flicking his gaze back to me. “No one said anything about stroking my ego, but I’m sure we could find something equally as pleasing to stroke.”
My nose scrunches, the sexual connotations all too clear. I glance to my right to see two blondes whispering and giggling a few meters away, undressing Killian with their eyes, not that there’s much left to undress other than his dark jeans.
My gaze returns to Killian. “Well, lucky for you, your fan club over there is waiting,” I flick my finger in their direction, “I’m sure they’ll be all too happy to oblige.”
He tosses a quick glance over his shoulder. They shoot him their sweetest smiles and offer him a wave, but he turns back to me, uninterested. “Unluckily for them, they’re not the ones I’m interested in,” he replies. “Apparently snarky brunettes are what get me going.”
His warm chocolate eyes sparkle as they hold my gaze and there’s both an involuntary and an unwanted flutter in my belly.
“Hate to disappoint, but you’re not my type.
” It’s a straight up lie. I didn’t realise until I saw him the other day that a man with a beard and covered in tattoos is apparently what gets me going but I don’t want him knowing that.
The fact I seem to be attracted to Killian Hunt of all people is enough for me to be considering a lobotomy.
He’s rude and vulgar. So why the fuck is my skin growing hot and there’s a pulsing between my legs?
What is wrong with me?
“That’s not the impression I got the other day. Couldn’t keep your eyes off me if memory serves.”
“I didn’t know who you were then,” I point out.
He smirks. “Ah, you’ve heard of me?”
“Oh, I know all about you and your sexcapades. I’m pretty sure your name is infamous from here to China.”
“Oh yeah? Do tell.”
“Killian Hunt. Killer of men and hunter of women.”
He throws his head back as he barks out a laugh, the deep sound rumbling through his chest. “That’s a good one, haven’t heard that before. Seems my reputation proceeds me.”
“Not really something to write home to mommy and daddy about, is it?”
I seem to have struck a cord because his face hardens and there’s a brief pause, as if he wants to say something but he’s not sure if he should. “Not sure you’re in a position to judge. I’m assuming daddy didn’t take the news of you dropping out of law school all too well, huh?”
I huff. “Of course you know who I am.” It’s a wonder this is the first time my relationship to the mayor has been brought up since I got back.
“And you seem to know so much about me. So, come on, what else has daddy told you about me? How I’m such a bad man? How I embody everything wrong with society?”
“He told me about your time in prison.”
His jaw clenches, an unreadable expression crossing his face. “I doubt he’s told you everything.”
“He told me enough, and that’s all I need to know.”
“Aren’t all you lawyer types supposed to be impartial? You seem like clever girl, I’m sure you can make up your mind without believing everything daddy tells you.”
“But as you so clearly pointed out, I’m not a lawyer! I dropped out remember? And believe me, I am clever enough to make up my own mind about you, so thanks.”
I push off my stool in an attempt to leave but he blocks my path, my nose almost pressing against his bare chest, the scent of sweat and a fragrant hint of something woody and spicy invading my senses.
I crane my neck to meet his eyes. “Excuse me.”
His dark chocolate brown eyes hold mine for a beat before taking a step back to allow me past him. “I’ll see you around, Kaia.”
I hate how good my names sounds coming from him, but I ignore it and push past him, heading for the exit.