Chapter 6
Chapter Six
NAOMI
I’m not sure who is more surprised about the kiss, Paxton or me. I think I caught us both off guard. I go to pull back, not having a clue what I’m doing, but Paxton leans in, pressing his mouth firmer to mine.
His hand on my thigh tightens, and a surge of wet heat floods me.
Paxton strokes that flame when he slides his tongue across the seam of my lips and I part them.
That’s all he needs to deepen the kiss, and I find myself kissing him back, my tongue stroking against his.
I never imagined I would enjoy kissing, but I think that’s exactly what I’m doing.
A small whimper leaves me when I realize how far up my thigh his hand has slid, and I have parted my thighs more for him. His kiss is distracting and lethal, but that doesn’t stop me. In fact, I want more.
The kiss turns hotter. It’s no longer his tongue stroking against mine.
Now he’s pulling and sucking. My mind flashes to that same mouth between my legs.
The thought takes me by surprise, and I pull back, but he doesn’t release his hold on the back of my neck that his hand has cupped. It’s a mix of gentle but firm.
A steady force that is there to keep you close and protected but isn’t taking all the control from you. It’s strangely comforting.
“What are you doing to me?”
“I thought I was flirting with you.” He cocks his head to the side, giving me a playful smile.
“That was interesting,” Mac clucks, snapping me fully back to reality.
I’m in a club, not paying attention to what’s happening around me. I always pay attention. It’s my nature. I don’t randomly kiss strangers or act with such abandon. This man has me off-kilter, and I’m not sure if I love or hate it. Maybe it’s a little of both.
“No one would get close enough to touch you.” How does he know what I’m thinking?
A lick of uncertainty and other things I can’t place swirl inside of me.
It’s the alcohol. I pick up my glass and drink the rest of it.
He leans in to whisper into my ear, “I want you, Naomi. I’ll do what I have to so that I can have you. ”
“What if I don’t want you?” I mean, just because I kissed him doesn’t mean I want him. Maybe I was just curious and wanted to see what all the rave was about.
“Like I said, I’ll do what I have to.” His hands drop completely, pulling away from me as he stands. I ball my hands into fists to fight the strange urge I have to grab him and yank him back down to sit next to me. “Tomorrow, Sunshine.” I watch as he turns and leaves.
“Whoa, what was that?” Mac asks, taking the seat that Paxton was in. I touch my lips. They tingle, and I can still feel him there. I feel him everywhere, in fact. His touch between my thighs and the back of my neck. They all linger.
“I don’t know.” I have this urge to follow him, but I won’t. I’m annoyed that he just up and left. In fact, the more I think about it, the madder I get. “He just left.”
“Well, let’s start with where the fuck did he come from?”
“It’s a popular club.”
“Seriously?” Mac closes her eyes, shaking her head. “He knew you were here, and I’m shocked you’re not saying that too.” Mac is right. I’m not sure how to feel about that.
“Do I get to blame it on the alcohol?” I ask, making her laugh. I should be concerned that he knew where I was, but my mind keeps going between the kiss and, as stupid and small as it should be, him calling me beautiful.
“You okay?” Mac asks.
“I don’t know.” That’s the honest truth. Within a short time, Paxton has upended my entire world.
“Want to get out of here?” I nod.
“Good, I already told Damon to come and get us. He’s picking us up in the back. The front is crazy packed.” I stand, pulling my dress down that had ridden up. Mac links her arm into mine.
“These heels aren’t so easy after a few drinks.”
“I hear ya.” We have to shift and move through people. As interesting as this all has been, I don’t think clubs are for me.
We pass the bathroom, and I swear the hallway is closing in on us. I’m thankful when I see the back door with the red exit sign above it.
“I feel giggly,” I tell her.
“Then why aren’t you giggling?”
“I don’t know. I’m not a scientist.”
“A scientist?” Mac bursts into laughter.
It’s honestly enough laughs for the both of us.
I push open the door, and we step out into the back alleyway.
“This isn’t creepy.” She points to a light overhead that is flickering.
“Straight out of a horror film.” Mac starts making strange sounds. “Dun-dun... dun-dun.”
“What are you doing?”
“It’s the Jaws song when the shark is about to eat you.”
“I can tell you with an extremely high probability that a shark isn’t going to eat you.”
“Someone almost got eaten tonight.” She wiggles her brows. “I’m talking about you.” I know she is, and I’m thinking about how I actually pictured that happening. “Whatever.” Mac waves it off. “You’re what people should fear in alleyways.”
“Thank you.” That was really sweet of her to say. I’m getting all kinds of compliments tonight. The club might not be as terrible of a place as I thought.
“Naomi, that was not a—” My hand flies out, grabbing Mac firmly by her forearm, and I squeeze. She snaps to attention. I tilt my head, trying to listen. I point toward the left, where there is a small alcove. Mac nods, letting me know she heard it too.
I motion for her to open her bag for me. Once we’d gotten inside of the club, I’d taken my knife off. I had it strapped to my thigh, but my dress kept riding up. I slip my hand inside, grabbing it before I start walking toward the sounds, but then I pause again.
Fuck me. I slowly step out of my heels and onto the gross concrete before I start creeping forward. A feminine whimper grows louder, and I’m done trying to be quiet. I clear the rest of the space to see a man has a woman pinned to the side of the wall.
He’s got his hand over her mouth trying to pull at her dress. Her eyes lock with mine over his shoulder. I put my finger to my lips, telling her to be quiet. This asshole is going to pay. I’m going to give him a taste of his own loss of power and enjoy the hell out of every second of it.
Then the man gives me the widest opening I have ever gotten in my life.
I have not a clue what he’s doing, but he partly lifts one of his feet.
I’m still not a scientist, but I know the human body even if my mind is kind of fuzzy.
I simply kick his other leg, targeting his popliteal fossa.
I learned that move during my jiu-jitsu phase.
Never underestimate a good leg kick. I should really get back into that.
It sends him crumpling to the ground. He almost takes the girl with him, but I grab her. I stumble back, and hell, we almost go down too.
“Oh my God, thank you.”
“Run.”
“What?”
“Run!” I shout, making her eyes widen, but she takes off as the fuckhead stumbles to his feet.
“Mac?”
“Present,” she calls from behind me as I take a few steps back and realize it’s the same man from before.
“You little cunt,” he says, getting to his feet.
“Ahh, he called you skinny,” Mac says. I take another step back, knowing he’s about to charge me. I can see it all over him.
“The cameras!” I tell her as he rushes toward me. I side-step, letting my blade draw across him as the lights in the alleyway flicker and cut off, the moon only giving partial light. At least, that’s what I thought I’d done.
He groans, dropping to the ground. Headlights light up the alley, and I stare down at the man. I know from the roar of the engine it’s Damon. “Well, shit,” I sigh. “I didn’t mean to hit his liver.” Mac comes to stand next to me.
“Are you sure it’s the liver and not the intestine?” I close one eye, wondering if I have the organs backward in my mind. Maybe the champagne is messing with my knowledge of anatomy.
“The fuck,” Damon says, stepping out of the car. “You kill someone and hit a fucking kill switch.”
“Let’s not be throwing accusations around,” Mac says defensively. “The club has backup lights and generators.” This is true. It’s a new building code if a place can hold a large amount of people to help stop chaos from ensuing. “And it’s only temporary. We have five minutes.”
“Yeah, and he’s not dead.” Yet. Blood is pooling out all around him, his eyes falling closed. “Okay, now he’s dead.”
Damon mutters a string of curses. “It’s cold out! You know how hard it is to dig a hole right now?”
“It’s warmed up today,” Mac huffs, holding her arms over her chest.
“Do you need me to take the body?” I spin around to see Paxton casually standing there. I hear Damon pull out a gun.
“Don’t shoot. It’s Mr. Winks-a-Lot.”
“Winks a what?” Damon asks, confused.
“Her fiancé,” Mac corrects as he walks right past me. Damon still has his gun trained on him.
“I have not agreed to marry him.” Now I’m the one getting defensive.
“I’m pulling out my weapon,” he tells us. I hold my hand out to tell Damon to stand down. He would rather not listen, but he does.
Paxton pulls a gun out in one smooth move and flips it in his hand, bringing down the butt of the gun on the lock of the club door.
“We don’t need a random stumbling out here.” Paxton flips and reholsters his gun.
Mac elbows me in the side. “Don’t drool.”
“What?” I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and she snorts a laugh. I elbow her back.
“Do I need to handle the body?”
“It’s kind of romantic. He wants to dispose of a body for you. This might be a match made in hell.” Mac is smiling like a giant goofball, but I can’t say she’s wrong. It’s kind of sweet.
“I can handle my own body.”
“I was only offering, Sunshine. I never thought that you couldn’t.” Why does that make me want to have another one of those kisses with him?
“Oh.” My cheeks start to get strangely hot. The alcohol—yes, it’s a side effect, I believe.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” Damon mutters, pinching his nose between his eyes.
“We have it,” I tell Paxton. I’m not fully sure what the game is.
I can’t trust him even if I have this strange urge to.
“Damon was fucking with you, Mac.” I glance down at the dead man, who had it coming.
“We always have a few holes ready.” I flick my gaze over to Paxton. “In case you were wondering.”