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The girls collect their champagne flutes at some point and return to the dance floor. More shots are purchased, and I make a combination of excuses, sometimes saying I should hold off after how drunk I got last time, sometimes passing Katie mine to avoid drinking it, and when she or I get shots, I order a water one.
Tammy and Elysse seem entirely oblivious to the ruse. Neither even questions me.
But as the night goes on, I catch Mishka watching me more closely, and from the glimmer of suspicion in his eyes, I wonder if he might have noticed that I’m not drinking.
To mask my sobriety, I dance harder, I laugh louder, but nothing quite seems to satisfy Mishka’s growing suspicion. Finally, he dares to draw nearer, his fingers finding my elbow as he lightly grasps me and pulls me close.
My stomach flip-flops at the forbidden touch, and as the hair raises on the back of my neck, I fight the urge to look around and see if anyone is watching. He leans in to whisper once more, his strong chest pressing against my shoulder and grazing my breast.
“Is something bothering you?” he murmurs, his low voice making my pulse flutter.
“Hmm?” I ask, looking up into his brooding blue eyes. And I panic. My heart stops in my chest, my breath vanishing from my lungs as my sweat turns cold in an instant.
I can’t lie to him. I did the night I threw up in his apartment, and it’s plagued me ever since. I hate it. I hate keeping secrets from him, but if I say anything, I might just blow a hole in our perfect world.
I’m not ready.
Not yet.
So, rather than bucking up the courage to tell him, I do the first thing that comes to mind that might distract him. Throwing my arms around his neck, I pull him down to my level as I crush our lips together.
I kiss him right here in front of my friends and everyone in the club.
Electric attraction sparks between us, and my lips tingle as his strong hands wrap around my upper arms. He pulls me closer against him, making my heart break into a full-on sprint. I dare to deepen the kiss, tracing the seam of his lips with the tip of my tongue.
I’m completely out of control, and I can’t bring myself to regret it.
32
MISHKA
My fight-or-flight response jumps into overdrive as Alina’s friends release a wild shriek of excitement that must draw every pair of eyes in the club to me and Alina and our very public kiss.
Two seconds before, I had been almost certain that Alina hadn’t had a single drink tonight. But now, I realize she must be quite tipsy to kiss me like she is. It’s reckless—beyond risky for both her reputation and my life—and still, I can’t bring myself to pull away. Not right from the start.
My hands tighten reflexively around her arms as my sudden and intense desire wars with my logical brain, my sense of self-preservation that tells me I need to stop if I want to live. Using every ounce of discipline I can muster, I break the kiss, forcing Alina back. We breathe heavily, our eyes locking with fiery need.
Her friends’ shrieks and giggles fill the space around us, continuing to draw attention to us as they bounce in their excitement. Forcing a stony expression onto my face, I drag Alina off the dance floor and toward the bathroom hallway.
Whether I intend to give her a piece of my mind or kiss her again somewhere more private, I’m not sure. But she follows hesitantly, her steps lagging as she leans against my grip.
Glancing behind us as soon as we hit the hallway, I check to see if anyone’s followed. Then I wrench the door open to the men’s room and scan quickly for anyone there. As soon as I find it empty, I pull Alina inside and bolt the door behind us.
“Are you crazy?” I demand, my heart still pounding from the forbidden kiss that set my soul on fire. “What was that for?”
But as soon as I turn to face her, Alina is on me, her soft, feminine body pressed against my chest, her fingers combing into my hair. She kisses me like it’s the last time, her passion overwhelming me.
And before I know what I’m doing, my hands find her waist, skating across the glittering fabric of her dress until I find her hips. I have a job to do. I shouldn’t be taking risks in a public place like this. One that Alina’s family—that her father’s Bratva—frequents.
Still, I can’t help myself.
Palming her ass, I pull her closer, and Alina gasps as my throbbing erection presses into her abdomen. God, I could take her right here and now. She’s kissing me with a desperation that leaves me ravenous for more.
But her friends are out there, likely wondering where we’ve gone and what we’re doing, and the longer we take to return, the more likely they are to figure it out.
Breaking our kiss, I turn Alina until she’s facing the bathroom mirrors. Pinning her back against my chest, I pull the strap of her dress down her shoulder, exposing her neck. I trail kisses up the soft curve from the tip of her shoulder to the tender spot behind her ear. Licking and sucking, I relish the way her breaths hitch and intensify.
And when I run one hand down her thigh to the hem of her form-fitting minidress, Alina releases a sensual moan.
