I try to get Libby’s attention, but she drifted off into the crowd when I wasn’t looking.
“Let go of me right now, or I’ll break your fucking nose,” I grit out as I tug on the man’s hands. He leans into my ear.
“The sweet little new girl has some bite, does she?” He sneers. “One of the many reasons my boss wants to meet you.”
My eyes track his gaze through the crowd to a table of men, and that’s when I seehim. One of the other men who were with Aiden the first time I saw him. He’s a lot older than he appeared that day at the Yard, at least in his mid-fifties. He’s sneering and his eyes are hollow, eerie.
“Yep, that’s my boss,” he snarls, and the moment I feel his hot, beer-soaked breath against my skin, I snap. I’m just about to stomp hard on his foot and nail him straight in the groin when he abruptly lets go of me. I spin around and find myself face-to-face with Aiden, who is holding the man by the back of the neck. I can see now that the man who was touching me wears a Wretched Souls cut, and he’s wincing. Aiden is holding him so tight his knuckles are white.
“Get. The. Fuck out of my club,” Aiden growls at him, like he’s straining to keep his tone controlled. He tosses him aside before turning back to me. I’m covered in a thin veil of sweat from dancing, and I’m slightly out of breath. I think I’ve had too much vodka and cranberry, because I can’t understand why a man who just told me to get the fuck out of his office is saving me from some handsy prick.
“I was just about to handle him!” I yell at Aiden over the music.
“You’re not handling anything in this condition. You’re done for tonight.”
I recoil.
“Wait,what?” I ask him, just as someone shoves against me on the crowded dance floor, and in my drunken state, I fall right into Aiden’s chest. My palms splay out flat against his cut, and I can feel how hard and built he is under it.Dangerflashesthrough my tipsy head as I look up into his annoyingly gorgeous face.
“Youheardme.” It’s loud as hell in here, but his voice is clear and low. “You’re done. Now.” He leans in even closer, his lips just under my ear. His hair brushes my cheek and his breath ghosts against my skin, sending goose bumps down the back of my neck. Leather, mint, and that hint of smoke taunt me.
“And what if I say no,almighty king?” I mock him before I can stop myself.
Then, I do something that’s probably really fucking stupid under normal circumstances: I push him.Hard.
He barely even moves, but I don’t stop. I try to gain the upper hand on him, the way I would with Briggs in training, but Aiden moves closer again and slides his hands around my waist, pulling me close.
“You aren’t going to fuckingfightme,” Aiden scoffs. “Christ, woman.”
I suck in a breath and try to break his hold with the outside of my forearm, but alcohol is making me slow, and his heavy grasp stops me immediately. His eyes meet mine, and for a moment, I see something there that spurs me on.
Amusement? Want? It’s not clear, but I don’t think, I just try again.
This time, Idobreak his hold, but he catches my arm before my palm can connect with his face, and a low growl rips from his chest as he tugs me roughly toward him and I slam into his hard chest.
“The little girl wants to fight?” He’s breathing deeper now, showing his surprise, and there’s definitely amusement in his eyes. “Or are you just trying to make my dick hard?”
I instantly hate myself for attempting to challenge him,because he’s too big and this fight is futile. But I couldn’t help myself—the way he orders me around gets under my skin. I double down, trying to knee him, but again he gets the fucking better of me and brings his heavy hand down to stop my leg.
“Now. Don’t make me tell you again,” he grits out, nodding toward the door, “or I’ll fucking throw you over my shoulder like the petulant child you are!”
“Why the fuck do I have to leave just because some asshole tried to grope me?”
He holds me so tight I can’t possibly move.
“Because I’ve had a long fucking day, little goddess, and I don’t want to have to bury a body tonight.”
Chapter 11
Aiden
This woman triggers some kind of territorial, primal instinct in me. Watching the men here look at her and lick their fucking lips has my blood pressure rising. I have a shipment of Berettas arriving that I’ve just found out is gonna be fifty short, and way too much to deal with to waste time focusing on some bratty little cunt who’s just like any other wannabe that walks through the fucking clubhouse doors.
“I’mnotgoing with you on your bike,” Mia bites out, her body pressed to mine, now fueled with alcohol-induced confidence. Her skin is glistening under the neon light, and she’s looking up at me with straight defiance in her eyes. The smell of vodka and the hint of her perfume is tempting every part of me.
All the while she grips my cut tight with both hands. “What if I fall off? I’ve had a lot to drink…” she rambles.
Four and a half drinks to be exact. I signal to Roz a few tables over, indicating that it’s time to call a taxi. She knows the drill. She does this at least a couple times a week at Lavish.
