The blond guy leaned down and took an audible sniff. “You smell really good. What are you wearing?”
She shrugged, because in truth, she had no idea what she was wearing. Two weeks ago she’d mentioned to Dimitri that his shirt no longer smelled like him, which led to her confessing that she slept in his shirt every night. A few days later, a mysterious package was delivered to her house and contained a bottle of unmarked cologne and five bars of soap. As soon as she smelled it she began to cry, because it was the scent that Dimitri wore. She was tempted to lift her wrist to her nose right now so she could take a sniff of his cologne.
The guy trying to hit on her just wasn’t taking a hint as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, “So what’s your name?”
A deep, growly male voice said from her right, “Her name is none of your fucking business. Now move your ass before I move it for you.”
Rya rolled her eyes and Tawny smirked as Gears, one of the Ice Demons club members, threw a proprietary arm around Rya’s waist and tugged her to him. He was a good looking man in his early thirties with long, sun-kissed light brown hair held back in a leather thong and a wicked smile that promised nothing but trouble. She’d been friends with Gears since she was a little kid and was used to his overprotective ways, although right now, she actually appreciated it. Tawny liked to say Gears had a black belt in cock blocking when it came to Rya and she had to agree.
The wanna-be stud paled a bit and stepped back. “Sorry, man, didn’t know she was taken.”
As the guy moved quickly away, Rya tried to shrug Gears’ arm off her shoulder. “Thanks, but you can let me go now.”
He looked down at her and gave her a slow smile while rubbing her bare back with his thumb. “You really want that, babe?”
While Tawny watched them with an interested look, Rya nodded. “Hands to yourself.”
He removed his arm, but as he did, his fingers caressed her back. The considering look he gave her made Rya uncomfortable and she looked away from him and back to Tawny who was now openly gawking. Since Rya had returned from the Submissive’s Wish Auction, Gears had made it no secret that he was openly stalking her, and oddly enough, her step-dad seemed okay with it. Three months ago Rya might have been interested, but when Gears touched her, there were no tingles, and when she looked into his eyes she felt no heat.
It was official. Dimitri had ruined her for any other man.
Fucker.
Gears wandered back over to the pool table where he was hanging out with his buddies and Rya let out a sigh. “Shit.”
Tawny shook her head and took a sip from her margarita. “I don’t know why you keep turning him down. He really likes you. I know he’s not a Dom, but the potential is there.”
Rya shrugged and glanced at her watch. It was just after eleven, which meant it was just after eight a.m. in Russia. Usually she didn’t email Dimitri this late at night, but holy shit she missed him. It had been a cruddy week at work, two of her favorite patients had passed, and he seemed to know how to make her feel better when no one else could. Not that she let him know how bummed out she was, he had enough shit going on without her troubles added to it.
Though he didn’t tell her a lot about his world, he did tell her enough to keep her awake at night. Little hints of things not going right, of dangerous times, then last month when she’d read an online newspaper article about him being involved in a fight, complete with pictures of his battered face, she’d cried. God, she’d always hated women that seemed to cry over everything, yet with Dimitri, her emotions were so intense she needed some kind of outlet for them; since she couldn’t fuck his brains out, tears seemed to be her only release.
She glanced over at Gears, trying to talk herself into an attraction to him, but it just didn’t work. Gears was a good guy, and sexy, but he wasn’t a Dom, and he just didn’t do it for her.
Tawny leaned forward. “When are you going to tell me about whoever it is you’re obsessing over.”
Blinking rapidly, Rya tried to give her friend a blank look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Ever since you came back from the Submissive’s Wish Auction you’ve been distant, not you.” Tawny sighed and patted her knee. “I’m worried about you, kid. Did you lose your heart to someone? I know the Dom who bought you ended up with someone else and you played with random people, but it sure seems like someone made an impression on you.”
“I…” Shit, she wanted to pour her heart out to her friend, to tell her what was going on, but she couldn’t. “I’m just tired, okay? Had a shitty week at work. Mark and Edith passed away.”