Jace brought over a chair for her. Mr. Fucking Congenial. "Here you go..." The hard glare I gave him had him backtracking fast. I kicked the offending chair back across the room and she glowered at me.
"She stays." I looked into her eyes as I made that announcement.
"What am I a dog? First they're cattle and now I'm a canine? What's with you and animals anyway?" Oh yeah this one is gonna give my cock a workout if she brings even an ounce of that fire to the bedroom, or kitchen counter, or wherever the fuck I happen to take her down first. That was going to be up to her though. If that shade of innocence I saw hiding in her eyes was for real, we'd do the bed first, after that all bets are off.
I lowered my head to whisper in her ear. "I'm trying to be good here, but if you keep that lippy shit up you're gonna get more than you bargained for." I adjusted her body so she could feel my meaning. She didn't bolt but her body locked and her nostrils flared before she got herself back under control.
When she finally peeped at me through her lashes, her yes widened and she turned beet red. Fuck, she's one of those Marie girls. That's what I call any woman I could take home to ma. There hasn't been one of those since high school. When she lowered her head and plucked at the hem of her dress nervously I all but fucking whined. There was such innocent sweetness in that move, something I hadn't seen in a female in a long damn time.
Something in my gut loosened and swear to fuck I felt it, that something old timers talk about when telling tall tales about meeting ‘The one'. "Look at me." I lifted her chin with my fingertip and for the longest time I stared at her and she stared back. I don't know what the fuck she was thinking but I know what was going through my mind. I need to get the fuck out of here and fast.
I all but growled in frustration at the situation. This is pure bullshit. Sure she had a fine ass and the greatest pair of tits in the known world, and yes I'd love the chance to bury my face in all that hair that smelled like wildflowers in sunshine and reminded me of the best days of my youth, while pile driving my cock into the sweet heat between her thighs. But did a man have to lose his freedom for that shit?
Before I know it she'd have a damn noose around my neck, and life, as I know it, would be at an end. She had that look about her, that look you wanna see across the breakfast table every morning while two or three rugrats with your fucked up hair and her amazing face ran around like heathens. Fuck me.
All I wanted was to stuff something for Thanksgiving, this shit isn't right. I knew I shouldn't have come to this rinky-dink place. I wanted to go to the city, but Chad bitched like a little girl about mom getting after us if we weren't back in time for the holiday.
In the big city, I was sure to meet some fast and friendly type that would let me fuck and walk away, that's my usual fare; but no, he had to drag me off to Salem's newest hotspot. Now I'm fighting off gorillas with bad breath and getting tangled up with this one. I should kick his ass just on principle.
"Why are you glaring at him, isn't he your friend?"
"No that's my brother and I think he might've just cost me a life sentence."
"Who'd you kill?"
"The Champ."
She gave me a look of confusion before reaching for the drink one of her girls had placed in front of her.
I sat there like a stump trying to make sense of what the hell was going on with my life. I watched her for the next ten minutes without saying a word, just listening to the chatter that was going on around me.
I think I was trying to take her all in, trying to figure out why her, what was it about her that had flipped that switch in me, because I'd be fucked if she hadn't just turned that shit all the way on. I could hardly get my thoughts together past the growing angst in my chest.
Say what you will but at twenty-five, I was nowhere near ready for a ball and chain. I had at least another ten years before I even started down that path, or so I'd always thought. The one time I for sure needed my head on straight, I couldn't hold shit together for longer than a second. It was worse than facing the reigning champ for the first time before I took him down. Somehow I didn't think I was gonna win this bout. And yes I was pissed the fuck off.
Cole, one of my oldest and dearest friends seemed to be the only one at the table who caught on to my dilemma. The questioning look and raised brow he gave me told me he could sense my dilemma. I just shook my head at him, what else could I do? I'm so fucked. And all the while she sat there looking innocent and feeling like forever. The Champ got sucker punched and he didn't even know the fight was on.
My mind kept going around and round in circles as I tried to make sense of this shit. The only thing I knew for sure was that there was a fuck of a lot more going on here than the one nightstand I was after. So why was I still here, why did I have her all but cornered and marked like I knew she was mine. I'm not into that love at first sight, happily ever after bullshit. It's just not real; is it?
Yes, I grew up in a happy home with a mom and dad, who were crazy about each other. But I've been out there and I knew that that shit's not the norm. So just what the fuck was she doing to me anyway? How could she tie me up in knots when we hadn't even fucked yet? Didn't there have to be more before a man felt like he was sinking fast? One hour, that's about as long as she had taken to turn my shit upside down.
She fidgeted about and tried to escape my hold a time or two but the third time she did it I wrapped my arm around her middle and bit into her neck. She stopped all movement and sat frozen until I released her flesh, which I did only when I was sure that I had left my mark.
She clapped her hand over the spot and glared over her shoulder at me. "Stay still, you try getting up again I'll give you more of the same." She huffed and turned back to the others while I left my arm where it was and nuzzled her. She tensed up until she realized I wasn't about to maul her again, and then I felt her relax.
Conversation was flowing easily at the table as the new acquaintances got to know each other. I wasn't interested in that shit anymore than I was interested in the looks being sent my way from the other women in the room, all my focus was on her. My every sense seemed tuned into her and I wondered if she knew, if she was feeling the same high voltage currents running through her that were zapping me.
"So tell me about yourself, you live around here?" I had to shake my leg to get her to answer. "What do you want to know?" She seemed a little more relaxed as she took sips of her fruity drink. I'd all but forgotten my beer. Any woman who can make a man forget why he came to the bar in the first place was one dangerous fuck. "Everything."
So I sat there like a fucking chump and let her reel me in as she told me about her childhood, growing up in a town a few hundred miles away, before coming here for college. It was then I learned she was only three years younger than I and that she was studying to be a lawyer.
"Any men in your life?" I felt the change in her but held my peace, giving her the opportunity to tell me herself. I wasn't sure why, but the thought of her being with anyone else made me feel murderous. Chances are at twenty-two she'd already had a relationship or two, and I myself have had my share, but it pained my gut to think that someone else had had her. Had ever tasted those lips or held her naked flesh against theirs.
I had to cut my thoughts off when I found my body tensing for the fight. Just what the fuck? Really? You're gonna be one of those Wyatt? Fucking caveman? I hate guys like that, always thought they were weak little insecure assholes, especially when I was the guy on the receiving end of their girl's supposed adoration. Please don't let this shit be poetic justice I'd lose my fucking mind.
In that split second, I thought of what our lives would be like, me having to go off and leave her while I travelled the world fighting to keep my title. How the fuck was I gonna do that shit if I turned into an asshole? And why the fuck are you thinking about this shit? You just met for fuck sake. Even as I thought it I knew I was just fooling myself. Whatever this was time didn't seem to matter a damn.