Stoking the Fire (Salus Security #1) - Teodora Kostova Page 0,39

and me.

“I’m not,” Alec says.

Jamie rolls his eyes. “What about you, hon?”

I lifted a shoulder. “A rum and coke would be great. Thanks.”

Jamie saunters off to the bar. As I watch him retreat, I see a guy pull him close as he starts grinding against him. Jamie doesn’t push him off.

“It’s gonna take a while to get that drink, isn’t it?” I say to Alec, who’s also watching Jamie dance.

“Most likely.”

I sit, scooting further down the couch. Alec follows me. My leg bounces in time with the music. My eyes follow Kayden and the two men he’s dancing with—if you can call the humping and grinding against each other they’re doing dancing—and I feel a pang in my chest. I’m envious. I wish I could be this uninhibited. This free.

I had been. Once upon a time.

Now? More often than not, I fall asleep with the news channel on and a heavy textbook on my chest.

“I want to dance,” I say before my mind can process the words.

I jerk my chin at Alec, indicating he has to move so that I can slip out of the booth.

He studies me, mouth pursed, eyes narrowed.

Anger flares inside me because fuck him. I’m in a goddamn night club, and if I want to dance, I fucking will.

“Move.” I scoot closer, pushing him.

He doesn’t budge.

Just as I take a deep breath and I’m about to explode in his face, he nods. Then, much more elegantly than a man his size should be able to, he slips out of the booth.

“Let’s dance, then,” he says, offering me a hand.

I gape at him.

“I didn’t mean with you,” I say, then wince at the unintentional cruelty in my tone.

A shadow crosses Alec’s face, but he doesn’t let it linger. With a smile more suited to a hyena than a man, he says, “I’m not letting you alone on that crowded dance floor. There’s no clear visibility. So, either you dance with me—as much as it displeases you—or you dance with someone else while I stand right behind you, watching their every move. Batting their hands away as they move to slide them over your ass. Glaring at them as they—”

“All right, Jesus Christ.” I grab his hand and stand, much less gracefully than he did. “Let’s fucking dance.”

So we do.

Alec pulls me in his arms and holds me as if I belong there.

As if he never left.

The temptation to lean on him, to put my head on his chest and inhale him is overwhelming.

So I do.

The rhythm of the music is much faster than the way we move, but neither of us cares. He holds me, and I let him. His hand moves in circles on my back, then slides up to cup my nape.

I shiver as his warm fingers touch bare skin.

His chest rumbles as if he says something, but I don’t hear him speak. I look up and see him watching me, his eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them. His lips open on a soft gasp, his arms squeezing tighter around me.

The world stops moving. The music dies. Everyone disappears. It’s just Alec and me, alone, holding each other close, wanting to say so many things and yet keeping our words to ourselves.

Someone bumps into me from behind. With a screech that makes me wince, the world comes back into sharp focus. The loud music assaults my senses as disappointment washes over me.

Turning to see who jostled me, I find a guy looking at me with clear blue eyes.

“Sorry,” he says, raising his hands. His gaze travels up to Alec’s face, his mouth quirking into a flirtation smile.

“Mind if I steal him for a sec?”

I’m not sure if he means me or Alec, but it doesn’t matter.

Alec’s in full bodyguard mode now, herding me behind his back with a protective arm.

“Fuck off,” he says, matter-of-factly. But his eyes blaze with such ferocity that the guy takes an instinctive step back, bumping into someone behind him.

“Dude, relax.” His face twists with rage that seems a little too potent for the situation. “Freak,” he mumbles as he turns and gets lost in the sea of moving bodies.

“I think we should go,” Alec says, turning fully to face me.

“What? Why? It was nothing,” I protest, gesturing at the space where the guy stood just a second ago.

Alec’s body language visibly shifts to full on alert.

I make a face. “Relax.”

He glares at me as if he wants to throw me over his shoulder and whisk me away from this