Stoking the Fire (Salus Security #1) - Teodora Kostova Page 0,51

on each stair. It takes me a few moments to adjust to the dim lighting.

“How fast can you walk?”

My head still feels weird but I’m feeling less dizzy and I’m confident I can take a few flights of stairs.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

I push past him, swaying on my feet a little, Alec’s arm shooting out to steady me. We start descending the stairs, as fast as my condition allows. One story down, we freeze when the heavy stairwell door bangs shut, the sound echoing all around us.

“Do you trust me?” Alec asks urgently. His eyes are wide, and I can see the panic in them. We’re alone, in a fucking dark stairwell, and as capable as Alec is, he’s just one man.

“Yes,” I say, reaching for his hand and twining our fingers.

Before I can react, Alec grabs me by the shoulders and spins me around, shoving me face-first into the wall. I squeak in surprise and then groan when he plasters his body against mine, his hands roaming over my chest and down until he cups me through my jeans.

I hear footsteps approaching. Alec sucks on the skin on my throat, just over the pulse point. He knows how to make me putty in his hands and make me forget the world around us.

The footsteps halt to a stop somewhere behind us, just as Alec’s hand, still lightly cupping my dick through the thick denim, becomes more insistent, rubbing my erection until I’m about to come in my pants.

“Fuck!” I groan, grinding against his palm, everything else in the fucking world forgotten.

“Do you mind?” Alec says to whoever is standing behind us.

“Um—” comes the uncertain reply.

I angle my body so that I can look at the intruder. It turns out, it’s the same blond guy from the bathroom, the one Alec said he saw in the club. But he isn’t alone. Another man stands next to him, a scowl on his face as he watches us. They exchange a look before Blondie speaks.

“I saw you guys leaving and wanted to make sure he was okay,” he says, jerking his chin toward me.

“He’s fine. A bit woozy. Just how I like him.” Alec’s deep voice reverberates through me, and, even though I can’t see his face, I can imagine the malice in his eyes.

I thought it’s impossible to get any harder, but I was wrong. My dick throbs, trapped in my jeans and desperate for attention.

Blondie exchanges another look with his companion before his eyes slide to me, to Alec’s hand on my cock, and then back to my face. I don’t know what he sees, but his expression changes. He smirks, then steps closer. Alec immediately stiffens, ready to spring into action.

“Why don’t we all just ditch this boring party and go somewhere more… private,” he purrs suggestively, licking his lips.

Alec nuzzles my neck. “I need to have him to myself for a bit.” He throws a look at Blondie over his shoulder. “It won’t take long.”

I feel his smirk over my skin as his lips touch my neck.

Time seems to slow as several things happen too fast for me to process. One moment Alec’s kissing my neck, and the next his body weight disappears, and I hear a grunt of pain behind me. When I turn, the blond guy is on the floor, blood gushing from his nose, and Alec’s got the other guy in a chokehold. The guy struggles helplessly for a few seconds before he slumps in Alec’s arms. Alec drops him on the floor unceremoniously, angles his body so that he’s shielding me, and strikes the blond guy with the full force of his fist. The guy falls, a small knife clattering to the floor next to him.

I stand there, stunned by what I’ve just seen. In less than thirty seconds, Alec neutralizes both attackers, with minimal effort and barely any noise.

He turns to me, his face pale and his eyes frantic. “We need to go. Now.” With a move too swift to follow, he takes out his phone and fires off a text, then shoves it back into his pocket. “Now, Zach.”

He grabs my hand and pulls me down the stairs after him. My heart pounds so loud I can’t hear anything over the roar in my ears. The surge of adrenaline seems to have helped with clearing my head, and as I run down the stairs after Alec, I realize the fog in my head isn’t as thick anymore. Anxiety starts pushing its way