All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,10
The hand holding has changed things slightly but still, I want to have a fun night.
Aodhan slides onto the bar stool besides me, grinning and tipping his head at someone else behind us.
I side-eye him, channeling Lips because no one side-eyes boys bullshit better than her thanks to all of her practice. “Is there anyone down here you don’t know?”
Jack slides drinks towards us both and then stalks off, sharing a look with Aodhan before he goes.
What’s that about?
“I’m not sure you can talk, Queenie, your black book is overflowing.”
I inspect my glass before I take a sip. The margarita is strong, all drinks in the Bay are, and I hold my wince in. “It’s not though. Not with the people we need at the moment and that’s on my to-do list as well.”
He smirks at me and downs his glass, whiskey neat just like Lips, and then nods his head at the bartender for another one. The guy doesn’t blink at the fact he has a member of the Twelve here drinking which says either Aodhan is here often or the bartender has been around for a lot of meetings.
“We’re supposed to be enjoying the night without thinking about work. Come dance with me.”
I look at him over the rim of my glass. “Why?”
He huffs and leans in close to my ear. “Because I’m sick of seeing you hide away. You’re more powerful than anyone except the Wolf herself. Why are you hiding behind your brother when you could take the power for yourself? Come dance and forget about it all.”
I huff at him but out comes that grin of his again and I tip my head back to down the last of the glass with nothing but practiced ease. I might not drink like the guys did during high school but I’m no stranger to a good cocktail.
Not that I’d call this one good.
It’s passable and the glass was clean so it’ll do.
“Atta girl. Do you want some shots before we head out there? Have you ever danced in the Bay? Fuck, those heels might not work out.”
I shrug and take the new margarita, downing the entire glass in one go. The grin on Aodhan’s lips turns into a cackle. “Good to see the Wolf taught you how to survive down here, Queenie.”
I set the glass back down on the bar and lean into him, his eyes dropping down to the slash of deep red across my lips. “Well? Show me how Mounties dance, O’Cronin.”
He grunts a little under his breath and slides off of his seat, his hands wrapping around my hips and pulling me into his body. I tip my head back to look up at him and I don’t care that we’re in public. I don’t care that we’re both infamous here, that there isn’t a person in the crowded bar area who doesn’t know exactly who we both are and how we met.
They might think they know but they don’t.
Even Lips doesn’t know and there’s something intimate about that, something about our relationship that’s just for us. I’ll tell her everything eventually… she’s my family and my closest confidant, but for now I just want to figure out what this all means to the two of us.
I try not to think about Atticus and what he’d think of this. He was willing to give me up so why would I think about his opinions?
Aodhan takes my hand and leads me into the crowd without kissing me but I can feel the tension build between us, like it’s hanging there and waiting for one of us to cross the line.
I can’t dance Mounty style, my hips definitely don’t move like Lips’ do no matter how hard she’s tried to teach me, and the heels don’t make things easy but I’ve done enough years of dance and with two margaritas warming my blood I can make it work. Aodhan doesn’t seem to care that my style isn’t the usual dirty grind he’s probably used to, his hands stay on my hips and he keeps dragging me back against him until I think that maybe this entire night has been planned, that he showed up to my house to drag me out here to have some fun and wreak havoc on my body and soul.
I think I’m going to fuck Aodhan.
A hand clamps down over my arm and jerks me away from his body. Aodhan snarls but when he looks up he pauses a little.
Chapter Three
I don’t