Cameron’s already caught up to Tate so we head back to the table behind them.
I shrug, “I have no idea. He just said it was enough and he was done. I know he’s probably a little pissed he hasn’t gotten to dance with other females by now, but it’s not like I’m making him dance with just me. I would be more than happy to go find someone who wants to dance if that would make him happy.”
She bursts out laughing, flashing a bright smile, “Are you insane, woman? You can’t possibly think that with what he’s been doing!”
I scrunch my nose, “What do you mean ‘with what he’s been doing’?”
“Holy shit, dude, I think you might actually be blind! We need to get you some glasses, like, yesterday. While you guys were dancing, anytime a guy starts to come near you, Tate snaps his fingers and points at the guy.” Avery snaps her fingers and makes a circle motion then points with her right finger, demonstrating, “then a bouncer comes, grabs the guy and drags him off.” She giggles again, “Trust me, Emily, there were probably five guys trying to come dance with you, but Tate isn’t having it.”
My vision clouds with anger upon hearing this. I’m so mad right now at his nerve, I could burst.
How dare he?
“Are you kidding me?”
“Ha! No way, dude, he isn’t letting anyone near you.” She points at me and shakes her head, thoroughly amused.
“You know what, Avery?” I huff, “Go sit with them. I’m so fucking over that man, and I’m the one who’s done! Not him. I’m not dealing with anymore of his attitude tonight. I’m going outside.”
FOUR
TATE
I had to walk away. I have never wanted to fuck
someone so badly in the middle of a dance floor before. When she started rubbing on my nipple rings, I was at my limit.
It took everything I had inside, to keep my hands from just grabbing her ass and pulling her legs around my hips, taking her there in front of everyone.
Then there were all those douche bags thinking they were going to come and take her out of my arms. Yeah right, I would have slit their throats if they touched her perfect body. I know Gavin and Niko, my guards, will teach their ignorant asses a lesson for me.
I peer over at Avery and Emily talking. She is so damn beautiful, like a little blonde angel. I will have her, even if it takes me a little while to make it happen. I’ve wanted Emily from the moment I set eyes on her but I keep screwing it up. She makes me over-think and not-think, all at the same time when she’s around.
Emily storms off quickly, looking slightly pissed.
Great, she has that little attitude again
.
Some steroid induced tool steps in front of her and looks like he’s attempting to be charming. I don’t think so. This Bratva piece of trash will not talk to my little pet. Did he not just see her dancing with me?
I make my way to them speedily and put my arm around Emily, pulling her in close. She gazes up to me and glares. Jesus, I bet she is fun in bed when she’s all wound up like this. She’s got a little fire inside of her.
The guy clears his throat, peeved. Leaving Emily’s gorgeous face, I glare straight into this Bratva thug’s eyes.
“Maya (mine)” I practically snarl in Russian.
“Huh?” He looks at me as if he just realized I’m speaking.
“Anaaявляется maya. (She is mine)”
He stares at me confused, taking me in as if he doesn’t know exactly who I am to stand up to him, “Mine. As in, she belongs to me, you idiot,” I repeat, but in English this time.
He blinks a few times and nods, “I apologize, Shef (Boss).” He looks at his feet as he calls me Boss.
I’m glad he realized his place. I have no time to waste on him, as Emily is silently fuming beside me. At least he knew well enough to call me boss in Russian. I don’t need my little pet hearing that.
She huffs, clearing her throat loudly. I know she’s about to lay into me. I have to quit pissing her off, if I plan on keeping her someday. She’s going to keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.
“Mine?” Emily shrieks. “I’m not yours! You are infuriating. Stop being a cock block! If I want to talk to a man and even possibly go home with him, it’s not your damn business!” She points, bumping her finger into my chest, as she finishes laying into me. I puff my chest a little, making sure she feels muscle; I know she enjoyed it before.
“I’m finished talking to you tonight, Luka Masterson!” Emily finishes loudly over the music. She throws her hands up, exasperated, and storms out of the club.
Fuck!
Why do women always insist on busting out the full name when they get angry? She doesn’t need to be outside by herself.
I rush off after Emily. She’s almost to the SUV when I catch up to her.
My brother Viktor, and the guards Nikoli, Brent and Ivan are all nosily peering at us. I’m sure we make quite the spectacle. Nikoli’s definitely going to give me shit about this, I just know it.
“Beauty, wait, please?” I call after her. Emily’s swinging her arms hurriedly to help her walk fast, but my legs are a lot longer so I catch up to her quickly.
I reach out to grab her arm, spinning her around to face me.
EMILY
I feel a warm, large hand grasp my wrist, yanking and spinning me around.
I automatically raise my arms to protect myself. If Tate’s anything like that
monster
, I know this could hurt. Tightly squeezing my eyes closed, I wait for the hit to come.
He drops my wrist as if it were on fire, “What are you doing, Emily? For Heaven’s sake, you can’t come out here by yourself! Who would protect you?” Tate grumbles, “And put your arms down! I’m not some goon who will hurt you. I might be a dick sometimes, but give me a little fucking credit. I’m out here to protect you.” His expression looks a little wounded but also angry.
Dropping my arms, my own temper flares up, “Ugh! Why are you so stubborn?” I gaze at him curiously. Why can’t he get it, that I want to be left alone?
I cross my arms across my body, “I told you I was done talking to you today and I meant it!”
“Please calm down, Krasaaveetsa.”
“Krasaaveetsa, huh? I’ve heard it several times now, what does that even mean? Huh? And what is that language?” I pepper him with questions. Maybe he will just get annoyed and leave me be.
“It’s Russian, okay? I’m stubborn because I want you. If I want something, I take it. I don’t waste time and screw around.” He drops his eyes, casually running them over my body.
Stubbornly, he meets my gaze again, “I want you to be mine and I’m willing to lay claim if someone comes sniffing around.”
“And Krasaaveetsa?” He says intensely, grabbing both of my wrists and putting them above my head against the cool vehicle.
Tate leans his large body, pressing against me. I can feel his solid muscles molded through his shirt. He’s hard in all the right places. It makes me excited and anxious all at once—I’ve never enjoyed being controlled before.
Tate screams ‘dominate’ to me and it almost pulls me to him, versus pushing me away as one would think. It’s like my body craves someone who can take away all of my worries for once. This is a man who brings out something primal, from deep inside of me.
He leans in so close, our lips are almost touching. His breath coming out in short little pants, washing over my lips. With each warm breath, my pussy clenches. I inhale deeply and can taste the mint from his breath. No matter how hard I seem to fight against wanting to like him, my body calls to his. It’s never reacted like this with anyone before, like it’s found its match.
In a softer voice he says, “Baby, Krasaaveetsa means ‘beauty’.” Tate’s lips graze mine as he speaks, “I find you so fucking beautiful, you don’t even realize.” The last words come out as a whisper.
After he says it I nip at his bottom lip a little. That does it. Next thing I know he is kissing me softly, almost testing my lips out. It’s like he’s memorizing the flavor, the texture, the wetness.
Tate’s mouth is cool and fresh and his lips are so soft. I let out a little moan, as his tongue tangles with mine. I can’t help it—he has me so wound up.
He pulls back and looks into my eyes, he nudges my nose softly with his, then slams his mouth onto mine. This is it. This is where he owns me.
I pull myself up his body as he kisses me feverishly, wrapping my legs around his waist and threading my hands in his hair. It’s just long enough for me to wind my fingers in for a grip and pull it.
He lets out a growl and puts one arm under my ass to hold me up, even closer to him. His other hand has a firm—but not painful—grip on the nape of my neck. Tate lets me know that he is in control of this kiss. I’m just the lucky participant to be receiving a kiss like this. And fuck, do I feel lucky right now, my body burns for his.
We’re rudely interrupted by a cheery Avery, “Hey, love birds! We figured the night was probably done when y’all took off outside.”
At Avery’s mischievous sounding voice, Tate pulls away from me and slowly sets me back on the ground. He gazes at me, eyes lit up full of need with each movement I make. We don’t break eye contact the entire time, almost as if we’re in our own little bubble and everything else is just static. I don’t think either one of us expected that kiss to be so charged.
Thank God Avery interrupted us when she did. We would probably be missing some clothes right now if she hadn’t. I know I wanted to try out a one-night stand tonight, but not with Tate. Things could get way too messy with him.
After everything I just went through and having to start over, I wouldn’t survive if I let Tate have me and then he decided he was done with me. I know that would happen; he’d get bored and move on. In return, I’d be left broken in a whole new way.
Avery and Cameron hop in the SUV while Tate opens my door for me. He nods at the guys in front of the door and they wave back. Geez, I bet they got an eye full, I had completely forgotten they were even over there.
The ride home is pretty quiet. Tate and I both seem to be lost in our own thoughts. We arrive at my apartment first.
“I’ll walk you up?” Tate turns to me.
“No, it’s fine; I’ll make it in okay. Thank you for dropping me off.” I shoot him a small smile and turn to the back, “Bye, Cameron. Avery, babe, I’ll text you. Night y’all.”
I jump out and close the door before Tate can even undo his seatbelt. I don’t have the energy to battle with him about that kiss.
I leisurely make my way up to my tiny apartment, playing the night over in my head. I never would have guessed Tate and I would have that kind of chemistry. The sex—well, the sex—would be insane.
As I get closer to the blue front door, there’s a chess piece. It looks like a king that’s been laid on its side. There’s some writing on it; carved into it lengthways is ‘Check mate’.
That’s weird
.
Someone must have dropped the piece while walking down the hall. I’ve never played chess before, but my ex did. I don’t know why, but I snatch it up, ignoring the queasy feeling I get with it and chalking it up to coincidence.
It was such a crazy night, full of fun and drama. Kind of makes me miss London’s craziness. She was always so much fun to go out with. We would dance the night away until she found her next hot guy.
Glancing at my phone, I scroll through my messages looking for anything from Elliot. I’ve been patient long enough for him to reply. I’m texting him again tomorrow to check in on everything.
I’m tired and ready for my pajamas. I take my Prozac and attempt to get some sleep because I want to check out the farmer’s market in the morning.
FIVE
EMILY
The next two weeks fly by. I’m kept busy with my
school work. Being at a new place, I slowly explore the city, taking in everything at my own pace. I don’t love it yet, but I’m definitely starting to enjoy it.
I’ve learned that Knoxville is surrounded by seven lakes: Cherokee, Douglas, Ft. Loudon, Melton Hill, Norris, Watts Bar, and Tellico Lake. I’ve always enjoyed going swimming. London and I spent many summer days at the lake near Austin. I can’t wait until our next long weekend. I’m going to drag Avery out to one of the lakes so we can get a tan and relax.
For now, I’m going to buckle down for the test this week. I never took school as seriously as I do now. I want to know that if my family were alive they would be proud of me. I can’t help but wonder what my life would be like, if Momma were still here. That day my life took a huge change, likes to play in my head like a twisted joke, popping up to ruin happy memories.
Twelve-year-old Emily…
Principal Kegal pops his head in our classroom, peeking around the door opening and everyone is frozen at the sight of him.
He looks over at me with a sad expression, then turns to our teacher, “Hi, Miss Swanson. I need to speak to Emily Harper please. She needs to grab her things to leave for the day also, thanks.” He nods giving Miss Swanson another sad look, which is strange. He usually looks at her as if he’s seeing the sun for the first time. I think he has a little crush on her.
Principal Kegal must want to see me about our student council project. It’s going to be awesome planting all those new trees at the retirement center. Kind of weird I have to grab my things though, maybe Momma or Granddaddy is here or somethin’.
Glancing over at my best friend, London, I stick my tongue out at her. She’s so great; after school we are going to hang out and paint our nails with some new polish she got for her birthday. I get to see her cute older brother, Elliot, and his friends too, so it’s an added bonus.
I quickly pack up the books in my bag and my new makeup compact my momma had just let me get when I told her London was allowed to have one.
“Hi, Mr. Kegal, how are you today?” I smile and ask as soon as we are in the hall.
Mr. Kegal is always wearing a polo style shirt with one of our town’s sports team’s logo and khaki pants. I think he even has hats to match, I‘ve seen a few. He looks more like he should be a coach than the principal of the middle school.
There are two stern looking police officers waiting out in the hallway for us.
Oh no.
I hope Mr. Kegal’s not asking questions about someone smoking behind the school again. He’s way stricter being principal at the middle school than he used to be in elementary. I think this place stresses him out more. I wish everyone would stop being so mean to him when they get into trouble.