Every now and again, Devon would turn himself to look at Jace. He was trying to conceal it underneath the natural motion of dancing, but I knew what he was doing. My back would be to Jace at the bar, and suddenly his grip would grow tighter around my waist. The two of them were having a pissing contest, and I didn’t enjoy it one bit. I thought Devon was the type of guy to be more mature than that kind of thing. I took him for someone who didn’t play those games. Who was honest and upfront and genuinely kind.
But the more I danced with him, the more I got the impression that it was all a ruse.
Then, I caught Jace’s stare. For the first time since we had hit the dance floor, I looked up into his eyes. There was jealousy burning behind them as he sat at the bar. He looked furious as his eyes danced around my waist. It burned him to his core that another man was touching me, and while he had no claim to me, it served him right. I was the best thing that had ever happened to that man. I was the only woman who could tolerate his shit. I stood toe-to-toe with him during arguments and never allowed his booming voice to get the best of me. Women before me stroked his ego, but I kept that shit in check.
It toned him down and exposed a side of him I don’t think he knew existed.
Devon and I continued to sway on the dance floor. I pressed my cheek into his chest and watched Jace’s hand curl into a fist on the bar. I could feel Devon’s grip tightening on me as his hand move downwards. It stopped at the small of my back, but then he made a small motion towards my ass. I wasn’t sure what this man thought he was going to be pulling tonight, but now he was using me as a pawn. Instead of genuinely enjoying my presence, he was doing shit to get a rise out of Jace.
I could do that, but he couldn’t.
I reached around and pulled his hand up my back. I looked up into Devon’s eyes, and he looked down at me, those innocent blue eyes making me melt. They were nowhere near the color of Jace’s eyes, but I found that didn’t bother me. It was distracting. It was weird for me to be enjoying him when he was the complete opposite of Jace. But for a moment, I enjoyed the way he smiled down at me.
And then I saw his eyes flicker above me.
I craned my neck back and saw Jace reddening with anger. I peeked a glance up at Devon’s face, and I saw why Jace was so upset. Instead of the innocent character I had been given for the past few minutes, there was a devilish glint in his eye. His face had morphed just that quickly into a conniving little fuck. Someone I didn’t want touching me nearly as much as he was.
The longer we danced, the more uncomfortable I got. I knew men like this. Men who could switch their attitudes on a dime. I had to be careful with them. If I made a wrong move, he’d lash out. And if he lashed out, Jace would surely attack him. That meant I’d have to explain to my captain why the fuck I was in some shady, illegal-ass bar pulling some asshole off a guy he was beating to a bloody pulp.
Because if there was one thing I knew, it was the fact that Devon couldn’t take Jace. Not if he fucking tried with his life.
My best bet was to just keep dancing. Keep swaying and playing along with his game. He’d eventually ask me back to his place, and then I would politely decline him when I was not wrapped up in his arms. I knew my weaknesses and my strengths, and right now I was not in a favorable position to take this man down.
The longer I danced with him, the more memories resurfaced. My heart thundered in my chest as memories of Jace flooded my mind. He was aggressive and had a short fuse, but the longer we dated, the sweeter he became. Like that night with his father when we went to go eat chicken wings. How he slid his foot next to mine to try and comfort me. How he defended me to his father without ever speaking an ill word towards him. Memory after memory rushed back. Kind and compassionate moments I had buried, so it was easier to hate him.
Easier to write him off and never look back.
Like this one time when we were out dancing. I finally convinced him to take me to a dance club that had drinks instead of a bar that had random moments of dancing. I couldn’t get him out onto the floor, and it caused an argument between us. I’d worn a shirt and a shirt out that was falling off my shoulder, knowing it would entice him to dance with me. But all we did was sit in chairs and drink beers while we watched everyone else dance.
Finally, I’d had enough. I told Jace I was going to dance whether he wanted to come or not. I felt his eyes following me to the dance floor, and as I started to sway there was a guy that came up to me. He slid behind me and followed my movements, but it wasn’t until I felt his hands on my hips that I knew he was there.
I turned around and was one tick away from pushing him off me when Jace stepped in between us. He told that guy to ‘get off his girl’ before he slinked his arm around me. He defended my honor before he stayed with me on the floor. Just like I was doing right now with Devon.
It was the first time he had ever called me his, and the memory brought tears to my eyes.
“You okay?” Devon asked.
I looked up into his eyes that were flashing me his little innocent shtick.
“Yeah. Just the cigarette smoke. Too much of it and my eyes water,” I said.
“Well, how about we get out of here after this song?” he asked.
Shit. That was not the opening I was looking for.
“Let’s just finish this song and see where it goes,” I said.
He pulled me back to him as another memory rushed to the forefront of my mind. It was the first time Jace told me he loved me. We were sitting in his backyard after my mother had one of her meltdowns. Jace had witnessed first-hand the full force of my mother during one of her tirades. She was screaming and cursing. Throwing things at my head while Jace batted them away. He tugged me out of the house and tossed me onto his bike, then told me to hang on tight as we raced away. He took me to his house, and we sat in his backyard, his arm around me as he pulled me close.
It was just us sitting there as he tried to calm my trembling body.
The sun was setting, painting the sky all sorts of colors. I could still remember how beautiful it was to this day. Jace leaned over and kissed my cheek before he nuzzled his nose into my neck.
He murmured how much he loved me into my skin before he pulled me into his lap.
I had so many memories like that of him. More memories than I cared to admit to. The more I remembered, the harder it became to hate him. The more I allowed myself to relive, the harder it became to write him off. That was the reason I’d allowed myself to forget all these memories. Memories of him sneaking me out my window and taking me on adventures. Memories of him grunting how much he loved me as he stuffed me full of his cock. Memories of the little presents he would get me because he saw it and thought of me, or heard me mention that I wanted it and figured I could use it.
Every memory I remembered only served to remind me of what was happening. That I was swaying in the arms of a man that wasn’t Jace. That he was sitting right there at the bar, physically holding himself back from intervening. I no longer wanted to be with this guy. I wanted this long ass song to be over. I wanted to rewind this night and choose another fucking bar, and yet I wanted everything to stay exactly as it was.
I felt Devon’s hands wrap even tighter around me, and I knew this shit had to end.
“Thank you so much for the dances,” I said as I pulled away. “I really enjoyed it.”
“You ready to get out of here?” he asked.
I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t release his grip. I looked up into his eyes from underneath my eyelashes, hoping I could get him to soften his grip by looking at him. I grinned as tried to pull away again, but this time his eyes darkened a bit.
“I think I should get you out of here,” Devon said.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said.
I pressed my hands to his chest, but he locked his grip behind my back. I pushed against him to try and get away, but the man was a hell of a lot stronger than he looked.
This was why I didn�
�t want to cause a fucking scene. This was why I wanted to wait for an opportunity. Because now I would have to kick this baby face’s ass and then explain to my captain why the fuck I was beating up drunk guys in seedy bars on the outskirts of Vegas.
“I’m not… interested,” I said as his arms drew me closer.
I rose my foot up to stomp down onto his toes before I felt his body being ripped away from mine.
I looked over at the bar as everyone around me began to get out of their seats. I didn’t see Jace anywhere, and a cloud of cigarette smoke was obstructing my view. I reached out in front of me, trying to find whoever the hell had ripped Devon from me. I wanted to thank them for getting him off me.
The bartender came out from around the bar with a shotgun in his hand. He cocked it in the air and leveled it into the smoke, and I watched with wide eyes as he aimed at someone. I fanned the air around me as the scene slowly came into view, and I heard gasps as people began to clamor for the front door. I could hear gurgling sounds along with furniture scraping across the floor. I could hear people murmuring to themselves as the bartender kept his eyes trained on a scene I still couldn’t see.
Someone blew another cloud of cigarette smoke, and I was ready to shove the fucking thing down their throat. But then, a rumbling voice penetrated the entire fucking bar.
One that sent shivers down my spine.
“Is there a problem?” Jace asked. “Because it looks to me like there’s a problem.”
Chapter 11
Snake
I was watching from the bar as they danced and I kept clenching my fists. I couldn’t go over there and break it up. I had no right. Laiken wasn’t mine, no matter how much I felt she was. Laiken wasn’t someone I needed to defend anymore, though she never needed my protection in the first place. She was a strong woman who could take on the likes of this asshole without a problem.
But it was shocking how long she was dancing with him.
Watching her dance reminded me of this one night when we were dating. She wanted me to take her dancing, and I would’ve rather swallowed barbed wire. I hated dancing. It was pointless to me. I could do a lot more with a woman if she let me lay her down. Fuck swaying to some mindless droning beat. I could pin any woman against a wall, keep her upright, and make her feel things dancing never could. Dancing was just some wimpy man’s way of getting a woman into bed. If a real man wanted a real woman, he made his intentions known. Women worth their weight in salt never tried to hide what they were looking for. They didn’t allow society to force them into burying their desires. They owned up to them just like men did, and it was those men that found those real women.
By being honest, not by playing some fucking game.
But that was rich coming from me. The man who fucking lied to her for the majority of our relationship. I could spin it. However, I fucking wanted to, but that was what I was doing. Lying to protect her. Lying to keep her away. Lying to keep her at arm’s length just in case shit happened to me. And for a while, I convinced myself I’d done the right thing. She and I ended things explosively, and then a few months later the shootout with The Devil Saints happened. Carnage flooded the sand of our compound, and my family fell to the ground. Dead. We buried more lives that weekend than we ever had in our entire fucking history, and I convinced myself I’d done the right thing by Laiken.
By lying to her about all this shit so she’d leave.
But that night-- the night after the shootout-- I laid in bed and dreamt of her. I woke up begging for her, reaching for her and only finding my pillow. I lost myself in my dreams that night, wishing I’d never wake up. She was there to comfort me. Hold me close and fuck me stupid. She was there for me to bury my tongue into and take showers with. She was there to remind me that beauty still existed in this world, and the proof was in her eyes.
Those beautiful hazel eyes that couldn’t be replicated.
But when I woke up, she wasn’t there. And she never was for years to come. I sank myself into different women every night, hoping to rid myself of her memory even though a part of me was begging to replicate it.
And still, nothing worked. She haunted me in my dreams every night for the past however many fucking years it had been since I’d destroyed us.
Now, life was punishing me again. Punishing me for ruining the best thing that had ever happened to me. I was watching her dance with some asshole who kept tightening his arms around her. Taunting me with her. Turning from innocent when he looked at her to malicious when he looked at me.
Laiken was in trouble, but I had no right to intervene.
The bartender brought me over another beer, and I took it gladly. I kept my eyes on them, hooking my gaze with Laiken every so often. Had I not known any better, I could’ve sworn she was longing for me. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something, I just wasn’t sure what. Every time her eyes came around to mine, there was a different emotion behind them. With every song, I could see her growing less and less confident in her decision to dance with this guy.
But he kept holding her tightly to him, and it was pissing me off.
He looked down and said something to her, and I could see anxiousness roll across her features. I down the rest of my shitty beer and readied myself to move at a second’s notice. The moment that asshole touched her in any way she didn’t want to be touched, I was going to beat the shit out of him.
Just one fucking excuse to rip his throat out.
Song after song came on, and the two of them continued to dance. How long had they been on that fucking dance floor? I groaned and rolled my eyes as they continued to turn, but then there was a rapid movement in my peripheral. I whipped my head around to see what the hell was going on and I saw Laiken’s hands pressed into his chest. She was saying something, but she was speaking too low for me to hear.
But then I saw her push at him, only for him to tighten his grip on her.
Laiken wasn’t enjoying dancing with him anymore. I slid from my chair and watched as she tried to push him again. She was trying to get away, and he wasn’t letting go. I moved like lightning to their side, shocking even myself at how fast I’d moved. Laiken had her foot in the air, ready to crash down on his toes and break them if she needed to.
But my hand was already around his throat, and my body was already tearing him away from her.
People got up and scattered from their chairs. I wiped my hand over a table before bending this motherfucker over it. I could feel his blood surging underneath my fingertips. I could feel him choking on his lack of air. People were gathered towards the front door, gasping and murmuring as I held him to the rickety wooden table.
What the fuck was this asshole thinking? Did he think he could actually get away with some bullshit like that?
Someone was blowing cigarette smoke our way. I heard someone cock a fucking shotgun to my left. I looked over and saw the bartender eyeing me closely, but instead of having his gun aimed at me, he had it aimed at Devon.
“Is there a problem here?” I asked. “Because it looks to me like there’s a problem.”
Devon was gurgling underneath my fingertips, and I felt my eyes widen with joy. This was the opening I was looking for. The excuse I needed to beat this shit out of this man. It was obvious I wasn’t taking home a woman tonight because Laiken sure as hell wasn’t going to let me near her. And with the steam I needed to let off, I was looking for a fight. I was looking for blood to spill around my knuckles.
I was looking for someone to punish besides myself.
“Yes, there is.”
Her voice was so soft. Defeated, almost. I felt my shoulders relax as my grip loosened on the guy’s neck. He sucked in a breath of air that startled the room, and the color slowly returned to his face.
Those three little words rattled around in my head, distracting me from what had happened.
“I was just showing her a good time,” Devon said. “She was into me at the bar and thought she was playing hard to get.”
&
nbsp; “You wanna know what hard to get is?” I asked as I strengthened my grip. “‘Hard to get’ is when a woman makes you chase her up the stairs to have sex. ‘Hard to get’ is when a woman gives you a strip tease and tells you not to touch her. ‘Hard to get’ is when a woman pulls her lips away just before you kiss her. But do you know what ‘hard to get’ is not?”
I tightened my grip on the guy’s throat as he began to choke again.
“Jace.”
Again with that soft voice. It was a voice I’d never heard Laiken use before. Her voice had always been low and sultry. Full of laughter and luscious pride. It was like this moment had drained her of her confidence. Of her faith in herself.
And all it did was make me angrier.
“‘Hard to get’ isn’t holding a woman to you when she’s pushing away. That, you piece of shit, is the first step towards rape.”
I picked the guy up off the table and held him in the air. Everyone in the bar began to cry out for mercy as my vision dripped with red. Never in my life had I been this angry. Never in my life had I wanted to kill someone as badly as I did right now. This man thought he could force himself on someone? On a woman who was looking for some sort of distraction? This man thought he could come in here, take the hand of my woman, and force her to do something she didn’t want to do?
That was when I felt a hand come down onto my forearm.
“Put him down, Jace.”
I turned my head over and looked into Laiken’s eyes. They were saddened and tired. Distracted and ashamed. I lowered the man to his feet and released his neck, listening as he gasped for breath. I hooked my eyes onto Laiken’s as I lifted my hand to her cheek, chancing the idea that she just might let me touch her. That she just might allow me that one small moment to remember what it felt like to have her in the palm of my hand.
And the moment my hand connected with her cheek, I was lost in her.
“Laiken,” I said. “Are you hurt?”
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