Page 26 of Battling Aries

He gives me a wink and keeps talking with his brothers, though his eyes stay on me.

“You doing okay, Rory?” Jade asks, drawing my attention back to the conversation at hand.

Blinking, I nod and break eye contact with Aries. “Yeah, I’m okay. I guess you could say this is all just a bit overwhelming.”

Sure, I’m used to large crowds, but I’d always been kept away from them all. I would be surrounded by guards who kept me secure unless I was on stage singing. Roger wanted me out there, seen but not gone near. I was to be seen and heard but nothing else.

“I’ve got to agree with you there. This crowd is a bit more than I expected,” Noelle says, lifting a bottle of water to her lips, eyes scanning the crowd. “A lot of skanks, for sure.”

The way she scrunches her nose and shakes her head would be comical if I didn’t look over at what she was looking at.

“Eww.” Okay, I totally didn’t mean to say that out loud, but the sight of two girls topless going at it on one of the tables surrounded by men, some of them members of the club, others not members. It was not something I wanted to watch.

“Ugh, I think I’m going to go find Viper,” Jade remarks, getting to her feet. “I’m pregnant, and this is definitely not what I want to spend the rest of my evening doing.”

“I don’t blame you.” Noelle snorts. “I think I’m gonna head out and go relieve the babysitter.”

“Give Bride hugs for me and tell her we’ll go out for pizza later this week,” Rosemary remarks, also getting to her feet. “I’m thinking it’s time we all go claim our men before these bimbos attempt anything.” She looks at me and jerks her chin toward where our men are. “You gotta show these women right off that you aren’t to be fucked with. Otherwise, they’ll do whatever they want and try to steal your man.”

“He’s not my man.” No matter how much I want him to be.

The memory of him kissing me is still so fresh in my mind. I don’t like the fact that I can’t claim him as mine.

“You might not think he is, but he is,” Jade states. “Whether you agree or not, that man put his claim on you, you’re his, and there’s no denying it.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” I tell her as Rosemary comes to my side, hooks her arm through mine, and tugs.

“Sure, it does, you just have to understand in this life, men like ours, they claim what they want and don’t give a shit if you agree with them or not. He’ll wear you down until you finally accept it.”

“What if I don’t accept it?” I ask, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. “What if he realizes I’m not what he really wants?”

“You can’t do what-ifs, Rory. Just live and be free. You need to leave the past in the past and move forward. You keep looking back, and the one who hurt you wins. Here, he doesn’t exist in this place. Don’t let him control you.” Rosemary lets me go as she finishes and moves to Kevlar, going straight into his arms and snuggling into his side.

Her words play in my head, and I know she’s right. In order to fully be free of Roger, I need to break away from his control. In order to do that, I need to go forward and stop looking back.

I meet Aries’s gaze as he cocks a brow. I make my way to him, knowing that in doing so, I’m giving in to my want as well as my need for him. I just hope by doing so I’m making the right decision and no one gets hurt because of me.

“Hey, Scamp,” Aries says in greeting when I’m close enough for him to draw me the rest of the way to him. “You enjoying yourself?”

“I’m not sure of the answer to that question,” I tell him, being honest. “There’s a lot of women here.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, one arm tightening around my waist, the other going in my hair. “But I’m not worried about any of them. I got the babe I want in my arms already.”

Tilting my head back a bit, I stare at him, seeing the truth in his expression. “You mean that, don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asks cocking a brow. “Think I explained it enough when I had my tongue in your mouth earlier and you could feel my cock against your sweetness.”

Aries shifts, ducking his head down until we’re nose to nose, “You need more reassurance? I could easily give it to you.” His fingers in my hair tighten, holding me in place.

There’s no way I could hide my reaction to him as my lips part. My fingers on his chest clench his shirt, grasping it tightly. “I don’t think I need any more reassurance.”

“You sure about that?” He chuckles, his lips brushing mine as he does so.

“I’m sure.” I try to pull back a bit, but he doesn’t let me move.

“Aries, is that you,” a woman squeals, interrupting the moment.

“Fuck.” Aries growls, lifting his head but he doesn’t release me.

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