Page 13 of Sexting the Bratva Beast
Perhaps this was a mistake.
Perhaps I should’ve held onto the text message that I read over her friend’s shoulder and chalked it up to my irresistible sex appeal and charisma instead of following it through.
She doesn’t take my hand.
Outside, she tilts her face towards the sky, and my resolve to take her home and wish her goodnight before it’s too late crashes down around me.
Because I want to make her smile. I want to make her laugh. I want to hear the passion in her voice.
Fuck smiles and laughter!I want to hear her screaming out my name while my face is buried between her legs and my tongue is so deep inside her beautiful pussy that I can’t even feel it.
My fingers find her hand, and this time I don’t let her pull away.
“We’re walking.”
“What about your car?” She walks half a pace behind me. One of her boot laces has come undone and click-clacks across the sidewalk with every step she takes.
“I’ll get it picked up tomorrow.”
Her eyes narrow briefly, and her confusion is contagious. She knows what we are, right? Gianna must’ve told her friends about the family she married into. Which means that Cartier knows about Gianna’s abduction, and my brother’s plan to use her against the Amory family.
Does having nothing to prove make this evening easier or harder for me? I guess I’ll soon find out.
“Where are we going?” She matches my pace, her eyes fixed on me rather than on the sidewalk.
“What’s your favorite cocktail?” I smile.
It might be my imagination, but she appears to melt a little. My cock imagined it too.
“Espresso martini. Why?”
She’s intrigued now, and any internal debate I might have had about cutting the night short to avoid disappointing her further has been pulverized to death. I’m nowhere near done with Cartier Black. And unless my Spidey senses are seriously malfunctioning, I don’t think she’s done with me either.
“Prepare to have your mind changed.”
Her hand squeezes mine. Reflex? Or excitement? It’s a small win, but I’m running with it.
We turn into a dimly lit alleyway between buildings, and I pull her closer to me. Call it instinct. I’m a man. She works with abused women. I’m not totally fucking oblivious to the dangers a woman faces on the streets at night.
“Almost there.”
I sense her pulse racing, and the desire to scoop her into my arms and tell her that she’s safe with me is overwhelming. But I don’t. Alpha behavior won’t make a woman like Cartier wrap her arms around my neck and beg me to be her hero.
Not that I’m anyone’s hero. Never have been, never wanted to be.
A bouncer clad head to toe in black steps out of the shadows beneath the swinging sign, standing at least four inches taller than me. He recognizes me in the sickly yellow glow of the lampabove the entrance and gestures with a curt nod for us to head inside.
The foyer is small, dark, the tiny flush ceiling and floor lights creating a path from the doorway to the cocktail bar.
Then we step through another door, and the place opens up into a space that is at odds with the narrow alleyway and hidden entrance.
We stop inside the doorway, and I give Cartier a moment to take in her surroundings. The bar runs the entire length of the opposite wall. The lights are low for a reason, so that the eye is immediately drawn to the amber glow of the lamps behind the two mixologists. The booths almost appear to be superfluous. An afterthought. Because all the magic happens right in front of us.
I pull out a stool for Cartier. Her face has a golden sheen with the lights from the bar, and her eyes are like glittering emeralds as she watches one of the mixologists measure out a shot of a clear liquid from an unlabeled bottle.
The other bartender approaches us. He greets Cartier first, holds her gaze, offers her a formal handshake, and lets it linger. Anyone else, and I’d have been across the bar with my fist around his throat. But this is different: part of the service.
My turn. He wraps both hands around mine. Our eyes meet. I’ve been here before, but I’ve not been served by this guy. Again, it’s part of the service so that customers get the full experience every time.
