Page 32 of Freestyle (Academy of Stardom 1)

“I saw red…”

“I know. We can talk about this later. We need to go.”

His hold tightens. “He groped you like you were a piece of meat. How fucking dare he touch you like that.”

“It’s okay, Dax. He was high. It’s done. It’s over.”

His fingers curl in my hair, tugging on the strands as his jaw tenses and his arm wraps around my back, trapping me against his body. “You’re ours, Kid. Ours,” he growls and something in his eyes gives me pause.

Possession.He’s always been protective of me, but this is different. This is more.

“Dax…?” I question as he shifts me in his hold, his legs parting. I slot between them, a perfect fit.

“I want to kiss you,” he grinds out, as though saying those words are a combination of pain and relief.

“You want to kiss me?” I parrot back, my voice quiet, a whisper.

He leans down, pulling me tighter against his body. “I’m going to kiss you, Kid.” And this time my response is swallowed by his lips and nose crashing against mine.

“Ow,” I pull back, rubbing at my nose and laughing a little.

“Shit, sorry,” he cups my face with both hands now, pressing a sweet kiss against the tip of my nose. It’s cute and sexy and I don’t know what to do next. Words trip out of my mouth before I can stop them.

“Don’t apologise. It’s me, I don’t… I haven’t…Fuck.”

“What?” he asks, frowning.

“I haven’t kissed anyone before,” I say in a whoosh of breath, partly worried about the fact we’re still standing here and not running, and partly ashamed of my lack of kissing skills and experience. I’mwellaware that I’m lagging behind when it comes to this kind of stuff but by the time I was interested in kissing anyone, the only people I wanted to kiss happened to be my best friends and they’ve never showed me the slightest bit of interest until now.

“What,never?”

“I’ve been hanging out with you guys for the past couple years. I don’t really get the chance to hook up with anyone.”I don’t want to.

“Good.” He grinds out, then bites down on his lip. He smiles a little sheepishly, and my heart lifts as some of the darkness dissolves from his gaze. “Then that’ll make me your first kiss, right?”

“You really want to kiss me…?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I want to.” He brushes blood-streaked fingertips against my cheek with shaking hands. Nerves steal my voice and all I can do is look at him helplessly. “Tip your head to the side, Kid,” he says, his tone gravelly, deep, as though something is lodged in his throat.

I do as he asks, tipping my head to the side, trying not to think too much about the mechanics of a kiss or whether I’ll mess this moment up. This time when Dax leans in to kiss me, our noses don’t crash together, but my heart? That crashes and thrashes like a piston inside my ribcage, reminding me I’m still here, still alive and not caught up in one of my fantasies I’ve been indulging in over these past few months.

His mouth feathers against mine, hesitant at first, uncertain, but even that light touch is enough to make my knees quake. I’m aware of everything. His heaving chest, his firm body pressed against mine, the tremor of his hands clasping my face. I curl my fingers into the material of his t-shirt not sure if I’m pulling him closer, or hanging on for dear life. My skin tingles and my breath hitches as his tongue sweeps across my lower lip. He groans, one hand sliding into my hair as the other drops to my side, wrapping around my lower back. His fingers flex and just for a moment he hesitates, his mouth parted as though he’s deciding whether he should step over the invisible line that exists between me and him.

“Kiss me, Dax. Please, just kiss me.” I don’t mean for it to come out breathless, but I can’t help it. I feel lightheaded as it is. Swallowing my nervousness I close the minute gap between us and press my lips against his. I want this. I’m done waiting. My fantasies aren’t enough anymore. This was the last thing I thought would happen tonight, but now that it is I don’t want anything to get in the way.

Dax grunts, his fingers tightening in my hair and tugging on the strands as his tongue bypasses my lips, searching, cautious and oh so fucking gentle. For all his violence, Dax kisses with a softness that makes me want to clamber up his large frame and wrap myself around him. Instinctively, I press my crotch against him wanting to relieve the building sensation I feel between my legs. He’s hard and I stop grinding, not sure what to do. I have no experience dealing with this and I’m well aware that the movement of my body is making him react this way. A rumbling kind of noise vibrates through his chest and rather than breaking off the kiss, Dax slides both his hands over my arse, squeezing tighter and just like that, I forget that this is my first kiss. I forget we’re in an alleyway running from his violence.

My body melts into him as though we were always meant to be this way and my hands find their way up and under his shirt, loving the way his skin feels against the palms of my hand. Tasting the remnants of whisky on his tongue, I revel in the feel of him. Emotions catapult inside my chest like a pinball in one of those arcade games we love to play, ricocheting against my internal organs. My heart beats faster, my stomach fills with a million butterflies, my lungs desperately claw for air as I forget to breath and just dive headfirst into moment more than willing to drown.

They say your first kiss is unforgettable, that no matter who it’s with, it will be ingrained in your soul forevermore. Good, bad, indifferent, it doesn’t matter. This kiss is one for the memory banks. It marks me, making a notch in my heart that I will treasure forever. This kiss is perfect.

We lean into each other, me on my tip-toes, held upright in his strong arms. Dax crowding over me, making me feel both small and big all at the same time. When we part, all heaving chests, and whispered thoughts, I smile up at him, pressing my hand over the thrashing beat of his heart.

“You’re my dark angel, Dax, do you know that?

“I am?”

“Yeah, you are.” He smiles, and it’s so beautiful that for a moment I can’t speak.

“Will you always protect me like that?”

“Always, Kid.”

Capturing his hand in mine we run down the alleyway, unaware that our kiss and whispered promises were witnessed by another.

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