I feel like I’ve been shot out of the air like a drone. Ty comes over and starts smacking these big guys on the arm with his yellowed, creepy hands. I just freeze, hoping that he will lose interest or something pretty quickly.
But you know what, I do not even care.
All I care about is the taste of this one’s mouth, the way he trembles as he holds back like a dam that’s just about to break. I can feel the surge of power behind his control as my lips find his, feel how close he is to breaking through. It’s all up to me. I can do what I like.
Everything is a blur. I want this. I want the other one too. I reach forward and let my fingers slide over his shoulder, curling behind his neck and I feel the mirror image motion from him. He takes me by my waist, graceful and strong, and pulls me to him. He’s salty and hungry. I can taste it on his strong, thick tongue.
My breath is gone. I have to hang on to him like an animal clinging to a tree trunk during a flood. He pulls me off my feet and I am helpless, caged in his massive arms, drawing breath from between his lips.
It’s just like the movie. Back and forth I go between them, tugging them into position. I want one in front of me, and one behind. I want it so much that the thought blows away anything else that might be in my brain. No talking, no music, no bar, no lights… Just this mouth on mine, then the other mouth on mine. Just this dizzying flood of sweet and salt, with their hulking bodies getting closer.
Now one is behind me, biting my shoulder while the other is kissing me breathless. We move all together like dancers, twisting, rocking in unison as we edge closer and closer to our inevitable union.
Oh my God, it’s so perfect.
It’s so…
Yes…
“What the fuck is this!”
The bang startles me and I stumble, practically falling like I am falling out of a tree. The man whose arms are around me holds me firmly but sets me back on the ground. I didn’t really know I was off the ground, but now I am definitely back on it.
The other man edges in front of me protectively, cutting Ty off from having a direct path.
“You need to back up,” my protector informs him.
Ty squares up, dragging the back of his hand underneath his nose in a vicious swipe. He sucks his teeth and bares his gums.
“This!” he barks, pointing at the table. “You want to explain this?”
Confused, trying to return to normal human function, I follow his finger to see what he is pointing at. It’s my ID, right there on the table. How did it get there? Then I realize he’s also holding my handbag in his other fist, shaking it vengefully.
“Why do you have my purse?” I mumble, shaking my head.
“Don’t you even start that with me, little lady!” Ty growls back. “This is you? This is yours?”
I just shrug and move back a millimeter, grateful for the hulking military guard that I seem to have magically acquired. Happily, they seemed to have picked a side, and it is mine.
“You can’t be going through my stuff,” I huff, but my voice isn’t 100 percent convincing.
“You can’t be giving me a fake ID!” he snarls back. “You know how much trouble you could get in? Big trouble, that’s how much! Arrested! Maybe even jail!”
I shrug one shoulder to buy some time. Can he be right? I don’t think so. I really wish Mona were here.
Ty backs up and holds out his hands. “All right, show’s over, guys. Step away from the little lady.”
My protectors don’t even glance at me. They just square up and make a wall, but I step around them. Ty offers them a smug nod as I hobble past obediently, suddenly embarrassed and feeling quite naked again.
As soon as I am within reach, Ty circles his thumb and forefinger just over my elbow, pulling me back toward the kitchen. I follow, shocked and clumsy on these high heels. Everybody in the bar turns to watch as he drags me out of the bar and into the kitchen.
“What are you doing!” I yell at him as we enter the kitchen.
I don’t even feel it coming. And when it lands, it takes me a
full ten seconds to figure out what just happened. But I hear the sound—crack. I see the motion of his swinging arm. I watch the palm of his hand right before it hits me with a kind of distant curiosity.
But I am suddenly half doubled over, my own hands cupping my cheek. I realize he just hit me. He just slapped me.