“Just one dance. That’s all I’m asking.”
She could smell the booze radiating off the guy’s breath and it made her sick. She took a step away from the bar, hoping to get away from the situation. Kallie had never been a confrontational person and it wasn’t something she was going to start doing now. Even though the island continuously bombarded her with ways to change herself, she knew who she was and she wasn’t compromising it.
But the man grabbed at her wrist and yanked her back to the bar, causing her to stumble on her feet.
“I said, one dance.”
“And I said no.”
The look in the man’s eyes frightened Kallie, but she saw someone tap him on the shoulder. Ash’s head peeked around as the man turned to confront him, dropping her wrist in the process. Ash darted in the opposite direction and grabbed Kallie’s hand, twirling her away from the bar and spinning her into the crowd.
He pulled her close and worked her to the middle of the floor, far away from the drunken brute at the bar.
“Impressive,” she said.
“Are you all right?” Ash asked.
“I am now that you’re back. Thanks.”
“No problem. He should’ve have grabbed you like that.”
A grin slid across Kallie’s face as Ash twirled her again. She was impressed at how easily he could gain the upper hand without using force. She admired that. So many men resorted to violence in order to defend a woman and her honor. But not him. Every time she turned around, Ash had another trait to his personality that she enjoyed.
A trait James didn’t possess.
Kallie looked up into Ash’s hazel eyes and got lost in the speckles of yellow and gray. They reminded her of kaleidoscopes, the ever-changing colors and designs. She couldn't fight her growing attraction to the man. How wonderful his hand felt against the small of her back. How strong his thigh felt situated between her legs. How his hips rolled with a smoothness she somehow knew would possess him in bed.
She never wanted to let go of him.
Song bled into song and the crowd began to grow. Soon, there were so many people on the dance floor that their bodies were squished against one another. His hands were gripping her hips and her arms were threaded around his neck. Kallie’s nose was nuzzling against his and Ash would drop his face into the crook of her neck. Never kissing. Never sucking. But always nuzzling. Caressing. Sending shivers down her spine as her hands worked their way into the soft tresses of his hair.
Kallie felt wonderful. Too wonderful.
Then, his lips graced her ear for the first time in over an hour.
“It’s getting a bit crowded. Maybe we should get out of here.”
Her eyes fluttered closed and she sighed into his chest. She nodded into him and he immediately wrapped his arm around her. He whisked her through the crowd, never once knocking her against someone. Like he was protecting here even though he had no reason to. She was in no position to disagree with Ash. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to be alone with him. She wanted to feel his lips against her skin and feel his hands traveling up her thighs.
The idea alone sent electricity surging through her veins.
But as Kallie approached the exit, someone grabbed her arm. Hard. So hard that when the person yanked, it ripped her right from Ash’s grasp. Her eyes fluttered up and she looked into the leering stare of the drunk from the bar, and the booze seeping from his pores was overwhelming. He was beyond drunk and anger flashed in his eyes. Kallie tried to peel herself away from his grasp, but his grip on her was too tight.
“I think you should let the woman go,” Ash said.
“And I think you should find your own woman instead of stealing mine.”
“I’m not your property,” Kallie said as she pulled from him. “Now let go of my arm.”
“And if you don’t let go, then I’ll remove it for you,” Ash said.
The drunken asshole growled at Ash, and Kallie whipped her gaze over to him. With a small grin on his cheeks and a flick of his wrist, she watched Ash push his thumb into the man’s wrist. She stumbled backward as he slid his hand down his arm and the man grunted in pain. His grip on her released long enough for her to wiggle out. She rubbed the spot on her arm, watching as Ash wrapped the hand around the man’s back and held him there until security got through the crowd.
She looked down at her bruised arm just as Ash passed the drunk off to security.
She could hear him retching and it made her stomach turn.
There was a scuffle that caught Kallie’s attention and she whipped her gaze up. Ash was looking at the drunk man on the ground and she saw him come up and shove Ash. He was doing everything he could to start a fight and the security guards behind him weren’t strong enough to hold him back. She saw a grin on Ash’s face, like he had something up his sleeve, but she admired how he wasn’t giving into the man’s want to fight.