She blushes and before she can stop it, a huge smile breaks out on her face, revealing a hidden dimple on her left cheek. It only comes out when she gives an honest-to-God smile, and it makes me equal parts thrilled and sad that I’m only just now seeing it. I cup her face, running my thumb over where the dimple is hidden again, like a buried secret that I can try and bring forth whenever I want.
Without giving myself time to think about it, I press my lips to hers and let out a groan when she tightens her arms around me and kisses me back. I’ve spent way too many hours thinking about what it would feel like to kiss Moira, and not a single fantasy even comes close to the reality of it.
Her lips are so fucking soft, and the taste of her makes my head spin. When she runs her fingers through my hair and pulls me closer, running her tongue along mine, I slide one hand down to grab onto her ass and pull her harder against me, never wanting this to end. When the song changes to a more upbeat dance song and the bodies around us start to jump and get rowdy again, neither one of us moves. Nothing else exists for me except the feel of her body pressed against mine and the way she’s giving my tongue a hard suck that lights my whole body on fire.
By the time we pull apart, we’re both breathing heavily, and I’ve never wanted to be inside someone as badly as I want to be buried inside Moira. I brush back a strand of her dark hair before tracing a line over her freckles. She blushes and tries to turn her face from me.
“Why are you doing that?”
She groans and rolls her eyes. “I hate my freckles. I always have.”
“Well, I like them, so don’t deny me the right to see them.”
She blushes a deeper shade of red, making me laugh and kiss the tip of her nose. “You’re quite sweet when you’re not annoying the hell out of me or using my body for your own wicked pleasures."
She laughs, showing me that dimple again and says, “You’re not so bad yourself. You know, when you aren’t being a giant asshole.”
I laugh because it’s been a long time since someone has dared to say something like that to me. She does a lot of things others are too scared to do, and I love it. Most women tell me whatever they think I want to hear or grovel and treat me like a god. Good for the ego, sure, but boring as hell after a while. Moira isn’t like that. She gives as good as she gets, and no way would she be willing to put up with any bullshit from me or be content to just tell me what I want to hear. The very idea of it makes me laugh again.
“What’s so funny?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at me and getting defensive. The change is obvious and almost painful to watch. She went from smiling and happy to sad and apprehensive. I swear I can feel her actually trying to take up less space. It makes me want to know every detail about her and to kick whatever fucker’s ass made her become like this.
“I was just thinking that I like how different you are.”
“Different how?”
I smile, hoping it will help disarm her a bit. It doesn’t, so I say, “You don’t let me get away with anything, you’re tough as hell, and I appreciate your honesty.”
She seems surprised by my words, almost like she was expecting me to say something bad and not fully trusting that I didn’t. I give her another soft kiss and wrap my arm around her, leading her back to the table. The others watch us walk up, noticing the way I have my arm around Moira, but aside from a few giggles from Gina and Jamie who have clearly had one too many, they keep their mouths shut.
We order another round of drinks, all except Dima who’s driving his family home, and spend the next hour talking and having fun. I don’t remember the last time I felt this damn relaxed and happy. It feels like Moira has let her guard down, too. She jokes around and laughs at the stories we all tell. I can’t help but notice how damn right this all feels, how she just seems to fit.
“I saw you hitting the bag the other night,” Dima says, nodding at Moira. “You are very good.”
“Thanks. I’ve been training since I was a kid. It kind of runs in the family.”
We all know the family she’s talking about, and even though we all hated Paddy, there’s no denying he was damn good in his day.
“We are having a hell of a time finding a woman to teach boxing at the youth club we opened up,” Dima says, eyeing Moira.
Gina jumps in, her eyes a bit shiny from all the rum. “Yes, that’s a great idea!” She turns to Moira, beaming at her. “You would be so perfect! There’s a lot of teenagers and young women who come in and want to learn to fight, but they’re too intimidated to have the men teach them. My brother and his fiancée work over there, but she doesn’t know how to box. These girls want to learn self-defense and how to protect themselves, but there’s no one to teach them.”
She looks across the table expectantly. Moira lets out a nervous laugh and fiddles with her drink. “That sounds amazing, but I’ll have to think about it. I’m still trying to get my own club up and do all the shit I need to do to get everything squared away with that.”
“Of course,” Dima says, giving her a smile. “Just think about it. The offer will always be there.”
“Thank you,” Moira says, squeezing my hand tighter under the table and looking away. I want to pull her into my lap and tell her she doesn’t need to be embarrassed or worry about anything, but I don’t think she’d appreciate that coming from a man that she’s really only just met, so I stay in my chair and instead caress the back of her hand with my thumb and hope it’s enough. I see the side of her mouth quirk up in a small smile, giving me my answer.
“Holy shit,” Aleksei says, laughing as he points across the room.
We all look over, and as soon as I see Tiffany, I let out a groan. She’s hanging all over Viktor, making no attempt to hide how badly she wants him. Viktor doesn’t look overly thrilled, but he’s sure as fuck not pushing her away either.
“Looks like she finally got what she wanted,” I say, as the others spot her and laugh.
“Who is that?” Moira asks.
“Oh my God,” Gina groans. “She’s a waitress at this diner we all love to eat at, and she’s been trying to get laid by these three for like forever,” she says, doing an exaggerated loop with her finger to include me, Dima, and Aleksei.
“She never succeeded,” I quickly say, letting Moira know, “and the other day Aleksei and I were in there eating breakfast, and he told her to just come in and hit on one of the bouncers if all she wanted was Russian cock.”