Page 47 of Quake
“You’re shit-faced,” I hissed at him. “You’re too fucking stupid to realize you’re being a douche, or maybe the alcohol is amplifying what’s already there.”
“Hey,” he exclaimed, stumbling into someone standing behind him. “I’ll fight you!”
I looked him up and down and knew it’d only take one well-aimed punch to put him down, but there was no way in hell I’d do that to the guy. He was a drunken asshole, but one hit from me would put him in the hospital. I wasn’t like that. It was cowardly and a total dick move.
Instead, I said, “Take your weedy little ass someplace else, and go fuck yourself.”
The guy seemed to know what was good for him and slunk away, stumbling into several people as he went, one built guy giving him a shove right back. Things were getting amped in here, and it had everything to do with the sweltering heat and the constant stream of alcohol.
Pulling Juliette back from the bar, I led her to a quieter corner so she could get her bearings. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea coming here on a Saturday night?. ????
“Thanks,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it. That guy was plastered.”
I frowned, thinking about what he’d said to her.You look like that girl who was murdered. It was a throwaway comment and probably didn’t mean anything, but I still wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened to her.
The crowd swelled around us, pushing her against me. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I could feel the tension in her body. She was anxious after that dickhead harassed her at the bar, and it only made my suspicions grow. I wanted to ask about it, but forcing her to talk about a dramatic experience like that would only make things worse. Besides, I was only speculating. Juliette had become too precious to me to risk scaring her off.
“Do you want to go?” I murmured into her ear. My appetite for live music had all but disappeared.
She frowned, her gaze flickering around the tiny bar and all the people milling around us. A stream of bodies walking to and fro jostled us, and she glanced up at me.
“I’ve about had it,” I said, making the choice easy for her.
“I… I’m not ready to go home,” she said, her fingers curling around my shirt.
Rubbing my palms up and down her back, I nodded. “Me, either, but we can go to my place if you want. I’m not far from here.”
“You live in the city?”
“Yeah, I have an apartment on Franklin Street.” I smiled at the thought of taking her there and seeing her among my things. Sitting on my couch, sleeping in my bed, naked in my shower. It sounded like a brilliant idea. “It’ll be quiet, and I’ve got air con.”
“Sold,” she said with a smile.
“Was it the alone time with me or the air conditioning that sold it?” I asked, smothering a smile.
She wiped her brow. “Totally the air conditioning.”
Grasping her hand, I led her out of the bar and into the laneway, oxygen filling my lungs the moment we emerged. The air was full of moisture, the city lights reflecting off the sky. Clouds had rolled in while we were inside, and I could feel the charge of a looming storm all around us. Instinctively, I tugged Juliette closer as we set off.
Two blocks away from my apartment building, a boom split the air, the crash of thunder so loud it made every female around us squeal—and a few males—and Juliette jumped, her fingers tightening around mine.
A drop of rain hit my nose, and I glanced up just in time to see a fork of lightning streak across the sky between buildings.
“I think we’d better make a break for it,” I said just as the heavens opened, and it started to pour.
Rain pounded on us as we ran hand in hand through the city streets, Juliette laughing as the water soaked her hair and clothes. The material of her dress was stuck to her body, leaving nothing to the imagination. I wanted to cover her, jealousy rising at the thought other men staring at her perfection, but one glance confirmed everyone around us were too busy finding a way out of the downpour to bother looking.
After a mad dash across the traffic-clogged street, we finally reached my building. I pulled her into the foyer out of the rain, laughing like mad.
“What a rush,” she exclaimed, almost slipping on the tiled floor. “I’ve definitely cooled off now.”
I jammed my finger on the call button at the bank of elevators and yanked her against me. “Really?” I asked. “Because now I’m all hot and bothered in a different way.” I caught her lips with mine, kissing her hard. Her tongue wrapped around mine greedily as I cupped her wet ass. Pulling away as the elevator dinged, I murmured, “That dress is stuck to you like a second skin. No imagination needed, Jules.”
Immediately, she flushed scarlet, her gaze moving down to her breasts. “Oh, shit.”
“No one else can see,” I said, pushing the button for my floor. “Only me. I like the wet look…it’s very hot.”
