Page 14 of Tell Me No
“Shoot,” I reply, sipping the smooth whiskey and letting it burn a path down my throat.
“Whats your middle name?” She asks, surprising the hell out of me. That’s definitely not the question I expected.
“Uh… why?” I ask, not really wanting to divulge that embarrassing secret.
“I wanna know. I feel like I know so much about you, but I'm still missing all the little pieces,” she replies, wiping out a crystal glass with a bar towel. “Am I gonna have to guess?”
“Sure, babe. Go ahead and try. But you won't get it,” I say, shooting her a smirk around the edge of my glass.
“Austin?” She says and I shake my head. “Cory? Wyatt? David?”
I laugh at the names she’s throwing out, knowing she’s nowhere even close to guessing what my middle name actually is. Truth is, before I was adopted, I didn’t have a middle name. When I changed my last name after my parents made it official, they gave me a middle name that has been in the Negan family for decades.
“I’m telling you, you’re never gonna guess it,” I say, and she crosses her arms defiantly.
“Ror, you’re up next,” her boss yells from the side of the DJ booth and she nods, never breaking eye contact with me.
“You’re gonna dance tonight? In the middle of all this?” I ask, my brows drawing together as I gesture to the hundreds of drunk men and women packed all around us.
“Two girls called out tonight. Usually, I only dance on the weekends, but I have to take one for the team tonight,” she says, an uncomfortable look all over her face.
“Aurora, you don’thaveto do anything. You don’t need to be in this place,” I tell her, anger bubbling up inside my chest. I fucking hate the fact that she works here. She could dance at any studio, teach if she wanted to, and yet this is what she’s chosen.
“Jason, this is my job. I’m happy to see you, but if you’re going to make me feel bad about myself, you can leave.” She walks away without another word.
My intention would never be to make her feel bad about herself. I just hate the idea of other people ogling her, imagining her in all the same filthy positions I imagine. The way she’s never afraid to tell me off is enough to have me adjusting myself and turning on my stool to watch her take the stage.
Aurora leans over to the DJ, telling her something that sparks a laugh from the tiny pixie behind the booth. A deep bass thrums through the speakers as the house lights dim until the only thing anyone can see is Aurora, center stage. She is so fucking beautiful it blows my mind. The way her lithe body moves to the beat of 2WEI’s Hit The Road Jack is almost enough to distract me from the fact that she picked this song on purpose. It’s her idea of a subtle ‘fuck you’ for my demanding comments.
I smirk as I watch her, her long legs eating up the space across the stage as she dances with everything she has. Her soul is on display every time she dances like this. I can tell this is where she belongs, on a stage in front of hundreds of people, showing them every ounce of beauty in the world through her movements. Why can’t she dance outside of this bar? Something happened, that much is obvious, but what?
Her positions are the most sensual form of torture I’ve ever experienced as she bends over backwards, her back bowing and her arms falling gracefully behind her. My cock stiffens behind my zipper just watching her move so fluidly. As the final drum beats of the song play, she falls to the stage floor, flat on her back, and applause roars. She didn’t take off a single piece of clothing, but she still has the entire bar under her spell. The lights come up in time for her to take a small bow, her genuine smile plastered from ear to ear. She shines brighter than the fucking sun when she dances, so what is stopping her?
She steps off stage, eyes locked on mine in the seductive way she always looks at me. Only she can draw me in with just a fucking look. Any other man would think I’m reeling her in to me right now as she makes a beeline straight for me, but I know it’s the other way around. I’m so deeply under her control already that I don’t see anyone else in this room.
That is, until the asshole she brushed off earlier steps in front of her, blocking her from my view and stopping her advances. My body immediately goes rigid when I lose sight of her in the throng of people swallowing her into the crowd. I stand, using my height to my advantage as I spy the top of her head over the douchebag’s shoulder. Stepping closer, I finally see her face.
She isn’t in distress, she’s annoyed. Her expression is screaming at this guy that he doesn’t have a fucking chance, but his cocky smirk tells me he’s gonna push his luck. He runs a hand down her arm again and I see her tense, but I don’t move from my position. I remain leaning against the bar with my arms crossed, even though every fiber of my being is begging me to march over there and snap that guy’s neck. Aurora is no damsel in distress, and if I want to make this work, I know I can’t treat her like a delicate flower. She can hold her own, and she knows I’m here to step in before anything goes too far.
I see her lean a little closer to the guy, pushing up on her tiptoes to tell him something in his ear. Whatever she says has his hand immediately falling from her arm. He takes a step back, hold both hands up in surrender, but not walking away. Damn, this guy must be fucking stupid. She meets my eyes over his shoulder with a look that says,is this guy serious?I nod back at her, holding my hand up in question. Does she want me to step in, or is she going to handle this?
A salacious grin splits her lips, mischievous and sexy as fuck. She leans back towards the guy, telling him something else and pointing in my direction. He turns, his eyes searching for a moment before he sees me burning a fucking hole through his head. The color drains from his face as I give him a tight smile. He scurries off without another word and I see Aurora throw her head back, her laughter echoing over the sound of clashing music and loud voices all around us.
She closes the gap between us quickly, practically running towards me. Luckily, my reflexes are quick enough to catch her as she jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. She doesn’t give a single fuck that we’re in a public place right now. Her workplace, of all things.
Instead, she threads her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck, smiling as she meets my lips with her soft, pillowy kiss. I don’t think I could ever get enough of kissing this woman. I groan as she rakes her nails across my scalp, and she takes the opportunity to slide her tongue into my mouth. She kisses with the intensity of a fucking natural disaster, wiping out every memory of any kiss before this one. Not that anyone could ever compare to the vixen in my arms right now. Her kiss slows as she rests her forehead against mine, the smile she saves just for me is shining across her face.
“Thank you for letting me handle that on my own,” she says, sliding down my body until her feet hit the floor. I don’t release her from my hold, though, loving the feeling of her body pressed against mine.
“I know you don’t need me to save you, and I’d never dream of taming your wild soul. I just wanna watch you sweep across this Earth like the tornado you are. Just fucking devastate me, princess,” she looks up at me, seeing nothing but the truth in my eyes. I like her wild.
“You really mean that,” she says. It’s a statement, not a question, because she already knows I do. I nod anyway, running my fingers through her long, wavy hair. “Take me home, Jason.”
“As you wish,” I tell her, holding her hand as she grabs her bag from behind the bar.
I’ve never been one for physical affection. Something about spending my earliest years without it just imprinted on me. But whenever I’m near Aurora, I can’t help it. I want to touch her anyway I possibly can. Once we make it outside, I walk toward her Bronco, but she pulls me to a stop.
“No, I’ll come back for it tomorrow. Take me to your home, Jason,” she says, the implication of what she’s really asking for hanging in the air surrounding us. This is that moment people talk about, the defining moment when a friendship turns into something more. As much as I know I should tell her no, follow her home, and keep her from the darkness saturating my soul, I can’t. I don’t want to spend another second without knowing what it feels like to hold her as she sleeps.
