Page 5 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride
I grin, watching people let go of their worries and day-to-day burdens.This. This is what it’s all about. Spontaneous, stupid choices. Adventure. Freedom.
“Here!” Mila shouts, grabbing my attention.
I turn toward her, and she hands me a shot of something. I don’t even bother asking her what it is.
The alcohol burns when I throw it into my mouth, and it flows down my throat. Scrunching my nose, I hold my breath for a second, then shout, “Another one!”
Mila laughs and nods.
A moment later, she has another one for me.
“The barman has a bottle of tequila reserved for us. We can move it up to the VIP section if you want to?” Mila asks, leaning close to my ear so I can hear her.
“No, I want to be down here with everyone. I want to dance.”
“Then let’s dance!” She grabs my hand and pulls me straight into the thick of it.
The moment my feet hit the dance floor, my body grabs onto the beat, and I’m lost in it.
My hips sway as I trace my hands up my body, leaning my face toward the ceiling and squinting my eyes as laser lights pierce the smoke, creating beautiful, ethereal patterns around me.
I giggle to myself, loving every second of this.
Mila reaches out and grabs me, pulling me out of my dancing dream.
“This is my friend Arseni. And that’s Luka and Mikhail. This is…” She gestures toward me, and I quickly interrupt her. “I’m Angel,” I say, giving my nickname. The last thing I want to do is have some random guys know my real name.
Arseni takes my hand, and the smile on his face, and the way his eyes drift too slowly over me, it makes me a little shy. “Hi, Angel,” he says.
He’s a beautiful man, but he’s not beautiful enough to be worth my trouble. Being with a guy is an entirely new level of risk I’m not ready to add to tonight’s equation.
“Hi,” I shout back with a smile and tug my hand back.
“Do you want to join us for a drink?” Arseni asks.
Mila answers for me. “Yes, definitely. Why don’t you get us some champagne? We’re going to dance a bit first, though.”
Before I have a chance to protest too much, she is pulling me back onto the dance floor.
I grab her close and cup my hand over her ear. “I don’t think we should join them. I don’t want to get caught tonight, and it seems risky,” I argue.
“It’s ok, I know them really well. They are good guys,” she counters. “Remember, we’re just here to have some fun. And Arseni looked pretty interested in you,” she winks.
“He’s not my type.” I shake my head. In fact, no one has been my type before.
Maybe it was because my brothers were so protective, or maybe it was because I just haven’t met a guy who really took my breath away, but I’veneverbeen with a guy before.
A kiss. Yes. But that was it. And it wasn’t that great.
Mila doesn’t know I’m a virgin. It’s not really the type of thing you go around telling people.
“Maybe Luka, then. They’re all brothers. But also, we can ignore them and just dance if you want?” she says.
I shrug,whatever. “I really am just here to have fun. So, we’ll take the night as it comes.” She grins at me and pushes me further onto the dance floor.
It’s easy to get lost in the music again. It vibrates through my chest, down my legs. It pulls and pushes at me. It caresses me and leads me, and I give in to it. If I keep my eyes closed, I can even pretend that I’m in a beautiful tribal forest, dancing around a fire, wearing traditional colors that whip in the breeze as my body finds freedom in the constant beat of distant drums.
Freedom.
