Page 56 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

“Trust me,” I whisper. Then I grip her hip and spin her around to face me.

Belle yelps, but the moment our bodies are pressed together, she melts against me. She has a body that was made to be held. Her waist fits perfectly in my hand and every part of her is soft and inviting.

Her softness is in juxtaposition to the growing hardness between us. With every brush of her hips against mine, I’m in delicious pain.

“I can’t trust you,” she murmurs. “But…”

“But?”

Her eyes are round and sincere when she looks up at me. “I can’t trust you, but I feel safe with you.”

I snort. “Not sure if you just saw, but I almost strangled a man back there.”

“You did that to protect me.” She draws closer to me, if that’s even possible. We’re touching everywhere, sealed together in every way possible, but it still isn’t enough.

Fuck, I want all of this woman.

“No one has ever looked out for me like that,” she admits. “No one has ever fought for me.”

With every roll of her hips, her dress is riding higher and higher. I grip her bare thigh. “I’m not thinking about protecting you right now.”

“What are you thinking about?” she breathes.

I lean forward and press my lips to her ear. “Ripping that dress up and fucking you in front of all these people until you scream.”

When I pull back, Belle looks up at me. The look on her face isn’t what I expect. It isn’t horror or revulsion. It isn’t fear.

It’s heat. Lust in its purest form. And I know without a doubt that she’s going to agree. That she’s going to let me have my way with her right here in the middle of this crowd.

But then I glance over her shoulder.

“There,” I hiss.

“What?” Belle blinks like she’s coming out of a trance. “What is it?”

I press my forehead to hers, wishing for the one and only time in my life that I was less observant. “I found your sister.”

Belle jerks away from me and spins in a circle. “Where?”

“There.” I point to a break in the crowd. Elise is standing just in front of the speakers, her arms thrown over her head as she dances.

Belle sprints towards her. I follow behind at a predatory pace.

I watch as Belle grabs her sister and jerks her around to face her. They’re yelling back and forth, but I’m too far away to hear much of anything. As I approach, though, I can tell Elise is having a hard time staying on her feet.

“Are you drunk?” Belle screams. “Who served you? You don’t even have a driver’s license!”

“I d-didn’t drink any… anything,” Elise slurs.

“Oh my God. Are you on drugs?” Belle turns back and looks at me, her eyes wide and terrified. And I want nothing more than to solve this for her.

I turn around and immediately spot the man responsible. He’s blonde and muscled, but in a way that says he spends all of his free time in the gym. His bulk is for aesthetics, not functionality. And he’s watching Belle and Elise with horror on his face.

I wave him over. He obeys, albeit reluctantly.

“What’s up, man?” he says, bobbing along with the music.

“You know this girl?”

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