“Take care of her,” Ev quickly says, jogging after Bran. He looks back at me and yells over his shoulder, “I’m gonna help them.” I catch a quick flash of his smile before I turn and race for Sitka.
She’s shorter than the guys around her, and after pushing through the crowd, I finally catch sight of her. Still in all her gear, she’s by her bike, trying to get out of everyone’s way, but more people have joined in the fight, and when one of the bastards closest to her reaches out and grabs her arm, all I see is red.
Pushing the last few assholes out of my way, I grab the guy by the shoulder and spin him around so I can punch him in the face. I feel his lip split beneath the force, but it’s not enough, so I keep punching. He staggers back before throwing a wild, uncoordinated punch in the general direction of my head. I avoid it easily and then punch him in the ribs hard enough to bring him to his knees. When he looks up at me, I hit him one last time, knocking him back onto his ass before I turn to look at Sitka.
I can’t see her face, but I know she saw everything I just did. There’s no time for me to ask her if she’s okay, and when the crowd surges in even closer, I grab Sitka, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and tucking her small body in close to mine. Pushing a path through, I get us to my bike and then quickly get on, motioning for her to do the same.
She looks over at where her brothers and cousins are still fighting, so I yell, “They’re fine, Sitka. Get on!”
Her helmet turns back to me before she nods and gets on, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tightly from behind. In seconds, I’m tearing past the few idiots that are still sticking around to watch the fight and then turning onto the side road that will lead me to the highway. After I’ve turned onto it and gone a few miles, Sitka pats my chest and then points out a road up ahead, motioning for me to take it.
I follow her directions, letting her lead me through several more turns until we end up on a narrow trail that’s wide and firm enough for my motorcycle to handle. We come out at the edge of a wide stretch of beach, and when I cut the engine, she hops off and pulls her goggles up before taking her helmet off.
I wish it was daytime so I could see her better. The moonlight fluctuates because of the clouds, giving me teasing glimpses of her. I can tell she’s still riding her high, but it’s not bright enough to give me the details I’m craving.
“What happened?” she asks, voice still a little breathless from all the excitement. “What about my family?”
“Some guy grabbed Allie’s ass and Dima lost it, started beating the shit out of him and everyone else joined in. They’ll be fine,” I tell her in case she’s worried. “Bran told me to get you out of there.”
“I know they’ll be fine.” She gives a soft laugh and says, “There’s no way in hell they’re going to lose that fight. What about your cousin? Where did he go?”
“He jumped right into the middle of it,” I say with a grin. “Ev has to keep himself in check back home. He wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to have some fun while he’s here.”
Sitka nods and then pulls a hair tie from her wrist so she can pull her hair back into a messy ponytail. Unable to resist, I step closer and reach out to pinch a strand of it between my fingers.It’s soft, just like I imagined it would be, and when she lifts her eyes to mine, I say, “You owe me a hug.”
She lets out a surprised laugh. “I do?”
“You do,” I say while keeping the tight grip I have on her hair. “You hugged Ev, but I didn’t get one. It’s really been bugging me.”
“It has?”
“It has.” I give the strand of hair that’s now wrapped around my finger a gentle tug.
Instead of giving me what I want, she asks, “Why’d you punch that guy?”
“Because he touched you.” I let my thumb graze her cheek. “I didn’t like it.”
When she stays still, I cup her face, keeping her hair around my finger as I slide my thumb along her bottom lip. Her breath hitches right before she opens her arms and wraps them around me, pressing her body firmly against mine.
Leaning closer, I bury my nose in her hair and breathe her in, desperate to finally know what Ev does and hating that he got to experience it first. I breathe her in. Smiling against the softness, I murmur, “You smell like the forest and ocean—pine and damp earth and salt-tinged air with a hint of gasoline,besyonok.”
“Too bad that would never fit on a perfume bottle.”
“I’d buy it in a second,” I tell her, cupping the back of her head and wrapping my other arm around her. She squeezes me tighter and presses the side of her face against my chest.
“You smell like your cologne and the salty mineral smell from the wind off the Pacific.” She turns her face and burrows in a little closer, making me laugh when I feel her sniffing me. “Yeah, I’d buy bottles of this stuff.”
“You don’t need to,” I say. “I’m right here.”
She relaxes into me, letting me hug her for as long as I want. I take my time, keeping my head lowered near hers, myfingers buried in her hair, and my arm locked around her back and holding her close. I feel the soft heat of her breath against my neck, and it’s a torture that I hadn’t known was possible until this moment. With her scent all around me and her body molded to mine, it’s impossible for my own not to react. I know the second she feels what she’s doing to me because her breath skitters across my skin while the rest of her tenses up.
“Damien,” she whispers, saying my name like it’s a whispered plea, and I’m desperate to know what it’ll sound like when she screams it in pleasure.
My lips graze her temple when I say, “I was supposed to stay away from you, but I knew I’d never be able to do that.”
“You were?”
“For so many reasons,” I tell her, knowing the biggest one has nothing to do with her family’s threats. I’m playing with fire, risking the exposure that I always swore I’d never allow to happen. I press my lips against her forehead, unable to do the smart thing and walk away. Even though I know I’m risking everything, opening myself to humiliation, to being completely ruined by her if she ever looked at me with pity or mockery, but I can’t let go. If anything, I tighten my grip as I kiss a line along the side of her face. Her fingers dig into my back as she tilts her face to give me better access.
