Chapter 70 Chapter 70
Amber
The music shifted into a slower and more sensual beat with a bass line that seemed to pulse in time with my heartbeat.
I let my body move with the new rhythm as my hands slid down my sides, and over my hips, feeling the fabric of the dress move against my skin. I rolled my hips in slow circles, let my head fall back so my hair spilled over my shoulders.I moved like I was dancing for someone even though I was determinedly not looking at the balcony.
Maya and Jess whooped their approval, clearly loving the show, and that just encouraged me more.
I spun in a slow circle, my dress flaring slightly, and couldn't help glancing back up at the balcony.
A part of me was delighted to notice that Amy was gone now. And Damian had both hands gripping the railing hard enough that I could see the tension in his arms even from down here, his whole body rigid like he was physically restraining himself from moving.
Good.
I wanted him to be frustrated.
I wanted him to want something he'd decided was a mistake.
I turned my back to him deliberately and kept dancing, putting everything into the movement now including all the hurt and confusion and desperate want I'd been trying to suppress.
When I spun around again a minute later, expecting to see him still standing there watching, the balcony was empty.
Disappointment hit harder than it should have.
He'd left. Just like earlier when things could have gotten too intense and too real.
"Hey there, beautiful!"
I turned to find a guy I didn't recognize standing way too close, matching my movements with a smile that probably looked charming when he practiced it in the mirror.
"Hi," I said politely, taking a small step back to create space.
He followed, closing the distance again. "I'm Mark! You're an amazing dancer!"
"Thanks." I glanced toward where Ellie, Maya, and Jess had moved a few feet away, clearly giving me space with this guy, all three of them grinning and making encouraging gestures.
"Can I buy you a drink?" Mark asked, his hand landing on my waist without invitation.
"I'm good, actually"
"Come on, just one drink. You look like you could use some company." His other hand joined the first, pulling me closer despite my obvious attempt to maintain distance.
I was torn between politeness and the strong urge to knee him somewhere painful when I caught sight of the stairs leading down from the second floor.
They were empty. Damian had completely disappeared, probably back to wherever Amy had gone, and here I was letting some random guy put his hands on me like I was available.
The realization made me feel pathetic and stupid in equal measure.
"I need to use the bathroom," I said, pulling away from Mark's grip more firmly this time.
"I'll come with you!" He immediately latched onto my wrist.
"That's really not necessary"
"I want to make sure you get there safely. There are lots of creeps in places like this." The irony of that statement while he was actively preventing me from leaving apparently escaped him.
"I can find it myself." I tried to tug my wrist free but his grip tightened.
"Don't be like that, babe. We were having fun."
"We really weren't.." I protested but damn he was persistent.
"Just give me five minutes of your time. That's all I'm asking." He started pulling me toward the edge of the dance floor, toward the darker hallway that led to the bathrooms.
Warning bells started clanging loudly in my alcohol-fogged brain.
This was bad and was heading somewhere very bad very quickly.
I dug my heels in, literally, and yanked my arm back hard enough that he had to either let go or make a scene.
He chose to make a scene.
"What's your problem?" His friendly demeanor dropped like a mask, revealing something uglier underneath. "I'm trying to be nice here."
"And I'm trying to leave. Let go of my wrist."
"I don't think so. You were dancing like you wanted attention, now you've got it. Don't be a tease."
I opened my mouth to tell him exactly where he could shove his attention when he was suddenly gone, ripped away from me with such violence that he crashed into the wall several feet away.
Damian stood where Mark had been, and the expression on his face would have terrified me if it had been directed at me.
Relief poured in my heart. “Thank you, Dam…”
"Are you completely insane?" Damian fired off suddenly and the annoying part was that he wasn't looking at Mark when he said it.
He was looking at me. "There's a wraith hunting you and you came here? To a club? Dressed like that?"
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Your fighting instructor, your savior and your…” He stopped abruptly.
“My what?”
“Your nanny like I said earlier because you seem to have a ‘damsel in distress’ disease.”
How dare he?
Relief at being rescued warred with indignation at his tone. "You told me to leave this morning! You made it very clear you didn't want me around!"
"So your solution was to get drunk and let strangers maul you in public?" His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, and I could see the muscle jumping in his jaw.
"What I do is none of your business anymore!"
"It's my business when what you're doing could get you killed!"
"Hey!" Mark had gotten up from the floor, one hand on his temple but apparently he wasn’t done hovering around me. "Who the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on me?"
He shouted at Damian angrily but neither of us even glanced at him.
"I can take care of myself," I shot back at Damian.
"Really? Because it looked like you were about to get dragged into a hallway by someone twice your size." His voice was getting louder now, that careful control he usually maintained was starting to crack.
"And you're drunk enough that you probably wouldn't have been able to fight him off."
"I wasn't that drunk"
"You can barely stand without swaying!"
"That's the heels!"
"I said I'm talking to you!" Mark apparently had a death wish because he was glaring back at Damian.
“Shut up!” We both screamed at him, making him look at us dazedly.