Underwater (11 page)

“I’m Aria and this is Ella,” I said, pointing in her direction, “I wanted to ask if maybe you have a guitar I can borrow? Just for a few minutes.”

“A guitar?”

“Yes, a guitar.”

Studying me for a minute, he finally nodded. “Alright. Yeah, sure. I got a guitar.”

And that was how I found myself on stage, all alone and nervous as hell.

When I finished the song, I was met with silence.

Did they hate it?
Was I too much?

Sighing, I directed my eyes towards Ella and found her watching me with a trail of tears streaming down her face. In the midst of her crying, she winked and then the silence was replaced with applause.

Feeling relieved, I bowed and rushed off the stage. Ella congratulated me with a hug. “You did well,” she whispered in my ear.

I hugged her and whispered back, “Thank you.”

“Are you ready to party?”

“As I’ll ever be!”

She led us back to the dance floor and
Love Me Again
By John Newman began to play. People congratulated me and tapped my shoulder. When we reached our previous spot in the middle of the dance floor, we got lost in the music again. We danced, jumped, laughed and made up silly dance moves that earned us amusing expressions from the people around us. Everything bad in my life was shoved into a box in my head.

At some point, Ella disappeared after saying she was going to get us a drink. I danced alone with my eyes closed, concentrating only on the music, and not paying attention to my surroundings. That was until I felt a pair of hands sneaking from behind me and wrapping around my stomach. My body went rigid as I was yanked back and was pressed against a hard chest.

I turned my head and was met with a pair of black eyes simmering with desire. A tall frame towered over me. The man was attractive but I wasn’t interested. When I tried to break free from his grip, he tightened his hold and pulled me harder against him. I gasped as fear took root in my body. I was trying desperately to find Ella among the crowd but I couldn’t find her.

Who the hell did he think he was?

I could smell the alcohol on him when he breathed in my ear. His hands started to trail across my body, and as I was contemplating the best way to kick him in the balls, his hold on me loosened, and from that moment everything happened in a blur. One minute I was free, the next I was pushed forward and about to fall on my face. I gasped, about to hit the floor, when strong arms held me and prevented my fall.

Hesitantly, I raised my head and was met with a familiar face, looking with murderous eyes at the guy who’d manhandled me. Dorian seemingly sensed I was watching him because he lowered his head and when his eyes met mine the intensity of his anger softened.

He drew me back to stand behind him, protecting me. Then, he took a few steps forward and gripped the guy’s shirt. With a hard jerk, he brought him closer to his face. Dorian, with his tall and built frame, towered over the other man. In a deadly calm voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise, he spoke, “If you touch her again I will end you.”

The guy looked like he was going to shit his pants. Dorian gripped the guy’s shirt even tighter.

“Dorian,” I said softy. I didn’t want him getting into trouble because of me.

He turned his head while still keeping his hold intact.

“It’s okay. I’m fine...let him go…please.” Again, I spoke softly. This time, I added a smile for good measure.

Ella had made her way back to me and clenched my hand.

He gave a sharp nod and then turned back to the guy. With an icy cold voice, he said, “Get the fuck out of here.” He freed him with a shove, making the guy lose his footing and fall to the floor. Wasting no time, he stood and ran towards the exit.

Dorian’s fists clenched by his sides. His head was bent low as tremors passed through his body. I knew it was a bad idea and that I should stay the hell away, but for once, I wasn’t going to listen to the whispers in my head. I was going to go with my heart. I took a step forward, my intentions clear, but was halted from moving further. Ella’s hand, which was still clasped in mine, held me in place. I tried to free myself, but after a few failed attempts, I realized that it was a lost cause. She was looking at me like I was crazy. She was right about that.

“Don’t go there,” she begged. “He scares me.”

“Ella, it’s okay. I know him. Trust me.”

She looked unconvinced, but she freed my hand anyway, and then nodded once. I smiled at her with gratitude and turned around. My eyes sought him, this enigma of a man who, no matter how much I thought he was wrong for me, I couldn’t walk away from. He stood in the same place. He hadn’t moved even a muscle. I moved toward him, stopped an inch from his body and did the craziest thing I ever did in my life.

I embraced him.

I
n an instant, I was in motion, marching directly towards her. My eyes were fixed on Tiny without wavering, afraid she would disappear from my sight if I dared to blink. Even from this far away, I could see she was distressed and a shot of anger hit me hard, making me feel like a loaded gun, ready to go off and kill any minute.

This motherfucker messed with the wrong person.

I pushed forward through the sea of bodies, not caring who I bumped into in my quest to get to her. All I could see was
her
, and I had only one goal in mind – protecting her.

Before long, I was behind him, gripping his shirt and jerking him back, far away from her. I didn’t realize that forcibly removing his grip would cause her to lose her balance.

I didn’t think.

I only reacted.

I let my instincts take action and prevented her fall by holding her forearms. She let out a cry and held onto me tighter. I pulled her body against mine while still keeping my eyes on the fucker.

I wasn’t done with him yet.

Goddamn. I needed to calm the fuck down. Feeling her stare, my eyes sought her in a flash. The vibrant green in her eyes held me captive. I could get lost in them for an eternity. And just like that my anger began to fade. This girl…she held a power over me and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Our eyes probed, searched and scrutinized one another. I wanted to pick her up in my arms and take her away from here, to a place where we could be alone and I could keep staring into her big jade eyes. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

I wanted to keep her.

But first, I needed to get rid of the source of my rage.

I tucked her behind me, shielding her from him. I looked into the fucker’s eyes and saw fear.
Good.
Most people didn’t come close enough to anger me, but this one messed with what was mine. And even though I couldn’t beat the shit out of him (I would never let Tiny see me like that) I would make sure he didn’t step foot in this place again.

Marching forward, I yanked him by his shirt and brought him inches away from my face. I tried my best not to touch his skin, although his physical closeness started to tick me off. “If you touch her again I will end you.”

“Dorian.”

It took only a few seconds before her soft voice broke through my fog and washed over me, relaxing every stiff muscle in my body.

She assured me she was well and asked me to let him go. I didn’t want to, but I nodded anyway, because she asked me to. I turned back around and said, “Get the fuck out of here.”

I shoved him back and he fell on the floor. Then, he was up on his feet and out of my sight in a blink. Pussy.

I lowered my head and tried to even out my breathing, needing to calm down. I didn’t want her to see me like this. I felt the waves of anger engulfing me again as I stood rooted in place. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings and barely registered the noises around me. I was lost to my dark thoughts, wishing that someone would save me from myself.

Just as I thought I was going to drown in the rage, I felt small hands wrap around my waist from behind. For a split second, I was haunted with images from Afghanistan, in the small cage where I was held, tortured and at the mercy of the monsters. But as fast as it came, the panic dissolved when I felt her soft body press against my back. The sense of fear was replaced by peace and I shut my eyes and soaked up the emotions that her touch created.

Without even looking, I knew it was Tiny. She was the only one who seemed to banish the darkness. I’d never reacted this way to anyone else’s touch, and it unnerved me. I felt her head rest on my back and I wanted to hold her too. Turning around slowly, still inside the circle of her arms, I faced her and then pulled her firmly against my chest.

This was what her touch did to me. She made everything better, and I realized this woman was my clarity. I wanted to talk to her and ask her so many questions. Just… hearing her voice would be enough for me. There was a big possibility that when she left here tonight I wouldn’t see her again. And I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. Her presence here was a sign. A sign that I shouldn’t let her go. That I should find out what was happening between us. Because something was definitely happening. Even if it was only friendship, I would take whatever she would give me.

I pulled back and tipped her chin up with my thumb and index finger. For a few moments, I tried to tell her with my eyes how much I didn’t want to let her go, and she stared right back.

“Are you alright?” I breathed out and rested my hands on her shoulders. I needed to keep touching her. “Did he hurt you anywhere?”

“Don’t worry, I’m alright.”

Relief washed over me.
 
”Good.”

She bit her bottom lip and darted her eyes around the room. The crowd stood mute, watching us. Fuck…I was so wrapped up in her and what happened that I didn’t even noticed we had an audience. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, before her eyes found their way back to mine.

“Thank you, Dorian.”

I leaned in and tucked a wild strand of hair behind her ear. She looked surprised by my action; however she didn’t pull away from my touch as I expected her to. I bowed my head and whispered in her ear, “Would you come with me outside? I need to talk with you.”

I watched her carefully. After a few seconds of contemplation, she nodded in agreement. I let out a sigh, realizing I’d been holding my breath. Fuck. Those were the longest moments of my life.

“Just let me tell my friend and I’ll be right back.”

Reluctantly, I nodded. Feeling the loss of her touch, I watched as she turned around and walked towards her friend who was looking at us with open mouth and wide eyes.

All I could think about while I waited for her to return was that, sooner or later, I would make this tiny woman mine.

She stood under the night sky, her head tilted up, clutching her jacket close to her body, protecting herself from the cold.

I couldn’t help noticing how beautiful she was. Before I knew it, I found myself standing inches from her face – not touching – just standing close enough to feel the warmth of her body. I hadn’t consciously walked towards her. She was like a magnet, pulling me in.

I could tell my nearness alarmed her. Her body froze. She lowered her head and pulled her lower lip roughly between her teeth, worrying it. All I could think about as I watched her with hungry eyes was how I wanted to pull her abused lip into my mouth.
Fuck. I was losing my mind.
She made me feel too much, too soon, and I had no fucking clue how to deal with all these new emotions.

Was she tense because I flustered her or because I scared her?

I fucking hoped it was the former.

She cleared her throat a few times before she spoke. “I saw the owner looking at us as we came outside. I really hope that protecting me doesn’t get you thrown out.”

Blinking, I asked, “How do you know Toby?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I needed a guitar for my song. The guy who signed me up sent us to ask him.”

Oh, of course, the guitar. I should have realized. She was the only person I had ever seen take the stage with an instrument, besides a local band. The problem was focusing on anything else when she was this close. The smell of vanilla took control of my senses and all I wanted to do was bury my head in the crook of her neck and breathe her in.