Monroe, Marla - Hot and Bothered (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

“Sure. Have a seat. They should be back soon.”

Once he sat down, she could see him more clearly. Shaggy black hair the color of midnight framed equally dark eyes. His face held the hint of a beard like he hadn’t shaved that day. He had a hot body from what she could tell and broad shoulders. She couldn’t see the rest of him because of the table.

“I’ve never seen you here before. First time?” he asked.

“Yeah. My friends talked me into trying it out. So far I like the music.”

“My name is Dustin.” He held out his hand over the table.

“I’m Savanna.” She took his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

He didn’t let go immediately. Instead, he ran his thumb over the back of her hand before releasing it.

She was about to say something when Ben and Karen came back to the table. Karen arched her brows. She mouthed,
Go girl.

Dustin stood up and held out is hand to Ben. “Name’s Dustin.”

Brent shook his hand and introduced himself and Karen. Karen sat down next to Savanna and smiled at her.

Dustin asked, “You ready to hit the floor?”

Savanna hesitated for all of a second then nodded and stood up. He took her elbow as he guided her along. He pulled her into his arms for a nice slow song. She was ready to push away should he pull her too close, but he didn’t. Instead, he leaned in and spoke into her ear.

“Your friends gave me the onceover. Protective, aren’t they?” He smiled.

“A little bit, yeah. Karen talked me into coming tonight.”

“I’m glad she did,” he said.

He pulled her a little closer, and she didn’t resist. His hand rested at the small of her back. He didn’t grope her ass, but he did run one hand up and down her back. She relaxed into him. The fact that he didn’t take liberties bumped him up in her book. At a place like this, she expected the worst, but so far, everyone had behaved. Which was good, right?

The music was still too loud to comfortably talk, so Savanna let him lead and rested her head against his chest. It was firm and muscular. He responded by pulling her a little closer. His scent, warm and woodsy, soothed her nerves, and she realized she was actually enjoying this dance with him. All too soon, the music ended, and a faster song blared from the speakers overhead.

“Want to sit this one out?” Dustin asked, leaning down to be heard.

“Yeah, thanks.” She let him guide her through the throng of people back to the table.

Once they arrived, he held her seat. “Hope we can dance again later.” He smiled and disappeared into the crowd.

“Man, he looked good enough to eat. Why did you let him go?” Karen asked, frowning.

“I didn’t let him go, he walked away. It was just a dance, Karen.” But one she had really enjoyed. She also enjoyed that nice ass in those tight jeans he was wearing.

“Come on, Ben. Let’s dance.” Karen laughed and pulled him up by his arm.

“Guess we will be back in a little while.” He waved at Savanna as Karen dragged him out on the floor.

She people watched for the next thirty minutes or so until Ben and Karen returned with drink refills. While she waited, she turned down two dances and one proposition from a very drunk guy sporting a mohawk. Ben asked her to dance once she had managed a couple of sips of her drink, but someone stepped in and asked her instead. He didn’t look too bad. Yes, he had a tattoo of a skull on one arm, but he looked clean enough, she decided.

“Name’s Mike. I’m a mechanic. What about you?” he yelled over the music.

“Savanna. Nice to meet you.”

They danced to the fast hip-hop that led into a classic rock song. After the third song, she shook her head and waved him off. She needed to rest. He shrugged and let her go, already moving on to someone new. Savanna shook her head and turned to make her way back to the table. She could really use a drink now. Ben and Karen were arguing over something when she walked up.

“I’m not flirting,” Karen argued.

“Then what do you call it? If it were me, you’d be stomping all over my nuts by now.” Ben had a scowl on his face.

“All I did was dance with him. He was a good dancer. I didn’t flirt.”

“Hey, what’s up, guys?” Savanna sat down and looked between the two of them.

“Nothing. Ben is just acting jealous and all.” Karen downed the rest of her drink.

Savanna knew when Karen had too much to drink she tended to get a bit wild. Thing was, she didn’t usually drink too much unless something was bothering her. Time for a bathroom girls’ talk.

“I need to use the bathroom. Come on, Karen.” Savanna stood up and waited on Karen to do the same.

“Me, too.” She jumped up, leaned over, and gave Ben a big kiss. “We’ll be right back.”

“That line? I don’t think so. I’ll be here waiting, though.” Ben just shook his head and looked at Savanna. He mouthed,
drunk
.

Savanna nodded and grabbed Karen’s hand to drag her along behind as she slipped through the crowd and staked out a place in line for them.

“Karen, honey, you’ve had too much to drink. What happened to only two? You know how you get when you drink more than that.”

“Don’t you lecture me, too.” Karen pouted.

“You and Ben are a great couple. You always talk about how much you love him. If you don’t slow down on the booze, you’re going to make him mad. You flirt too much.”

Karen frowned and huffed out a breath. “I don’t flirt. I just want to have a good time. I like to dance, you know that.”

“I know. But, yes, you do flirt. It’s hurting Ben,” she said.

“Oh, okay, okay. I’ll lay off the alcohol the rest of the night. By the time we get to the bathroom, I’ll be sober again. Party pooper.”

Savanna breathed a sigh of relief. Karen was wild when she got drunk. The two of them had been wild together all through high school and college. It was time to settle down now, and Karen had a great relationship with Ben. She didn’t want her to mess it up. She knew she shouldn’t have come out with them tonight. They wouldn’t have gone if not for her. Still, if everything was good with them, this wouldn’t cause much of a problem. He knew how she got when she drank.

They finally made it to the bathroom and out again. The place was jam-packed with women doing their hair and touching up their makeup as well as just talking. Savanna was never so happy to see Ben and the table in her life. Karen appeared to have sobered up and sat in Ben’s lap with her arms around his neck.

“How about a dance, sugar?” A tall, burly man of about six foot six held out his huge hand for hers.

“Um, sure.” Savanna placed her much smaller hand in his and let him lead her to the dance floor.

He didn’t waste time with small talk or anything so trivial as names, but wrapped his arms around her and pulled her right up against his body. She tried to pull back some, but he was much too strong for her. She didn’t want to create a scene, so she resigned herself to toughing it out with Mr. Bear. It wasn’t until he started grinding his obvious erection into her belly that she knew she was in trouble. When he groped her ass as he did it, she pushed against him to put some space between him, but he refused to give an inch.

The music ended, and she attempted to pull away from him to go back to her seat. He let her pull back some, but he didn’t let go of her. Instead, he bent down and kissed her. She attempted to turn her head away from him. He wouldn’t let her. His enormous hand held her head still for his assault.

“I think the lady doesn’t want you kissing her.”

Savanna recognized the voice. Dustin was trying to help her.

“She’s with me, so back off.” The giant of a man growled at Dustin.

“Really, I just want to go sit down now.” Savanna tried to defuse the situation before it got out of hand.

“You aren’t going anywhere. We’re just getting acquainted.” He smiled. Why hadn’t she noticed he had a gold tooth?

“Just let her go and sit down. She doesn’t want to dance anymore.” Dustin didn’t raise his voice any more than necessary to be heard over the loud music.

They were standing still in the middle of the dance floor, and several couples around them had stopped to watch. Surely they weren’t going to fight over her. Why would Dustin even bother? He’d only danced with her once. The other man outweighed him and was taller than he was. She didn’t want him to get hurt because of her.

“Look, we can dance again another time.” She tried pulling away from the mountain again. He didn’t let go, and she couldn’t budge him.

“Let her go.” Dustin stared at the other man. Those dark eyes were cold now.

“You gonna make me?” the bear asked.

“Just asking you nicely to let her loose. She doesn’t want to dance anymore.”

The other man smiled, and his gold tooth blinked in the lights. He shoved Savanna around behind him and took a menacing step forward. More couples stopped, and the circle around them widened. Savanna nearly fell, but a man grabbed her and kept her on her feet. She thanked him and walked around the edge of the circle toward her table. She stopped, though, when she realized the bear had his hands up like he was going to fight.
Oh, God, no. Not over me.

“No reason to cause a scene in here. Let’s settle this outside,” Dustin said. He didn’t look the least bit worried.

“Naw. Right here is just fine.” The bear of a man advanced and swung.

He missed Dustin by a long way. Dustin just stepped aside and then kicked the man in his kneecap. He cursed and fell hard on the dance floor. Dustin just stood there, looking down at him. That was when the bouncer finally showed up and grabbed the other man under the arms to pull him to his feet. He stood, favoring his right leg.

“I’ll wipe your ass all over this place!” the big man yelled as the bouncer escorted him toward the door.

Savanna was mortified. Karen and Ben had come to see what was going on. Karen put her arms around her, and Ben walked over to Dustin.

“Thanks for seeing after her. I didn’t know what was going on. The guy didn’t act like he was going to turn out to be an asshole when he asked her to dance.”

“No problem. She obviously wasn’t enjoying her dance.”

“Um, thanks. I really appreciate it.” Savanna knew she had to thank him but felt suddenly shy around him.

“No problem. Hope this doesn’t ruin your evening so you won’t come back again.”

“I…” Savanna didn’t know what to say to that.

Karen saved her. “Oh, she’ll be back. I plan on making her go out with us more often.”

“I hope to get a chance to dance with you again sometime.” Dustin smiled at her then turned and walked away.

Savanna couldn’t help but lust after his ass as he did. She hoped she got a chance to dance with him again, too. She would like to know if he was that hot all over.