Page 42 of Deck the Skulls
“Move it, Anatoly,” she said. “I said I’d drink when I was ready.”
He didn’t move. “You’re ready now.”
She really shouldn’t bait him, but she couldn’t help it! Lifting her chin, she smirked. “No.”
He put his mouth to her ear and whispered, “Drink this now, or I’ll throw you face first over this counter, pull your pants down, and rub that pretty clit until you come. Right here, in front of everyone.”
Damn, he was pulling out the big threats!
When he scraped his teeth against the shell of her ear, she shivered. The man was deliciously evil. She was tempted to push him further but knew he’d carry out his threat.
“Fine,” she muttered. “I’ll drink the water.”
“Good girl,” he purred, before straightening up and pushing the glass into her hand. She downed it quickly, trying to ignore the way Anatoly's approving look made her belly flip-flop.
Once she’d finished the water, he gave her a little kiss on the mouth, then returned to his seat. Blowing him a kiss, she went back to work.
***
An hour later, everyone had drinks and things were quiet. Rissa took that time to check her phone. There were several text messages from Zan assuring her he’d be back by ten. It was 9:55, so he should be getting there soon.
That made her smile with relief. It wasn’t that working at Sanguine was hard, but she missed him. Furthermore, she didn’t feel right when both men weren’t close by.
The front door crashing open made Rissa look up. A tall, lithe woman stood in the open doorway of Sanguine. Her shirt was ripped, her jeans were covered in dirt, and she was breathing so hard she couldn’t talk.
Her terrified eyes said it all.
Rissa grabbed a bottle of wine by the neck, ready to use it as a bludgeoning weapon. Whoever had hurt this girl wasn’t getting another chance at her.
“It’s okay,” Rissa said as she moved around the bar. “You’re—”
She didn’t get a chance to reassure the woman any further. Five heavily muscled men, who all looked eerily alike, bargedinto the bar. The woman collapsed on the floor, curling up into a ball and whimpering.
“Why the fuck did you run, bitch!” one of them said, reaching down to grab her.
She was too far away to get there in time, so Rissa raised the bottle to throw at the guy. Before she could let it go, Mason was on them.
“You’ll not touch her!” he snarled, grabbing the first goon by the shirt and tossing him across the room. He hit the far wall, leaving a good-sized hole in the drywall.
“We don’t want to fight you,” one of the guys said. “She’s been paid for. She needs to come with us. You don’t want to piss off McConnel, do you?”
“That name doesn’t carry weight here,” Anatoly said, coming up behind Rissa and wrapping his arms around her. She was relieved to hear Anatoly standing up for the girl.
“McConnel can kiss my ass!” Rissa said. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Four more guys showed up, all of them similar to the first five, down to the outfits. What was going on, were these guys clones or something? Had she stepped into a science fiction movie without realizing it?
“What’s taking so long?” one of the new guys said, then saw all the hostile faces and froze. By now, everyone in the bar was standing and glaring at the men. To her absolute shock, the guy Mason threw into the wall walked back to join the group as if nothing had happened.
Now she was sure something weird was going on. No one brushed off something like that. These guys must all be high as fuck.
“We can’t let her go,” the one who’d warned them about McConnel said. Or maybe it was another one. It was hard to keepthem straight because they all looked alike. Was there such a thing as identical nonuplets?
“We can’t let you take her,” Anatoly said. He picked Rissa up and shoved her at Pike. “Take her and Cora upstairs. Keep them safe.”
“Hey!” Rissa protested at the same time she heard Cora arguing.
“No way! You’re not dragging me off.”