Page 54 of Ravage God

My racing, panicked heart quickly calmed, and I looked up to see Elio standing next to me, wearing a murderous expression on his face.

He looked down at the man with disgust as a small crowd began to form. The last thing we needed was to draw any attention to us.

It might have been a bad idea to sneak out tonight.

The man had already pushed himself up to a sitting position at this point, and he was watching Elio as if trying to debate whether he could take him.

He couldn’t.

I knew that, and he must have known it, too, because he stood up and took a few steps back from us. He looked at me, then at Elio, and back at me before spitting out the word, “Bitch.”

Elio made a move forward, and I pressed my hand against his chest, halting him.

The man quickly turned and ran away, disappearing into the crowd.

“It’s not worth it,” I said.

Elio looked like he wanted to argue with that, but if he chased after the man, he would be leaving me here alone, and I knew that was the last thing he wanted.

“Thank you for stepping in when you did.”

“Why did you agree to dance with him?” he asked. He didn’t yell it. He didn’t need to. A calm Elio was just as scary as an exploding Elio.

But tonight, I found myself immune to it. Or perhaps the martini was finally taking effect. I scowled and pushed away from him. “I was thanking you. I don’t need a lecture.”

He muttered something under his breath.

“If you’re going to say something about me, speak up so I can hear too,” I said.

“You are one infuriating woman,” he said louder, his eyes moving around the room, as if he were expecting some threat to come for us.

I gasped at the insult.

He turned back and looked at me. We stood there for a moment, neither of us saying anything, our faces close to each other.

I licked my lips, and Elio’s eyes homed in on it, making my breath catch.

I swallowed, my eyes moving down to his lips on their own. How badly I wanted him to kiss me again.

God, I was in trouble.

“Fuck,” Elio muttered just as he moved quickly, hoisting me up onto his shoulder until I was lying over it like a sack of potatoes. I let out a small squeak in surprise just as he carried me out of the bar. No one tried to stop him.

They probably couldn’t, but I wondered if this was the norm for these people—to see a woman being carried out and pretend like nothing was wrong.

Elio wouldn’t hurt me, I knew that. But they didn’t. Had this been someone else…

I was still thinking about that when Elio brought me out to his car. He unlocked it, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t the front passenger door that he opened but the back of his black SUV.

He pushed me inside and followed in after me, closing the door behind him, and then I felt his hot lips on mine. I tensed, mostly in surprise, but Elio must have thought it was something else because he tried to pull away.

I didn’t let him. I moved on pure instinct.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in closer to me, kissing him back.

I let out a small sigh when I felt his arms go around my waist, the rightness of it almost too much.

“Elio,” I breathed out, running my fingers through his thick, dark hair. He didn’t have it tied up in his usual bun tonight, giving me free range to run my fingers through the thick locks. I tugged on it hard when I felt his tongue running across my bottom lip.