Mine to Protect Chapter 38: HANDS OFF

*Hazel*

In no time we arrive at the pub, it is on the outskirts of a town near Derek’s pack, and looks pretty busy, seeing the number of cars parked outside.

We all get off, me and the girls leading the way into the pub, with Damon and Derek as our escorts walking behind us. When we reach the entrance, Derek opens the door for us, and he sends me another of those consuming stares of his when I pass through. I am going to have a nervous breakdown before the evening is over if he keeps at it.

The pub is huge, made up of two floors all decorated in raw wood, with tables on both floors, and a bar and dance floor on the first floor. It’s completely packed, but luckily Derek has booked ahead, so the waiter takes us immediately to our table on the second floor; from our table we have a good view of the dance floor below.

Derek slides in the booth on one side, while Damon slides in opposite him, Alice sits near Damon, so I have no other choice than sitting next to Derek, while Cindy sits on my other side. I feel nervous being near him, what is wrong with me today? I seriously need to calm the hell down.

Derek doesn’t seem to share in my agitation, he looks at ease and as cool as a cucumber. How I envy him!

We all place our orders and wait for our meals, while making small talk. Well, Damon and Alice do most of the talking, as I feel too jittery to open my mouth to say anything. Derek is so close to me that our legs and arms are touching, and the feeling is making me breathless. I don’t know if he’s doing it on purpose, or if he just hasn’t enough room, but he doesn’t seem phased by our closeness.

With my nerves on overdrive, I started feeling really hot, so I decided to take my jacket off. Wrong idea, at my movement Derek’s eyes snap to me, his eyes drinking in every inch of my bare skin, making me feel incredibly self-conscious. I blush under his gaze, and of course that does not go unnoticed by Damon, who announces, “3 times! Hazel, you need to blush more, otherwise I’ll lose my bet.”

“Got to hell, Damon!” I counter hiding my face in my hands.

“Enough with this stupid game, Damon, you are making her uncomfortable.” Derek intimates serious, then gets close to my ear and says sweetly, “Put your hands down kitten, I want to see your beautiful face.”

Instead of putting my hands down, I stubbornly turn my face the other way. Call me kitten again, and I’ll show you what my claws can do!

“Oh, that’s how you repay me for defending you?” Derek voices, feigning indignation, “Now you’ll see what happens when you defy your mate!”

My heart starts beating a million beats a minute at his threat, what is he going to do?

Then he starts tickling me on my sides and belly, making me wiggle helplessly trying to get away from him, but I have nowhere to go, with Cindy sitting on my right. He is relentless in his attack, and only stops when I beg him to.

When he finally stops, I turn my death glare on him, and go to say, “You really are…”, but I don’t get to finish because he interjects with “Charming!” and then kisses me passionately on the lips. I am so astonished that I forget what I wanted to say, and what just happened.

He releases my lips, smiles at me, and motions for me to eat.

“Eat before it gets cold, the food is delicious here.”

Deep down I feel like I should say something, but my mind is so foggy, and the food smells so appetizing, that I decide to drop it and tuck in my food.

It really is delicious; I can’t help moaning at the sublime taste.

I hear Damon cough lightly, then say, “Hazel, you better keep those sounds in check, unless you want the Alpha to jump you here on the table.”

I roll my eyes at him and doing so I catch a glimpse of Derek on my left, staring at me with darkened hooded eyes, like he’s aiming at his favorite dessert.

I gulp my food down, blushing and looking away quickly, and catch a glimpse of Alice and Damon indicating four with their hands. Idiots!

We eat our food, chatting and looking at the dance floor, which is starting to get crowded.

“Let’s go dancing!” Alice suggests eagerly.

Cindy and I immediately stand up to join her, while Damon and Derek remain seated.

“I ate too much, I pass.” Damon replies.

“I prefer watching you dance.” Derek says, looking intensely at me, making my heart thump loudly.

We girls make our way down the stairs and to the dance floor, and Cindy takes me aside and says, “Geez, Hazel, I don’t know how you can stand it, the sexual tension between you two is suffocating. You must do something about it.”

“Like what?” I counter.

She raises her eyebrows at me, to convey that the answer is obvious, then grabs my hand and drags me to the dance floor.

We start dancing to the rhythm of the music, and I discover that Alice is an amazing dancer, although being a warrior she is quite muscular, still her moves are delicate and fluid.

We enjoy ourselves for a while, lost in the music and in the fluorescent lights, until some guys start dancing and flirting with us.

“I am sorry, but we are a club of lesbians, we are not interested. Shoo!” Cindy says annoyed, trying to make them leave.

They don’t seem phased by her words, though, because not only they do not leave, but they keep inching closer to us, until one of them places his hands on my hips, and his pelvis against my bottom, swaying to the music. I immediately move away from him, freeing myself from his hold, but he doesn’t give up, he catches me again by my hips, trying to bring me back to him. I turn around to face him, sending him an incinerating glare.

“Hands off!” I yell at him over the loud music.

Instead of getting the hint, he puts a hand on my waist and pulls me toward him. However, the three hours of training this morning have not gone wasted on me, and instead of letting him pull me close, I place a hand on his left shoulder to steady myself and take a swing straight at his nose with my right hand. I hear the satisfying crack of bones breaking, although gauging by the pain in my hand, I am not sure if it is his nose or my hand that is broken.

Then all hell breaks loose. Blood splatters on the floor from the guy’s broken nose, people scream at the sight of blood, his friends start yelling menacingly at me, Alice and Cindy jump in front of me to protect me, and then suddenly everything goes silent when Derek reaches us on the dance floor.