Chapter Six
Robyn
Now his intense gaze had shifted away from me, I felt a wave of relaxation in my muscles but, confusingly, it was tinged with a pang of disappointment at the loss of his attention.
Shaking off the sensation, I shifted on my stool, rotating it towards him and resting one arm on the bar so I mirrored his posture. I sat facing more towards Oliver so we could talk, but also see the room around us.
Before I even had the chance to ask any of the hundreds of questions brewing in my mind, we were approached by a huge man who came to stand right before me, far too close for my comfort. He must have been near to seven feet tall and was built so broadly that he completely blocked my view of the dance floor.
‘Good evening, Oliver.’ The new man had a voice so deep and rough that it rumbled through my chest, and perfectly matched his rugged appearance. He may have been speaking to Oliver, but I noticed his dark eyes were well and truly latched on to me as they raked unselfconsciously over my body, making me feel an almost instant revulsion towards him. Talk about intrusive.
‘Dominic,’ Oliver replied curtly, his voice noticeably cooler than before. Glancing across in surprise at his chilly tone, I saw that Oliver now sat bolt upright, the front of his shirt straining as some seriously decent muscles seemed to stretch the fabric almost to its limit. Oliver didn’t introduce me formally to his acquaintance, but that didn’t stop Dominic from swooping forwards, grabbing my hand, and lifting my knuckles to his lips for a kiss. The sensation of his dry lips skating over my skin made me shudder. There was something innately unsettling about him that set my nerves on edge and had me tugging my hand free and snatching it back into my lap.
‘And you are?’ he asked, as he looked at my clenched hand with a flicker of a frown. I only just managed to avoid the urge to wipe my knuckles on my dress, then rested it back on the bar, well out of his reach.
Before I could reply, Oliver did the job for me, his tone still frosty. ‘This is Robyn.’
Although I barely knew Oliver, I felt the sudden need to shift closer to him. He seemed to offer so much more safety than this unsettling newcomer, and I leaned sideways on my stool to close the distance between us. As if sensing my discomfort, Oliver released his glass and shifted his hand next to my arm, so his index finger was brushing the skin of my wrist. Oddly enough, even this minimal contact from him, a virtual stranger, somehow reassured me.
My guardian’s movement may have been small, but Dominic’s gaze immediately shifted from my face to look at where Oliver’s hand was now touching mine. His eyes narrowed as Oliver wrapped his fingers more firmly around my hand, an intimate gesture that I would usually have pulled away from with a new acquaintance, but in the presence of this unnerving man I found myself instinctively turning my hand and linking my fingers with Oliver’s.
Oliver dipped his head to look at our handhold, and briefly we made eye contact, his gaze searing into me as I gave a small smile. He returned my smile, and nodded his head, as if approving of my action.
‘And as you can see, Robyn is with me.’
I wasn’t with him, not really, but there seemed to be some strange power play occurring between the two men, so I chose to remain quiet. This was his home territory, he knew how things worked around here, so I was happy to let him take the lead.
Dominic gave an indecipherable grunt of apparent irritation. ‘Finally back in the game, are you, Oliver?’ he asked in a decidedly scornful tone as he pushed his meaty hands into the pockets of his trousers, to which Oliver shrugged and nodded.
Oliver was now rhythmically stroking the side of my hand with his thumb, and I couldn’t deny that the sensation was rather lovely, so much so that I began to return the gesture to his hand with my own thumb, which caused his grip to increase around mine. ‘It would appear so.’
After giving us both a hard stare, Dominic looked again at our linked hands with a narrow-eyed look of irritation. ‘Then I shan’t disturb your evening further.’ Tearing his gaze away from our hands, Dominic stared intently at me again, making me shrink back a fraction in my seat. ‘Enjoy Club Twist. If there is anything I can assist you with, Robyn … anything at all, don’t hesitate to find me.’ His disturbingly suggestive tone made my skin crawl. His gaze roved over me one more time before he shot an intense look at Oliver and stalked away.
As soon as he was gone I felt my shoulders sag in relief. That had been one seriously weird encounter.
A few seconds of silence passed after our unplanned guest had departed, and neither Oliver nor I immediately moved to separate our hands. I’d only just met him, so it felt strange to be holding on to him, but equally, he made me feel safe, so I wasn’t quite ready to give up the contact while Dominic was still circling the bar area like a shark.
In the end it was Oliver who instigated the separation– albeit somewhat reluctantly – by pulling his hand away slowly and dragging his fingertips across my palm in the process. Excited shivers ran up my arm and I shuddered with pleasure before averting my eyes and shifting awkwardly on my stool. He’d have to have been blind not to see my response to him, and I inwardly kicked myself for being so transparent. This man made me feel like an open book.
‘My apologies for his behaviour,’ Oliver murmured, picking up his drink and taking a large swig, as if he, too, were trying to avoid eye contact with me. ‘Dominic is another of the owners of Club Twist.’ He placed his tumbler back down and finally raised his gaze to mine again, but this time his face was twisted in distaste. ‘Between you and me, he’s a cabrón. Watch yourself around him if you meet him again.’
‘What does that mean?’
Oliver gave a thin smile. ‘My apologies. For some reason, even though I’ve lived over here for years, I still swear in Spanish. Cabrón is not a polite term … it’s similar to arsehole.’
So my sixth sense had been correct about Dominic being bad news, but more interestingly, Oliver had hinted that his native language was Spanish, which would certainly explain his accent and dark good looks.
‘You’re Spanish?’
He quirked an eyebrow at me, and then nodded slowly. ‘Sí, señorita.’
The sound of the familiar foreign words purring from his lips made my stomach lurch and a wave of pure lust washed through me as I had visions of him whispering sweet nothings in my ear in his low Spanish accent.
My response to him was so unexpected that I was really floundering; and just taking in a normal, non-wheezing breath suddenly felt like the most complex task on earth. ‘So, is Dominic, you know … is he like you?’ I asked hesitantly.
Meeting my gaze straight on, Oliver shook his head. ‘No, he and I are nothing alike.’ His statement was almost spat out, showing exactly how much he disliked Dominic. ‘But if you meant with regards to sexual outlook, then yes, he’s a dominant, too.’ The grim expression on his features suddenly lightened, ‘I don’t like the guy but you gotta love the irony of his parents’ name choice. Dominic, as in “Dominic the Dom”.’ He chuckled, and I found myself grinning, too, until Oliver’s face sobered again, ‘Seriously. though, he’s bad news, Robyn. If you choose to come here more often to do your research, stay away from him, please.’
‘OK.’ For whatever reason I felt like I could trust Oliver, so I agreed immediately, ‘He was pretty intimidating.’
Rubbing his chin, Oliver nodded, his gaze hooded. ‘He is. He’s into some very extreme stuff,’ he confided, his voice lower now and causing me to lean closer so I could hear him over the music. ‘Actually, he’s probably a bit more like the characters in the books you read. He definitely had a troubled upbringing. God knows what went on in the children’s home where he lived but he likes dishing out some serious pain while he’s having sex.’ A shudder ran though me at Oliver’s blunt words and I suddenly felt cold despite the oppressive heat inside the club.
‘Dominic can be …’ Oliver paused, frowning as he seemed to be deciding what to say, ‘Predatory,’ he decided upon finally. ‘When he sees something he wants, he goes all out to claim it. I thought I saw a gleam in his eye when he looked at you, which is why I took your hand.’
‘Staking your own claim, were you?’ I asked in what I hoped was a jokey, light-hearted response, but my wobbly voice probably gave away my nerves.
Please say yes. Please say yes.
The thought caught me off guard, surprising me with how instantly I had been attracted to this man, and how thrilled I would have been if he showed a real interest in me. Thrilled, that was, until I really gave it some thought, considered his bedroom tastes, and ran for the hills.
Who was I kidding? I might find the guy attractive, but he was a self-confessed control freak in the bedroom, and I was as vanilla as they came. If he actually made a move on me, I’d be utterly terrified.
‘You’re joking, Robyn. But yes, I was,’ Oliver murmured, his words causing my heart to flutter wildly and my breath to catch. His eyes gleamed wickedly as he looked back up at me, but then he softened his expression into a smile. ‘If Dominic thinks you’re with me he should leave you alone.’
Suddenly, Oliver leaned towards me purposefully and I got another hit of that clean linen and soap smell. It was almost homely, and comforting somehow, and a total contradiction to where I was currently sitting.
‘Promise me you won’t try to get close to him just for character research.’ He was repeating his warning from just a few seconds ago, but suddenly Oliver’s tone was more demanding, and I raised my eyes to his to find him staring at me intently.
I nodded, but Oliver frowned and shook his head. ‘Let me hear you say it. Promise me,’ he demanded, his low, commanding tone seeming to reach inside me and make me desperate to bow to his will.
‘Sorry. Yes, I promise,’ I vowed, and I meant it. I might want to get some ideas for my book but there was no way I wanted to get sucked into the sex life of some kinky sadist like Dominic.
Oliver nodded, apparently satisfied by my response, but he stayed close, close enough that just a small dip of his head would bring our lips together. His gaze fluttered down towards my mouth, but before either of us could decide to make that final move, Chloe and Sasha tumbled into my side, knocking me away from Oliver as they fell against the bar in a tangled heap of giggling limbs. Well, Sasha was giggling, Chloe was scowling and gripping Sash by the elbow in an apparent attempt to stop her running back to the dance floor.
I flicked a look at Oliver, and saw him still staring at me, but now with a look of reluctant acceptance on his face at our untimely interruption. Had he been about to kiss me? I guessed now I’d never know.
Chloe grabbed my handbag and held it out to me. ‘Some clever idiot on the dance floor was handing out vodka shots. Sasha’s totally off her tits. Time to go, Robyn.’ Looking at Sasha, I found her grinning back at me like a buffoon, but that was nothing unusual, seeing as she’d just been surrounded by men vying for her attention. Chloe must be exaggerating like usual. Sash couldn’t be that drunk yet, we’d only been here an hour.
‘Ooooh … hellllo … who are you, handsome?’ Sasha slurred, suddenly looking incredibly interested in my drinking companion as she swayed back and forth and staggered in her heels towards Oliver.
God. OK, so maybe Chloe hadn’t been exaggerating about Sasha’s drunken state. Flashing an apologetic glance at Oliver, I found him ignoring my embarrassing mates and instead staring at me intently, his blue eyes effortlessly snaring me once again. He really was so full on. Maybe Chloe’s interruption had been a timely one, because who knew what I’d have agreed to if I’d had a few more moments alone with him and his teasing smiles.
‘I’m sure I recognise you from somewhere,’ Chloe murmured, giving Oliver an intent look.
He briefly returned her gaze, then shook his head. ‘I don’t think we’ve met.’
Chloe narrowed her eyes, and shrugged. ‘Nah, I think you’re right. You probably just have one of those faces.’
One of those faces? A ridiculously handsome one, is that what she meant?
Sasha staggered again, and Cloe grabbed her and cursed, giving me a pointed “hurry up” look.
‘Looks like we’re leaving,’ I said quietly. ‘Thanks for the uh … the chat.’
‘It was a pleasure, Robyn with a y,’ Oliver murmured, his eyes twinkling in that teasing way that I’d already become accustomed to. Standing to move away from us, he dipped his head close to my face and whispered his parting words, his lips brushing across the shell of my ear as he did so. ‘I’m here most Fridays, so you know where to find me if you want more.’ And with that he was gone, leaving me spluttering and speechless in his wake.
If I wanted more?
More what?
Information? Questions answered? Or more, as in the implied more … A sexual, dark, deviant kind of more where we picked up from the near kiss of a few moments ago?
Swallowing loudly, I watched his broad back as he strode away from me. Good grief. I was feeling ridiculously flustered as I slid from my stool to leave, tottering around on my high-heeled boots almost as badly as Sasha. But even above the noise of the music I could have sworn I heard Oliver’s deep, wicked chuckle behind me as we left.