Sasha kissed her and smiled gently as he tucked her into bed. She’d nearly fallen asleep in the tub and he’d carried her out, dried her off, and set her naked on the bed. He kissed her again and turned to get dressed.

“I’d love to stay and taste you again, baby,” he whispered huskily as he stared at her naked body, “but I need to get to work. You have some time.” He dressed and was gone before Kallie had the energy to open her eyes.

She checked her watch. There was just enough time for her to steal a quick nap before she had get dressed for work. Suddenly, she felt exhausted.

Kallie then remembered she hadn’t asked him about the camera in the bathroom. She rolled onto her back. How could a woman think straight around a man like him? She sighed. Shrugging as if she had no other cares for once in her life, she slept and awoke refreshed just before her alarm went off. She dressed quickly for work and focused on her hair. Her locks tended towards tangling; since they were long and straight, it took forever to brush out. This time, though, since he’d done such a service to her hair in the tub, she was relatively tangle-free. So, she decided on a long French braid. It had been a while since she did one of those. She braided her hair all the way down the length of her back instead of brushing it back into a ponytail. It was different, and when she wore it like that people paid her compliments. She hoped Sasha would like it, too.

He sent her a text to let her know he was sending a car to pick her up for the bar.

She wondered why he wasn’t coming to pick her up, but he had a bar to run and it beat taking a taxi.

Though he’d been open about her staying at his place and she showed up in his car, Sasha played it cool when she arrived, keeping his distance from her. It had to be obvious to those who worked at the bar.

Kallie didn’t say anything and played her part as well. She was a waitress, not his girlfriend. He’d done her a favor by giving her a place to stay and she’d...she’d thanked him in kind. Shit! What had she just done?

She kept stealing secret glances at him, and quickly looked away when he glanced up to look at her. What am I doing? she asked herself. Then refused to give an answer. Why overthink it? It had felt amazing and today seemed brighter and better than yesterday. Much brighter. Finally, she allowed herself some breathing room from her past problems. To just have one roll in the sack with a man like Sasha had helped her immensely.

Kallie felt like she was turning into pro handling the crowd at Darkness. She maneuvered through the small tables packed with customers, crowding the floor. It was business as usual tonight and she had no problem keeping up.

She stepped on her tiptoes, sliding between the back of a chair and a table top, when she felt the unmistakable stroke of a hand on her ass. This was followed by a grope which nearly had her stumbling. She instinctively looked to Sasha for safety.

He noted her alarm and engaged. His eyes connected the dots and witnessed the bold, molesting customer in the act, reaching to touch her again.

Sasha charged like a bull across the bar.

Kallie felt obligated to warn the offending customer that he was about to be toast. “Move,” she urged the man firmly.

Like a tsunami Sasha was over them, massive and powerful. He lifted the customer up by the shirt collar. The color drained from the man’s face as his feet left the floor.

The customer was out of line, but in no way did she want the man to be hurt or for Sasha to get arrested over her. “Sasha, stop!”

He hesitated a moment, and slowly lowered his fist that was cocked and ready to go. He shook his head and released the customer.

The guy crumpled to his seat, his mouth gaping with horror and relief.

Kallie pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to catch her breath. The rest of the bar began to move, slowly.

Sasha leaned over into the guy’s face. “Don’t touch the waitresses, ponyal?” he said through gritted teeth, and then straightened. He turned and faced Kallie. “You okay?” They shared a smoldering exchange as their torsos grazed. He didn’t say anything to her but she felt a conversation was on the horizon.

“F-Fine.”

The man who’d felt her up dropped a twenty on her tray.

Sasha gave his nod of approval. He then resumed his seat at the end of the bar counter, opposite where the waitresses picked up their orders. He grinned apologetically at her when she came up to place another order a few moments later.

Though it was a scary, ridiculous overreaction, she couldn’t help but giggle. She sidled up to him with the slightest bit of flirtation. He put his arm around her waist possessively and she leaned into the crook of his arm. “What did you say to him?” she asked as she waited for Sal to mix the drinks.

“You heard me,” he said lightly. “I told him to leave you alone.”

“I mean the other thing. The word I couldn’t understand?”

“Do you understand?” he replied.

“No, I don’t. That’s why I’m asking you.”

Sasha laughed. “It literally means ‘do you understand?’”

“Ohhh,” she said, finally getting it.

“It’s Russian.”

“I gathered that,” she said, and smiled. “Except, how do you know he speaks Russian?”

“Because I just do. Because he understands.” His eyes went dark again with anger.

“I think it was something else that delivered that message,” she teased. “So how did you know I don’t speak Russian?”

He raised an eyebrow at her with mischief. “You and I speak the same language,” he said huskily. “But it ain’t Russian.”

Kallie thought she would melt from the inside out. He all but disarmed her with a single sentence. Her breathing rose and it suddenly got hotter in the bar. The man himself might be complex in nature, but damn, he spoke his mind easily. With another flush on her cheeks, she went on her way hustling drinks.

The more she worked and thought about it, the more the incident made her hot. She wasn’t about violence at all, but there was something erotic about the sight of the hot man she’d had even hotter sex with avenging her honor.

At least for now, no matter what came of this thing they were dabbling in, Sasha was her hero.

Again.