Fear runs through my belly as his steely gaze collides with mine, but I march on and shove him away from Trudy, muttering.

"I said let go."

He tries to reach around to grab Trudy, but she moves away in time to escape while I push him.

"Get the fuck out of my way. This is between A and B."

"You're the unwelcome one here, so you're the one who needs to see himself off."

The man then steps forward to be faced with my pointed finger.

"Don't you dare touch me!"

The conviction is sufficient in my voice, and yet, I'm a quivering thread. I'm instantly hit with multiple visions of what he could do to me right now. Blood pumps heavily as if I'm already bleeding. It's a response system used to emergencies like these. I move backwards, finding Trudy's front.

"Don't touch either of us."

Trudy is shaking even more than I am, so I let her go to adopt a power pose like I saw in those survivor guides that Nancy brought home for Oliver and me. Just thinking of those days nauseates me, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth and deep emptiness in my heart. I miss my brother too much in moments like these. Those days, I never felt alone because I had him. His presence always left me serene.

My attempts to calm down now, on the other hand, prove fruitless. In fact, the whooshing in my ears is so intense that I don't hear Danatha arriving. She grabs my arm as I hear Trudy's footsteps behind me. I turn to see her running.

"Let's go." says Danatha.

"Hey, man. Fucking batshit crazy bitches these days." Nathan approaches the man, smiling. "Ignore her. You know how these fans are. They don't know who the fuck they're talking to. Only good for two things, am I right?"

I am livid, but I wait patiently, letting the night air cool my skin. The man relaxes a bit, but his high shoulders still hold tension as he glances at me standing behind Nathan.

"She better be a good lay."

"Come on, man. You know she's not. Plus, she's Aden's bird. Let him have his fun for tonight." He says extra low.

"Let's not tell Maxis about this though, alright?"

"Whatever"

"Hey," Nathan steps to him. "We're good right?"

I can't help squirming. I could kill Nathan right now. He's friends with this sleaze ball?

"Kay, no."

"I-"

"We don't know what he's capable of, so let's not."

Danatha knows me too well. I stand still as Nathan makes his way over while the man heads into the club.

"Hey. McKay, right? That wasn't cool, bro. That was a potential investor right there, man."

"Are you saying he can pay for hitting her with cash?"

"Yo, stop exaggerating. It wasn't that serious. I don't even care about it enough to be mad at you - that's how not serious it was. So, go party with your fella and leave my ATM alone. He won't be anywhere near you tonight. We'll be up in VIP where the coke is free."

He sings the last part, laughing, but then sees my face and elaborates.

"None of the other guys will be up there. Just me."

I give him the fakest smile.

"No worries. Bro."

"Cool."

He walks off as Danatha spins me in her arms.

"Alright, before you go off on one. Try to relax."

"How can you even say that?"

Danatha sighs.

"Look, I just want to have some fun. Mind relieving me of my emotional nanny duties - just for a few hours? You can rant all you want after that."

I shake my head as she makes puppy dog eyes at me.

"What has that fucker done with my friend?"

"He's fun. I mean, tonight can still be fun. You look great. You've got your boyfriend..."

"Where is Aden?"

I look around and see him near the entrance with Trudy and another crew member.

"He was helping her out."

"And what was he doing before that, huh? I was-"

"Alright Captain Kenzie, not everyone is a superhero like you. We all needed a few seconds to understand what was happening."

I acquiesce and go after him. As I'm approaching him, the entire group looks up at me. I walk straight into Aden's arms and he squeezes me tight.

"Are you alright?" I nod. "You did good, Princess."

I nod again as he kisses my temple. He then ushers me into the packed venue.

The minute I walk in though, I'm quickly reminded of the outfit I had forgotten about during the entire ordeal. The dress seems extra-tight as men from all corners stare at me. I've seen them look at Danatha like this before. She usually smiles and struts. Why don't I like it? It should feel flattering, but instead, I'm jittering from the residual adrenaline in my body.

"You're staying with me tonight, right?"

I nod. I want to. I wish I could fast-forward to it and forget these leering men.

I'm left bare when Aden's arm moves from around my waist, so he can ask for some water for me. I try to stay put, but easily lose my nerve and go back out the same way we came in. The nippy night catches me by surprise. I'm not even sure what I'm doing out here by myself. It's scary, but I don't have the courage to go back.

It's when I'm considering heading back and asking Danatha to call me an Uber that Aden comes out into the alley.

"Jesus! What the hell are you doing here? You scared me half to death!"

"I'm sorry."

"You can't disappear like that! I was about to call security and consider it a kidnapping."

I spin away from him, sensing that tears will surface soon if I keep looking at his panicked face.

"Did something happen? Did someone say something to you?!"

"I don't want to be here."

"You could have said so. I understand if you're still upset about what happened."

Why is he so fucking kind? I can't help telling him the truth then.

"It's not that."

Aden stops, puzzled.

"You said you wanted to come."

"I did, but not looking like this."

"Is that what it is? You look gorgeous, Princess. I thought you knew that."

"I don't like it! I don't like my hair loose and all heavy because of this damn setting mousse, my eyelids feel too heavy with these lashes, this dress refuses to stay in place and my legs feel too exposed. All the guys keep looking at me like-"

"Then why did you dress like this? Is it because of the other girls that came along?"

"It was Cecil. He convinced me that I needed to look a certain way to go to the club with you."

"But you don't."

"You made me feel like I did."

"No, I didn't do this to you. You can't pin that on me."

"You kept complaining about-"

"You might feel comfortable in your hoodies and cargo pants, but do you feel confident?"

"No, I don't."

"That's all I was commenting on, Princess. I was asking you to dress to the best of your liking, not to the best of mine."

"So, you do like this!"

"Why would I lie? You look sexy. But one look at your face and the illusion fades. I can see that you don't want to look like this and it makes me feel uncomfortable for looking at what you didn't want exposed in the first place."

He takes off his leather jacket and pulls it over my shoulders.

"This is my fault then."

Aden sighs.

"It's not a matter of blame. It was a misunderstanding."

"Ugh. I'm ruining your night. Maybe I should head home."

"You said you'd sleep at my side."

I twist my heel, trying to think.

"McKay, please. I would never want to look or touch anything that you don't want me to."

"It's not that. I trust you. But you should go back inside and enjoy the party."

He smiles and comes to circle my waist.

"What party? My party's right here."

I bite back my grin as Aden texts Yves to tell him where we're going. After being checked by security, we're let into the tour bus. I'm the first to change into my clothes once we've gone to get them in the dancers' trailer. I sit cross-legged on his bed as he changes in the bathroom.

"I've never slept in cargo pants before."

"First time for everything."

He stoops down to his drawer again.

"Look, I switched my necklaces."

He holds one with a skull and bones in his hands and takes off the one with a sabre tooth.

"This one, I got in Malaysia; I always wear it. I want you to wear it now, that is, if you want to."

Since I've seen it on his neck every time we've met, I know it truly does mean a lot to him. I thank him and put it on before kissing the back of his hand in gratitude. He looks down with lowered lids, grips my throat, smooches my chest and continues to kiss me onto his mattress, slowly inching my tank top up.

"I bet this can come off."

I nod, not letting go of his torso.

He slips off the sleeves and rolls it to my hips. Now he's free to caress my midriff and the valley of my breasts uninterrupted. I moan at the foreign sensations of rings caressing down, over my bra, to my navel and the feel of his mouth in places it has never passed before - like my ribcage.

He only pauses to peek up for a second question with his eyes - if my bra can come off. My eyes dart in the direction of the door.

"I locked it, but even if I hadn't, no one's here." He nuzzles one breast gently.

I smile, arch my chest, giving him the best view and unsnap the clasp for him. He eases it off my shoulders and stares down at my breasts in admiration. I don't feel one bit exposed or vulnerable. I feel beautiful within his gaze.

I pull his mouth onto my neck which is in desperate need of attention before releasing him, so he can finally place his palm on the round mound. He rubs carefully before looking up for permission.

"Kiss me."

Mesmerized, he moves his attention back to my left breast and pecks it, then kisses it, then begins to suckle on it, leaving me out of breath. I cry out for mercy when he's occupied with the right breast while still massaging the other. He alternates, and I wriggle under him losing any control I had left.

He comes up to nick at the thin skin on my collarbone again and presses against me only to pull away. Breathing hard, he takes off his shirt, watching me in the process. He returns to kiss my breasts fiercely taking all the breath I had gathered in the interim. Fucking hell. The feel of his naked torso against mine is torment.

After a while, his hand wanders to the waist band of my pants.

"Do you want this?"

He feathers his fingers across the top of the material prompting me to clench involuntarily. I search his eyes as they laser into mine. I can't lie to him, no matter how much I want to impress him.

"No, I don't."