The Harder You Fall (Rixon Raiders 3)

“You’d better put a leash on your bitch or—”

Before I knew what was happening, Mya shot around me and drove her fist straight toward the guy’s face.

“Whoa there, Rocky.” Jase appeared out of nowhere and caught her around the waist hauling her backward before she could do any real damage.

“You’d better keep an eye on that one,” the guy mumbled, already backing up. “A girl like that will get you into all kinds of trouble.”

“Get the fuck out of here.” Jase clapped me on the back, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. I’m glad someone found the situation funny, because I sure as shit didn’t. But I breathed easier when I found Mya safely tucked between Flick and Hailee who, I noticed, each had a hand wrapped around her arm.

With the help of his friends, the guy limped away, taking his wounded pride with him.

“You okay?” Jase asked Mya and the girls as I stood there, trying to rein in the anger still vibrating through me. I wanted to go after the guy, I wanted to—

“He touched my ass.” Mya was in front of me now, her hand touching my arm. She gave me a weak smile. “I might have overreacted a little. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

Shit. She thought I was embarrassed?

Closing the distance between us, I hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against my chest. “Never apologize for defending yourself.”

“He was hardly attacking me, Asher,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“No, but he put his hands on you without your permission. If you hadn’t have kneed him in the balls, I would have.” I would have done a whole lot worse than that.

“You mean you burst through the crowd, ready to defend my honor?”

“Mya, I’m pretty sure I’d walk over hot coals for you.” I gazed down at her, trying to show her just how much she meant to me. But sometimes actions weren’t enough. Sometimes you had to take the simplest approach and tell someone how you really felt.

Pulling her out of earshot of our friends, I brushed a stray curl from her face and leaned down, inhaling a shaky breath. “I know it’s only officially been a few days and I know it’s complicated and we don’t know what the future holds, but I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you, Mya Hernandez.”

Her lips parted on a soft gasp only I heard. “You weren’t supposed to fall in love with me, Asher,” she breathed. My heart crashed violently against my ribcage waiting for her to put me out of my misery. “But I’m glad you did.”

“Yeah, and why is that?” I was fishing but I needed to hear her say the words too.

I needed her to feel the same.

“Because,” she sucked in a sharp breath, “I…” Mya swallowed the words I so desperately wanted to hear. But she wasn’t fooling anyone. I saw the truth glittering right there in her eyes.

She felt it, I knew she did.

“It’s okay,” the words came out strained. “You don’t have to say it back yet.”

“Ash…” Mya’s eyes fluttered closed just as Khalid’s Better blasted through the sound system. I turned Mya in my arms, tucking her body close to mine and began dancing. She might not have been ready to say the words, but she was here with me. For now, it was enough.

We moved together; Mya rolling and popping her hips, grinding on me in a way that had my dick straining against my jeans. I ran my hands up the curve of her waist, appreciating how good she looked in the halter top and shorts, how her dark caramel skin glistened under the club mood lighting. Mya tipped her head back against my shoulder, taking one of my hands in hers and pressing it to her stomach as we rocked in synchrony. The lyrics serenaded us like our own private song.

I was uncertain about a lot of things. My future. How the fuck I was supposed to sacrifice everything I loved just to keep my father happy and my mother safe. But this, standing here with Mya, knowing she was going to be in my bed at the end of the night, I was sure about.

In that moment, nothing felt better.

Until she dippe

d her hand around her back and let it slide down the front of my jeans. “You’re playing a dangerous game, babe,” I whispered against the shell of her ear as I rocked into her hand, groaning into the crook of her neck.

“Maybe I like danger.” She pushed our joined hands beneath the swathe of sequined fabric covering her midriff and the waistband of her shorts.

A quick glance around told me no one was paying us any attention. We were just another couple out enjoying the night. Lingering between one year and the next. Mya slid her hand over mine, moving my fingers higher and higher until they grazed the curve of her breast.

Her very smooth, very naked breast.