Scandal

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“You i***t!”

He grabbed some napkins off a nearby table and returned to me. He dabbed at my breasts until I snatched the napkin away.

“What the hell do you think you're doing? It’s bad enough that you ruined my dress, but you have to cop a feel while you're at it?”

He chuckled, and that angered me even more.

“Look, I wasn't trying to cop a feel. I was trying to help. I feel terri—.”

“Oh, do you? I am walking down the aisle any minute now, and look at my dress! I've known you for a matter of minutes, and you’ve succeeded in driving me to insanity.”

“Is that a good thing?” He smiled.

“Ugh! Just leave me alone, will you?”

He grabbed my arm, and I looked up from the disaster that was my dress. “I'm only trying to lighten the mood. I'm really not a jerk. I'm sorry I spilled my drink, but you caught me by surprise.”

“Oh really? I guess in your world it's perfectly okay to grab a girl’s ass at a pre-wedding garden party?”

“I thought you might like it. Besides, how could anyone resist?”

I looked up at him, slowly shaking my head. I’d never met anyone like him before, and that was saying a lot. I couldn't deny there was certainly some weird gravitational pull I had towards him—and he was definitely hot as hell—but every time he opened his mouth, he shocked me. The man was incredibly abrupt and overly self-assured.

I wondered what it must be like to be so sure of oneself. I certainly had no idea. I could never speak to someone else in that way, mainly because I was deathly afraid they’d tell me off. But this guy didn't seem fazed at all by the fact that I wanted him to stay the hell away from me. He was arrogant and highly overconfident, so much so that he left me speechless. I had never seen someone so blasé about grabbing a girl’s ass in public!

He brushed my hair behind my ear, and I looked up in surprise. I was breathing much heavier than usual, and my heart had not stopped pounding in my chest. I knew I should say something to him. I knew I should tell him to back off or give me some space. But I just didn't have the words to do it. I should be worrying about my dress, but with him so near, I was having a hard time concentrating on anything. I was overwhelmed by his entire being—his voice, his smell, and especially his touch. I had to assume I was losing my mind. But I knew for sure that I could only think straight when he wasn’t near me, so I shoved him away from me again.

“Will you stop touching me, for god’s sake? What's the matter with you? What am I going to do about my dress? I'm in the wedding party!”

The way he was looking at me stopped me in my tracks.

“That fire you have inside you. You need to let it out more often. It's incredibly enticing.”

I threw my hands up in the air, completely exasperated with him.

He chuckled. “Look, relax. It’s not the end of the world. Come with me. We’ll get you to the bathroom and clean you up. I’ll get you looking presentable again if I have to bend down and suck that spilled drink right out of your dress.”

My mouth fell open. I had to laugh this time. Who the hell was this guy? There was no way he was human, that's for sure.

He grabbed my hand and led me through the groups of people milling around, waiting for the wedding to start. They weren't supposed to be in the reception hall at that point, but it was somewhat of an emergency. My mother would kill me if she saw the stain on the custom lavender gown as I walked down the aisle. I’d have to make a mental note to avoid all men holding glasses until the wedding was over. Or maybe I just needed to avoid this one particular man before he ruined my entire life.

He was trouble—there was no doubt about it. How had I managed to get in this mess? It had been only minutes before the ceremony was to start. I should have been checking on my mother, but instead I was tangled up with a complete stranger who seemed to have some kind of s****l control over me. It was absolutely bizarre.

We slipped down the hallway, trying to avoid being noticed by anyone. People were starting to head in to be seated for the ceremony. Things would begin soon, and I was a total mess. In one way or another, a man always seemed to complicate my life for the worse. The man holding my hand and dragging me down the hallway was not only a complication, but he irritated me as well.

Finally finding the women's bathroom, he pushed open the door and pulled me in behind him.

“I'm not really sure it's the best idea for you to be in here. What if someone walks in?” I hissed at him, pulling my hand from his grasp. My fingertips tingled in the same way my face had when he’d touched it. Despite my protests, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to let go of my hand.

God Sasha, you really are losing it this time. This guy? Seriously? This guy is the one you don't ever want to let go of your hand? You sure can pick them.

I sighed deeply and watched in silence as he turned on the faucet and tested the water temperature. He took a piece of paper towel and wet it enough that it was damp but wouldn't make more of a mess of my dress. I could at least be thankful he hadn't used cola as his mix in the drink.

He began dabbing gently at my dress. Huge wet spots wouldn’t be any more palatable as I went down the aisle. I watched in amazement as he continued to work on my dress, and the staining actually started to disappear.

“Oh god, it's working!”

“I told you—I'm not all bad. You acted like I was Satan, sent here to singlehandedly ruin your day.”

“Do you really want to go over all the events that have occurred since we met?”

“No, no. I think you hate me enough as it is. Let's just be glad I was able to save the dress.”

“It's wet, though. I don't think it’ll dry in time.”

He looked around the bathroom and then back at me, a smile on his face. “I have an idea,” he said.

He pulled me over to one of the dryers, and I chuckled when I realized what he had in mind. It really was ingenious. I had to give him credit for that.

“I know it's silk and all, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

I actually heard myself giggle in his presence, but decided to ignore my own behavior for the time being. I was just so happy to have found a solution to my problem.

“I don't care what happens to the dress after today, as long as it makes it through the wedding and reception.” I pushed the large button on the front of the machine, and hot air poured out. I positioned my dress under the flow of heat and watched happily as it started to dry.

“Thank you. Oh boy, this was a brilliant idea!”

“You’re welcome.”

I gasped when I realized he was right behind me. I felt him move up against me, and my breath caught again. He bent low so that his mouth grazed my ear.

He whispered, “There's just something about you that makes me not want to be far away. Here feels just about right.”

My eyes fluttered closed as the heat consumed me. Was this what he meant when he used the word consumed? I certainly felt that way.

His hands found their way back to my ass, and he cupped my cheeks.

“Your ass is so firm.”

I gasped even though I didn't want to feel warmed by his touch. I couldn't explain what was happening to my body. One minute I had been indignant about the comment he had made about my ass, and the next thing I knew, my body shook when he pressed himself up against me. His hands were on my ass, and I kept my eyes closed so I could concentrate on the sensations his hands were causing all over my body. I was burning like I’d just finished a marathon. My fingertips tingled, and there was a sensation between my legs that I hadn’t felt in a long time. My god, was I actually turned on by him right now? I was losing it. I had to be. Well, maybe so, but there was no denying the faint throb between my legs.

I have to stop this right now. I can't do this. It's insane. It's absolutely absurd for me to feel anything at all for this man. ESPECIALLY this man! God, he was everything I didn't want in a boyfriend. Well maybe that wasn't entirely true. He was ridiculously hot. It never hurt to have a hot boyfriend, especially if this was what it felt like to have him touch you.

I turned around suddenly, noticing immediately the absence of his hands on my ass. It was not a good feeling, by the way. He pulled me away from the dryer and pushed me against the wall.

“I don't think this is a good idea. It's confusing, and you're kind of an idiot.”

He smiled before he claimed my mouth with his. If I thought the heat was consuming me before, I absolutely lit up when he kissed me. He tasted sweet, and his mouth was warm. I couldn't help myself—I kissed him back as passionately as I could, matching his intensity. I had never felt like this before in my life. No man had ever kissed me that way, and I’d certainly never felt such an intense chemistry. I was out of breath from his kisses, and I was beginning to feel overwhelmed again. I pushed against his chest, and he reluctantly relented.

“What's wrong? This feels incredible.”

“I can't breathe. It's too much.”

He smiled at me and moved close again. I clearly had no control over the situation, and I was quickly losing the ability to care. I was beginning to want to be consumed. To see what it felt like to let him have his way with me. How bad could that be? I didn't know why—there was really no explanation for it—but I couldn't remember the last time I had wanted anything more than I wanted this man right now. And what made it worse was that I was pretty confident I didn't even like him. He drove me nuts in the tiniest of ways. His arrogance infuriated me, and the fact that he touched me with not a bit of consideration for whether I wanted him to or not bordered on the absurd.

He softly kissed my mouth again, and I inhaled his musky scent. His touch was exhilarating as he cupped my chin and bent down for another kiss. The kisses may have started off softly, but it wasn't long before his mouth pressed hard into mine. His hands found their way into my hair, and he pulled me in close, so close that I thought for a moment we had molded into one body. His tongue slid into my mouth and touched mine. I moaned softly, and when he kissed me, he took my tongue into his mouth. God, he's so good at kissing. I can barely keep up. His kisses were insanely passionate, and he nipped and sucked at my lips. I was paralyzed beneath him as my body responded involuntarily to his kisses. I wasn't sure what was happening to me, but I knew that a man’s kiss had never made my panties wet before. But with him, I felt an aching, a yearning, in every part of my body. I needed him and wanted him in every way that mattered.

His hand found my breasts, and he cupped the fullness of them. He kneaded one, causing my n****e to pucker.

“You are driving me crazy, girl. Your body’s incredible. God, I wish I could see what you look like without this dress.”

Why do I have a wedding to attend to right now? Why? Why now, of all times? I need this.

I was shocked by the thoughts raging in my mind. It was mutiny—they were taking over my reasoning and controlling my ship. I had never behaved that way—ever. I was a good girl, I did the right thing, and I most certainly always knew who the man I chose to sleep with was. And I mean always. So how had this man, who had done nothing but irritate me from the moment we met, managed to pin me up against the bathroom wall? And why did I seem to have no problem with it at all?

That wasn't entirely true. There was a part of me that knew I should extract myself from his grip and run like the wind in the opposite direction. Unfortunately that wasn’t the dominant part of me. That part of me was totally enjoying herself, enjoying his hands and his tongue exploring my body. I molded my lips once again to his, and he began to lift my dress. My God, was he going to try to have s*x with me right then and there? Was I going to let him?

He grabbed my ass once again—from underneath my dress that time—and I moaned against his lips. It was then that I heard a sound. It was in the distance. Sort of like someone’s voice amplified.

“Wait . . . hold on one second,” I whispered.

He wasn't listening. His hands were still on my ass, and his kisses trailed from my jawline down to my throat. My eyes fluttered closed again, and it was then that I heard it clearly. It was someone talking—a man. And he was obviously talking into a microphone. I recognized the voice, but I couldn't quite pinpoint where I had heard it before. Why would someone be talking right now?

“Oh my god!” I cried out.

That stopped him in his tracks.

“What? What's wrong?”

I pulled away from him and started yanking down my dress.

“The wedding’s starting! Can't you hear the priest? Oh my god, I completely missed walking down the aisle! I'm so dead.”

“s**t. You're not the only one who’s late.” He started to straighten his shirt as well. I made a beeline for the bathroom door, praying that my mother wouldn't kill me.

“Wait! I don't even know your name.”

I pulled open the door, and without looking back, I called out, “Sasha!”

“Sasha?!”

He sounded alarmed, but I didn't have time to figure out why. I hurried to the hall where the ceremony was to take place. I opened the main door and peered in. Yes, things had, in fact, started. How on earth was I going to explain to my mother why I hadn’t been there on time?

There was no way that I could enter that way unnoticed. I’d have to find the side door. Making my way down the hall, I turned down another corridor. I wondered briefly what had happened to the guy from the bathroom. Geez, I didn't even know his name, but I did know that he was in the wedding party.

I finally found the side door and pulled it open. I was on the left side of the hall which was perfect since my lineup was right there. With my head held high, I made my way over to the lineup, blushing furiously. I assumed my position as maid of honor right beside my mother. I ignored the strange looks I was getting from everyone. Once my mother realized I had arrived, she shot a glare my way and then directed her complete attention to the priest.

What the hell was wrong with me?

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