Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Measure not the work until the day's out and the labor done." �" Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Ronnie

Ace was casually walking towards me with his hands in his front pockets.  The lights gleamed off three steel spikes that pierced his left brow, remaining fairly close to his skin, something I just happened to notice.  I also just noticed that he had a small soul patch on his chin; it was very small but still noticeable.  His V-cut black T-shirt, dark denim jeans and black boots, brow piercing and soul patch all made him look extremely dark and incredibly sexy.  Not to mention how totally badass he looked.  Around his neck he wore a plain, silver cross that hung low enough to be in the middle of his breast and reflected the lighting.  On his right wrist he wore a black leather bracelet with silver skulls on it, a stud between each skull.  The leather looked a little worn but the skulls were perfectly kept; scratch free.  His shirt wasn’t tucked in but the front of it was tucked in behind a black studded belt.  The belt didn’t seem like it was doing very much although it did keep his pants from showing any part of his boxers or anything.  That’s good.

“Sorry about that,” he sighed as he sat back down next to me.  A warm, cinnamon yet slightly musky scent gently wafted off of him as he leaned towards me a little bit.  He grabbed his beer and took a swig, keeping the neck of the bottle close to his mouth.  His back was against the counter, his left arm was behind me, beer in his right.

“Don’t worry about it; you’re just being a good big brother.” I shrugged casually and leaned a little closer to him.  Heat radiated off of him.  Literally.  He chuckled quietly and leaned his head back, letting out a sigh.  I glanced away from his face and at his necklace, still interested by it being a cross.  The only reason it interested me was because everything else he had on, like the skull bracelet, didn’t really seem like he’d wear a cross. “Can…can I see that?” I pointed at his necklace and looked back up at his face and saw that he was looking down at me, and then down at his chest in order to see his necklace.

“Uh…yeah, go ahead.” He just watched as I reached and grabbed the cross, touching his shirt in the process.  It was pretty warm.  Not enough to burn but just enough to notice.  That made the necklace a little warm in my hand too, but I didn’t let go of it.  The sides were smooth while the edges were a little sharp but they didn’t bother me.  My finger lightly brushed a rough spot on the back of it, so I flipped it around and saw that there was an inverted pentagram carved in the middle of it.  It made a little more sense now…but it kind of deleted the purpose of it being a cross.

“Huh, I like it.” I turned it back around so it was facing the right way and let it drop against his chest, pulling my hand away.  I opened my mouth to say something more but a new song came over head and it cut me off, making me smile.  It was one of my favorites but it was a slow one so I guess I wouldn’t be dancing to it.  Ace was looking at me again, and my guess was it was because he noticed the smile that grew on my face when the song came on.

“C’mon, why don’t we dance?” He set the beer down and then snatched mine from my hand, doing the same thing, before getting up and holding out his hand for me to take it.  I just stared at him and fought a smile, failing in the process, and shook my head at him a little bit.

“You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to…”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to.  Besides, looking at your expression change when this song came on told me that you like this song; c’mon.” He winked at me with a grin.  His hand was still held out in front of me and I looked down from his face and at his hand. “You better hurry up and decide before the song ends.”

It just started. “Alright,” I laughed.  As soon as I took his hand, he pulled me off the stool and through the crowd.  We moved swiftly around everyone; I probably would not have moved as swiftly without him.  He found an open spot and stepped into it, twirling me and dipping me in one quick movement.  I held onto him tightly and laughed as he pulled me back up straight.  He had his hands on my lower back while I had mine around his neck.  His skin was hot.

“How was that?” He swayed us a little bit and I laughed again, feeling his heat relax my body.  His onyx black eyes had a red hue to them a little bit from the lights, and they were staring down into mine gently.  There was a certain charm to the way he was looking at me and I couldn’t help but let it get to me.

“You’re a badass looking bad boy, you look out for your little sister, and you know how to twirl and dip…not to mention you can dance.  What else can you do?” I stared up at him with a shocked smile.  My hands were limp behind his neck, but it wasn’t long before I caught myself subconsciously running them through his hair on the back of his head.  I didn’t stop, but only because he looked like he was kind of enjoying it.

A sly, cocky smile formed on his perfectly formed lips.

“Ah…flattery…” He purred it quietly, but being close to him allowed me to hear it over the music.  His chest actually vibrated a little bit when he purred, which was almost like a real purr that a cat would do.  It was pretty impressive.  I giggled quietly and bowed my head, feeling it hit his warm chest.  His body tensed up when I touched him, making me lift my head and look at him.

“I’m sorry.” I felt my face start heating up a little bit and as I looked at him I started to feel warmer.  That might’ve been due to the heat he had coming from his body though.  He smiled down at me and shook his head a little bit.

“Don’t worry about it.” He remained tense and his jaw was clenched a little bit but he was obviously trying to remain calm.  His hands shifted on my back, moving a little lower, but they didn’t go too far to the point where I’d normally stop him.  I stepped closer and bowed my head again, and once again, it touched his chest.  He tensed up again but I didn’t move, and he bowed his, resting his cheek on top of mine lightly.  I smiled to myself a little bit, aware that he couldn’t see it.  That’s why I did it.

Yes, we just met, but why not have a little fun?  Putting my head on his chest is harmless.  Besides, I probably won’t see him again anyways so why not put my head on him?  Although if Corin saw this not only would he be jealous but he’d also be telling me that I’m supposed to be looking out for demons that could be around here.  But I needed some fun at a club or something.  This was probably the most relaxing visit I’ve had to a club or bar and I kind of liked it.  But I needed another drink of beer…that would make things a little more enjoyable.

“Veronica, we gotta go.” Corin came up to me and pulled me away from Ace slowly, his hand on my upper arm.  I turned and glared at him even though that wasn’t effective at all.  He just stood there, glaring right back at me.  Letting out a sigh, I turned around and looked back up at Ace.

“I’m sorry but I have to go.” I gave him an apologetic look and squeezed his hand lightly.  He was looking at Corin with a suspicious look but when he looked back at me his expression changed.

“It’s alright…but hey, can we go back to our spot for a minute?” He pointed back towards the bar with a slightly hopeful expression.

I smiled and nodded, turning back to Corin. “I’ll meet you at the door in like two minutes, ‘kay?” I didn’t stay long enough to get a response from him; Ace was leading me through the crowd just as swiftly as he did on our way out.  I really didn’t wanna leave.  I wanted to stay and talk to him some more.  There was a mysterious essence about him and I wanted to figure out what it was.

“So you’re leaving…” He nodded slightly as he grabbed his bottle and took a quick drink.  I grabbed mine and took a drink, realizing that it was already empty, while his was over halfway full.  Guess he likes to take his time drinking it.  I just looked at his bottle as I nodded.  He must’ve noticed because he was holding out his beer to me. “Feel free to have a drink.”

“Thanks.” I took it from him and took a drink. “Yeah, I’m leaving…have fun takin’ care of your sister.” I smiled when he smiled at me, and handed him his beer back.  He took a drink without taking his eyes off of me.  The skulls on his bracelet caught the multi-colored lights and reflected them as he lifted his hand and the bottle to his mouth.  I glanced behind him and saw that the girl he called his sister was walking towards us.

“Oh…I’ll try,” he sighed exhaustedly.  I smiled and started to turn to walk away, but stopped when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw his mouth open. “Are you willing to share your number?” He said it in a charming tone.

“Hm…not tonight…maybe if I see you again you’ll get it.” I winked at him and turned around, just as his sister stepped up behind him.  He chuckled.

“Oh…now I’m hopeful we’ll meet again.  Can’t wait!” He called after me in an amused tone.  I spun around as I walked further away and pointed at him with a playful grin.

“Maybe,” I laughed.  I turned back around and walked towards the door where a not too happy looking Corin was waiting for me.