Alpha Fighter by Ava Ashley Page A

also enjoying just looking at her look up at me, all wide-eyed and beautiful.
    "You were incredible. I couldn't even believe half of what was going on. Whoa!" She suddenly wraps her arms around me and gives me a tight hug, pressing her face against my chest. "Good job!"
    "Haha, thanks," I say. I fold my arms around her to hold her there as she starts to back out of the hug and she stops. She looks up at me for a moment, with a questioning expression on her face, then lets herself lean back into my body, this time in a peaceful, warm hug.
    Eventually, we break out of the hug but it's probably after whole minutes of standing there like a sappy, loved-up couple and it's only because the crowds of people are starting to be let out of the ringarea and some of the fans have found their way past the guards and back here. It's just a handful, but my protective instinct kicks in immediately.
    "Can I have your autograph?" A redhead with a black sharpie in her hand runs up to me and lifts her shirt up. She isn't wearing a bra, so her pointy nipples are basically in my face. I instinctively turn away at lightning speed, shielding Savannah with my body.
    "Come on," I say, shepherding Savannah to the closest exit. "Don't worry, you're safe with me."
    I can tell she's a little startled by the overeager fan. She's a down-to-earth girl, without the experience of invasive in-your-face celebrity and the crazy fandom that comes with it. But she takes my reassurance, nodding her head and clutching on tighter to my chest. She looks up at me with her beautiful, wide eyes.
    "I trust you," she whispers.
    That does it. I pick her up and carry her to the parking lot. I drive home wicked fast, never letting go of her hand with one of mine and then we're home and inside and looking at each other.
    "Savannah, I—" I don't want to say anything that will make her uncomfortable or cause her any pain, but I also can't hide how I'm feeling anymore.
    She looks up at me, then gives a small smile and an unbelieving nod of her
    head.
    "I know," she says, "Me, too."
    She grabs hold of me by my shirt, curling her fingers around the fabric. She pulls her perfect, warm little body against mine and I feel my cock immediately harden in my pants.
    I look down at her, tilt her chin up with my finger, and lean down. Finally, I do what I've been wanting to do for so long. I lean my face down toward hers as she turns her face up towards mine.
    Our lips touch softly at first, but it's instantly electric. I know she feels it, too, by the way her body falls against mine And then instinct kicks in and we're kissing hard like we're trying to become one through our mouths. Her lips are soft and plump and welcoming, her body pressed impossibly close up against mine, and I could have that moment last forever. At the same time, getting this makes me want more.
    We finally break apart and look at each other. The air between is crackling with energy, with lust.
    God, I want to be in her now .

Chapter Twenty-Eight
    Savannah
    S tanding there, looking up into the dreamy blue eyes of the sexiest man I've ever seen, I know I'm about to do something seriously idiotic. Thank God.
    He's looking down at me questioningly, checking if I'm okay or if he overstepped the boundaries. He did, and I'm so, so much more than okay. But I'm also so beyond aware that this is a terrible idea.
    "Cooper," I start, taking a step back.
    "Don't do that," he says, stepping forward to close the gap. His hand is on my arm again and every cell in my body is focused on the warmth of his touch. Part of me hates him for having this effect on me. I'm a stand-on-her-own-two-feet independent woman and I don't need, and never have needed, a man. Yet somehow, I'm standing here looking up at him with a wide-eyed longing that I can't subdue, and I need him. God, how I need him.
    But everything I feel for him is all the more reason why I can't do this to him. I'm poison. If he gets too close to me, it—I—will destroy him.