table.
“Hello. Would you care to join me?”
Julia nodded and slid into the booth, “How come you’re not joining your friends on the dance floor?” She tossed her head towards the throng of people and then looked back at him.
“Too many people. What about you?”
“Same. I love to dance, but getting trampled on isn’t my idea of fun.” Julia let her eyes roam over his face, loving what she saw. His gray eyes were striking and very intense. This man seemed like someone who had trouble relaxing. His accent was unusual, and she wondered where he was from, “You’re not from around here.”
It wasn’t said as a question, but a statement of fact and Dmitry nodded, “No, I’m not. My brother and cousin are here with me on business.”
Julia looked around the crowded bar, “You conduct business in a nightclub?”
Dmitry looked at her, smiling at her jest, “No, we concluded our business earlier today. My brother and cousin wanted a chance to unwind before we returned home. Hence, the reason I am sitting here.”
“Oh. You don’t sound like you’re having fun.”
“Not at all. Now that you are here, the night is looking much better.”
Julia blushed prettily and then lowered her eyes before replying, “So...”
Before she could finish her statement, the two younger men returned, sliding into the booth and forcing her to press up against the third. “Hey, I’m Alexey. What’s your name?”
Julia couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm on the younger man’s face, “I’m Julia.”
Alexey took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before reluctantly letting her pull it from his grasp. “So, you want to dance?”
Julia shook her head, “Not really.”
Alexey looked disappointed, but then seeing Tonya heading towards their table, he brightened up, “Do you know that girl?”
Julia had seen Tonya leave the dance floor and nodded her head for her to come over. “That’s my best friend, Tonya.”
“Think she might dance with me?” Alexey asked, never taking his eyes off the gorgeous red-head coming towards them.
“Probably. Why don’t you ask her?”
Alexey didn’t even wait for to reach the table before he jumped from the booth and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the dance floor at her nod of acceptance.
The other younger man excused himself and headed back to the dance floor, leaving Julia alone once again with the man whose name she didn’t even know. “I told you my name. Care to return the favor?”
Dmitry smiled and then nodded, “Dmitry. Since you don’t want to dance, would you care to head over to the small diner next door and grab a coffee? The loud music is beginning to wear.”
Julia had been thinking the same thing and nodded. Dmitry scooted from the booth and then pulled her from the booth. Her ankle twisted as she attempted to stand up and she fell against him, plastering herself across his entire front.
Dmitry wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close enough that he could smell her perfume. She smelled delicious! It had been many weeks since he had last spent time with a female as beautiful as Julia and he found himself reluctant to loosen his hold.
Julia looked up at him, knowing she should pull away, but somehow liking the feelings rushing through her body. He was hard in all the right places and she looked up into his face, wondering if his lips were as firm as they looked.
Dmitry gazed down upon her face, leaning in slowly to place a chaste kiss upon her lips. A firestorm of desire rushed through his body at their contact and he found himself deepening the kiss, regardless of the fact that they were in a crowded nightclub.
Finally regaining some self-control, he murmured, “Come, let’s get out of here.”
“Wait! I need to text my friend and tell her where I’m going. We kind of have a system for keeping each other safe, you know?”
No, he didn’t know, but if texting her girlfriend was some sort of ritual that allowed her to leave
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
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