Chapter Text
„Electric Orgasm“. The irony was never lost on her, though admittedly she couldn’t appreciate it fully right now.
She wouldn’t have set a single toe in this shithole of a second class honkey tonk hadn’t it been for it’s owner.
Who coincidentally was the guy calling the shots in all of downtown.
Sometimes she caught herself thinking how much easier her life could’ve been without constantly having a fixer breathing down her neck. But it was what it was, and she had to play by the rules, she guessed.
At the very least she had to admit, that the particular fixer she was about to meet right now was the one she could tolerate the most.
Dino Dinovic.
Basically the picture of an old time Rocker Boy aka the bassist of the Gloryhole Bandits.
Shit, you name it, he had it. Piercings through his nose and his tongue; at least she had caught a glimpse of the latter last time they talked in person.
Tattoos littering his skin, showed off by his ever present leather and jeans vests, and the same went for his pants, fabricwise.
For the life of her she couldn’t say what color his eyes were, because he hadn’t put down his damn aviators even once since they’ve first met. What the dark shades couldn’t hide was the fact, that he was fucking handsome for a notoriously hard ass fixer. Strong cheekbones, square jaw - downright pretty.
And there was his body, that could’ve made a good girl stray from the righteous path until she fell into the gutter, fast and hard.
But Dino? Dino didn’t play. Not for others to see, at least. He was all business, and he had build his reputation with his own hands and probably his own blood.
He had managed what most of the other fixers in NC weren’t capable of - he had actually gained her affection. Not only the usual mutual respect between business related acquaintances, but a weird kind of enthusiastic tolerance, as she called it in her mind.
But right now, her concern was to find the man in question. The bar was basically busting from the crowd pushing in, and the volume of the music had potential to deafen a person from 2 miles afar.
She pushed her way through the dancing mosh pit and made it to the bar fairly unscathed. The bartender acknowledged her suspiciously fast, she had a distinctive feeling that his boss had something to do with that.
“Where’s D?”
The music was so loud that the guy behind the counter probably had to lip read her words, so she kept it short.
The dark haired lad animatedly gestured that he would get him.
Yep, definitely, Dino had green lighted her for the “special customer treatment”.
That thought got more food immediately as out of nowhere, a iced tumbler filled with milky white liquid had appeared miraculously in front of her as she turned back to the bar after scanning the room thoroughly.
White Russian.
That pompous little twat of a fixer. Even remembered her poison of choice.
She closed her eyes and all but moaned under her breath, this was the expensive, genuine shit. Real milk.
„Girlie, who knew what naughty noises that pretty mouth can make.
Damn, how did he get close enough to hear her, without her noticing? She was getting soft, how annoying.
„You’re spoiling me, Dinovic. Wasting the good stuff on an ordinary little merc like me?“
„Nothing is wasted on you, baby girl.“
Huh. That was a new one, usually he called her girlie or V. She opened her eyes and was greeted by a pair of dark aviators and a far too charming grin. He most likely had a gig up his nonexistent sleeve and she probably wouldn’t want to do it, but in the end she would get overrun by his fucking lopsided grin and do it anyway. Fucks sake…
„Spill the tea, D. What do you want?“
„Can’t a man show his favorite merc a little well earned appreciation?“
„Sheesh, Dinovic, first of all, I’m not your favorite merc. Secondly, you’re surely not trying to bribe me with your corpo tier liquor for nothing. So spit it out.“
He ignored her accusation for the moment, leisurely sinking on the barstool next to her, which was deserted all of a sudden. How did he do that? Must be the upside of being the owner.
Leaning in on her, he inclined his head so he could speak against the shell of her ear.
„Maybe I just feel lucky today, and given that I know for fact that good booze and fine food is a weakness of yours, I may just try to get into your pants that way…“
She slowly turned her head, studying his, in close up surprisingly plush, lips for a moment and replied uncharacteristically silky:
„Feeling lucky, huh? Go ahead, punk, make my day…“
The smile spreading on her lips underlined the playfulness of her response.
His grin widened, too.
But before he even had a chance to take her bait, all hell broke loose around them.
A bottle crashed into the glass sideboard behind the bar with precision, clearing it like a bowling ball. For a second, V admired the good aim. But she forgot about it a moment later, as a full grown man crashed into the bar, only two or three feet from her position, and slithered over the top, landing in a groaning heap on the sticky floor behind the counter.
The music came to an sudden stop, but the noise level somehow stayed the same with people shouting and furniture crashing.
Something hit a lot closer to her than the first bottle, and more glass littered the bar and the floor.
Her instincts kicked into gear, but before she could make the decision between fight or flight, she was pulled tight against a solid body. A pair of toned armes closed around her, pivoting her 180 degrees so she wasn’t facing the bar anymore, shielding her from the flying glass and wood.
She tried to refocus her kiroshi implants enough to scan the situation, but the way she was held against a broad chest and her head tucked under an unyielding chin, she wasn’t able to.
Stripped from her heightened senses and confined as she was, she realized, that it was Dino who had pulled her in, caging her against the pillar next to them and shielding her with his body, while around them a fucking bloody bar brawl raged on.
She pulled her head free and pressed it back against the poster decorated piece of wall behind her, trying to catch his attention while he let his own optics scan the shitstorm around them.
Hell, somehow his shades had gone MIA. And that fact left her with the realization that his eyes were ocean blue. Like in fucking Hawaiian ocean azure blue.
Even with the way his optics glared red at the fuckup around them, the irises still looked like pools of blue.
Jesus Theodore Roosevelt Christ.
Her openmouthed staring caught his attention and he looked down at her.
“You good?
His voice was rough, strained from the task to keep her safe and the situation under control. She felt his words more than she heard them, the vibration traveling from his body into hers.
Still nodding she reached up suddenly, pressing her palm to the back of his head and pulling him down an few inches before another glass could make contact with his temple.
Surprised, he followed the flight line of the missile and then he barked out an unbelieving, hoarse laugh.
“These fuckers gotta’ be shitting me.”
His optics turned red again, and a moment later he gave out orders to his security, his tone demanding in a way she had not witnessed until that moment.
The distinctive sound of stun guns pierced the general uproar and the movement around them ceased dramatically.
Slowly, the blood stained, drunk mosh pit cleared, and the bouncers kicked out whoever wouldn’t leave on their own.
Dino took a step back, sidestepping a tasered guy laying on the glass littered floor, who currently seemed to try and remember his own name.
“Come on.”
He unceremoniously grabbed her wrist, heading for the office, but eventually making a bee line to the back door.
She tried to keep up and not stepping on any wannabe street brawler on the way, but once he had opened the heavy fire proof door to a back alley and pulled her with him, she sank against the next available wall.
“Holy shit.”
Her breath was ragged and she dizzily tried to recall the past five minutes of the night.
He stepped closer, so close in fact she could feel his body heat seep into her again, much as a minute or two before.
His hand took hold of her chin and tilted her head up, gently, but firm.
“I asked, if you’re good?”
His serious tone startled her, causing her to blink a few times before answering.
“Yeah. I’m fine..”
He still searched her face with a stern expression.
“Dino, I’m fucking fine. I’m not made of glass. I’m the merc you usually send to ruin the day of some Maelstromers or to rain on the parade of some Tiger Claw gonk. All good!”
Amusement laced into her words, but he continued to hold her face up to his when he replied.
“Yeah, but then it’s your risk, your game. And I’m not there standing next to you while some asshole crashes his whiskey glass into your pretty face.”
That for sure was new. Since when did he call her pretty?
Damn her lizard brain.
But he was so close and he felt so unholy good, wrapped around her smaller frame.
That body really did a number on her. As did his scent. She blamed it on the adrenaline she was still high on like a kite. But all she could focus on was his proximity and how fucking good he smelled.
She leaned her head back again, resting it against the brick wall, while holding his gaze.
“Your eyes are blue, Dino.”
Spoken like a poet, she guessed, but right now she couldn’t care less about eloquence.
It was his turn to blink in surprise, but he caught himself quicker than she did.
“No shit, Sherlock. So are yours.”
She tsk’d at his reply, raising her hand and casually cradled the back of his neck, brushing her fingertips against the skin right beneath his cybernetics.
“But I never saw yours up close since we met. No more shades for you, when I’m around, mister.”
“You’re trying to tell me that you like my eyes, is that it, baby girl?”
His hands, that were braced flat right and left from her face against the wall, twitched slightly.
“I guess. I may be a little high on adrenaline, to be fair.”
His grin turned downright shit eating.
“Anything else I can coax from those pretty lips while you’re still flying?”
Ah, to hell with it.
Her hands found solid hold on his biceps, the way he was bracing his weight on them pushing them out even more.
Her gaze was locked onto his lips for a second, hypnotized like a magicians rabbit.
But she shook herself out of her stupor and an equally shit eating grin spread on her face.
“Fishing for compliments, Dinovic?”
“Dino.”
“Huh?”
“You called me by my first name earlier. I like it. Keep it that way.”
“Dino.”
It rolled of her tongue so nicely, she decided to keep it like that not for him, but for her own secret pleasure.
“You know what, Dino?”
“Mhm?”
Somehow he managed to uphold a impressively unfazed facade, contrary to the way his muscles flexed under the palms of her hands.
“You really have absolutely no business to smell so damn good.”
That one got him cold and he looked at her so incredulously, she almost lost her stride.
Pulling him closer, using the leverage on his arms, she could watch his pupils dilate slightly.
Good. She was definitely not the only one affected here.
Encouraged by her move, his right hand fell down to her waist, holding her in place as his muscular frame crowded her against the wall. One of his knees slid smoothly between hers, and his broad thigh rested against the leather of her skin tight motorcycle suit.
“Go on.”
How did his voice just drop a whole octave? Not. Fair.
She finally gave into his inquiry.
“You also have absolutely no business to feel so fucking nice against my body.”
With her lips only inches away from his jaw she felt his sharp exhale against her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“You’re playing a risky hand, baby girl.”
“Yeah? Go on, call my bluff, then.”
His pokerface was hard to read, but his body gave enough tells for her to go all-in.
And he didn’t hesitate a single second when she gingerly flicked the tip of her tongue against the center of his full lower lip.
Oh boy, she was in trouble.
His left hand flew from it’s former position on the wall to her face, gripping her jaw and the side of her neck almost painfully, his blunt nails digging into the tender skin. His right hand snaked around her, splaying out over the small of her back and pulling her forcefully against his hard body.
His kiss was hard, dirty; just as she had imagined a moment earlier; and it knocked the air out of her lungs.
Her observation was true, a piece of chrome clacked against her teeth as his tongue slid against her own.
Her lizard brain once again appeared from the back of her mind, and images of his head buried between her thighs and the glint of chrome against her folds washed over her.
A low, throathy moan escaped her lips before she could swallow it and the fact that he answered it with a growl of his own had her reeling.
The loud clash of breaking glass nearby startled them both enough to catch their attention.
Dinos eyes scanned the parking lot quickly, then he looked down at her again.
“Don’t bite my head off, baby girl, but this ends here. At least for now.”
Giving her an inch of space, he looked her all over, accessing if she was all right.
His hand still cradled her face.
“I really would fucking love nothing more than to fuck you into next week right here, but A it’s to dangerous and B that’s not what I have in mind for my favorite merc. Plus you’re still to far out to fully grasp what I’m going to do with you if you let me.”
He leaned down, licking her lower lip just as she had his, then he pinged her something.
She was too dazed to immediately understand, but he added:
“If you’re still all-in in the morning, meet me tomorrow night. I just sent you the deets.“
His optics gleamed red and she heard him call Delamain for her.
„Your motorized BFF will get you home safely. And I’ll take care of your bike tomorrow.”
She nodded, handing him the keys.
“Good Girl.”
He kissed her again, ending the kiss harder than he had planned himself.
“Go on before I change my mind.”
His grin wasn’t as shit eating as expected. But it followed her in the safe space of Delamains backseat, followed her on her elevator ride and followed her into her dreams.
Damn sure, she was all-in.