Rafael stayed in his seat with his eyes locked on her as she danced and didn't care who was watching,
"Who even is she?" he muttered to himself, still leaning back with a glass of whiskey in his hand,
"She's definitely not human, she's a wolf" he confirms under his breath, "And definitely not a sane one." He smirks
"Everything alright boss?" Niko asked, catching the look on Rafael's face,
Rafael tilted his head, his eyes still on Isabella, "Keep the club owner busy, I'll be back."
Niko raised a brow but didn't argue, "Got it."
Rafael stood, fixed his shirt casually, and took one last look at Isabella, trouble, that's all she looked like and he wanted it.
He walked down the stairs, and the closer he got, the more her scent wrapped around him again, he followed it and there she was, barefoot now, hopping off the table, laughing at God knows what.
Rafael's lips curled slightly as he stepped closer to her, close enough to feel her energy more intensely, she hadn't seen him yet, he just…watched her.
Isabella hopped off the table, landing hard on her feet, her head spun and she felt the world tilting for a moment, she placed a hand on her chest and let out a small laugh,
"Okay… water…I need water," she muttered to herself,
She looked around but Rosa was still busy across the room, chatting and laughing with some people she ran into and Isabella didn't mind She was really loving being alone tonight;
She staggered over to a nearby table, grabbed a bottle of water from the tray, and started chugging, but it wasn't long before she got bored again,
"Ugh," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, "This is no fun." Right then, a waiter passed by with a tray of drinks and she quickly snatched two red margaritas off it, one in each hand, "Now this is fun!"
She screamed as she sipped and swayed, letting the music move through her, she danced slowly with her margaritas, she had a cute smile on her face and was lost in the music, what she didn't know was that Rafael was right behind her now, quiet, calm and watching her every move, he was astonished;
Without a warning, She turned around suddenly, Rafael did not get a chance to move out of the way, she CRASHED into him, the red margarita spilled straight onto his white shirt,
"SHIT!" she gasped with her eyes wide as the empty glass fell from her hand,
Rafael looked down at his shirt and then up at her,
She blinked at him, stunned. "Oh my God—I'm—"
He raised a brow and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, Instead of apologizing like a normal person, Isabella burst out laughing like a child, the margarita stain was spreading fast across Rafael's white shirt, but she couldn't stop laughing, the alcohol was doing its job by making her reckless, and totally unbothered.
Rafael stood still, if it were anyone else, he would've had them escorted out or worse... he hated being caught off guard.
As he watched her stumble toward him with a napkin, half-laughing, half-talking or whatever the hell it looked like she was doing, his gaze softened and his smirk grew wider,
"I'm so sorry," Isabella said between giggles, dabbing at his chest with the napkin, "I swear I'm not usually like this—well, maybe sometimes I'm clumsy, but not this clumsy."
She kept wiping, but she wasn't really helping, her fingers grazed his chest just a little longer than necessary, and for some reason, Rafael didn't move, he just stood there, letting her fuss over him.
His eyes softened even more and the tension in his jaw eased and then there was that scent again, that damn scent; it was intoxicating and unexplainably addictive for Rafael; It made his his wolf stirred beneath his skin,
it wasn't just her scent that riled him up, It was also her laugh, her silliness and the way she seemed completely unaware of the kind of chaos she was causing,
Rafael found himself staring, like REALLY staring, in that moment, with a soaked shirt and her giggling like an idiot in front of him, he was ready to risk it all
Isabella squinted up at him, blinking a few times as if she was trying to focus,
"Take off your shirt," she said, loud enough to make a couple people nearby glance their way,
Rafael's brows lifted slightly, "What?"
"I said…" she reached forward, poking at his chest, "take…off…your…shirt."
He stared at her, he has always hated being commanded but why did he like it a little when she did it? he was… amused, thrown off, but amused,
"I don't think that's a great idea," he said calmly, voice low, "It's a bit too public for that, I'd rather take it off in a more private location."
Isabella waved her hand dramatically like he was being ridiculous, "Oh please. It's just a shirt."
"It's soaked in red margarita," he reminded her, gesturing at the massive stain,
She snorted, "Exactly! Which is why we need to get it cleaned."
Rafael looked around, a little uneasy, attention wasn't something he enjoyed when he wasn't controlling it,
"I'll ask Niko to get me a room. I'll handle it myself," he said, reaching into his pocket,
"Who's Niko?" she asked, stumbling a little as he caught her,
"My right-hand man," he replied, dry and short, "Something like that."
Her grin widened and her eyes looked wobbly, like she was gonna pass out "Ohhh. So you're rich-rich."
He gave her a look,
"Sexy," she added, completely shameless,
Rafael blinked, he wasn't used to this kind of energy. most people stumbled over their words when they spoke to him but she? She was pure chaos wrapped in sparkles and tequila,
"Well, I don't care who Niko is," Isabella said, flipping her hair and standing straight "There are rooms here. I'm gonna get one."
She paused,
"Actually, no. You're gonna get one, I'm out of my mind right now."
Before he could reply, she turned on her heel and pulled him toward the back entrance, mumbling something about bleach and stains, Rafael exhaled a quiet laugh, running a hand over his face.
What the hell was happening?
They finally got a room,
Rafael held the door open for her, watching as she stumbled in with a dramatic spin and landed on the couch like she owned the place, she sat up after a moment and turned to him with a more serious expression, even if her eyes were still all over the place,
"Okay… take your shirt off," she said, calmer this time. "I'm serious now, I really wanna clean it for you."
He raised a brow,
"Let me do this," she added, walking toward him and tugging gently at the soaked shirt,
Rafael sighed, then pulled the shirt over his head in one clean motion, the second it was off, she snatched it from his hand and marched straight into the little kitchen space, she turned on the tap and started scrubbing it with this intense determination, giggling as the soap foamed up,
"This shirt is going to be so clean," she said, laughing harder, "Like—cleaner than my soul."
Rafael just stood there, watching her, the way she talked smiled and talked nonsense in a gibberish language, there was nothing calm about her, but he was drawn to her realness.
After watching her for a while, he walked up to her, took the wet shirt from her hands, and tossed it in the sink,
Isabella blinked, "Hey—!"
before she could finish the sentence, he grabbed her by the waist, lifted her effortlessly, and sat her on the kitchen counter, she squeaked but didn't fight it, infact she laughed a little and hiccuped right after; The cold counter made her shiver, but she was too busy staring at the very shirtless man now standing in front of her,
He opened the fridge, grabbed a cold bottle of water, twisted the cap, and held it out,
"Drink this," he said with his voice calm and low,
she took it slowly, then let out the loudest burp after two gulps,
Rafael smirked and took the bottle from her, holding it up to her mouth again, "You probably shouldn't drink so much at parties like this."
"Why?" she asked like a defiant child, then hiccuped again,
He tilted his head, smiling slightly, "Because you're one shot away from passing out in a stranger's bathtub."
Isabella giggled, letting him tip the bottle into her mouth, she drank like she was being forced to take medicine, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
When she was done, Rafael set the bottle down and leaned in closer, his arms were on either side of her, his bare chest inches from hers.
"So," he said, eyes locking on hers, "What's your name?"
She blinked, "Isabella?"
He chuckled, "Are you asking me?" his voice low and deep,
"No, no" She laughed, hiccuped again, "My name is Isabella."
"I like that," he said with a slow nod, "My name is Raf—"
he didn't get to finish before Isabella leaned forward and planted a slow warm kiss on to his mouth…without warning.