by Emma Nichole
“Better this than a random Uber at 3:00 a.m,” Case adds, helping Nora stand.
“Well, I didn’t drink at all.” Motioning to the cups of water. “And I drove, so I’ll leave you all to your knights in shining armor.” I go to stand, but I feel a strong hand wrap around my bicep.
“It’s the middle of the night, nearly. At least let me walk you to your car,” Falcon says. He’s not asking. He’s demanding.
“I’m a big girl. I’ll be okay.”
“He’s not going to give up, Faith,” Nora says, as Case curls his arm around her waist and plants a kiss to her temple. “You’re in good hands. You said so yourself.”
“You did, did you? Talking about me?” He stares down at me with a wide, cocky grin on his face.
“I’ll never tell,” I reply.
“You don’t have to. Your face says it all.”
I say my goodbyes to the girls, thanking them for a fun night out, before he places his hand on the small of my back and we step out into the balmy, Savannah air.
“You’ve developed this habit,” I say as we stroll down River Street, passing all of the emptying bars, slowly making our way toward the parking lot with my car.
“I have? Tell me more about this habit.” His voice is deep, husky, and oh so sexy.
“You seem to always show up where I am. It’s kind of creepy,” I tease him, and nudge his shoulder with mine.
“I wouldn’t call twice enough to be creepy.”
“Three times. On my run, here tonight, and staring at me through my window.”
“Wait, wait. Hold up.” He moves around and stands in front of me, causing me to stop in the middle of the sidewalk. “I was on my sister’s porch and your window was open. That was pure coincidence.”
“Oh, and following me on my run wasn’t?” I place my hands on my hips.
“Well, I mean…I definitely knew you were out there. So I guess you could say it was on purpose, yeah.” He smiles proudly.
“You’re so full of yourself, aren’t you?”
Before he can even respond, someone shoves into me from behind, literally pushing me into Falcon’s chest.
“Get the fuck out of my way. Damn, bitch,” some drunk asshole slurs, as he tries to get by us and my body instantly tenses.
The sound from all around us drowns out and all I can hear is the pounding of my own heart.
I can feel Falcon wrap his arm around me and cradle the back of my head before shouting something at the man who shoved me. I can’t hear exactly what he’s saying, but I can feel the vibration from his chest as he talks.
I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. In and out. Trying my best to ground myself. To come back to now. With each breath, Falcon’s voice becomes clearer as does the chaos around me.
“Fuck you and fuck that bitch!” I hear the drunken douchebag yell, and I turn my face toward him and finally get a look. He’s probably in his early twenties, blond with some bright pink polo shirt on. Typical tourist asshole who’s had too much booze.
That’s all it takes. One second, Falcon had his arms around me, shielding me from the drunken rage happening around me, and the next, he has Mr. Polo Shirt held against the side of a the building by the back of his neck.
“Call her a bitch, again. I fucking dare you,” Falcon growls.
“Fu—AAAHH!” The man shrieks in pain as his neck is squeezed even harder.
“Don’t ever disrespect a woman like that. Ever, and not in my presence, because if it happens again, I’ll rip your fucking throat out.”
I’m trembling from head to toe as I watch the scene unfold before my eyes. None of the other people this guy is with step in. No one tries to defend him; no one says a thing.
No, instead they all have their cell phones out, recording every second of what is transpiring.
This raw, primal energy he’s emitting is running over my skin and pulling goosebumps to the surface. It’s not fear. It’s arousal.
He’s pure power before my eyes, and it calls to an animalistic side deep within me.
“Falcon, stop…let’s go,” I say. “He’s not worth it. This isn’t worth it.”
“Not until he apologizes.” He squeezes again, causing the man to groan in pain. “Tell her you’re sorry.”
This is going to be all over the internet in a matter of minutes.
I step forward and place my hand on his shoulder. “Marco,” I say his real name. I don’t know why I do, but something deep inside tells me it will make him understand. “Please. He’s a drunk asshole. This is ridiculous. Just take me home.”
He sweeps his eyes over to mine and the rage inside of them softens. He takes in the scene. A crowd has formed and cell phones are pointing directly at us. We are the center of attention. And not for positive reasons.
He looks back at the man in his grip before squeezing once more then shoving him away, releasing his neck.
“Come on.” I take his hand and tug him away from the crowd as quickly as I can.
“Faith. Faith, stop,” he says when we reach the historic staircase that will take us up to Bay Street, where my car is.
I spin around to face him and he takes my face in his hands. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It just made me a little nervous. I’m fine. You didn’t have to protect me, and really, you shouldn’t have touched him. Everyone got it on camera, Falcon. What if you get in trouble?”
“That won’t be the first time someone recorded me putting someone in their place on the street. I don’t tolerate disrespect toward women, period. Ever. No exceptions.”
“I was fine. You didn’t need to cause a scene like that. You can’t just swoop in all alpha male and beat everyone up who makes a cross remark toward a woman.”
“You were quaking like a leaf in my arms, Faith. That, plus him calling you a bitch was all it took. I saw red. I’m sorry if that scared you,” he says. “But I’m not sorry I did it.”
“It didn’t scare me. You didn’t scare me at all.” I place my hands on the railing of the stairs. “I’m thankful for what you did, even if it was unnecessary and stupid.”
“The last thing I want to do is frighten you.” He strokes his thumb against the skin of my cheek. “I like you.”
“You barely even know me,” I say in a soft whisper. My skin is ignited under his touch. I’m shocked there aren’t sparks appearing in his thumbs wake.
“I know you enough to know I like you, and that right now, all I can think about is finishing what we started in the gym yesterday.”
There’s so much adrenalin in the air. It's clouding my judgment and making me feel like I’m on fire and the only thing that will douse it is him. Hell, who am I kidding? Falcon won’t douse the flames, he’ll send them soaring higher.
I glide my tongue along my lips at the mention of it. My nipples pebble under the fabric of my shirt, straining against it, looking for some type of friction.
“What’s stopping you?” I ask brazenly.
“Since the first moment I saw you, I wondered what you would taste like.” He leans forward, just barely ghosting his lips over mine and I moan at the barely-there connection. “Strawberry? Mint? Cherry? It drove me mad. I wanted to know.”
“I’ll save you the trouble. I taste like mint.” I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer, smashing my lips onto his.
I need him. I need this.
Falcon
There’s a moment in every fight when you can feel the win in your bones. The rush of adrenaline makes your blood sing, and the urge to land that final blow explodes out of your pores. I’ve always referred to it as the “fuck yeah” moment, when you want to thrust your victory fists in the air and scream in excitement. I’ve had those moments a few times in my life.
“Fuck yeah” moments are bleak, nearly unnoticeable bursts of nothingness in comparison to what I feel the moment my lips touch hers.
It is like a firework exploded into a rocket that crashed into a shootin
g star that burst into a million shockwaves, and when she opens her mouth enough to allow my tongue access to hers, she gives a little moan that sets fire to my blood.
I step forward, walking her backward to the brick wall by the staircase. We are tucked into the shadows, shielded in privacy, but in this moment, that doesn’t even matter. No one else in the world exists right now. It’s simply her and me.
Her hand has found its way to the nape of my neck and I can feel her fingernails grazing and scratching along my skin. Her back connects with the brick wall in a thud. She tilts her head to the side and I follow her, not allowing our connection to break.
My tongue slips, slides, and dances with hers as I use my thumbs below her jawline to push, tilting her head back to expose her neck.
I seize the moment to kiss from her lips, over her chin, across her jaw, and to her pulse. It’s hammering under my lips.
“Falcon…” she whispers under her breath. She’s not saying my name to get my attention. My name is leaving her lips in pure pleasure.
I place my hands on the wall behind her head, trapping her in, and I bring our eyes back to level. I can just make out her irises in the darkness.
“You’re perfect, Faith. You’re everything.” The words tumble out of my mouth and I don’t even mean for them to. It’s almost like they were bursting to get free and the need to kiss her was the only thing keeping them at bay.
I can see her chest rising and falling with each breath she takes.
“You make me…feel.” She wraps her arms around me once again and pulls our lips back together.
I slide my hands from her shoulders, down her forearms to her wrists, and pull them from around my neck, gliding my thumbs along her veins. She begins to tremble in my hands. Her responsiveness is going to fucking unman me. My cock is rock-hard beneath my jeans and it’s nearly painful.
I raise her arms up and pin them to the wall above her head. She tugs at them just a bit, but I tighten my hold, just to keep her in place, and when I do, her entire demeanor shifts in a split second.
“No. No. Stop.” She tugs her arms and twists her body, trying to get away from me, and without a second thought, I step backward away from her.
“What? What’s the matter?” I ask.
She covers her mouth with her hand and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I just…I’m sorry.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“No, it’s not that.” She stands up straight and takes a breath. “I’m sorry. I just need to get to my car.”
“And I’ll walk you there, but I need you to tell me what just happened, Faith.” I tentatively step toward her, and she lets me. She doesn’t pull away or try to move.
“It’s not you, I promise, it’s not. I just…I don’t like being pinned down like that. I need to be able to move.”
I let her words sink into my brain and swirl around.
“I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t have known. Don’t let this change what just happened. It was a perfect first kiss, Falcon, and I don’t want it ruined now.” She touches my cheek.
“First kiss?” I smile, trying to lighten the mood. “So you’re saying there’s a chance there will be a second? And a third?”
“First, because I definitely want it to happen again,” she says, and scratches her nails through the scruff on my cheeks.
I lean down and place a kiss to the center of her forehead.
“I hope you allow me the honor again.” She gives me a soft smile in return. “Let’s get you to your car.”
I allow her to head up the stairs ahead of me and with each step we take, a new question makes a home in my head, but the final one burns as it settles in.
What happened to you, Faith Morgan?
We make our way through a small courtyard dotted with plaques that contain historical facts about the area, benches, and trees before she crosses a side street to a small parking lot.
“Here we are,” she says, rummaging through her bag for her keys. “Did you drive? Do you need a ride?”
I shove my hands into my pockets. “I rode my bike. It’s at a meter near where Case parked. I met him down here for a drink before we busted in on you ladies.”
“You’ve been drinking? Should you be driving?”
“I had half a beer, Faith. I’m good. I promise.”
I see her shoulders relax a little. “Okay.”
“If you want to wait right here, I’ll walk down to my bike and I can follow you home? Just to make sure you make it all right,” I offer.
“That would make me feel better, yes,” she says.
I reach out and cup her cheek with my hand. “I’ll be back in five minutes.” I lean forward and press a tender kiss to her lips. “Go ahead and get in your car. Lock the doors.”
She gives me a small smile. “Yes, sir.”
“Mmm. I do like the sound of that.”
She rolls her eyes and slips into the driver’s seat, but I don’t leave her side until I hear the click of the locks.
The drive back to her house goes quickly. I follow behind her on my bike, and I can tell she is going much slower than normal. I think it is for my benefit since I said I’d had a beer.
I can’t help but smile just a little. She’s fucking adorable.
I roll my bike to a stop behind her car and climb off, instantly shedding my helmet and sliding my hands through my hair and my fingers against my scalp.
“Did you know that cars are capable of going over twenty miles per hour?” I ask, with a smile, approaching her as she climbs from her car.
“Did you also know that driving while even remotely intoxicated is dangerous, and I cannot believe I even let you do that? I had to do something to combat it, so I forced you to drive reasonably.” She closes the car door with her hip and presses the button on her keys to set the alarm.
Her cheeks are still a bit flushed from our kiss, and fuck if it doesn’t make me want to do it again.
“Well, I appreciate your concern for my safety, baby.”
She looks up with a small smile. “Always.”
“I’ll walk you up.” I nod to her front porch. “Call it concern for your safety.” I wink.
“I think the only person I have to worry about it a six foot two fighter with broad shoulders, beautiful eyes, and tattoos.”
“Six foot three,” I correct her with a shit-eating grin.
“Who said I was talking about you?” She nudges me and walks toward her house as a giggle sounds from her lips.
I bolt after her, up the stairs, and wrap my arms around her from behind, pulling a playful scream and laugh from her. “There better not be any other fighters vying for your attention.” I bury my face in her neck and place a kiss on the tender skin.
“Mmm.” She leans her head back against my shoulders. “What’s it to you?”
“Call it the alpha in me.”
“You haven’t even had me yet, Caveman.” She slides her hand around to cup the back of my neck.
“Yet being the keyword here. We both know it’s a foregone conclusion.” I press my mouth to her ear. “I’m too damn irresistible,” I tease her.
“Eww. Okay, I’ve changed my mind.”
I laugh and release her… and she spins around to face me.
“On a serious note, Faith, I’m really sorry for letting my temper get the best of me. I shouldn’t have done that. It’s something I need to work on—”
She stops me with a kiss to the lips before slowly pulling away. “You were defending me. Was it reckless? Yes, but you were doing the noble thing. I liked it.”
“Well, in that case…” I bend down and kiss her again. “Goodnight, pretty girl.”
She blinks up at me in confusion. “You don’t want to come inside?”
I place my hand on my chest. “Faith, you have no idea how badly I want to come inside. How badly I want to get you behind that door, where it’s the just the two of us, and make you come so hard they’ll hear us in South Caro
lina.”
“Oh…my,” she says, flopping back against her front door.
“Exactly. But, you deserve better than a quick fuck against a door by a guy who hasn’t earned you yet. I haven’t earned you.”
“What do you mean? Isn’t that up to me?”
“Yes, which is how I know I haven’t. You’re worth more than you give yourself credit for. You’ll know when I’ve earned you.” I reach out and cup her cheek gently.
She turns her face toward my palm and plants a kiss there. “Okay.”
“Meet me at the gym tomorrow?” I ask.
“I get off at six.”
“We’ll get dinner afterward. Make a date of it,” I offer.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Falcon Masen.”
Chapter 10
Faith
He’s all I’ve thought about since I stepped into my house last night after we said goodnight.
As I undressed for bed. As I removed my makeup. As I tried to read my latest romance novel obsession.
He was even in my dreams.
His hands, and how strong they looked, were on my mind as I showered this morning, and I was thinking of his shockingly beautiful blue eyes on my drive into the office.
And now, as I am closing everything down for the day, he’s still deep in my brain.
I’m smitten, and even though I should hate it, I am loving every second of it. I shouldn’t want to be with him constantly, but I do. I haven’t felt this excited about a man in years. Maybe ever. And I won’t apologize for wanting to chase it. I just have to keep myself in check. This is temporary. He leaves like…next week.
I go through the motions at my desk, but he is at the forefront of my head and my body is taking notice. I’ve spent the day with goosebumps on my skin and a tightness in my sex. The way his lips felt against me. The movement of his tongue. His power, his scent, his throaty voice. God, I just want to…
“Heading out for the night?” Case’s voice pulls me from my fantasy, and I jump from my skin.
“Hmm? What? Yes. I am. Yes,” I say, clearly frazzled, tucking my hair behind my ears. “You working a night shift tonight?” I ask, trying to completely move on.
