by Linda Kage
“I can’t...” Ten shook his head and backed up a step. “You just manhandled a woman. Dude.”
“What?” my savior growled, seemingly confused. “I did not.”
“Well, you...you loomed,” Ten stuttered. “And threatened to break her hand.”
“It’s called intimidation. Got her to leave, didn’t it?”
“You pulled her hair,” Asher added.
The stranger seared Asher with a glare. “Because she fucked with the wrong person.”
I sucked in a startled breath. “What?”
The cloth on the back of the new guy’s shirt bunched as his muscles tensed. With no idea why he would feel so protective of me of all people, I froze when he turned his head, just his head, and looked my way.
I felt electrocuted from such a penetrating stare. It was like my heart seized and all my organs turned to liquid, and yeah...brain zapped dead.
“Uh...” I mumbled.
I couldn’t read a single thing from his hard stare. Worry? Anger? Disappointment? He didn’t appear to be soft and sympathetic, but there was nothing malicious in his expression either. It was just...intense. It made me instantly wet. My nipples went hard, and a hot, tingling shiver raced over my skin.
A vision surged through my brain, of him staring at me with that same, hard penetrating stare as he stalked toward me, pushed me down on top of a nearby table, ripped my clothes apart and spread my legs open before he took me hard and fast and savagely.
I couldn’t say I was a fan of being dominated, but holy hell if that little daydream didn’t light me up as I’d never been lit up before. My breathing came faster as I stared at him and tried to blink the dirty thoughts from my head.
Then...just like that, he turned away and strode off, uttering something low to Ten as he passed, something that sounded like, “I’m out.”
He prowled toward the exit like some kind of demonic avenging angel, if there ever was such a thing, who’d just completed his mission and was now leaving because his work was done.
I gaped after him, stunned by the force of my strange attraction and not sure what to do to about it, but hell...he’d just helped me. And I felt drawn to him, wanting to get closer, even though rationally, I knew I should probably be wary.
Following my gut, I called, “Hey!” before I could stop myself and hurried after him.
He kept going, ignoring me. I had no idea what to say, but something inside me wouldn’t let me give up the chase. “You,” I added stupidly, wincing and wondering if I’d gotten his name earlier.
He still didn’t stop, so I reached out and grabbed his arm, the warmth and muscle under my hand startling me with how strongly it affected me. He sucked in a breath as if I’d burned him. Then he stopped so fast and whirled back I almost rammed into his ginormous chest. When he jerked out of my grasp, I gulped and drew back quickly, fumbling to catch my balance.
But Christ, he was tall. And huge. As he towered over me, I shrank farther away, because I wasn’t used to this level of instant attraction.
His scowl deepened. “What?” he said, his voice gritty and raspy and really deep.
“Umm…” I tried to say more, but nothing came. So I tried again. “I-I just…I wanted to thank you for, you know, helping me. So….” I bobbed my head nervously. “Thank you.”
He stared at me for a full second from eyes that looked nearly black. I held my breath, not sure what to do because he wasn’t responding. Then my gaze went to his scar, a single angry red slash bisecting the right side of his face, and I gulped.
There was something almost friendly and approachable about the scars Ten bore on his face. Maybe it was because he smiled so much. But there was nothing whatsoever approachable about this guy’s one dark mark. Yet, I wanted to approach, get closer, reach out and touch it, maybe kiss it better.
Exhaling a short breath, he gave a single nod, accepting my gratitude. Then he turned away and dismissed me. Just like that.
“Wait, I didn’t get your name,” I called after him, desperate to try anything to waylay him and figure out what was going on with me, why he affected me so oddly.
He slowed to a stop, but didn’t turn around. Instead, he grated, “Tight T-shirt Guy’s fine.”
“Oh, shit.” Wincing, I slapped my hand to my forehead. “You heard that?”
Not bothering to answer, he left, stalking out the door and disappearing.
I stared dumbly at the empty doorway, dazed by what had happened. But seriously, “Holy hell.”
“Is it just me,” Asher asked, appearing at my side as he also stared at the exit, “or does that guy make you want to piss yourself just a little bit?”
“It’s like you stole the words straight from my mouth,” I murmured distractedly.
Ten joined us, letting out a low whistle. “Damn, Three. You sure made some kind of first impression on Parker. I swear he was going to snap that chick’s neck for fucking with you.”
I swung my face around so fast to gape at him I gave myself whiplash. Not that I felt any pain; I was a bit too busy trying to decide if I’d heard him correctly.
“Parker?” There was no way he could’ve actually said Parker. I had to be hallucinating. I was drunk, my ears were conjuring crazy shit.
But Ten nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t you hear about the dude who took Blondie to the hospital after she went into labor?”
I frowned, trying to remember the details. “Noel said something about it. Zoey met him at a convenience store or something.”
“And after he dropped her off, he took her car to clean it. Pick and I intercepted him when he was returning it to the hospital. I was ready to kick his ass for touching her car, but Pick actually knew the fucker from school, and get this, he’d just gotten out of prison that day...for rape and murder. Can you fucking believe Pick still hired him after that?”
“No.” I shook my head, unable to believe anything I was hearing. “That’s not even possible.”
“I know! Pick’s usually all gung ho to protect everyone. Now he just up and tosses a murderer into the cage with us. What kind of shit is that?”
I wasn’t listening to him anymore, though. I’d turned back to stare at the last place I’d seen the stranger.
Shaking my head more urgently now, I whispered, “That wasn’t him. That couldn’t have been him.”
No way in hell had the man I’d just encountered been the same eighteen-year-old boy I’d fallen head over heels in love with six years ago. He couldn’t possibly have changed that much, grown that huge. The color of his eyes, the sound of his voice. None of it matched.
I frowned hard at Ten. “Are you trying to tell me that was Knox Parker?”
Knox couldn’t even be out of prison yet. He should still have over twenty years left, though okay, I’d stopped keeping tabs on his sentence two years ago when he’d murdered Jeremy. I’d given him up completely then. Or at least, that’s what I insisted to myself.
“How’d you know his first name?” Asher wondered as Ten lifted his eyebrows. “You actually know Parker?”
A loud screaming buzz filled my ears as the guys confirmed it.
I’d just seen Knox again for the first time in six years.
“Oh my God.” I scrambled toward the bar’s exit without thinking.
The guys called after me, but I kept moving. My brain was still trying to process what I’d just learned while my feet continued to run. I burst into the heavy, cool October night, breathing hard.
Skidding to a halt, I searched the sidewalks leading from the club, but they looked completely abandoned as every couple of feet a nightlight sprayed down on the wet walkways.
Panic embraced me. Where had he gone? I couldn’t lose him now, not when he’d been so close. I didn’t even pause to think what I’d say or do if I did catch him; I just knew I had to. Except the place was empty. Not even a car drove by on the street.
I turned in a slow circle, the desperation in me clawing at my throat, stinging my eyes.
/> Where had he gone?
And then I felt it.
A stare. It started out tingling the back of my neck until it rocked through my entire nervous system. I could do nothing but feel him watching me. Spotting a dark, deeply shadowed overhang near the edge of the building, I stopped and squinted, but all I could see was black.
I knew he was there though, hiding from me, probably pressing his back to the wall and holding his breath, hoping I didn’t find him. Except I had no idea why he’d hide from me...why he hadn’t told me who he was.
I stepped forward and then hesitated. What was I doing, heading toward dark creepy shadows in the middle of the night on a quiet street? Any ominous person could be lurking in there, waiting for me to get close enough to snatch. But then I moved toward it again anyway, unable to stay away.
“Knox?” I said on an unsteady breath just as the door to the bar came open and Noel and Aspen stumbled out, followed by Ten and Asher.
“Felicity?” Noel led his wife my way. “What’re you doing out here? The guys said you had an unpleasant visitor. You okay?”
I glanced one last time to the black shadow before turning back to the group. “Yeah,” I managed to say. “I’m fine.” Though I wasn’t at all. I was shaken to the core.
“Are you sure?” Aspen asked.
With a roll of my eyes, I forced a smile. “Of course. What about you, sicko?”
“Ugh.” She leaned her head against Noel’s chest and muttered, “I’m better, but still queasy.”
“Come on,” Noel urged, tipping his chin up to get me to follow them. “Let’s get her home.”
“Yeah, okay.” But I couldn’t turn fully away from the shadow quite yet. As the other four wandered off, across the street, I turned back to it.
If he didn’t want to talk to me, fine, but I definitely had a message for him. “I don’t understand,” I said. Then I hurried after the others.
Asher looped an arm around my shoulder, tugging me against his side when I caught up to them.
“You look cold,” he said.
I was. I felt cold all the way to my bones. When I shivered, he hugged me closer with one arm. “Did you find Parker?” he asked into my ear.
I shook my head.
“Gonna tell me why you chased after him?”
Another fierce head shake.
He sighed, but said, “All right,” and let it drop. “As long as you’re okay.”
“I am,” I lied.
Inside, I fell apart, not sure what was going on or what I was going to do about it.
“This is crazy,” City hissed through the darkened theater.
I just grinned as I popped a handful of popcorn into my mouth. “What? I’m having fun.” Without looking at her, I swung the popcorn tub her way, silently offering her some.
“Thanks.” She looked around the empty aisles as she dug her hand in. Then she leaned toward me and whispered, “We’re going to get caught.”
I leaned toward her as well, because I liked how good she smelled tonight. She’d put on some extra perfume that was driving me crazy. I swear it smelled like one of the wildflowers that grew in the woods, except better because this was layered on top of her natural scent.
“We won’t get caught,” I promised. “I’ll bet money no one else even comes into the theater with us.”
She turned to me, her breath brushing across my cheek. “Why’s that?”
“Because this movie’s about some doll who gets a soul, comes alive, and falls for some video store clerk.”
“Say what?”
I grinned and kept watching the opening credits.
City nudged me in the ribcage with her knuckle. “What the heck kind of movie did you pick for us?”
Something I wouldn’t feel the least bit distracted by when I made out with my girlfriend through the whole thing.
“I cannot believe you purposely picked out a bad movie for our very first date.”
Finally, I turned to her. Her brow was puckered with disappointment so I murmured, “Hey,” as I gently cupped her cheek. “I know the movie and date were my idea, but I don’t want us to get caught, either. That’s why I took every precaution possible to protect you from trouble. And this...” I hitched my chin toward the screen, “was the safest place in public I thought we could go. Besides, the movie’s not what I came to see.”
I could tell the exact moment I’d said the right thing. Her eyes changed, the bright blue turning a liquid azure as her breath caught. When she leaned toward me, I met her halfway, my lips catching hers and my fingers burrowing into her hair. We didn’t come up for air until the characters on the screen started talking...in Japanese.
“Oh my God!” Mouth falling open, City shook her head. “And it’s not even in English?”
I bit my lip. “Well...at least it has subtitles.”
She glanced at me incredulously. I cringed and bit my lip a little harder until we burst into simultaneous laughter.
The entire plot ended up being even worse than I’d originally thought. The “doll” ended up being a life-sized blow-up sex toy. And there were sex scenes. Lots of sex scenes. My grand plans to make out were doused by all the raunchy action happening on the screen. It was like watching a train wreck it was so bad, and both City and I could only gape in horror at some of the plot that went down.
“I am so sorry.” Absolutely mortified, I took her hand and slipped lower in my seat. “We can leave. Let’s leave.” I tried to urge her to follow me out of our seats, but she resisted.
“Are you crazy?” She yanked us back down as she continued to watch the movie. “This is my first movie date. Besides...I gotta see how this ends.”
So we ended up staying and watching the entire thing.
As we left the theater hand in hand a hundred and twenty-five minutes later, she leaned her head onto my shoulder and said, “You know, it really wasn’t that bad of a movie. Underneath all the sex and plastic, and you know, air blowing, it really did cover some deep, meaningful topics. Kind of makes me feel all introspective and think about what’s really important in life.”
I grinned as I shook my head. We stepped into the warm evening air and I led her toward a darker, empty street. Then I leaned into her, burying my face in her hair and inhaling her essence. “You always know how to find the bright side of everything, don’t you? I love that about you.”
She turned to me, her golden smile glittering with warmth. “Know what I love about you?” she murmured, brushing her nose against mine.
I batted mine back. “What?”
“How special you always make me feel.”
I coiled a piece of her red hair around my finger. “You are special.”
Shaking her head, she moved in closer, her breath fanning my lips. “Not to anyone else, I’m not.”
“Then no one else matters.” I kissed her softly, then a little deeper. Eventually, our lips parted and tongues brushed.
My fingers grew restless and body tense with wanting. I moved my touch down the sides of her throat, over the backs of her shoulders, and along her spine until I was gripping her backside and pulling her into me, against every part of me.
Her arms came around my neck. I was so hard and achy I would’ve taken her right there if she’d let me. But a group of guys passing nearby scared the crap out of us. We broke apart, gasping and gaping at each other.
When the others passed, unaware of our presence, City bit her lip. Then she reached for my hands. I took both of hers, and she seemed to calm, grinning wildly.
“So, do you really want to throw caution to the wind and get something to eat together?”
I winced, not wanting to ever tell her no. But... “I can’t.” Her face fell, so I rushed to add, “I wish I could, but I’m supposed to meet Mercy in twenty minutes on the square.”
At City’s curious frown, I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Mom wouldn’t let me borrow her car to come into town unless I brought Mercedes too. She said she needed a night out aw
ay from the baby.”
“Oh.” She bumped her shoulder against mine before she turned and started up the street. “Yeah, I had to catch a ride into town with Max.”
I hurried to catch up so we could walk together. “And he didn’t have a problem dropping you off alone at the movies?” When she sent me a strange frown, I added, “I mean, he wasn’t suspicious that you were meeting anyone?”
She grinned. “I told him I was meeting my friend Ada and watching a show with her.”
“Who’s Ada?” I cocked my head to the side, trying to recall if she’d ever mentioned her before. “I don’t remember you ever talking about an Ada.”
“Haven’t I? Are you sure? Because she’s one of my favorite authors ever. I thought I’d mentioned all my favorites to you.”
“You mean Ada Frost, or whatever?”
“Yes! I knew I’d told you about her stories. Ryan’s story is supposed to come out next, and I swear I’ve been waiting forever for it. He’s this war hero who gets PTSD, but he also had a really bad past where his dad—”
“City,” I said.
“Hmm?”
“You’re fan-girling.”
She flushed. “Was I?”
“Just a little.”
“Sorry, it’s just...I really like her stories. They come alive to me. Even when I got so mad at Will for what he did in his book, I had to forgive him like a chapter later because of the way Ada wrote his remorse and the reason he had to do it. It was just so—”
I cleared my throat, and she glared at me. “I can’t help it! Once I get started oohing and ahhing over an author, I can’t seem to stop.”
When I laughed, she scowled harder. So I pulled her against me and hugged her. “Actually, I like it. You’re cute when you get all passionate about something.”
She buried her face into my shirt and inhaled deeply. I knew she was smelling me. I liked knowing she appreciated my scent, because I sure as hell appreciated hers. Without thinking, I pressed my nose to her hair and returned the favor.
“You should’ve seen me the day she wrote me back after I emailed her, telling her I was a fan.” She sighed blissfully and hugged me closer. “It was one of the best messages I ever received.”
