by Amelia Jade
The gang was all laughing and pointing at him again, clearly unconcerned about what one guy could do to them. Kylie was looking at him wide-eyed, and for a moment he wondered if she’d even heard him.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat the question?” she said at last.
“If Cranky Jose and his backup dancers here swing first, will you be mad at me if I deal with them all?”
She shook her head, clearly not believing how he could be so calm when they were waving guns and knives in his face with a seven-to-one advantage. Corde desperately wanted to tell her, but he couldn’t. Not yet, she was already on the edge.
“I…guess not? Probably not?” she said, shaking her head some more. “Though I suppose that depends on how you handle it.”
Corde nodded once and faced Jose. “Okay, please leave, Jose. I’ll work hard enough to cover for both of us today, Kylie will sign off on the sheet to indicate so, and we’ll call it a day. Deal?”
All he got was more laughter and mockery. His anger was reaching a boiling point now. The muscles around his neck began to knot and he stood up straight, looming over Jose, letting a little fire dance in his eyes.
“You sure you want to do this, Jose? What will it take for you to leave now, peacefully?”
He’d intended the question to be for the leader, but one of the others spoke up. “We ain’t leaving until this bitch is taught a lesson. You don’t speak to none of us that way, got it?” He waved his knife menacingly in Kylie’s direction.
“Does insulting you count as the first punch?” he asked Kylie pleadingly.
“No,” she said sternly.
“That’s right, pussy, ask your bitch for permission some more,” one of the other thugs called, feeling empowered.
Corde was about ready to lose his cool. He took deep breaths, trying to force his muscles to relax. He could do this. A peaceful solution could be found. Turning back, he opened his mouth to tell Jose that. Instead, he received a gob of spit to the face, some of it catching his lip and falling into his mouth.
“Corde, wait!” Kylie shouted, her call freezing him in position. “Don’t do it.”
He spat to the side, then slowly reached forward, and grabbed Jose’s shirt. He lifted it to his face, wiping away the spit, uncaring that the shirt ripped.
“You ripped my fucking shirt, motherfucker,” Jose snarled.
Behind him the gang spread out. Corde’s eyes looked back and forth, but none of the two he’d identified with guns had reached for them.
“Kylie, if they go for the guns, that’s it.”
“They won’t. The police are on their way. They’ll be here shortly and it’ll be over.”
Corde shivered as he kept his anger restrained, fighting against every instinct, urge, and desire in his body to wipe the floor with the arrogant pricks.
The lengths I will go for you, my mate. Anyone else on this planet would not have held such power over me. But for you, I will resist even this greatest of insults.
“Fucking pussy,” Jose spat toward Kylie. “We’re gonna fuck you up after we’re done with him.”
He held his knife out toward Corde, and his other hand lifted his sweatshirt to reveal a pistol.
“Go for it, and you will regret it,” he told the other man calmly.
Jose sneered at him and dipped his hand into his waistband. At the same time his gang reached for their weapons and advanced on him.
“As you wish.” And he kicked him just below his stomach where the gun was held in place by the waistband.
The thug howled as the gun went off, hitting him in the foot even as he was flung backward, impacting another of his gang. The two dropped limply, but Corde didn’t stick around to watch. He charged forward, aiming for the other gun-wielder. This one was already out and swinging around to point at Corde.
Unfortunately for the youth holding it, his opponent wasn’t human, and didn’t give him any more time. Corde slashed in amongst the gang. One giant hand closed over the pistol, pointed at the ground, and then he head-butted the thug, dropping the white-undershirt-clad human to the ground.
A fist smacked into his back. Corde whirled, looming up over the human as he shook his mangled fist and cursed. His shirt hid the dragonbone armor that arose to thwart such attacks, but the man’s fist sure had felt it.
“That wasn’t very nice,” he admonished, then grabbed the man by his throat and belt and whirled him around into the next attacker who was trying to sneak up on him with a knife.
Both went tumbling backward over the ground, leaving patches of skin on the parking lot asphalt as they went. Corde winced. “That’s going to leave a mark.”
There were only two left on their feet now, and neither of them showed any interest in approaching. He could have let them go, but that just wasn’t his style. Especially now that he’d been patient and hadn’t initiated the violence. Kylie would be proud of him for showing such restraint.
Advancing on one of the two, he pointed his finger at him. “You threatened my—” he caught himself just in time. “Kylie. You threatened Kylie. Apologize. Now.”
More fire played in his eyes now, hopefully intimidating him.
“F-F-Fuck you,” the thug stammered out.
“Idiot.” Corde rolled his eyes, shot forward abruptly, and leveled the tough guy with a lightning-quick one-two punch combination to his stomach.
The man bent over, alternating between emptying his stomach and gasping for air that wouldn’t come.
“Fuck this,” the last one said, turning to run for one of the cars.
“Nobody gets away,” Corde snarled, reaching down and snatching up a piece of broken asphalt.
He tossed it in his hand once, then let fly. It hit square between the shoulder blades of the fleeing punk, throwing him off balance. Corde winced as he stumbled and fell face-first into the side of the gray car with a loud Thunk! The now-limp body slid to the ground after that.
Corde spun in a circle, a huge grin on his face. “Look at that. I did it, Kylie. I took care of all of them without killing anyone this time!”
He was mightily impressed with himself. Even in the fight he’d managed to show restraint. Broken bones and concussions were numerous, sure, but he judged that every single one of them would survive the encounter with Corde the dragon. Not many humans had been able to say that in the past. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf!
“This time?”
He swung back around to face his mate, grin dying as he took in her stunned reaction to his words.
“Pardon?”
“You haven’t killed anyone this time?” she gaped at him.
Oh. Shit.
“Ah, that’s not what I meant,” he stuttered, trying to save a situation that was sinking faster than the first boat he’d ever sailed upon. “It was just an expression, a turn of phrase, you know?”
She didn’t believe him. “I bet.”
He sighed and took a step toward her. “Look, Kylie, that’s not how it sounded.”
It was exactly how it sounded.
“I was just proud of myself for not seriously injuring anyone.”
Kylie took a step back before leaning to the side to view the groaning pile of bodies he’d left in his wake. “Right. Most of them are unconscious, some with broken bones, but you didn’t seriously injure anyone.”
He watched her ultra-long hair drape itself back across her body, trying not to get distracted by the smooth lines of her body that the strands clung to as she straightened.
“Exactly. I could have done worse. You saw how easy that was for me.”
She was missing the entire point. He’d saved her! Protected her and come to her rescue. Who knows what they would have done to her if he hadn’t been there. Corde shuddered at the thought. It wasn’t pleasant.
“I did notice. I’ve never seen anyone move so fast. How did you do that, Corde?”
He looked away. “A lot of practice.”
“You fight a lot?”
Grimacing he n
odded. “It was…required…of me, I guess you might say.” He dared not go into more detail than that. Not yet, at least. In time he would tell her everything, about where he came from, and how it was different then. That he wasn’t a bad person. His world was just very unlike hers, that was all.
“You should get back to work,” she said at last. “The police will be here soon. You’ll have to answer some questions but I’ll tell them you were just defending me.”
“I was.”
“What?”
“I was defending you,” he said fiercely. “If they had come at me, I wouldn’t have waited nearly as long before dealing with them. I did that for you.”
Kylie didn’t seem to know what to think.
On the far side of the parking lot the first police car arrived. Corde waited as close to her side as she would allow while it came near, hoping desperately that he wasn’t going back to jail.
He’d already fucked up with Kylie. If Colonel Mara had to get involved again, he would be even more screwed.
How had it all gone south? He’d worked so hard to do it Kylie’s way, but in the end, he’d still screwed up, driving a wedge further between them than before. This was supposed to have brought them closer.
Maybe it was just his destiny to always be lacking what was needed. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that he’d been pushed away for doing the right thing. He’d just never expected it would be his mate doing the pushing.
Chapter Six
Kylie
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but since they never pulled the weapons, we likely won’t be able to keep them. Most of them will probably be out by the end of the day, if not earlier. Except the one that got shot in the foot, and the other one with the gun. Those two we can hold, but probably no more than overnight until they’re out on bail.”
She nodded her understanding. He was doing his best, but the law had its hands tied. Technically Corde had struck first, but to nobody’s surprise the downed gangsters didn’t want to press charges. The officer retreated to his car and drove off while she stood there and contemplated just what to do. The entire situation was screwed up.
Corde had gone and gotten himself involved in her battle, and now she wondered if this would be the last of it. Knowing Jose, she highly doubted it. He was persistent, and now he’d been embarrassed in front of his friends. Kylie knew that he would already be thinking of a way to prove to them that he still deserved to be boss. Whatever that plan was, it would involve her somehow, but it would also involve Corde.
Something told her the odd walking colossus wasn’t too concerned. After the way he’d dealt with the entire group in less than ten seconds, Kylie had to wonder if he should be. She was certain one of them had broken his hand while trying to punch him. The sequence had happened so fast to be sure, but she swore she had seen that. How was that even possible?
The entire scene left her feeling conflicted. She felt fear, because things had just escalated between her and a street gang. Although Jose’s group weren’t the worst ilk she’d ever had to deal with, they weren’t your normal internet gangsters either. They were the real deal. If he wanted to come after her, she would be in trouble.
Trouble which Corde seemed to have no problem being involved with. She’d seen the way he strained at the leash, wanting to fight them from the instant he’d thrown his garbage picker to gain everyone’s attention. His protective streak was clearly a mile long, and there was a very definite and tangible part of her that felt safe knowing he had extended it to her. His size, speed, and strength were breathtaking, and she knew that the thugs would think twice before attacking her if he was nearby.
But then there was the fact that he’d celebrated for not killing anyone. As if that were a momentous occasion for him. Was he a murderer? Nothing about him had ever really struck her that way, but could you ever really know these days? Maybe he was an assassin, able to blend in with the world around him until he was called upon to dispatch his enemies.
He’s not an assassin. Stop it. You’re starting to make stuff up.
But she was positive he’d killed before, and didn’t seem too remorseful about the fact either. How could she truly feel at ease with him around if that were the case? What if he got mad at her? Would he be able to contain his anger then? There were just so many questions surrounding him, and so little answers.
Yet another catcall from behind her grabbed her attention. When she was younger Kylie had matured quickly and endured more than her share of such attention from men who had no idea how young she was. Mostly older teenagers as they drove by, whistling and honking, as if that would be enough to make her want to go home with them.
As she’d aged and come fully into her curves however, the calls had died off. Now when she heard them, they weren’t usually meant for her, and today was no different. A car horn honked and she rolled her eyes as she saw the car full of women drive by Corde, everyone but the driver practically drooling.
A surge of jealousy surprised Kylie. She quickly suppressed it. Corde wasn’t hers; they could whistle all they wanted. She kind of agreed with them anyway. The sun had continued to rise as she dealt with the officers, and by now the concrete was baking, throwing off heat waves that were visible.
Without anyone to help him clean the off-ramp, Corde had gone into overdrive, working like a maniac to get it done. This had resulted in him drenching his shirt and removing it. Now he worked in nothing but his makeshift vest, exposing much of his back and upper body to the sun’s rays. His skin seemed to drink up the UV, and she could have sworn he’d become more defined and ripped as it baked him.
He stood up straight now, wiping his brow with a forearm and stretching his back. Kylie’s lower lip tucked up between her teeth as she watched, the skin on his stomach pulling taut across multiple rows of muscles that ran from just under his bulging pecs down his abdomen and disappeared into his jeans.
The weather outside was scorching, but she was pretty positive it wasn’t the sun that had just left her lightheaded. He was so hunky and dreamy to look at, the sweat glistening off the bunched cords of his biceps as he rolled his shoulders. A single droplet fell from one perfectly tanned nipple, and all at once Kylie realized she could feel warmth concentrating between her legs. She was getting turned on by watching him sweat.
This is not good. You can’t let yourself be seduced by him. Just because he’s a walking sex bomb does not give you permission to start fantasizing about him! Don’t do it!
For a brief moment Kylie let herself imagine that he was wrapping those strong hands of his around her waist and not a trash bag and grabber.
All at once her vision was drawn to the black plastic bag, and she smiled. The smelly bag full of nasty trash and other disgusting things. Envisioning that for a moment killed any further arousal.
Then Corde looked up and flashed his smile at her, white teeth glowing. He waved, the motion sending little ripples through his chest that undid all her previous efforts to focus on anything but him.
“Lunchtime!” she called, pulling a whistle up from under her shirt and giving it a blast to alert the others working down closer to the highway.
It was a little early for lunch, but she justified it to herself by saying that the sun meant they would all need extra hydration today. Including Corde, who was sweating profusely. It was definitely not an excuse to spend more time with him.
Not at all.
***
“All right Corde, you worked hard today. I’m going to grant your full allotment, and against my better judgment, I’m going to give you extra credit, to even you up with yesterday.”
The huge man nodded his head politely, but didn’t say anything. In fact, he hadn’t said anything since the end of the fight. He’d waved at her, and they’d caught each other looking several times, but no words, not even at lunchtime. He’d down by himself, slightly closed off.
Kylie was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. Wasn’t she supposed to be the one
who was shaken out of sorts? Instead it was Corde who didn’t seem like his usual self. She thought about asking him what was going on, but decided against doing so in front of everyone else. Whatever was bothering him could wait until he was ready.
She handed him his form and then finished signing off on everyone else’s, trying to put him, his beautiful teeth, and steely gray eyes out of her mind. It worked for a bit, and ten minutes later she was done, sighing heavily in relief.
“Finally,” she muttered to herself. “Time to go home and just forget everything.”
All that was left was to pack up the pickers, vests, and the folding table she used to set them on. The garbage was already dumped in the bin the municipality provided, and everyone was gone. Peace would at last be hers.
Except it wasn’t. The table had been behind her as she signed off on the forms, and now as she moved to pack it up, she realized Corde had never left. Instead he’d packed everything up and was now carrying the table and a huge mass of pickers. All that was left was the pile of vests stuffed into an unused garbage bag.
“What are you doing?” she asked, phrasing it so he would have to answer.
“Staying close. Keeping you safe.” He looked past her. “They won’t just back down after this.”
Kylie rubbed her face in exasperation. “They’re in jail, Corde. I’ll be fine for today. I’m perfectly okay with having you around tomorrow,” I think. “But I’m okay. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m still going to carry these over to your car for you.” He spoke levelly, but she could tell he wasn’t backing down.
“Fine.” She snatched up the vests and all but stomped across the parking lot, trying to figure out why she was so bothered by his actions.
No, it wasn’t his actions, she decided. It was the fact that he was right. Jose and his crew weren’t going to just let this slide. She would have to watch her back until they were either arrested or they got tired of it. Great. That was just great. Now she was on a gang’s most-wanted list. What a way to end the day!
She approached her car, popped the trunk, and stuffed everything inside. “There, happy?”
