by Diana Gardin
“Oh, it’ll be sweet, all right.”
His voice had been kind of slimy all night. She’d noticed it and chalked it up to the fact that he was in the same category as all of the other older men she dated.
Sleazy.
A man who needed someone like her on his arm in order to make himself look more powerful, hotter, younger. It was a trait they all shared, and one Hope had learned to handle, manipulate to her advantage, as much as she detested herself for it daily.
But now, in the darkness of the alley, she realized she should have been paying more attention to the murky undertones in his voice, which would have indicated a much darker man beneath the glossy exterior.
With his free hand, he pushed Hope’s head to one side and pulled her long hair away from her face. His fingers lingered at the nearly blond ends hanging past her waist. “I’ve been looking at this succulent neck all night, baby. Just waiting for a taste of it. I couldn’t wait ’til the limo. So we’ll just have an appetizer here, and the main course later, when we’re all alone.”
To Hope’s disgust, he licked the side of her neck. One long swipe of his tongue sent the vomit accumulating in her throat hurtling toward fresh air.
“Don’t! Get off me right now, you sick bastard! This shit won’t fly. You’ll be spitting out your teeth for months if you don’t get your dirty hands off of me.”
In response to her words, he merely pulled Hope closer and slid a hand up her inner thigh. When it disappeared under her dress, she screamed. She couldn’t help it; it was her natural response. She screamed because his greedy fingers had turned to claws, and they were raking desperately at her underwear. Hot, angry tears stung her naturally long lashes as she tried to blink them back and fight.
What had she learned in that class she had secretly been taking? He was behind her; she raised her high heel and used her foot to stomp hard into the instep of his foot. When he groaned as a result, she jabbed backward with her elbow with as much force as she could, catching him in the rib. Jerking with all of her might away from his stumbling form, she discovered it wasn’t enough.
It’s not enough. Her heart nearly stopped beating at the realization.
He kept a firm grip on the small of her back, and she was locked in an unwilling embrace.
She was pleading now, unintelligible words of fear leaving her lips, flying unnoticed into the heavy, still air around them.
Useless.
Until a new set of arms deftly reached in between them to wrench Hope free, pushing her behind a tall, muscular body and shoving Tyler away from her with amazing force.
The newcomer stood between them, and as much as she hated to do it, she gratefully cowered behind him as she peered around his tall frame at Tyler. Little gasps were leaving her throat as she stood there; her eyes were wild with fear and disbelief at what had almost just happened to her.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Tyler snapped at the intruder.
He shifted from side to side, clearly trying to figure out how to maneuver around Hope’s human shield.
“That’s funny,” the tall man snarled—snarled!—back at him. “Who the fuck are you, and why didn’t you listen when the lady asked you to let her go?”
The voice was simultaneously as smooth as satin and as rough as grainy sand, and it made Hope settle closer into his back. The voice was safety, and she held on as if it were a lifeline. Her heart was pounding much faster than it should; she could feel the blood pulsating in her temples as she sucked in harsh, ragged breaths. The humiliation of the attack was beginning to settle into her bones with a deep ache.
How could I have allowed this to happen? I’m smarter than this. I know better!
“Look, man. She’s my date, okay? I wasn’t roughing her up. She likes it like that, trust me.” Tyler spread his arms wide and placed his most charming grin firmly in place.
The newcomer wasn’t buying any of it. Tall and solid, he stood his ground, shaking his head. “She didn’t like it. I heard her. You should have heard her, too.”
Tyler took a step toward them, and the man standing in front of Hope reached behind him, grabbing hold of her and nudging her farther back. She swallowed her gasp when Tyler pulled out a pocketknife and flicked it open.
“Oh, are we doing this?” the man said in response to Tyler’s forward progression. In the hush of the alley, his voice was flat and hollow. “Because if it’s going down, I’m all about it.”
He took a step to meet Tyler halfway. “You like to rough women up? I will handle your ass right here in this alley. You won’t walk away from it, but I’ll make sure and call an ambulance to pick up the pieces.”
There was no mistaking his southern drawl, and although Hope couldn’t yet see his face, she recognized his confident demeanor and unmistakable voice.
Tyler hesitated, clearly considering whether or not Hope was worth the risk of getting his ass beaten in a dark alley. She watched him shake his head angrily, and then throw his hands in the air.
“Find your own way home, bitch,” he spat. As he turned to go, her saving grace rushed him from behind, whirling him around to face her and placing the blade of his knife firmly against the tender skin of Tyler’s throat. Tyler probably soiled his pants at that moment; his face was a mask of terror and he actually whimpered when the cool metal bit harder against his neck.
And that was the moment Hope saw his face, under the glow of a bare bulb attached to the brick alley wall. The man who had leaped in between her and Tyler, had pulled a knife on a man for a woman he didn’t know, and was now baring it against a monster’s neck, all for her, was the rocker from the club.
She didn’t even remember his name.
“Apologize,” he growled into Tyler’s ear. “Tell the lady you’re sorry for calling her a bitch, and I’ll let you go. Against my better judgment.”
Tyler whimpered again, and the blade was pressed harder against his sweaty skin.
“Say. It.”
“I-I’m sorry, Hope,” spluttered Tyler. “There! Let me go, you psycho!”
The rocker turned Tyler loose and shoved him toward the end of the alley. They both watched him stumble his way out of the dark and disappear around the corner at the end of the street.
She studied the singer as he watched the end of the alley a moment longer. His broad chest was heaving, and his jaw, etched in scruff, clenched repeatedly, like a throbbing heartbeat. He wiped the blade of the knife on the thigh of his black jeans and snapped it closed, placing it back into his pocket.
When Hope realized she was still standing, the immediate danger gone but not forgotten, an animal-like noise escaped her throat, and her hand flew to her face in response.
He turned to face her, moving into the shimmer from the overhead light attached to the brick wall. She was met with eyes so darkly blue they glittered like jewels. Fascinated, she wondered stupidly what made them glimmer that way. Was it anger? Or were they always so iridescent?
Shaking her head, she took a step backward.
“Hey,” he said, his voice unexpectedly soft. He reached out a hand toward her. “It’s okay. You’re safe. Did he hurt you? He didn’t…” His voice trailed off into the night, as his eyes slid to her rumpled dress. Hope knew what he was asking.
His voice was so tender it nearly ripped a sob from her chest. The monster she’d chosen to be out with tonight had nearly raped her in a dark alley. She used the remainder of her strength to tamp the emotion down, and bit her bottom lip as she shook her head.
“Are you sure?” He stepped closer, holding both hands out in front of him as if to reassure her that he meant her no harm.
She just stared at him, full of doubt and uncertainty. She could count on one hand the number of men in the world she trusted, and now that she was alone with him she wasn’t so sure he was one of them.
Except for the fact that he had just saved her from being violated in the worst way imaginable.
She allowed him to cross the divid
e between them until he was standing just in front of her. He put his arms down by his sides, but he stared into her face with those blue, blue eyes, and her own vision swam a little upon being at the receiving end of his stare.
“Hope, right? Do you need a ride home, Hope? I have a truck. I had a few shots in the club tonight, but I have a friend who’s good to drive. Come with me, okay?”
She shook her head and found her voice. “That’s okay. I’ll…”
Suddenly, she had no idea what she would do. Tyler was her way home. And now he wasn’t, and this man who’d saved her was offering her a ride and she was so overwhelmed she wasn’t sure what to do.
Hope was never overwhelmed. She was never caught off guard. She made it a point to control her life, every single screwed-up detail, so that she never felt off-kilter or surprised.
And now, for the moment, all of that was shattered.
He reached out a cautious hand, brushing a strand of her hair from her flushed face. “Let me take you, please. And my name is Reed. So I’m not a stranger.”
She studied him for a moment longer. She eyed the way his hair fell softly into his eyes when he spoke, and the way those long, dark lashes brushed his cheeks when he blinked. She took in his plain black T-shirt, and the thin leather jacket he wore over it. A metal wallet chain hung from his hip. She allowed her eyes to travel down his jeans to his black boots, and shuddered in response to the fact that from head to toe, he was probably prettier than she was.
“You must be hot,” she blurted.
His eyes widened in surprise, and then his face broke into a huge grin, and he pulled his hand back down to his side. “I am. Thanks for noticing. Let’s get to the truck so I can get this damn jacket off.”
She finally nodded, agreeing to the ride, and accepted the outstretched hand he was offering. That unfamiliar feeling of safety cloaked her again at the touch of his hand.
He guided her back down the alley and out onto the busy street.
She saw two guys waiting just around the corner. They had obviously been looking for Reed; they started when they saw him appear with Hope from the alley.
“Seriously, dude? You needed to go down a dark alley to—” The one with copper-colored hair began to complain.
Reed shot his friend a stern look that shut him up. “Guys. This is Hope. She had a little, uh, problem. I helped her out, and now she needs a ride home. You still good to drive, Blaze?”
The huge guy with a dark complexion nodded his head and eyed her with appreciation. She stared back stonily.
Blaze and the Copper-Top took off for the parking lot across from the alley, and Reed angled his head toward Hope, indicating that she follow. After one more moment of hesitation, she did, placing her trust in Reed’s hands for the second time that night.
Two
What were you doing with that guy, Hope?”
Hope had given Blaze her address and was settled into the backseat of a Chevy Silverado with Reed right next to her. Tate and Blaze were recounting the night’s events in the front, but Reed was focused totally on her.
His intense attention made her feel like she was trapped in the frozen beam of his eyes. She tried not to return the gaze, but it was difficult not to notice his long and lithe body. She could see the hardness of his muscles beneath his snug-fitting jeans and under his tee, and all that dark hair caught the light shining in through the truck’s windows. The thick, black lines of tattoos wound from his taut biceps, disappearing under the sleeves of his shirt.
The question was inevitable. Of course he’d want to know why she was dating someone like Tyler. How much of that question she could answer truthfully was minimal, and she hated to lie. She lied enough in her professional life; she didn’t want to become a liar in her personal life, too.
Not that Reed was a part of her personal life.
But still, he was focusing on her so intently in the backseat of the truck it was beginning to make her skin itch. She now knew what the protozoa under the microscope in her high school biology class had felt like.
“You know what?” she said softly. “It’s not important. I was on a bad date, let’s leave it at that.”
Reed’s eyes narrowed. It was pitch-black outside the truck’s windows; she lived out of the way, a fifteen-minute drive from downtown Charleston. She dreaded having the truck pull up to the gigantic home she shared with her mother, her sister, and her stepfather. But it couldn’t be avoided.
“A bad date? You expect me to believe that someone like you chose to be out with that guy tonight?”
“What else would I be doing with him if I didn’t choose to be there?”
She fired back a question for a question; that was the easiest way to avoid telling him the truth. Which she definitely wasn’t about to do.
Reed sighed, aggravation vibrating through the deep sound, and threw his head back against the seat.
“It’s fine,” she answered. “You don’t need to get wrapped up in my issues. You’re dropping me off at my house, and I really appreciate what you did for me tonight. It’s really rare that anyone would care enough to stop, let alone go to the extremes that you did, Reed. I have no doubt that if you hadn’t been there...”
She shuddered at the memory of Tyler’s hands all over her, and the overwhelming desire to rip off her dress and burn it washed over her. She tightened all of her muscles, attempting to ward off the breakdown she knew was coming. Reed reached over to cover her small hand with his large one. The contrast shocked her into silence, and she stared at their hands, trying to keep hers from trembling.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” His voice had dropped lower; he hadn’t told his friends what had happened, and she appreciated it. “He attacked you. Are you going to press charges? You’re not going to see him again, are you?”
She pulled her hand out from under his and stared blankly ahead. “I’m a big girl, Reed. I can take care of Tyler if I need to. And yes, I’m okay.”
She flashed back again to standing in the alley with Tyler, his hands crawling up her dress like scorpions intent on their prey. The shiver that wracked her couldn’t be hidden, and this time Reed’s arms went around her as the shakes threatened to consume her.
“Hey,” he whispered into her ear. “It’s okay. Guys who are like that…God, I really could have killed him, Hope. But you’re safe now. And listen…I want to leave you my number, okay? You can call me anytime.”
She looked up at him, resenting the weak portrayal of herself she was displaying.
“I’ll be fine,” she answered firmly, leaning upright. “You don’t have to do that. Turn here, Blaze.”
Blaze turned the steering wheel, and the truck was entering the long driveway of the large, plantation-style home that belonged to her stepfather.
Tate whistled. “This is where you live?”
“By association only,” she muttered.
“What?” Tate glanced at her in the rearview mirror.
“Nothing,” she said. “Yeah. This is where I live. For now.”
Blaze pulled up to the three-car garage situated around the side of the house and stopped at Hope’s direction.
Reed placed a hand on her arm before she moved to push the door open.
“Hope,” he said, piercing her once again with those eyes she couldn’t seem to stay away from.
“Yeah?”
He stared at her a moment, his eyes flashing, dark and brooding. “Be careful who you let take you out from now on, okay?”
She smiled, the first she’d bestowed upon him all night, and he reeled back in surprise. “Sure thing.”
She thanked Blaze and exited the truck, slamming the door behind her. As she entered the access door beside the garage, she blinked the light once to let them know she was safe, and the big truck began easing its way back down the drive.
Once inside the cavernous garage, Hope leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. It was late; there was a chance that her mother and her stepfather weren’
t awake and waiting for her arrival. They grilled her after every date and she knew she’d be unable to sit through it tonight without either lashing out at them or disappearing forever under a deluge of tears. Neither would be helpful to her cause.
She opened her eyes when the mudroom entrance to the house opened at the top of the steps.
A sharp sliver of light bounced against the wall, growing as the door opened wider, and the fist in Hope’s stomach unclenched as her thirteen-year-old sister’s outline appeared in the doorway above Hope.
“Vi,” she said, placing a hand over her chest. “You’re up.”
“Of course I’m up,” Violet said, turning on the garage light and closing the door behind her. She descended the steps slowly, eyeing Hope with thought and purpose, the way she did everything. She stopped when she reached her, and they both slid down the wall until they were sitting on the floor beside each other.
“How did it go?” she asked softly.
Hope hesitated. Keeping her sister as sheltered as possible while she was young enough to avoid the cruelty of life was her mission, but having a sister as sharp as Violet made that difficult.
“It went,” she answered vaguely.
Violet stared at Hope, her slate eyes telling her that she’d wait as long as it took for the truth to come tumbling out.
“Bullshit,” she said calmly.
“Vi,” Hope said, exasperated. “You sound like a trucker. For God’s sake, teenage girls should not talk like that.”
“And twenty-one-year-old girls should be out at a club having a blast with their friends. Life’s full of twisted shit, ain’t it?”
“Oh, my God.” Hope groaned. “It’s freaking impossible to keep you young and innocent, isn’t it?”
“Not your fault.” Violet shrugged. “It’s the price we pay, having a mother who screws us over on a regular basis.”
Hope reached over and clasped Violet’s hand tightly in hers. She stared down at their intertwined fingers, noting the difference in their hands, one of the many dissimilarities in the sisters’ appearance. If they were out together, no one ever guessed they were related at all.
