Toad

by Cambria Hebert

My room wasn’t as close to Aerie’s as I would have liked. As aforementioned, I am not a moron. Therefore, I never told her I would have preferred to share a wall.

  Since I got here, she never so much as came to the door, let alone walk right in, so imagine me shocked as shit when I opened my eyes to find her hovering over me, staring down with wide eyes.

  “Princess?” I exclaimed. Not even my shock could conceal the thick sleep in my voice.

  It was dark as hell in this room, had to be the dead middle of the night. Yet here she was, her dark hair blending in with the shadows, the whites of her eyes standing out exceptionally. She danced back and forth from foot to foot as she hovered near where I lay.

  “There’s someone in the house,” she whispered, clutching Cheeto against her chest.

  I jerked up, the covers falling down around my waist. “What?”

  Aerie’s head bobbed. “We need to get out.”

  My brain was tripping to catch up, even though adrenaline was already pumping through my veins. “Why isn’t the alarm going off?”

  She moved closer to the mattress, so close her body came into contact with it. “Because someone cut the power. I have an alert on my phone that tells me if something like this happens.”

  “You’re sure someone cut the power and it just didn’t go out?” Even as I asked, I shoved the covers back.

  A loud bang from somewhere in the house caused my head to whip around.

  “I already called the police. It’s going to take them a few to get all the way out here,” she whispered.

  I leapt out of the bed, not self-conscious at all of the fact all I had on was a pair of boxer briefs.

  “Get in bed,” I demanded, pointing at the spot I’d just vacated.

  “What?” she stammered. “No. We have to go.”

  “He’s already in the house, A. I’m not risking your safety by lurking around this house for the door. Get in the damn bed.” My heart was thundering, my mind already calculating. I really hoped there wasn’t more than one or two men.

  “What are you going to do?”

  My eyes flashed up to her scared face.

  “Get in the bed, princess.” Gently, I shoved her in and pulled the covers up over her bare legs. “Don’t open the door for anyone. Not even me.”

  “What?”

  “Do it,” I said, no room for argument in my tone. “You’ll be safe in here ‘til the cops come.”

  I started to rush from the room, but her urgent voice stopped me. “Nate! Don’t do this!”

  “Keep this locked.” I reminded her, locking the handle and then slipping out into the hallway, shutting it behind me.

  After a quick check to verify the bedroom door was definitely locked, I moved down the hall, keeping my back against the wall as I crept.

  I knew someone who wanted in that room could get through the lock. But they’d have to get through me first. I might not be as big as her bodyguards, or as skilled, but I wasn’t completely lacking. I had what it took, at the very least, to keep the them fuck away from her until reinforcements showed up.

  What the hell was going on anyway? Who had balls big enough to bypass Aerie’s very elaborate security system and waltz right into her estate? Why?

  Overzealous fan?

  Stalker?

  Someone who didn’t know she was home and wanted an easy payday?

  What if she was here alone?

  My blood ran cold at the last thought. Technically, she was supposed to be here alone. If I hadn’t showed up and basically conned my way in, she would be running around this house right now, alone in the dark, against unknown opponents.

  “Toss the place,” I heard a deep, low voice command as I crept to the top of the stairs. It wasn’t quite as dark here because of all the large windows at the front. The moonlight filtered in, giving me some sense of the space.

  There was more than one man.

  A few other muffled thuds and the sound of shattering glass echoed through the night.

  “This is pretty nice shit,” another said. “I’m keeping this.”

  I slinked down the stairs, hoping they were too busy with their felony to come out and notice me. At the bottom, there was a piece of furniture tucked against the wall with some oversized, wooden candleholders in various heights. The second my bare feet left the last step, I crept to the holders and silently picked up the biggest, heaviest one.

  It wasn’t a gun, but I was better at baseball than shooting anyway.

  “C’mon, next room. Then we’ll go find her.”

  Goose bumps raced over my skin. That temper in me exploded like an erupting volcano. Trashing this house was one thing. Going after my girl?

  Fuck no.

  Bubbling anger made me move faster, rushing across the cold floor. I didn’t look down, but toward the living room.

  Sharp pain sliced through the pad of my foot, and then more stinging pain followed. I bit down on my lip and stuttered to a stop, but it wasn’t a silent sound. My sudden movements sent broken glass shards sliding over the tile and clinking into each other.

  A few things happened instantly:

  1. I noted the giant windowpane that was smashed in near the door.

  2. My presence was no longer secret.

  3. We all stopped, silently trying to sense each other out.

  After I stood frozen for all of the span of several heart beats, I burst into action. Ignoring the pain in the bottom of my feet, I rushed into the room, brandishing the candleholder.

  “Who the hell are you?” one of the men exclaimed.

  Barely noting how trashed the room was, I rushed toward the closest man. There were two of them, all in black, ski masks covering their fuckwad faces.

  I used the element of surprise I had going and lunged, swinging the heavy wood and clocking him on the side of the head. He dropped onto the floor like an anvil and didn’t move.

  I crashed stares with the second man, but then he took off deeper into the house. No longer attempting to be any kind of quiet, he grabbed and pulled things as he went, leaving a trail of shit for me to maneuver around as I chased.

  Just when I thought he was going into the kitchen, he veered off, ducking into a small hallway that led back out to the front of the house near the front door.

  I picked up the pace, thinking he was going to try and run out the front door. As I rounded the corner, he jolted up the first step.

  Holy fuck, he’s going for Aerie.

  “You mother fucker!” I yelled. “Don’t you touch her!”

  He laughed as I scrambled after him. Dropping the candlestick, I took the stairs three at a time, catching his out-of-shape ass at the top. With a running leap, I jumped on his back, and he fell onto his knees. I punched him in the side of the head, and he grabbed me, flipping me over his shoulder.

  I landed on my back, sprawled out in front of him.

  He grunted as his fist came down like a hammer. I rolled just before he caught me in the face.

  Scrambling up to my knees, I lunged, knocking him backward. With him on his back, I leapt on top of him and decked him in the face. Then I did it again. The sound of the bones in my hand crunching didn’t make me pause as I drew back my fist a third time.

  The man rolled, using his weight and hands to shove as we went. I hit the wall with a thud. The painting hanging there rattled loudly. The man stood, and I rushed to do the same.

  “Nate!” Aerie screamed, her voice muffled from behind the door at the end of the hall.

  “Don’t you open that—oomph.” With my distraction at hearing Aerie call out, the man buried his fist in my gut. I folded over, grabbing my middle, but then jerked upright again.

  We stood there, measuring each other, chests heaving. I should have ripped the mask off his face when I had the chance, though at least I got in some good hits. His mouth was bloody and so was his nose.

  Aerie screamed for me again, and the man’s mouth curved into a slow, sadistic smile.

  I lunged,
throwing all my weight into him, slamming us both into the wall behind him. His head bounced off, and I took a cheap shot, kneeing him right in the balls.

  I didn’t give a fuck. Any man who would break into some defenseless woman’s house with the intent to do her harm didn’t deserve a pair anyway.

  Douche.

  He doubled over with a whimper, and I stepped back, wiping at the side of my mouth. Preparing to launch myself at him one more time, I lurched forward.

  The burglar snapped upright, suddenly more confident than before. The muzzle of a gun glinted in the dark, and the sound of it cocking made me stop.

  “Step aside,” he slurred, pointing the weapon at the center of my chest.

  I kept my eyes trained on his, not giving the gun a glance.

  “You’re not going down this hallway,” I growled.

  “We’ll just see about that.”

  Aerie

  The sounds of shattering glass echoed in my ears.

  Muffled thumps and shouts weren’t totally kept out by the door Nate shut me behind.

  I paced, desperate to know if he was okay.

  “You’re not going down this hallway,” I heard him intone.

  He was literally putting himself in front of me, this man who compared me to cereal and kissed like a god.

  I couldn’t just sit here. I couldn’t just allow him to protect me.

  Who would protect him?

  I glanced back, making sure the kitten was still in the bed, then reached for the lock.

  The sound of a gunshot reverberated through the house.

  Nate

  Never rush a man with a gun.

  It was probably Self-Defense 101.

  I never took that class.

  And I meant what the hell I said. He wasn’t going down this hallway, bullet or no. The second he made his little declaration, “We’ll just see about that”—seriously, he couldn’t give a better one-liner?—I burst into action.

  His eyes widened when he realized I didn’t give two little shits about his threats, but it was a second too late. I slammed into him, and the gun went off.

  We both went down. The bullet tunneled into the wall, and the pistol fell from his grip.

  Aerie was near hysterical in the background, but I didn’t look back.

  We scrambled for the gun, and I came up the winner. Lurching up, I cocked it again and pointed it down where he was heaving on the floor.

  “Get up,” I intoned, pointing it with a steady hand.

  He hesitated.

  “I’m a terrible shot, bro,” I told him. “So when I pull this trigger, there’s no telling where the bullet is gonna go.”

  “Nate!” Aerie collided into my back, nearly taking me down.

  “I told you to stay in the bedroom!” My eyes didn’t leave the criminal, even as her soft arms wrapped around me from behind.

  “Are you hurt? Oh my gosh!” Small hands patted me down, reminding me I had no clothes on.

  “I’m fine.” I assured her. “Now go back to the room. Lock the door.”

  The man thought I was distracted and tried to rush me. Aerie screamed, and I wrapped my free hand over her arms where she held me, then fired off a shot.

  It whizzed by the man, barely missing him. He stopped short.

  “Next time, I won’t miss.”

  He retreated for the stairs. I took off after him, grabbing a handful of the black jacket he was wearing. Taken off guard, he lurched forward, and I let go. He went tumbling down the stairs like an actor in a bad movie.

  “Watch your head!” I told him as he rolled.

  Now that was a one-liner.

  He landed with a thud at the bottom, staring up at the ceiling, his chest still heaving. Police sirens filled the silence, and I casually walked down the stairs, stood over the man, and pointed the gun directly down.

  “Just stay there,” I told him. “Cops are here. Their aim is better than mine.”

  He made a pathetic moaning sound.

  I heard Aerie behind me, and I held out one arm, not glancing away from the man. She rushed into my side, burying her face into my neck as I tucked my arm around her.

  “I told you to stay in the room.” I scolded, kissing the top of her head.

  “I thought you got shot.” She sniffled into my neck.

  “His aim sucks, too.” I assured her.

  Police cars skidded to a halt in front of the house, and I noted the way the front door swayed open in the breeze. The man I clocked with the candleholder must have skipped out.

  “Looks like your buddy left you to take the fall,” I told the thug.

  He groaned.

  “I hope you’re feeling chatty, ‘cause I’ve got some questions.”

  In my arms, Aerie trembled, and I tightened my hold.

  Aerie

  Nate was willing to take a bullet for me. Without being paid to do so.

  I literally couldn’t say that about anyone else. I could scarcely wrap my head around the fact, but as I watched the sky lighten as the last police officer drove away, the darkness couldn’t conceal the truth anymore.

  “I should have shot him,” Nate muttered, watching the car go.

  I glanced at him, slightly amused. My stomach fluttered as I took in his rumpled hair, shadowed jaw, and shrewd expression. “I thought you were a bad shot?”

  He snorted. “I’m not that bad. Asshole was right in front of me.”

  “Maybe once he’s spent the night behind bars, he’ll talk.” Much to Nate’s disliking, the intruder said not one word about his intentions or even how he managed to get through my state-of-the-art security system.

  Nate turned. The giant pineapple on the front of his shirt was impossible not to look at.

  “You have the weirdest shirts.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “They’re vintage. And thank you.” He patted his chest and the pineapple covering it. His face darkened. “I should’ve shot him.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” I whispered, shivering. I would likely hear the sound of that gun going off over and over again for months. The amount of fear I felt when I heard it shocked me.

  Not the fear itself, silly.

  If a person didn’t feel fear when an intruder fired a gun inside their house, then they were probably highly overmedicated.

  Or insane.

  I was neither.

  The fear I felt wasn’t for me, though. It was for Nate. That spoke a lot about how I felt about him. About losing him.

  “Hey.” His voice was so close it made me shiver. I liked how sometimes it was gruff and deep. More serious. “C’mon. You’re cold.” Without any kind of hesitation, he draped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me into his side.

  At the front door (which was still wide open), he stopped abruptly, then moved swiftly, swinging me up in his arms.

  Squealing, my wrists looped around his neck automatically. “What are you doing?”

  He stopped again and gazed down at me with bright-green eyes. “You saw me in nothing by my skivvies. In some countries, that would make us married. I’m just doing my husbandly duty, carrying my new bride over the threshold.”

  I blinked.

  Blinked again.

  “Put me down!” I wailed.

  Nate snickered. “There’s glass on the floor, princess. I don’t want you to cut your feet.”

  I stopped wiggling around. His words made me melt. He’s still thinking about me. “What about your feet?”

  “Mine are already cut.”

  Gasping, I grabbed the front of his pineapple shirt. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I was busy,” he said, as if it were obvious.

  When we got to the stairs, I practically jumped out of his arms and grabbed his hand. “Come on.”

  I led him back toward his room but through it and into the adjoining bath. I patted the long counter with two sinks on each end. “Sit.”

  He obliged without any kind of snarky comment, which made me wonder exactly
what I would find when I looked at the bottom of his feet. After laying aside the first aid kit, I gestured to his foot. “Let’s see it.”

  “It’s not that bad,” he argued.

  Wrapping my palm around his heel, I lifted. Red smeared the bottom, and I made a sound of distress. “Nate,” I said, part sadness, part frustration.

  “I’ll take care of it. Go check on Cheeto.”

  “Cheeto’s fine. He’s still in bed.” I flipped open the kit and turned on one of the sinks. “Put your foot over here,” I instructed.

  He winced when the water rushed over his bare foot, and I felt bad, but not bad enough to stop. Once it was clean, I wrapped it in a clean cloth and repeated the process with his other foot, which was also cut.

  “What do you think they wanted?” I whispered. Some of the adrenaline I’d been drawing on started to ebb away, leaving behind a woman who was tired and afraid.

  “Cops said they probably didn’t know you were here and wanted an easy payday.”

  “You don’t believe that.” It wasn’t a question. I could feel his doubt.

  He didn’t say anything as I drew out a pair of tweezers and lifted the foot that still had some glass in it.

  “No. I don’t.”

  “How come?”

  “Ow!” he howled when I pulled out a sliver of glass.

  “Hold still!” I scolded and went back for another.

  “Just leave it in there!”

  “It will get infected.”

  “That’s what antibiotics are for.”

  “Don’t be an idiot,” I admonished and pulled out the last two slivers. The cuts with the glass were bleeding again, so I grabbed up some peroxide and a cotton pad.

  He glared at me as I cleaned the cuts and scrapes, added some ointment to the worst ones, and placed a couple Band-Aids over the still-bleeding areas.

  “You gonna answer my question?” My voice was soft as I reached for his other foot.

  He sighed. “They knew you were home, A.”

  My face jerked up. “They did?”

  He nodded. His lips were a hard line. “They were going upstairs for you.”

  The liquid in the bottle sloshed around when I lifted it.

  “You don’t need to do this right now,” Nate said, reaching out and covering my hand with his.