Markuz

by Zora Jorel

  Had her hero disappeared? She wouldn't go out this way. She wouldn't be just another statistic.

  Maria felt Travis loosen her grip. Sensing her chance, she stomped on his toe and elbowed his already hurt ribs.

  As she fell away from him, the two red dots glowed bright. They dropped from Travis' head down to his leg. Suddenly, a piercing screech reverberated off the narrow alley walls.

  "AAgggh!" Travis said, falling to one knee, clutching his other leg.

  Above them, a great shadow fell. Maria's eyes widened as it landed on Travis, knocking him back, consuming him.

  The mass of blackness brought its huge fists back and rendered Travis unconscious with two vicious hits. It pulled back for a third, but stopped itself, heat and anger radiating off it like sparks from a fire.

  "Oh my god," Maria whispered, hand to her mouth. She recognized that cape anywhere, the mass of black with a dash of red along the edges which just seemed to fade into the blackness.

  He turned, his eyes glowing blue and white. A gold symbol of a circuit diagram sat crested on his heaving chest.

  It was the tech knight himself. Bash.

  "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice deep and modulated, almost breathless. It rumbled through her core, causing her breathing to hitch.

  He moved closer, intimidating her by his sheer size. His shoulders were wide and thickly muscled. His arms were the same, its outline somehow visible in the background dark. Maria let her gaze move down his torso.

  Those abs. Two, four, six, eight packs of washboard, ending in a sharp V.

  That bulge. Maria's dry throat croaked lightly.

  Fear and excitement mixed, and heat spread from her face, to her chest, and further down still.

  God, he was sexy. Terribly, scarily sexy.

  “I said, are you okay?” he asked, insistent.

  “Y...yes!”

  He looked her up and down, unwrapping her with his black gaze. "Your pulse is racing. Maybe you should sit down,” he said, his right eye slightly twinkling.

  What was he, scanning her? She felt a tinge of self consciousness at the invasion.

  "No...I'm fine. I just need calm myself." She managed, trying to stand up tall. Invasion of privacy? Get real, girl. He just saved your life.

  "You're welcome, by the way," he said cockily, his smile apparent even though his face was covered.

  "Uh, thanks?"

  "That's the best you can do?"

  Was this guy fishing for compliments or something? Despite being lightheaded, Maria felt defiant.

  "Couldn't you have zapped him a few seconds sooner?"

  He cocked his head, studying her. "Didn't realize you were such an expert, Ms. Miles. Travis here is a dumb kid who just needs a chance to get on the right track. I didn't really want to lobotomize him.”

  "A dumb kid?!" Anger rose within Maria. "He...he could've killed me! Or worse!"

  Dash sighed and chuckled, raising his hands in submission. "I'm not implying otherwise. I believe in rehabilitation, though. I wouldn't have let him hurt you."

  Maria bit her lip, the frustration from a totally shitty day, combined with her sudden uncontrollable arousal, rising to the surface. "Says you! How do you know he hasn't hurt some other poor, defenseless woman before? Or did you not think about that?"

  He turned back towards her and invaded her space yet again. Maria backed back a step, her back hitting the alley wall. Being this close to him was intense. The man hummed with power. A crackle of electricity spread over her sweaty skin.

  "Maybe. But I don't punish people for what they might've done or what they might one day do. Only for what I know." He looked her up and down. "Some people make bad choices out of circumstances. Like people from uptown who decide to come to the wrong place at the wrong time."

  Something snapped in Maria's mind. "Are you blaming me for almost getting attacked?! What a neanderthal thing to say!"

  "I'm not blaming you. Just trying to make the point that not everyone can be in a privileged position to always make good choices." He picked Travis up and slung him over his shoulder. "This kid here was born behind on the count..."

  "Guess what, asshole? So was I! I come from The Vines!"

  He paused, the illumination from his eye-lens flickering. "Huh. I guess you do. Can't see how I missed that. So maybe have a little empathy. But don't worry, Travis here will get what he deserves. Still, this chat was nice. I'll see you around...Maria."

  "Hey, wait a fucking minute!"

  There was a whoosh, and Bash disappeared in a flash of crackling black smoke.

  "Well, uh, your costume sucks! Capes are so 2016! Hope it gets caught in a jet engine!" she yelled at no one. Yeah, that'll show him.

  She found her phone lying on the floor of the alley, the screen shattered. Terrific.

  At least there was a signal. She hurried to the exit of the alley and called an Uber.

  She leaned her back against an entrance of a restaurant, now safely in the good part of the city. Her heart raced a thousand miles a minute. She touched her chest, her nipples hard and uncomfortable. Goosebumps pebbled the back of her neck, continuing down her spine.

  Bash. She'd just met Bash! Holy shit. But why did he have to be such an asshole? A sexy, alpha asshole?

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