I couldn’t believe it. I knew that Brody could be a jerky jock, but this…
It just goes to show you how horrific my judge of character could be.
I knew in my head I should scream, but nothing came out. His hand grabbed me at the waist, digging painfully into my skin. His mouth was rough, bruising my lips with sloppy, wet kisses. I wanted to puke.
I needed to do something. Now.
I did the only thing I could think of. I brought my knee straight up in-between his legs with as much force as I could muster.
And I got just the results I was looking for.
His hands instantly released my waist as he moaned, clutching his groin. I wasted not a second of the reprieve I was given, knowing that it wouldn’t cripple him for long.
I scrambled away from the truck. “Chase!” I called, breathing heavily, knowing that I only needed to say his name, and he would hear me.
Or so I hoped.
He stepped out of the dark shadows, eyes glowing like the Las Vegas strip. His movements were deadly quiet and dangerous, and he looked a thousand times scarier than Brody.
Chase.
“What took you so long?” I snapped, all my fear turning into rage, that and the fact that I wanted him to wrap his arms around me and take me the hell away from here – far away.
Chase’s mouth thinned and his jawed ticked. “How was I to know that you weren’t into it? You wanted space, remember? Well, I gave you plenty.”
Ugh. He would have to bring that up now of all times. “I think I was making it pretty damn clear I wasn’t interested. This fucktard was just too drunk and stupid to listen.” My mouth tends to get filthier when I’m scared out of my wits.
Brody groaned again. In a flash, Chase reached down and hauled Brody up against the truck one-handed.
He wiggled his brows. “So you are admitting that you need me after all?” Smugness oozed from his whole entire body.
Brody made a grunting noise, causing Chase to remember he was still there and stiffen. Seriously bad move. He should have kept his trap shut. Now I was sure Chase was going to murder him. His eyes lit like embers against the starry night, and they were definitely filled with a murderous glare. Brody was toast.
I had to intervene.
Well, maybe not until Brody learned a lesson. No meant no, and if he needed the bejeebies beat out of him to get that, then by all means, who was I to begrudge him that lesson.
The first crunch of knuckles cracking against Brody’s cheek wasn’t pretty. I caught a glimpse of Brody’s head swinging back right before I hid my eyes, no longer thinking that this so called lesson was a great idea. Especially with the kind of fists Chase packed. It wasn’t exactly fair. Chase had been itching for a fight, and I just handed him one on a silver platter.
A trickle of blood seeped from Brody’s nose, but that didn’t stop Chase. He seemed to be out for more than just blood as he hit Brody again and again. If I didn’t do something now, Chase might lose control. I have had my fair share of run-ins with both half-demons and the nasty stuff from the underworld. And though Chase never hurt me, that didn’t mean I still didn’t fear what lied hidden inside him.
I would be a fool not to. And mama didn’t raise no fool.
Well most of the time I wasn’t foolish. There were those few times where desperation overrules reason.
“Chase!” I yelled from behind him.
At first I didn’t think he heard me. Then his hand stopped midair – clenched and suspended in barely restrained fury. The fact that he had been able to stop wasn’t lost to me, or the fact that I might be one of only a few people who could have actually gotten through to him. Later, when I wasn’t feeling so exposed and vulnerable, I might realize the kind of power I had with him. For now, it just washed right over me.
Muscles taunt, he had Brody slammed up against the truck again, eyes glowing brighter than the moon. Brody’s were full of fear and the fog of booze, he looked close to tears. “Touch her again, I dare you,” Chase said in a haunting voice.
Mental eye roll. I hoped that was more of a threat than a challenge. The last thing I wanted was Brody to give Chase another reason to beat him to a bloody pulp. His face already looked like it had a horrible meeting with a meat grinder.
I gasped, as Chase’s fist found the center of Brody’s belly for one last punch. Brody crumbled to the cold, rocky ground. Chase turned to me, and a slice of fear rippled through me. Sometimes I forgot how scary he could really be. His hand grabbed mine, tugging me through the overgrown brush of the field.
I sighed, suddenly tired of being manhandled. “Are we just going to leave him there?” I asked, leaves crackling under our feet as I scrambled to keep up with Chase and his superior speed and long legs.
A hopeless endeavor really.
He stopped and my legs thanked him. “Do you really want me to go back there?” he growled.