“Fuck him up, boys, and take the girl,” he orders, and he moves forward while the two in front charge.
I turn in time to see the two of them, the flash of a knife in the hand of each. Serena hunches down on instinct, and I step forward to put myself between her and them.
One lunges, but I turn with his strike and simply grab his wrist to pull him along, using his own momentum to throw him off-balance while I deal with the other guy.
The second knife swings from below, but I can see it coming from a mile away, and I simply catch him by the fist and squeeze. The muscles of my thick forearms ripple as he throws a wild punch with his other hand, but by the time it strikes my jaw, he’s already screaming in agony as his wrist crunches with a sickening noise in my grip.
I hear Serena gasp from behind me. It makes me all the more furious that these fuckers are spoiling our date.
I answer his weak punch by seizing his other wrist, leaving him totally open, and my knee shoots up to the dead-center of his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. His knife falls to the ground as he doubles over and crumples to the ground. I kick the knife far away.
It might be useful, but it’s not worth bending over to pick up.
Especially not as I hear a grunt from behind me, and the squirrelly man I threw off-balance a moment ago throws his arms around my neck. I catch his fist just in time to see the point of the blade aimed at my throat.
My jaw clenches as I hold the man’s weapon away from me, both of us twisting as we struggle against each other. He’s stronger than he looks, but not strong enough to overcome me.
“Turn him around!” the big guy commands, and I hear Serena’s yelp with the sound of flesh striking flesh.
My anger burns in me like a flame, and I see red.
Adrenaline surges through every corner of my body. I twist the man’s knife away and crouch down to hurl him over my shoulder, hearing him thump solidly on the ground before my fist comes down on his face. There’s the sound of cracking bone, and I know I’ve broken more than his nose when the force turns his head and puts him out cold.
An angry roar behind me makes me jump up to face the big guy, but what I see surprises me. He has Serena by the wrist, trying to hold her up and keep her off-guard—him grabbing her must have been the sound I heard. But in Serena’s right hand is a little black cylinder.
She turns her head and shuts her eyes as the little can of pepper spray unleashes on him, and the man shouts out in pain and drops Serena, who scurries back while he wipes his eyes.
“Fucking brat! I’ll kill you both!” he shouts, opening bloodshot eyes that fall squarely on me. His heavy footsteps carry him toward me, giving me enough time to square up and anticipate the jab he comes in with.
By his build and the way he carries himself, even with eyes full of pepper spray, I can tell this guy must be a boxer. A lot of them trickle down into the mob’s ranks, and I know what to expect when this gorilla of a man comes swinging.
A jab and a cross first, brass knuckles humming through the air as if they were blades. A basic combo. With simple, quick movements, I dodge the blows, just like when I play-fought with the guys behind Uncle Carlo’s shop. But instead of the hook I’m expecting, he surprises me with a left uppercut. I move fast, and it glances off the side of my face, leaving my ears ringing for a moment.
I see him getting ready for another onslaught—it’s going to be hard to get this guy close enough to grapple. He lunges in for another jab, but I’m faster this time and catch him on the nose. He blinks in confusion, and then I see his face contort in pain after the sound of a thud from behind him. He reaches over his shoulder with his teeth gritted…
And I see Serena backing away from him in shock at what she’s done, moments before the big guy turns enough for me to see the switchblade she just sunk into his back.
I take the opening. In half a second, I side-step him to get behind him, and in the instant that he rips Serena’s blade out, I wrap my arms around him in a sleeper hold. He snarls—it’s astounding he’s even still standing—and he starts stabbing blindly behind him with the switchblade, trying to sink it into my leg. I hold my grip, an expert at controlling my foes this close up, and I feel the man’s bulk start to get heavier as his strength leaves him.
Finally, the sound of the switchblade hitting the ground tells me it’s over. I let the man collapse to the pavement awkwardly, and I step back, surveying our work. But I only do so long enough to make sure nobody’s moving.
As soon as I have, I turn and embrace Serena, who’s shaking in my arms as I hug her close to me, tears staining my shirt.
“O-o-oh my God, did I kill him?!” she stammers in a panic, and I can’t help but smile as I rock her gently, stroking her hair to calm her down.
“No, no, Serena, everything’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
“Bruno, I-I’ve never used that knife before, I just had it and thought-”
“You were wonderful,” I say, holding her shoulders and pulling her back enough to look her in those shining eyes, beaming at her.
And with adrenaline still pumping through my body, she’s never looked more attractive to me. Her slender frame feels so right in these hands of mine, fresh from protecting her without a weapon on hand. And as her panicked form stops shaking while she looks up at me, I see a glint of the same in her eyes.
As if we had the same thought, we dive at each other in a deep kiss, and my hand goes to her ass when I feel my manhood growing between my legs.
But after a second that felt like an eternity, I break the kiss and whisper, “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
“I ’m staying the night,” I say firmly once we’re through the front door of her place and I lock it. I used one of the men’s knives to slash their car tires before I drove us off. After that beating, those men would be lucky if they were awake by morning, much less able to track us down with their battered bodies.
Still, I’m not going anywhere. For more than one reason.
“Are you sure they didn’t follow us?” Serena gasps, almost forgetting to take off her jacket when she steps inside, hand starting to shake again. She’s gotten jittery in waves between then and the ride to her home.
“Yes.”
“Oh my god, Bruno, they were trying to kill you!”
“Yes.”
“A-are you sure you’re okay?” she says, rushing up to me and looking me over, “I-”
I silence her by putting a hand to her soft lips, looking at her steadily in the eyes. “Yes.”
Without another word, I pull her into me and bring my lips to hers. I feel and hear a soft, surprised gasp from her before she starts to melt into me. We both have so much pent-up energy left over from the rush of the fight, and we desperately need somewhere to put it.