Kelsey cursed the prick who had chased her out of the building as she backed away from the men crowding the entrance to the alley.

It was easier to think of his flashing, disgusted eyes and blame him than it was to consider her current situation. The danger she was in.

So far, she had evaded roving gangs and the eyes of predators. It appeared her luck had run out on this rainy, dark, cold night.

There was a streetlight overhead, just bright enough she could make out some of the features of the men closing in.

She moved toward her things, afraid if she crouched to pack up, they’d take the moment to ambush her. “I’m not causing any trouble. If I’m in your way, I’ll leave.”

“And go where, sweetheart?” the man in front said, resting a meaty arm closed in a worn leather jacket on the brick wall and leaning against it. He was trying to look relaxed, but he and all his group appeared sharply alert. Predators closing in on their prey.

Trying to keep it from running or putting up a fight.

“We don’t mind you staying as long as you don’t mind giving us a little something in return.”

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. If only she had a dollar for every time someone had offered her basic human decency in exchange for some price she couldn’t or wouldn’t pay.

She felt her neck and chest tightening as adrenaline flooded her. She tried to walk toward a gap in the group, but they closed and one of them shoved her roughly, causing her to land on her butt on the damp ground.

“I don’t want any trouble,” she said, putting up both hands, wondering if she screamed, if anyone would hear her or care. Hysteria rose in her, mixing with fear, but she knew from experience that no one would come when she was in trouble. That the only one she could depend on was herself.

“What’s going on here?” A sharp, arrogant voice echoed from behind the men, and she looked up to see them turn around as a man walked into their midst.

They stepped back from her to greet him, and she saw the shock and confusion on all their faces as the douche from before, the one with flashing silver eyes, walked into the center of the alley, unaware or uncaring of the amount or type of men surrounding him.

His hands were in the pockets of his fancy gray dress slacks. He wore designer shoes that were surely being ruined by the mud, and he had on a tailored light-blue shirt that shone in the lamplight. He turned up the cuffs and addressed the men around him.

“I asked what was going on here. I demand someone answer.”

He was taller than she’d originally thought, at least a few inches over six feet, and significantly muscled, though in an elegant way that seemed sculpted more for looks than the raw strength needed on the street, which the men around her possessed.

“You demand?” The leader, a man with dark, stringy hair and a large, stocky build, looked at the newcomer with a sneer. “Go back to your penthouse, pansy.”

“Pansy?” The man with silver eyes raised a dark brow, and she realized belatedly that he was almost painfully handsome. The type of man that drew women like a magnet. She’d overlooked it earlier because her need for shelter and warmth had been her full focus, but watching him now, her only hope for escape, she couldn’t avoid it.

The man was beautiful.

“Pansy,” the leader said, folding his bulky arms. “Prick. Get out of here. We found her first.”

Beautiful douchebag, as she’d named him, curled up his lips in a sneer. “Found her? For what purpose?”

The leader let out a loud, mean laugh, and his friends snickered with him. “What do you think?” He made a crude gesture, and she saw her potential rescuer’s expression darken.

“How dare you?” he said. “What a new low for disgusting behavior, and I assure you my expectations for humanity are already exceedingly depressed.”

The men stared at him, as if unsure what to make of his odd, formal speech.

The man sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. His eyes darted to her with an unreadable expression, and then he turned to face the leader. “Nonetheless, I don’t wish to hurt anyone. So if you and your men would simply leave immediately, I am willing to let you go. But you must go quickly.”

Her jaw dropped.

Were rich people this unaware of the world? She didn’t care how big his ego was. It would be six on one, and despite his fit build, he had zero chance of making it out of a street fight with even one of them, most likely.

What on earth gave him such confidence?

The men around him laughed nervously, as if unsure whether or not he was insane.

“You’re the one who should go if you want to avoid trouble,” the leader said, and Kelsey watched the newcomer, praying he didn’t just turn around and leave her.

She expected him to, given the way he’d looked at her before.

His eyes settled on her, and he let out a wary sigh, as if hating himself silently for the situation he was in. He folded his arms more tightly.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Fine,” the leader said. “Suits me fine.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’ll beat the shit out of his prick and take his stuff. It’ll be good foreplay.” He nodded to Kelsey. “Someone hold her so she doesn’t make a run for it.”

He circled her defender and his men joined him, except for one, who walked to her and grabbed her by the arms, jerking them behind her back.

“Stop it,” she said. “Let him go. Come on. This isn’t fair, six on one. I’ll do what you want. Let him go.” Panic rushed through her. She’d seen mean things on the streets. This guy had no idea what he’d gotten himself into.

She hadn’t wanted him to run, but now, seeing the sheer numbers and size against him, she wished he had.

The leader only gave her a glance before shaking his head. “Shut up, bitch. We’ll deal with you next.”

The stranger’s silver eyes flashed just before a fist shot out and connected with the leader’s face with a loud crack that echoed through the alley.

The leader staggered back, dazed, but the stranger darted forward, following up with a sharp hit with his other fist, crushing it into the other side of the leader’s face.

Kelsey heard the impact as much as she saw it, and his feet practically lifted off the ground as her rescuer sent the man flying backward to collide with a small group of trashcans that had been huddled next to a brick wall, minding their own business. The cans made a symphony of clanging as the lids careened in every direction.

“Burt!” the man that was holding Kelsey called out in shock.

The stranger whipped around, his dark hair flicking tiny beads of raindrops to the side as his quickly dampening shirt began to better reveal the incredible, bulging muscle beneath his shirt.

“You,” he said, pointing at the man behind her. “Unhand the woman now,” he commanded, though Kelsey couldn’t help but feel a little off-kilter at the strange way he had of talking at times.

Kelsey felt the man behind her freeze as the stranger strode in their direction. But he wasn’t paying attention to the fact that the other men around him were now springing into action. She tried to call out to warn him, but she wasn’t fast enough, and she saw a dull, rusted pipe slash through the air and catch the man in the shoulder with a loud thud.

The man with the silver eyes cursed, then whirled around, catching his attacker in the gut just as another one leapt onto his back, attempting to wrestle the huge, muscular rescuer to the ground.

On the one hand, the rich jerk seemed to have almost superhuman strength. But on the other, it seemed pretty clear by his lack of awareness that he probably didn’t get in fights like this very often.

Either way, Kelsey just prayed nothing would happen to him.

With a grunt and a heave, the stranger grabbed his assailant from behind by the collar of his heavy jacket and heaved him bodily overhead, slamming him into the ground, sending water splashing high into the air and making the pavement beneath her rumble.

This time the now-soaked stranger spun around just as two more approached from behind. Both men stepped back reflexively, as his silver eyes seemed to almost glow with ferocious rage.

“Dirty humans. Can’t even fight fair, can you,” Kelsey thought she heard the stranger mutter.

Both men just glanced at each other in confusion, then one reached into his back pocket and brandished a sizable knife, the blade clicking open and gleaming steel in the glittering raindrops.

The stranger didn’t back down, though. Instead, his eyes slitted, as if in disgust.

With complete confidence, he strode forward, and the man raised his knife defensively. The stranger swatted it away without a second thought, and Kelsey heard the blade clatter into some hidden corner far down the alley.

In utter shock, the man looked down at his hand where the knife had been, then up just in time to see the stranger smack him with the back of his hand, so hard the guy was sent reeling to into the side of a large green dumpster, making a metallic groan from the force of it.

As the last guy pondered whether he should run from or charge her mysterious knight in shining armor, Kelsey glanced behind her to see the man still holding her, slack jawed as he watched agape in horror.

This was her chance.

Summoning her strength, she shoved her elbow into his side just as she brought her right foot up and drove it down into the man’s toes. He immediately yelped, and his grip on her slackened just enough for Kelsey to free herself.

She turned and made a run for it, heading for the end of the alley, but the guy recovered quickly, turning on his heel and going after her.

“Hey, come back here, you.” She could hear his voice, harried and angry, right behind her.

Kelsey turned around, the man only a few feet away, just in time to see him plucked away like a chicken fleeing a fox.

“Not so fast,” the stranger growled, and Kelsey wasn’t sure if he was addressing her or the man he now held above the ground in one hand. The thug flailed wildly, and for a moment, the stranger seemed to consider his prey, right before throwing him backward toward the exit of the dank street like so much garbage. He rolled several times, then came to a stop with a loud, “Oof.”

Her rescuer dusted off his hands, and Kelsey noticed his shirt was torn in several places and his slacks were covered in mud, but he seemed otherwise unharmed by the whole thing.

“Are you all right?” he asked, sounding more annoyed than caring at the moment.

Kelsey opened her mouth to respond, on edge and out of breath, the empty pit in her stomach screaming for food, when she saw a dark object behind her rescuer, something raised high over his head

“Look out!” she shouted as she saw a huge gray cinderblock come smashing down. She heard a loud cracking sound as cement and rubble exploded everywhere, and she made out the shape of the leader behind the stranger, his face bloodied, his eyes burning with revenge.

But to Kelsey’s shock, the stranger whirled around like a bolt of lightning, catching the guy in the jaw so hard she could swear she heard bone break and sending him flying backward and into two of his cohorts who were busy trying to drag one of the limp shapes of their friends out and away from the alley.

The two of them got back up to their feet quickly, and they and another hurriedly dragged the others away, fleeing for dear life as they groaned in pain.

The danger gone, Kelsey felt herself pulled toward the strange man that had just as quickly thrown her out into the street as he had come to save her.

His shirt was covered in specks of cement, and around them the rain slowed to a light drizzle, then stillness as the alley became quiet.

It wasn’t until she reached his side, looking up at him, that she saw blood streaming down one side of his face, the trail disappearing somewhere in his thick, now-matted hair.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, alarmed.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, his speech slurred. But it was clear by the slight sway in his body that he wasn’t.

It made sense, though. People didn’t normally take a cinderblock to the head and walk away from it as though nothing happened.

Frankly, she was shocked he was still standing.

“Come on. We need to get you help,” she said, grabbing his arm. He pushed her away lightly, insisting again there was nothing wrong.

He tried to walk for the exit of the alley, but he stumbled two steps in, almost losing his footing.

“Damn cheap humans. Always causing trouble,” he mumbled, his words almost unintelligible now. He tried to take one more step, then pitched forward like a diver off a cliff, face first into the ground with a muddy splash.