Chapter 2
I wheeled around with my shoe held up high above my head as I squinted to make out who was talking. A man stepped out of the shadows, tall and slightly imposing with his dark slicked back hair, and his fathomless eyes that watched me hungrily.
An uneasy feeling began to spread in the pit of my stomach as I bid my dad farewell and hung up all the while keeping my eye on the formidable stranger.
I tightened my grip on the shoe as I gazed at him with as much menace as I could muster. “Can I help you?”
The man grinned, a sleazy grin that had warning signals going off in my head. I stepped backwards as I wondered if anybody would be able to hear me scream.
“Yes, firm ass, as a matter of fact, there’s plenty you can do to help me.” His gaze slid up and down my body in a way that made me want to shiver in disgust.
I didn’t like this.
I didn’t like this at all, but the way he was looking at me told me that I needed to bide my time before I did something rash. I couldn’t call for help on my phone because he could see me do that, and the music inside was too loud for anybody to be able to hear me.
Suddenly, I wished I’d stayed inside.
“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” I said with as much courage as I could muster. I opened my mouth to scream for help, but he was in front of me in an instant with his hands clasped over my mouth.
My eyes widened in surprise as I struggled against his grip. His fingers dug into my shoulders, and tears sprung to my eyes, unbidden. I blinked furiously to keep them at bay, not wanting to give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“If you scream for help, I will hurt you,” he warned, his voice dripping with venom, and the dread in my stomach spread as I saw that he meant it. He didn’t care that he was threatening a complete stranger, and that he had an unfair advantage.
None of that mattered, provided he got what he wanted.
A sick feeling began to spread its way through my veins as I tasted bile in the back of my throat. I had a good idea of what he wanted, and I was hoping I was wrong.
“You smell good,” he murmured as he began to nuzzle my neck. I squirmed in protest which only seemed to excite him even more.
“Somebody’s getting excited,” he said, his mouth reeking of stale tobacco. He kept his hands firmly on my mouth until I dug my nails into his flesh.
I would be damned if I went down without a fight.
He flinched slightly and pulled his hand back in surprise. “You bite me?”
“You’re damn right I did,” I spat. “Now let me go you spineless bastard.”
The man studied me for a minute before he threw his head back and started laughing. “You’re a feisty one. Well, aren’t I lucky?”
I opened my mouth and let out an ear curdling scream, and the man tensed as he waited to see if anybody would come. When no help came, his grin widened into something sickening as he gazed down at me.
“Nobody can hear you. Isn’t that a shame? Now, why do you have to go and fight me, eh? I could give it to you real good,” he promised as he whispered in my ear, pinning me against the wall, so that I had no place to go.
He grabbed my hand in a vice-like grip, and we struggled as he managed to get the shoe out of my hand. It clattered to the floor with a resounding thud, and I watched in dismay as he kicked it away.
“Did you really think you could take me on with—what are those, Gucci shoes?” The man shook his head slowly as if he was in disbelief.
I twisted, so that I brought my knees up to his groin and kicked hard. The man doubled over in pain as he began to curse, and I stumbled away from him, panting as I ran down and out into the open street.
Before I could get far though, the man had grabbed me by the ankles and started dragging me backwards on the floor as I kicked and yelped.
“Oh, I’m definitely going to enjoy you,” he said as he spat and grunted with the effort of dragging me. We were in the alleyway at the back of the club, and I prayed that someone would just walk out and help me because he was entirely too strong for me.
“Go to hell.” I spat in his face, and I watched in satisfaction as he wiped the saliva off. He pinned my legs with his as I began to thrash wildly.
“I believe the lady said to go to hell,” a deep voice commanded. I looked up, dazed and confused, and my heart did a little sputter when I saw the gray eyed stranger from before.
“Fuck off man. I was here first,” the man responded.
“I think you didn’t hear me the first time.” The man stepped forward menacingly as my attacker began to size him up.
“Is this a territorial thing man?” The man stood up, slowly. “I don’t mind letting you have her once I’m finished.”
The gray eyed stranger attacked as I crawled away and watched in mute horror as they began trading punches on the ground. It seemed like the gray eyed stranger had the upper hand for a while, but my attacker had him by the scruff of his neck. The gray eyed stranger hesitated, and it was all my attacker needed to slam him against the wall.
Hastily, I pulled myself to my feet and looked around for a weapon. I brought my shoe down on his shoulder hard, so that the heel got caught in his shoulder blade.
The attacker howled in pain as he released the gray eyed stranger and dropped to the ground.
“Don’t underestimate my Gucci shoes, asshole.” I towered over him and kicked him in the side as he rolled over and clutched his shoulder in pain.
Police sirens sounded in the distance, and the stranger’s eyes widened in apprehension.
“Thank you for saving my life,” I said.
“No problem.” He moved to leave.
“Wait, I don’t even know your name,” I called out.
“It’s Derek.”
I turned my attention to the wail of the sirens, but when I turned back around, he was gone.
After that, he was swallowed up by the darkness, and I was left to give my statement to the police as I speculated about my gray eyed savior.
Once the police were gone, I stood off to the side as they questioned other witnesses to see if somebody heard or saw anything that could help them identify the attacker. Thus far, there wasn’t much to go on.
It appeared that someone made an anonymous phone call, a man, and he hung up without giving them any more information. If I had to guess, I would say it was my gray eyed stranger.
It was the only thing that made sense, given the timing and the nature of the crime.
I leaned my back against the wall, keeping everyone in plain sight as I crossed one leg over the other and shivered.
I had never been through anything like that before, and I was a bit shook up, but beyond that I was fine. I wondered if I would have some kind of delayed reaction after the shock wore off, but I hoped that was not the case.
Perhaps I was just well adjusted.
Though that seemed a bit too much to hope for.
The paramedics said that I might have PTSD for a while, and that I should come see them if I had any problems, but I doubted it would get to that.
I heard the sound of a loud clang behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin in fright as I spun on my heels and scanned the empty alleyway. There didn’t seem to be anything there, so it was a probably a stray cat. My heart began to slow in my chest as I took a deep breath and balled my hands into fists.
Keep it together Aubrey. You’re not going to have a breakdown here. You’re fine, and they got the perp, so it’s okay. I kept repeating this in my head in the hopes that it would make me feel better.
After I scanned the darkness and was about to turn around, a vague outline caught my eye. Someone was down there.
When my hazel eyes met his gray eyes, relief flooded my system.
It was my brooding stranger. He was looking at me intently before he cocked his finger in my direction and gestured for me to come. I was weary of following someone I didn’t know into the dark, but my instincts told me I could trust him.
I tossed a look over my shoulder at the place before I hesitantly put one foot in front of the other, till I stopped in front of him. He studied me carefully, his expression one of pure concern.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “You saved my life back there.”
“It was nothing,” he dismissed my thanks as if it was an everyday occurrence for him.
“Why did you run?” I asked, quietly as I sensed his unease.
“I don’t like cops,” he responded as he crossed his arms over his chest, his expression guarded.
“Okay,” I dragged the syllable out.
“You saved my life too, you know,” he pointed out, mild amusement and surprise splashed across his features.
I grinned. “I’m happy to return the favor.”
“I’ve never been rescued by a shoe before,” he admitted.
“Yeah, who knew heels had a more practical purpose than just looking great?” I said, wonder lacing my tone as I gazed down at the heels I had in my hands. I still refused to let them to go. They really had come in handy.
“I suppose I owe those Gucci shoes my life,” he murmured as he pinned me with the weight of his stare.
“Maybe you do,” I mumbled, unable to look away. “Although they owe you their life right back.”
“Is that so?” His mouth spread into a slow and sexy smirk.
“I’d say we’re pretty even,” I laughed, nervously as my hands fell limply at my side considering I had no idea what to do with them.
“I’d say we’re far from even. That was pretty brave of you to come after him the way you did,” He said, his tone admiring.
“I couldn’t let him hurt you,” I said, simply.
“I’ve had worse.” He gave me a quick grin before it disappeared behind his serious expression. Up close, I was able to see that his hair was straight, and the tips were an ash blonde.
He was even more muscular up close, and my fingers twitched with the desire to feel him underneath my fingertips. I gave a start as I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest, mirroring his expression.
I began to chastise myself as I leaned back so that my back was pressed against the wall.
“You okay?” he asked as he took a step forward.
“Yeah, I guess I’m a bit shaky,” I admitted.
“Understandable after what you’ve gone through…” He trailed off as he realized that he didn’t know my name.
“Aubrey,” I supplied as I gave him a small smile.
“Aubrey.” The name rolled off of his tongue, and he made it sound delicious. Like something exotic or some whispered secret that was between just the two of us.
“He beat you up pretty good.” I reached out and touched his arm, and my skin tingled at the contact as Derek watched me quietly. “Are you sure you don’t want to see a medic?”
“I don’t think a medic can help me,” he said, his voice heated.
My gaze snapped up to meet his, and a harsh breath escaped my lips. “No? What do you need then?”
One corner of his mouth tilted up. “I don’t think you can help me with that, Aubrey.”
My hand stayed on his arm for some reason I couldn’t explain. “I’d like to if I can. I owe you one.”
“You owe me nothing that you don’t want to give,” he said, quietly as his hand gripped mine. We stayed like that, staring at each other as I suddenly realized that he had unconsciously moved closer, so that we were chest to chest.
“That’s a complex answer,” I commented as I tried to ignore the marathon my heart was running in my chest.
“That’s because you have no idea what you’re offering,” Derek said as his gray eyes darkened considerably. “A woman like you could have men on their knees begging.”
I swallowed. “Yeah, no not really.”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “No? Hmm, my mistake then.”
He released my hand, and I suddenly missed the contact, the feeling of his skin on mine. I pushed myself forward, so that we were pressed against each other.
I had no idea what the hell I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to be close to him.
“You’re a mysterious man, Derek,” I said, casually.
“I could say that same about you,” he retorted as he placed one arm on either side of my face, so that I was caged in. “You just got attacked by a man in a dark alley, and he wanted something from you, yet here you are in the exact same position with me.”
I gave a quick dry laugh. “It is completely different. I want to be here, and you are nothing like him.”
“What makes you so sure of that?” he asked, as his finger began to trace my shoulders.
“Because you aren’t,” I muttered, distractedly as I tried not to think of how his hands felt on me. “I can tell. I’ve got pretty good instincts.”
“Like the ones that told you to jam a shoe into the man’s shoulder?” Derek asked in amusement.
“Exactly. I’m thinking I should probably send him the dry cleaning bill because they will be really hard to clean.”
“I’m sure the police department will have a field day with that one.” Derek tilted his head. “Still, the question remains. What makes you think you can trust me?”
“Besides the fact that you saved my life?” I stared at him, incredulously. “How about the fact that you haven’t tried anything although I can see in your eyes that you want me, and you can tell that I want you too.”
“I doubt that is true,” he said, dismissively as his hands continued their trail over my collarbone and up to my ears where they began to massage the earlobes.
“Which part? The fact that you want me?” My stomach dropped to my knees in horror as I realized that maybe I had misjudged the situation.
Derek began to chuckle. “No, that part is obviously true, but you don’t want me. I’m no good for you, and this is probably just the adrenaline, and the fact that you feel indebted to me because I interfered.”
“I’m not reacting based on gratitude,” I said, hotly as I narrowed my gaze at him. “If I were, shouldn’t that be directed towards the policemen or the paramedics?”
“Everyone has different taste.”
My gaze narrowed even further. “No, it’s because even though they helped me, I am not drawn to them. I am grateful, but I don’t feel the same pull that I feel towards you.”
“What pull?”
“Don’t do that. I know you felt it when we were in the bar, and we kept glancing over at each other.”
Derek pursed his mouth into a thin line. “So what if I did? That doesn’t mean we have to act upon it.”
“Because you shouldn’t? Or because you’re worried that it’s too soon after what I’ve been through?” I challenged.
“Both,” he replied, smoothly. “I will not take advantage of a woman.”
I placed one arm on his chest, and the other at the back of his neck where I began to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“Does this look like a woman who’s being taken advantage of?” I whispered as I felt his resolve begin to weaken. “If anything, I’m taking advantage of you.”
Derek made a low choking noise in the back of his throat. “You have no idea what you’re getting into.”
“I don’t care.” I shook my head as the hand that was on his chest traveled down, so that it rested on the front of his jeans where a sizable bulge let me know just how much he was struggling.
“I know you feel it, Derek.” I leaned in and placed my head in the crook of his neck as I began to place feather light kisses there. “Why won’t you kiss me?”
“Because if I kiss you, there’s no going back,” he growled as his hands fell to my shoulders and gripped them.
“So?” My pulse humped as his hands traveled to my back where they remained idle.
“Aubrey I—”
Before he could protest even further, I sealed my lips to his, and he was surprised at first. Soon, he began to respond as fervently as I had hoped. My heart hammered in my chest as his hands traveled down to my bare legs, and he hoisted me up, so I was straddling his waist.
His mouth begged mine for entrance, so I gently opened up and let him in.
“Aubrey?” A voice called out breaking through the fog. “Aub, the police are looking for you.”
The voice was louder now and closer. I made a noise to protest in the back of my throat as Derek stopped what he was doing, and gently put me down. He exhaled a sharp breath as he gave me an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go.” Derek glanced towards the front of the alley before he took off. Sarah showed up a minute later looking confused.