He came out of nowhere.

One second I was pressed up against the car, struggling as Guff worked to get my panties down, and the next he was there. I couldn’t believe my eyes as he smashed the gun down into Guff’s face.

I’d thought Guff was going to rape me. I’d thought I was going to be violated, right there in the parking lot, by that disgusting piece of shit. Instead, that man saved me.

And I got to go back and get a nice kick in to top it all off.

I couldn’t believe it. He’d hustled me into his car and we were off. Halfway down the drive back toward the main road, he tossed the gun out the window and laughed.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Hartley,” I said.

He looked at me. “Pretty name.”

“Who are you and why did you do that?”

He smirked at me, and I got a better look at him. Tattoos snaked along his arms, disappearing up his shirt. I caught hints of them along his neck, peeking out from his collar. He was handsome, so damn handsome, with intense blue eyes and a ripped body that knew what it was doing.

“Not a polite way of saying thanks, but I guess it’ll do.”

“Thanks,” I said more softly. “But you shouldn’t have done that. Do you know who they are?”

He sighed. “How come nobody cares who I am?” he said to himself.

“I asked that first,” I pointed out.

“Fair.” He smirked at me. “My name’s Travis, and I’m your guardian angel.”

I laughed. “I don’t have a guardian angel.”

“You did today, apparently. What did you do to make them want to hurt you like that?”

I looked away from him. “Not sure that’s your business.”

“I think it is, considering I just saved your pretty ass.”

I sighed. “I don’t want to get into it.”

He grunted. “Okay then. Was it bad enough to rape you over?”

“No,” I said. “They didn’t think I was trying hard enough.”

“Fucking scumbags,” he said softly. “I should have put a fucking bullet in them all.”

“You don’t get it,” I said seriously. “Listen. They’re all Dixie Mafia. You should really drop me off now and get out of here before they figure out who you are.”

He glanced at me again, a small frown on his face. “Dixie Mafia, huh?”

“Those three, they’re bad men. You shouldn’t have done that.”

He grinned at me again. “I’m a bad fucking man myself, Hartley. You happen to be in luck.”

I sighed, leaning back in the seat. His car was an old Cadillac, a big boat of a car, not the type of thing I was used to seeing down south. Most men drove trucks, big trucks with huge wheels, but not this guy.

“Are you not from around here?” I asked him.

“I was, a long time ago.”

“So you know what the Dixie Mafia is then.”

“I have a good idea, sure.”

“Then you know it’s no joke,” I said, getting frustrated.

“Didn’t think you were joking.” That cocky grin on his face, though, that grin said otherwise.

That grin seemed to suggest that everything about me was a big fat joke. I could feel his eyes glancing at me, taking me in, not shy about it at all.

“Look,” I said, taking a deep breath, “I appreciate what you did for me. I really do. But you should just drop me off and get out of here.”

“Hartley, do those guys know where you live?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I said, “but I was heading out of town.”

“That’s probably smart. But do you think they’re going to stop looking for you just because you skipped out?”

“No. Probably not.”

“No, they won’t. I can promise that, especially now.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“I’m sorry. Should I have let that man rape you?”

I shook my head. “Point taken.”

“Listen to me. Come back to my hotel room. Let me get a look at that black eye you got. Stay the night and then make a new plan in the morning.”

I frowned. This total stranger wanted me to stay the night with him? That usually meant only one thing, from my experience. Truth was, though, I couldn’t act like I wasn’t interested in exactly that. Every second I was around this man I felt my pulse quickening, my body reacting. I was dripping wet already, and I had no idea exactly why.

He was frustrating, and an asshole, and a total stranger. It was probably a bad idea, following him home.

“I don’t have much choice in this, I guess,” I said.

“You do. You really want to go, I’ll drop you wherever you want to be. But I promise, you’ll be safer with me.”

I stared at him. I didn’t understand why he was doing this or who he really was. He’d seemed to take control of that situation so easily, like he’d done that sort of thing a million times before. He didn’t look like a cop or something like that, but he clearly wasn’t a mafia guy himself.

It made no sense why he’d reach out and put himself in the middle of this, but I knew I needed help, especially now. At least just for the night.

“Okay,” I said.

He nodded. “All right then.”

We drove in silence then and Travis switched on the radio. I leaned deeper into my seat, looking out the window, watching the trees flash by.

Knoxville was a beautiful town. Set deep in the southern part of Georgia, it had some of the prettiest landscapes around. But it was also such a deadly place, as I was finding out for myself. I never thought they’d come after me like that, to be completely honest. I figured they might come after my family, but I prayed that my father and them could figure something out.

This was different, though. They’d tried to rape me in broad daylight right outside a crowded bar. They had way more power in Knoxville than I could have ever dreamed.

Escaping was a damn fantasy. I couldn’t believe how dumb I was getting myself into this mess. If Travis hadn’t helped, something horrible would have happened to me.

I took a deep breath. I couldn’t think about that.

I was probably safe, at least for the time being. I didn’t know how much I trusted Travis, but I couldn’t really see any other options for me. I needed to get out of town, but I didn’t think I’d get very far.

For now, just for now, I was going to follow this handsome, asshole stranger back to his hotel. But that was all. It wasn’t going any further than that. I’d stay there and wait until this all blew over.

That was right. I’d wait and this would all blow over.

I just had to hope I could keep my hands to myself once he got me alone in a room.