Hud was about to confront the asshole who was walking Aimee Jo outside, but the gleam of the 9mm he was holding against her, caught his eye. This guy was real bad news and he didn’t want to risk him shooting Aimee Jo or anyone else in the bar. Quickly he went to get Luke.
“Hey, let’s go, now.” Hud slapped him on the back. “That fucker has your girl and they’re outside.”
“What the fuck?” Luke jumped up and started scanning the room for Aimee Jo.
“I was going to stop him, but he has a gun on her. We have to do this together to keep him from hurting her.”
They stepped outside, just in time to see Matt shove her in the red pickup. “That son of bitch,” Luke said, ready to charge after him until Hud held him back.
“No, he will hurt her if you confront him. Go slowly and get to her side of the truck. I will surprise him on the other side.”
Luke nodded and they made their way over to them. As long as he didn’t drive off with her, they would be able to save her.
Luke played the part of the hero. He seriously doubted that the fucker had balls enough to shoot anyone, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Aimee Jo. If he could just get her safely away from the asshole, he would gladly take him on.
Luke snuck up to the window to see the asshole on top of her as she tried to fight him off. Hud was ready on the driver’s side, and as they motioned to each other, they went into action.
In unison, they opened both doors of the truck. Hud grabbed Matt and pulled him off of Aimee Jo, as Luke grabbed her up and pulled her out of the truck. At first, she screamed, but then when she saw who it was, she quickly hugged him and started to cry.
By now, Aimee Jo’s screams had brought more people to the scene as Luke could hear Hud slamming the guy against his truck.
“Here, take her.” Luke handed Aimee Jo over to one of the waitresses as he went over to help his friend.
As soon as Hud had him, the bastard tried reaching for his gun. He picked the wrong day to fuck with an ex-marine as Hud quickly disarmed him, tossing the gun away and throwing him against the truck.
Luke came around from the other side but saw that his friend had him under control. “Where’s the gun?” Luke shouted.
“To my left,” Hud grunted as he shoved the guy once again.
Luke grabbed the gun and quickly unloaded it, tossing it up on the hood of the truck.
“How’s Aimee Jo?” Hud asked.
“She fine, no thanks to this fucker,” Luke said, getting into the guy’s face.
“Don’t you ever come around her again, do you hear me, asshole? Consider it your lucky day that I don’t beat the shit out of you right now.”
Matt just scowled at him. “Fuck you.”
Luke was ready to tear him apart.
“Luke!” Aimee Jo cried out.
“Take care of your girl. He isn’t going anywhere until the cops show up, and then he will be taking a ride with them,” Hud said.
Luke walked away and Aimee Jo ran back into his arms and started sobbing as he held her tightly against him.
The three of them had to stay at the club for a few more hours while the police took Matt away. He was going to be charged with numerous felonies and Aimee Jo would not have to worry about him anymore.
Hud drove them home as Aimee Jo wouldn’t leave Luke’s arms for one second. She had hardly spoken a word since they’d saved her. Luke wanted to take her to the hospital just to make sure she was okay, but she refused. She just wanted to go home and take a shower and go to bed.
Luke started the shower and Aimee Jo slowly got undressed. She took all her clothes and threw them in the trash, mumbling how she could never get them clean enough again.
Matt didn’t get a chance to rape her, but he did enough to traumatize her. Luke was at a loss for what to do for her, as she stood there naked in front of him, with her tear-soaked face and that look. The same look she’d had that day at the diner when he’d first met her. She had that look again, and it gutted him.
He watched as she stepped into the shower and let the hot water hit her. Immediately, she took the soap and started washing herself. Soon she was scrubbing herself raw and crying hysterically.
Luke quickly got in with her, clothes and all, to stop her from hurting herself. She cried in his arms as he gently started washing her from head to toe. When she finally calmed down, he undressed in the shower and rinsed them both before shutting the water off and grabbing a towel. He quickly dried himself, and then grabbing another towel, he began to dry her off.
She was limp in his arms as he took care of her. He feared she wouldn’t even be able to make it to the bed without collapsing, so he wrapped the towel around her and picked her up in his arms. It was if she was asleep and immediately woke up as she stared into his eyes. She touched his cheek as he held her.
“Make love to me, Luke,” she whispered.
“Honey, you’re tired. We’re going to bed,” he said.
She held his face in her hands, making him look at her. “Make love to me, Luke, please. Wash away what he did. I don’t want that memory to be my last for the night,” she pleaded with him.
She leaned in and kissed him and he let her as he held her tightly. He wanted to make love to her and wipe out what happened hours ago. He wanted to wake up with her every morning and make love to her. He still had a few days with her and he was going to cherish every minute.
Luke got up quietly, letting Aimee Jo sleep longer. He’d made love to her last night like she’d asked, and had held her in his arms all night. A few times she had awakened, shaking with terror, but quickly calmed down as soon as she heard Luke’s voice telling her she was okay.
He left the bedroom door open so he could hear her if she called out to him, and made his way to the kitchen. Hud was there to join him.
‘Morning,” Hud said as he stood there drinking his coffee.
“Morning. Do those come in pairs?” Luke said, pointing to his mug.
Hud poured his buddy a cup and set it next to him on the counter. “Here you go. Sleep well?”
“What do you think?” Luke mumbled.
“I think you’re just as ugly in the morning as you are in the evening,” Hud joked.
“Fuck you, asshole,” Luke chuckled.
“No, thanks, you’re not my type.” Hud tried to laugh.
“Sorry about last night,” Luke said.
“What are you talking about?” Hud looked at him funny.
“About mentioning Lisa, it was a low blow.”
“Forget it. How’s she doing?” He motioned his head toward the hall.
“I don’t know. If she is still like she was last night, she is going to the hospital, whether she likes it or not,” Luke declared.
“That guy was some serious bad news. I’m glad he’s behind bars. So have you decided what you’re going to do?” Hud asked him, hoping that after last night, he might have changed his tune.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to make sure she’s okay. She has her audition in less than a week,” Luke said, trying to block all the negative out for now.
Hud looked up just in time to see Aimee Jo walk in. “There she is. Coffee, darlin’?”
“Yes, please.” She smiled as she came over to Luke. Luke welcomed her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss. “You were saying something about my audition?” Aimee Jo asked them.
“Yeah, I was telling Hud here that I deserve a few weeks of vacation, so I’m going to hang out and take you to your audition, if that’s okay,” he lied.
“Really? I would like that,” she said, hugging him once again.
Luke looked over at his friend, who was shaking his head. “How are you feeling?” Luke asked, grateful that she seemed better than last night.
“Better. I’ll be okay.” She smiled.