Chapter 2 Saved By A Stranger

Simone

"Hold her down. The boss said we can take our time."

The voice came from somewhere above me. Rough and happy.

I was lying on gravel. Rai had dragged me out of the house and dumped me behind a ruined barn at the edge of town. I didn't remember how I got there. My heart pounded so loud it drowned out half the world.

Someone grabbed my ankle. I kicked but it was weak and clumsy.

"Look at her try," a second voice laughed. Then it dropped into a mean, curious hum. "Eyes like that? I've never seen a human with eyes like that."

"Don't care about her eyes."

Boots crunched around me. Nine shapes in a loose circle, their eyes glowing dull yellow in the dark. Some had scars, one had a missing ear, another was breathing in a wet, rattling way that made my skin crawl.

I tried to scream but nothing came out.

"Hear that?" The man with the rattling breath crouched near my face. His fingers brushed my jaw. "She's begging already."

I jerked away. A hand slammed my shoulder back into the dirt.

"Careful," another one warned, grinning. "The drug's working. Look at her skin. She wants it."

"No," I forced out. It cracked in half. "No."

They laughed.

My dress strap snapped. I squeezed my eyes shut, and something deep inside me, a tiny, stubborn piece, refused to break. If I closed my eyes and thought of my grandmother's humming, maybe I wouldn't feel it.

Then the laughing stopped.

"Why's it so quiet?" the one with the missing ear muttered.

A low sound rolled across the barn yard. It started deep, almost too deep to hear. It vibrated through the ground into my back. The hair on my arms rose.

It wasn't a growl. It was worse. It was the sound of something very old deciding that someone was going to die.

"Who's there?" The rattling man stood up fast.

Nothing answered.

A shadow moved at the edge of the barn. Tall and broad. It stepped into the moonlight one slow footstep at a time, and my breath caught.

He was beautiful. That was my first stupid thought. Black hair, tousled like he'd run through the wind and eyes, gold, burning bright in the dark. A man built like a king carved out of stone.

His gaze swept over me. "Which one of you touched her?" he asked, his voice quiet... that made it worse.

"Mind your business, pretty boy," the missing-ear rogue sneered, stepping forward. "This one's ours."

The golden eyes slid to him. "I'll ask once more." The stranger tilted his head. "Which. One."

"You deaf? We said..."

The man vanished.

One second he stood twenty feet away. The next, his hand was around the rogue's throat. I heard a crack, like a branch snapping. The body dropped.

Four rogues lunged at once. Claws flashed. A scream tore out of someone. The stranger moved like smoke. A claw raked his arm, and he didn't even blink.

He grabbed a rogue by the jaw and slammed him into the barn wall so hard the planks split.

"Kill him!" someone screamed.

"What the hell is he?!"

My vision swam. The drug was crawling up my legs now, pulling me under. I lay in the dirt and watched, unable to look away.

A body hit the ground near my hand. A rogue crawled away, whimpering, one arm hanging wrong.

"Run," the man with the rattling breath cried. "Run, run, RUN."

They scattered.

The stranger tracked each one with those burning eyes. He didn't chase them. He lifted one hand, and the air around his fingers rippled. A black wind cracked across the yard. Three of the rogues dropped mid-step, collapsing like puppets with cut strings.

Then everything was still.

I lay there, shaking, my chest rising and falling too fast. The smell of blood and dust filled my nose.

I forced my eyes up. He stood over me, his chest rising and falling, a long scratch bleeding along his forearm. His eyes had changed.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

I tried to nod. My body didn't obey. I managed a tiny, pathetic shake of my head.

He swore under his breath and knelt. His coat dropped around my shoulders. "Look at me." He cupped my chin. His hand was shaking. "What did they give you?"

My lips parted but words wouldn't come. My throat burned and I tapped my neck weakly.

His gaze dropped to the puncture mark and the dried blood. His nostrils flared. "Aphrodisiac. Wolf grade." He closed his eyes briefly. "Of course."

"Hurts," I rasped. Barely a sound. "Everything... hurts."

His eyes opened. "Don't talk. Your throat is torn."

"Who..." I swallowed. "Who are you?"

A pause. His thumb brushed the tear tracks off my cheek, and it was so careful I almost cried again.

"Someone who shouldn't be here."

He slid one arm under my knees and lifted me. My head fell against his chest.

"You're burning," I mumbled.

"So are you." His voice came low and rough. "Don't move, human. I'm not... I'm not in a good state either."

I blinked up at him. "Drugged?"

"Poisoned. Earlier. A glass of wine at a banquet." A humorless breath. "Someone wanted me to do something stupid tonight."

"Then why did you come here?"

His jaw ground. For a long moment he said nothing. He carried me through the dark yard, away from the bodies, toward a black car parked on the road.

"I smelled blood," he told me finally. "And I couldn't walk past it."

The car door opened for me. He eased me into the back seat and leaned over, buckling me in. His face was inches from mine. His breath was ragged. His eyes dropped to my mouth and snapped away.

"Don't look at me like that," he warned.

"Like what?" I whispered.

"Like you want me to forget I'm trying to be a decent man."

My heart skipped. The heat in my body surged. I was dizzy, confused, and so tired of being afraid. A strange, reckless thought drifted up through the haze. This man had killed for me. This man was shaking just from touching my skin.

My fingers curled into the front of his shirt. "Then don't be decent," I breathed.

His whole body went still. "Say that again."

I didn't. I tugged him down by the shirt instead.

A sound tore out of his chest. Part groan, part curse. He pressed his forehead against mine, eyes squeezed shut, fighting something. "Last chance," he rasped. "Tell me to stop."

I didn't tell him to stop.

His lips crashed into mine softly, I could feel the tension rising.

"You have no idea what you just started," he growled.

When we got to his penthouse, he didn't waste any time and carried me up to his room.

"Are you fine?" He asked, touching my skin carefully.

I nodded, anticipating what would come next. He slowly licked the wound around my neck and it started healing.

I gasped in shock.

"Calm down, baby. You will be fine," he smiled, wanting to walk away.

I held his hand back, shaking my head.

"There is no going back from this," he told me, his voice laced with desire.

Before I knew it he was on top of me, careful not to squeeze me, he took his time taking off my clothes.

"Fuck!" He grinned looking at my naked body with amusement.

I blushed hard, trying to turn away, but he lifted my chin to face him and kissed me again.

His cock was hard and close to my pussy. "Last chance to say no."

I grabbed his cock and pressed it against my wet clit.

"Fuckkkk." He pushed in slowly, allowing me to adjust to his size. "You're so tight, baby," he whispered in my ears, sucking on it.

I lifted my waist to meet his thrusts and he took that as a sign to go faster.

"Ah..." I moaned.

"Shh... your neck needs to heal fully, take it like the good girl you are."

He pushed in deeper as he was almost close. His cock hit that spot that made me see starts. I clenched so hard as I came. "Yeahh."

He didn't stop, instead he increased his pace and filled me up with his cum. I could feel it dripping down my thighs.

"You belong to me now," he said, hugging me in a way that made me feel safe.

I woke before sunrise. Every inch of me ached. An arm lay across my waist, and a stranger's slow breathing brushed the back of my neck.

I didn't know his name. I didn't know where I was.

I slid out from under his arm one careful inch at a time. My dress was ruined, so I pulled on his shirt, grabbed my shoes and held my breath and tiptoed toward the door.

My hand touched the handle.

"Leaving already?"

My blood turned to ice. I didn't turn.

"I..." My voice had come back, "I have to go. My grandmother's waiting."

"Is she?" I could feel him smiling. "Run if you want, little human."

My fingers tightened on the handle.

"But I never let go of anything I've tasted," he told me softly. "You can run. I'll still find you."