Page 142 of Until I Own You

Not by her own volition, though.

His hands are digging into her hips, her short skirt riding up, so close to revealing more than her uppermost thighs.

She’s squirming. Not dancing.

No one seems to be noticing them.

She’s been separated from the girls.

Bridget tries to pry his hands off her, but he’s much too big and strong for her. She looks around helplessly until her eyes meet mine.

Her lips form my name.

She screams, but it doesn’t make a sound over the music and club sounds.

Her eyes are filled with a fear I’ve never seen before.

Fear I will not let become a reality.

My body reacts first. Seems to be a pattern these days.

I leap out of my chair so fast I knock it to the ground. I push through people, not bothering with excuse me and pardon me.

Someone is in danger. My girl is in danger.

Once I’m down on the floor, it’s much harder to gauge where she is.

I force myself onto the dance floor, shouting out her name.

Someone taps me on the shoulder, and I turn my attention for a brief moment to lock eyes with Mason.

All my friends have followed me without me even realizing.

“We’re going to split up and cover more ground.”

I give him a quick nod and keep wading through the crowd.

I can’t find her. I don’t see her.

I emerge on the other side at a complete loss.

I run my fingers through my hair, trying to calm myself enough to focus on my surroundings.

I scan the perimeter of the room, looking for any strange activity.

Nothing seems out of place.

People drunk and laughing. No one paid any fucking attention to a girl screaming and trying to get away from a guy.

“Bridget!” I cry out.

Useless. My voice is swallowed by the music.

I spot Lourdes, the head of club security, and rush over to her. “Hey, I just saw a guy on the dance floor grabbing Bridget–Bridget Vance–” As if she doesn’t know who Bridget is. But I’m desperate. “–and I don’t know where they went, but she needed help and–”

Lourdes’s big, brown eyes widen. She lifts her finger to her ear to ready her com to disseminate the information. “What’d he look like?”

“God, I don’t remember. Big. Tall. Muscles, she couldn’t fight him off. I didn’t–I didn’t get a good look before I–”

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