Page 87 of Bloom: Part 1

“But so long as I am with you, you don’t have to do anything.”

“Wow, this is nice.”

“What is?”

“Having someone protect me, even though they don’t have to.”

“What about the bikers?”

“They haven’t needed to protect me in years.”

I chuckled. “That’s because you’re such a badass.”

Bloom grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and pulled me down. His lips were firm on mine, his tongue demanding, and the fingers creeping into my hair let me know what he wanted. Damn, at the rate he wanted sex, I would fuck him until my legs gave out, but not even that seemed too bad.

“Why don’t we get out of here?”

I paid our tab and escorted Bloom from the bar with my hand on his lower back. Outside, the air was much cooler, but not for long. Bloom shoved me up against the brick wall, pressing his body against mine. His mouth sought mine again, and I obliged happily, pulling him in tighter against me. The heat radiating from Bloom’s body made the rough texture of the bricks on my back bearable.

“Home,” I gasped. “We need to get home.”

“I can’t wait that long.”

“Then the car.”

“Yes.”

But before we had taken five steps, a tall man blocked our path. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes cold and calculating, boring into us.

“I thought I told you to beat it.”

The man shrugged. “See, I thought about it some more and decided I’m not gonna let this one go. From that little demonstration there, he’ll be smashing in bed. He’s got a great ass on him.”

“Too bad that’s not your decision to make. Come on, Bloom.”

We walked around the man. Bloom gasped. The annoying prick had Bloom’s hair in his hand. “Nah, I wanna pull this hair, make his back arch like a bitch in heat, and fuck that wet—”

My vision white hot, I spun and kicked him right at the side of his neck, striking the carotid sinus. He dropped like thepunching bag I’d kicked off the chain at the gym once when I found out how far my uncle would go to tie me down to the family.

“Oh shit.” Bloom’s eyes were wide. He stared at the man on the ground, then at me. “Where did you learn to do that?”

I shrugged. “Did a bit of kickboxing in my early twenties. Didn’t realize I still had it in me until I saw him holding on to you.”

“Well, that was fucking amazing.” The man stirred, and I breathed easier. I didn’t want to kill him, just hurt him a little.

“Wha—”

Bloom kicked him in the head, knocking him out again. I groaned. “Bloom—”

“What? I was just following your lead.”

I grabbed his wrist. “Just come on.”

Bloom babbled excitedly next to me about the way I’d knocked out the man. He had no idea how wild my heart thumped. I’d been told learning how to fight would come in handy. Though I never paid much attention, never wanted to learn, never wanted to have to use my fists, I had picked up at least one thing that was useful tonight.

23

BLOOM

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