Page 40 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

Without warning, the man with the stinky breath was yanked away from me, throwing me off balance and jostling me and the man holding my other arm. I whipped my head around at the sound of flesh meeting flesh just as one of the guards slammed stinky breath square in the jaw. His head spun sideways, and blood flew from his mouth, he stumbled into the man holding me.

We both fell to the ground and in the commotion, the asshole lost his grip.

Taking my chance at freedom, I wrangled myself away from him. I hiked my skirt up to my hips and crawled away. Each time a raw, torn up knee hit the ground, pain ripped through me. It fucking hurt, but I kept moving. One step, then another, a coppery tang filled my mouth and I discovered I’d bitten my lip to keep from howling in pain. I got pissed thinking about my beautiful dress and how these assholes had destroyed it.

Damn animals.

Someone yelled. “Let’s go!” and feet pounded over the pavement. Doors slammed, the truck’s engine revved, and tires squealed on the asphalt as they took off.

Without warning, someone’s hands slid beneath my armpits, lifted me off the ground, and set me on my feet. Oh, no. Had one of the kidnappers stayed behind?

No fucking way was I going to make this easy for the asshole.

My back to him, I bent my arm, drew it forward, and with the loudest war cry I could muster, hammered my elbow right into the guy’s stomach.

“Oof,” he grunted.

Not done yet, I was winding up for a crotch shot when I heard a familiar voice.

“Jess, stop. It’s me.” Alden wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“Alden?” I spun around in his arms, happy to see his handsome face, knowing I was safe. “Thank fuck.” My forehead dropped to his chest and my body sagged against him. “Took you long enough.”

My tough talk was betrayed by the adrenaline raging through my bloodstream, causing uncontrollable tremors.

“Damn it, Jess. You can’t stay out of trouble for one minute, can you?” His voice rasped and he held me close. I couldn’t tell if the light touch atop my head had been the weight of his chin or the brush of his lips. As desperately as I wanted to know, I was too afraid to ask.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” The deep timber of his voice soothed my nerves.

I glanced around. “Are they—”

“Gone? Yeah, they took off.” Alden smoothed a strand of hair from my face. “Don’t worry, Gage is working on tracking them.”

“Good,” I couldn't stand the thought of them being out there, not knowing who they were, or if they might come after me again.

Alden seemed worried as he checked me over for injuries. I followed his gaze to the blood seeping through my torn and filthy dress.

Uh, oh.

“What the hell?” He squatted down and lifted my skirt to expose my battered knees.

“Yeah, and I lost my shoes, too.” This whole night made me want to cry, but that would have to wait until I was alone.

“Jesus, Jess.” He stood, put an arm behind my knees, one behind my back, and scooped me up into his arms. “You need medical attention, and we need to get you out of here.”

“I’m fine, Alden. I can walk.” My protest fell on deaf ears, so I curved an arm around the back of his shoulders and enjoyed the ride. After all, walkingwouldbe painful.

Right, like that’s the only reason you’re letting him carry you.

My head landed on top of his shoulder, and I left it there. His strong, steady heartbeat helped calm my own.

The guard who’d tackled stinky breath guy looked up from helping his partner. “You okay?”

“She’s fine.” Alden kept walking.

“Wait.” The guard stook and called out, “We need to report this.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Alden said over his shoulder as we headed to my nearby car.

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