Page 24 of Protecting Talia

It took Kevlar’s team another two hours to rescue the Marines and get to safety. It was still early, so he grabbed a mug of coffee and headed into the room with their desks. Bud and Q were right behind him.

Q dropped into his chair and let go a heavy sigh. “Fuck, I hate being stuck here watching other teams.”

“Same,” Zip said.

“They got out,” Rider said as he entered the room.

Everyone mumbled their agreement. Zip sipped his coffee, hoping Kevlar’s team was enjoying their victory.

“We need to go for a run,” Zip said after a moment.

The guys groaned, but they started changing into their PT clothes. His team was the best. He respected the other SEALs, but this group was family, and he would make sure they all came home from missions and deployments. His thoughts turned from his team to Talia. He wanted to make sure she survived, too. She deserved happiness, and he wanted to stay in her life and give it to her.

There was something special about the woman, and he wanted to experience more with her. She may be down on herself, but he wasn’t. He didn’t love the fact that she’d done porn, but it really wasn’t a big deal for him. He cared more about what was in her heart, not what she’d done with her body. The thought of her family forcing her into porn made anger rise. He needed to control that anger and not lash out at Talia, so he pushed the thought away, and focused on things they could so on Saturday, like hiking one of the trails he knew about.

15

The office building she had to clean on Friday night was a disaster. It looked like someone had come in to rob it or something. The manager called their contact at the company and was assured that no one had broken into the building. They’d had a party and left a mess, not picking up anything. There was trash strewn everywhere.

She hated messy people who couldn’t bother to pick up after themselves. Sure, their job was to clean, but they weren’t supposed to have to pick up after spoiled brats who couldn’t manage to toss stuff into the trash.

They worked late, and exhaustion was sucking her under when she climbed the steps to her apartment. She was almost at the top before she looked up and saw Dave standing with a smirk on his face.

“Out late working?”

She paused, her brain not moving fast to keep up with why Dave was at her door and what his words meant. “What?”

His laughter made her want to run. She put her hand on the railing, trying to steady herself. She had nothing to protect herself. The mace was in her car. She hadn’t thought she’d run into trouble getting into her apartment.

“I remembered where I saw you. You know, I could cut you a discount on rent.”

His words sent ice through her veins. He’d watched the porn she’d been in and recognized her. Anger at her family rose, and she wanted to punish them and this jerk. But she was on the steps, a precarious position at best. He was bigger, and she had nothing to fight with.

She straightened her spine, anger and hate interwoven with her muscles, making them clench. “No, thank you.”

His laughter grew, and he moved fast, pinning her against the railing. “I could just force you. No one would believe you, you little whore.”

He leaned in and sniffed her neck, sending shivers down her spine. She couldn’t let him rape her. She paused but wasn’t frozen in place. She’d dealt with enough assholes to know what would come next. If she waited just a second, he’d think he had the upper hand.

When he finally started touching her breasts, she moved fast, lifting her knee and slamming it as hard as she could into his body. She was sore from being on her knees scrubbing stains off the carpets at work, and pain exploded down her leg, but she couldn’t stop there.

Maybe her aim hadn’t been great, but Dave recovered fast and grabbed her. She went down hard on her elbows, sending pain from her shoulders up her neck and down her back.

“You bitch!” he roared.

Talia kicked out, hitting Dave squarely in the nose. She was making him mad but wasn’t doing much to save herself. He yanked at her ankle, pulling her down a step.

Her head bounced on the stairs, and she screamed as shock filled her. She needed to fight harder to get away, but his hand on her ankle was like a vice grip. She wouldn’t escape.

Panic ramped up. Her hands were shaking so hard she knew she wouldn’t be able to fight. This was a losing battle. She was done for. No way she would survive his anger. Men like him were punishing. It wasn’t enough to have sex. He would have to break her.

Her heart was pumping hard, and her breathing became erratic. Her vision blurred, and she couldn’t get it together. She thought she might pass out. Going dark would be terrible. He would really take advantage of her if she dipped under. She had to stay alert and fight.

Dave yanked at her pants, pulling them down around her thighs. She kicked at him again and tried to scream, but she couldn’t catch her breath enough to yell.

Then the most wonderful thing happened. She saw the flash of red and blue lights followed by someone running up the stairs. Dave was yanked off her. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, trying to protect herself and become as small as possible.

“Miss, are you okay?”

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