Page 9 of Shifting Gears

She snapped out of the trance she had been in with a small nod.

“Let’s get you out of here. Can you run?” I said as I wrapped my hand gently around her wrist.

“Yes.”

“Then follow me. I’ll keep you safe.” I turned and led her at a jog out of the alleyway.

There was only one place I could think of to take her. My loft.

Hopefully, that wouldn’t be a mistake.

CHAPTER 4

RAVEN

There wassomething about this guy, but I just couldn’t place it. I had known when he first sat down next to me that what he was really after was only a hookup. But after seeing him save me from the men my fiancé had sent after me, the way he had absolutely taken charge and gotten me out of the situation, there was more than meets the eye about him.

What was he hiding deep under his tough exterior?

So, I let him lead me from the scene of the fight, and I followed him blindly. For all I knew, he could attempt to sell me off to the highest bidder or actually be working for my fiancé without my knowledge and this was all some elaborate setup by him. But I felt in my soul that none of that was the case. When he’d said he would keep me safe, I’d believed him.

That was how I wound up sitting next to him on this bus, which was obviously making its way to the shipping docks of Yokohama. We sat in silence, his arm draped over my shoulders, keeping me close to his side, preventing anyone else from touching me. I was sure we were a pair that would draw a lot of attention wherever we went. I usually did on my own, being half Japanese. My height and eyes alone got me countless questions. But he was a presence that could not be ignored. Confidenceradiated from him, even more so right now with him on high alert after the fight. I glanced down at his knuckles next to my cheek, noticing they were red from the impacts he had delivered.

I brought my hand up and stroked a spot that looked extra agitated. His hand twitched before he brought it to my cheek, turning my face toward him.

“You good?” he asked as his eyes searched mine.

I could see worry, but he was doing a good job of hiding it with his cocky exterior.

“Yes, I’m fine. My wrist is a little sore, but that will go away. Where are we going, AJ?” I asked, hoping for brutal honesty in his reply. I’d prefer if he told me if this was all some cruel ploy.

“Unless you have somewhere you’d rather go, I was going to bring you back to my place. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but I thought you just needed to get away from whoever the fuck those guys were. Since they don’t know me, I figured this would be the best place to go.”

His words were full of sincerity, and I gave a nod as his thumb stroked my cheek. Such a comforting movement, and I leaned into it. It’d been so long since any man had touched me in such a gentle way. I’d almost forgotten what it could feel like.

“No, everywhere else I could go, they would know where to find me.”

I glanced back up to look at his face. I hadn’t taken the time to really study his features until now. He had dark brown hair. It looked almost black under the shadows of the hood he had on right now. Those eyes of his were dark amber, and they almost seemed to shift colors as the lighting changed around us where we sat in the back of this bus. His jawline was strong, and he had some stubble, as if he hadn’t shaved for a few days. His lips were not full, but still enough for me to wonder how they would feel pressed against mine.

Raven, there is no way that’s going to happen. If Kaito found out, he would kill you and your sisters. You are his, remember? There is no escaping that now. This is your fate. You need to accept it.

“Like what you see?”

I blinked through the thoughts that clouded my mind and felt heat creep into my cheeks as his eyes bore back down into mine.

“I only wanted to get a good look at you. Don’t let it go to your head,” I said as I snapped my face forward, looking out the front windshield.

We sat in silence the rest of the way until he motioned for me to stand up with him at one of the stops. I did, and we exited the bus and walked down the sidewalk toward the shipping docks that were full of exporting cars and trucks.

We continued through the rows of vehicles toward a larger warehouse. I hesitated as we approached the side door. He paused a couple of steps in front of me and turned.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I know it’s nothing fancy, but it’s warm and quiet.”

I barely heard him as my thoughts had become louder than anything in the real world.

What are you actually doing? You know how furious he will be once he finds out that his men who were sent to collect you were beaten senseless. Why are you going to risk your family and everything else you’ve been sacrificing for? And over what? A hot stranger you met at the bar? For one night where your fiancé doesn’t know where you are so you can live some stupid, naive dream of being with a man who doesn’t look at you like you're a belonging, and instead, he looks at you like you are something he wants to devour and devote himself to.

“Come on, baby. What’s wrong?” His voice snapped me out of my thoughts again.

---