Page 49 of Billionaire's Promise
I freeze. Try to draw in a breath, but my lungs burn. Shit, shit, shit, what the hell is happening? Am I caught up in a nightmare? He presses the metallic surface—a knife?—into my neck. Pain spirals out from the contact. Drops of something slither down my neck and I know it’s blood. OMG, he is going to kill me, he is going to… The man grabs my hip and my heart slams into my chest. No, he is going to do something worse. He is going to— Cool air grazes my back and the scent of pine trees laces my nostrils.
I hear the sound of something smashing into the ground, then the entire tunnel seems to reverberate. I turn, already knowing what I am going to find, and yet, I can’t stop the gasp of surprise when I see Baron bring his leg down—hard—into the stomach of the fallen man.
The bastard groans, tries to rise. Baron steps on him, kicks out his other leg to take out another guy, then lunges forward to throw himself at the third. The two go down, roll, hit the opposite wall. The second man he’d hit rises to his feet, attacks him. He grapples while one guy clings to his back, the other in front, who swipes out his fist. Baron swerves and the fist connects with the man behind him. The sound of breaking bones, thethwapof knuckles connecting with flesh, then the man yells, lumbering back. The man on the ground stirs and I don’t think twice. I stomp my foot squarely on his groin. The guy yells, reaching forward. I step back, kicking him in the shin. The second guy, meanwhile, turns around and lurches for me. I grab my hand bag and swing it up. It connects with his chin and he cries out. He stumbles back, just as Baron throws the third against the wall.
His head connects with the hard surface and he slumps to the ground.
Baron turns, rushes toward the second guy, wraps his hand around his neck, and flings him to the side.
I stumble the other way and Baron brushes past me. He grabs the guy on the ground, hauls him up to his feet and throws him into the wall. "You dare to touch her? You put your hands on her, you motherfucker." He closes his fingers around his face and shoves the back of his head into the wall again and again. The man’s body jerks. His eyelids close and his body slumps. Still, Baron doesn’t stop. "Bastard. How dare you threaten her? Scum, fucking shitstain of a human, I’m going to kill you, I—"
I jump forward grab his arm. "Stop," I yell, "you are going to kill him!"
Baron shakes me off, his gaze focused on the other guy, "Motherfucker, you dare come near her? I am going to make sure you’re never able to touch another woman again."
"Baron!" I scream at him. I throw myself at him, grab his arm and plead with him, "Please, we need to go before someone finds us."
He pauses. His shoulders heave and his breath comes in pants.
"Baron, please, I am tired and—"
He releases the man and turns on me so fast that I blink. He looks me up and down, "Are you wounded?" He closes the distance between us, searches my features. "Did he hurt you?"
"Y...yes," I whisper, "but you hurt me more."
16
Baron
Her lips tremble and her chin wobbles. She squeezes her fingers together, and her knuckles are white. Damn it, I am responsible for this. I allowed my emotions to get the better of me. I walked out of there, left her unprotected for ten minutes, and what happened? They got to her. When I’d seen him put his hands on her, something inside me had detonated. My vision had tunneled; all thoughts had emptied from my head. All I’d known was that he’d touched her. He’d dared to threaten what’s mine. She isn’t mine. She is…his…but he’d charged me with taking care of her. One simple thing and I had failed. And now…she says I hurt her more than those bastards did? What the fuck?
"How?" I growl, "How did I hurt you?"
"Now you ask?" She tries to shove the hair back from her face but her hand shakes. "You…you walked out on me, you ass. After you made me come. You treated me like I was some kind of…of fuck toy."
"No, I didn’t." I wrap my fingers about her throat. "If I had, you wouldn’t be standing here mouthing off to me. And after putting yourself at risk."
Her jaw drops and color creeps into her cheeks. Good. At least, she is getting over the shock.
"I put myself at risk?" she hisses at me. "You think I am at fault?"
I nod. "Ever since I saw you, you’ve crawled under my skin. You’ve occupied my thoughts, broken through my ability to concentrate. You pushed me to the edge until I had no choice but to walk out on you for your own protection."
"And see how that turned out?" She waves a hand in the air. "Are you happy now?"
I shake my head, apply enough pressure on her throat that her eyes widen. "You are so fucking fragile. I can off you so easily, you’d never even see it coming."
She swallows. "And is that what you want?"
I shake my head again. "I don’t know what I want."
"That makes two of us." She shivers and I release my hold on her. I step back, look her up and down, then grip her hand, "Come on, let’s get out of here."
I stalk forward, pulling her along. She stumbles, then protests, "Walk slower."
"You need to keep up."
"My legs are shorter than yours, asshole."
