Page 18 of Tease

He ran at me, his fists primed. I dodged out of the way, putting my foot out to trip him up as I spied the other guy getting to his feet. They should have brought more men with them if they planned on taking me down. Two against one was nothing. I’d been in worse fights.

The beanie man went sprawling on the ground. I darted forward, running at the other guy with my hands up. Both knives sliced into his shoulders. I backed him up until he hit a tree. I dug the knives in harder, making him cry out in pain. Then I ripped them from his body, threw them on the ground and grabbed a hold of him. I head-butted the guy before spinning him around and launching him back into the tree. His head smacked against it, and he fell to the floor, knocked out cold.

I turned, finding the beanie man on his feet again. It was time to end this. Charging toward him, I launched myself at the man, knocking him to the ground before ploughing my fists into his face repeatedly. The crunch of his nose breaking satisfied me. Blood ran down his face as he groaned in pain, trying to shove me off him. I grabbed a hold of his head and slammed it down on the ground repeatedly until I knocked him out.

Rising to my feet, I stared down at the man, watching his head loll to the side. My chest heaved with the exertion, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I reached down, grabbed his shoulders and hauled him into the woods, setting him down a few feet in. My feet carried me to the other guy, and I dragged him into the woods too, putting him next to his friend. I moved over to the discarded bag and dug inside it, pulling out a few cable ties I’d stuffed in there earlier. They were not in there because I wanted to tie Rina up or anything. I was a cautious man who always brought something to restrain people with just in case anything went wrong. Besides, if I wanted to bind her, I wouldn’t use cable ties, it would be rope.

After I’d tied both of the men at the ankles and wrists, I stared down at them as I dragged my phone out of my pocket. I spoke to one of my men for a few minutes to get them down here so we could transport and interrogate these fuckers when they woke up. Then I went in search of the knives, making sure to clean the blood off them using the wet wipes from the bag. I put their knife in the bag and mine back in its hiding place.

Now I’d dealt with the immediate threat, I spun around and searched the treeline.

“Rina?”

She peered out of the woods, her grey eyes wide. Then she ran towards me. She faltered as she got within a few feet, her mouth opening and closing. I stepped closer.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I-I’m f-fine.”

Her eyes darted to the wet wipes I’d left on top of the bag. Before I could stop her, she’d gone for them, pulling a couple out and coming closer to me. I watched her take my hands and wipe the blood from them. It wasn’t mine, and I certainly didn’t want her worrying I was hurt. To be honest, I was more concerned about how she felt now she’d witnessed what I was capable of.

“I didn’t want you to see that,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady so she wouldn’t hear the worry in it.

She didn’t speak, still concentrating on cleaning my fingers.

“I understand if it makes you see me differently, and you change your mind about… us.”

The desolation I felt at her rejecting me for showing her how violent my life could be was all-encompassing. I tried to keep the emotion off my face, to bury it deep inside so she wouldn’t feel bad for her feelings.

Her head whipped up, and she stared at me with confusion.

“Why would I s-s-see you differently?”

“I hurt those men.”

Rina cocked her head to the side and frowned.

“You were protecting m-m-me.”

“I was, but I don’t want you to think I would ever do that to y—”

She dropped the wipes and gripped my coat sleeves.

“No!”

The word was uttered so vehemently that I snapped my mouth shut in response.

“I want you, Arlo. Iwantyou.”

It didn’t escape my notice she’d said my name for the first time with no issues, nor the way she’d told me she wanted me, like the thought of not having me upset her. The last thing I ever wanted to do was upset Rina.

“You’re not scared of me now?”

I had to be sure.

She shook her head and stepped right up into my personal space.

“No,” she whispered, “I w-want you to t-t-touch me.”

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