Page 2 of The Ties That Bind

“Get your hands off her,” he growled, stretching to his full height and glaring down at the insignificant excuse for a man below. “Don’t make me ask twice.”

“This is none of your business—” The other man’s eyes bugged out when he saw Alec, and he slowly extracted his hands from around the poor girl’s waist, raising his arms in surrender. It made him look like a particularly startled praying mantis. Alec considered crushing him. He was in the mood for violence.

One look at Arielle and he knew that wasn’t the right move. She was already scared. If he had any hope of getting her to go home with him tonight, he would have to play this a little softer. He tamped down the aggression and gave the insect a curt nod, allowing him to scurry away unharmed.

“Are you all right?” His voice was a gentle caress, though a rough edge remained. Seeing her cowering against the bar was doing something unexpected to him. His stomach clenched at the thought of her fear, and he resisted the urge to smooth the worried wrinkles from her brow.

“I can’t—” her voice caught, and she cleared her throat. “I can’t thank you enough.” Bottomless blue eyes gazed up at him, shining with unshed tears that she refused to let fall. She readjusted the thin strap of her dress, which had fallen down her arm in the struggle. The fact that she wasn’t a boneless puddle on the floor right now surprised him. For all her softness, she was surprisingly tough.

“No thanks needed. It was the right thing to do.” The faux selflessness coated his tongue like the oily line it was. She didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh!” Someone jostled her from behind, and he almost bit the guy’s head off. He reached out a steadying arm instead, careful to keep his touch as light as possible. He felt her tense at his touch. “I think I just want to go home.” She couldn’t hide the tremor in her hand when she reached for her belongings. Clearly, her fight or flight gauge was still at a hundred.

“Do you need a ride? It doesn’t seem like you should be driving right now.” She stiffened at the suggestion, and he quickly changed course. He backed up a step to give her space. “Or maybe we can just sit for a while? I have a table over there.” He pointed to the calm corner of the bar he’d staked out for himself. “It’s a lot less crowded, and you can actually enjoy your drink instead of throwing it at assholes.” He gave her what he hoped was a nonthreatening grin. “We don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to. I’m a shitty conversationalist anyway.” That got him a small smile.

He waved over the bartender. “Can we get two waters, please?” He turned to Arielle. “Unless you need something stronger?”

“Just water, please.”

Alec threw a couple bucks on the counter and picked up the proffered glasses, hoping he wasn’t about to gete coli. Banishing that thought (and surreptitiously rubbing a smudge from the lip of one glass), he glanced back at Arielle as he weaved his way back to his table. Now all he had to do was charm a traumatized girl into leaving with him, a complete stranger. He stifled a groan. This plan was never going to work.

Chapter Two

The men sitting nearest Alec’s table were slumped over in their chairs, too plastered to register the gorgeous woman across from them. It made for peace and quiet in their cozy alcove. It also helped reduce the number of possible witnesses. He didn’t need it getting out that he was spending time with Arielle, or Elle, as she’d introduced herself. Especially if his stupid, terrible plan didn’t work.

Elle’s arms were crossed and her back pressed against the wall. He tried not to notice that the pose pushed her amazing tits front and center. She nibbled her bottom lip, and he felt his cock twitch in response. Dammit. The last thing he needed was to get himself worked up over her in that way. Those baby blues caught him looking, and he smiled sheepishly.

“How’re you doing over there?” What he really wanted to ask was,do you know your parents are monsters? Or are you as innocent as you look?

“Better, now.” She stopped working her lower lip to offer him a tiny smile in return. “Thank you again. Sorry I went all damsel on you.”

“No problem. You know guys, we need to pound our chests and fling shit at each other from time to time. Makes us feel good.”

“So you’re basically semi-evolved monkeys?” She pushed an errant piece of hair behind her ear. Alec found himself wondering if it was as soft as it looked.

“I never said anything about being evolved, so thanks for that.” He thumped his chest once. “Me man. Me help pretty girl.”

Her tinkling laugh filled his ears as she shook her head. “Wow. Does this cave man bit usually work on women?”

He leaned in just a little. “I guess we’re about to find out.”Slow down, man. Don’t scare her.“But seriously, don’t worry about it. If anything, you did me a favor.” She raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “I had a rough day, and I don’t feel bad about taking it out on a sub-human jerk. It was a nice release valve.”

She nodded, absorbing his explanation. “Want to talk about it?” She was leaning in now, too.

Your drug-lord parents have my sister, and I’m thinking about kidnapping you to use as leverage. Any thoughts?He mentally shook himself. “Just … family drama.” He didn’t—couldn’t—say any more, and she seemed to understand.

She inched one dainty hand across the table, tentatively patting the top of his callous-roughened paws where they rested against his glass. A shock of electricity raced up his arms, raising goosebumps and making him shiver imperceptibly. Did she feel that, too?

He took a steadying breath, inhaling her faint cherry blossom scent. Of course. She was gorgeousandshe smelled like his favorite pie. If only he could take a bite…

Stop it.He couldn’t let this girl get in his head. She was leverage, plain and simple. No use in falling for her when there was no universe where they end up happily ever after. Not after what he had to do to her. But if her hating him was the price he had to pay to get his sister back, he would bear it gladly.

“Family stuff can be so rough. I’m sorry about whatever it is you’re dealing with.”

If she only knew. “Tell me about your family,” he said. Maybe it would help him gauge what her level of involvement was in the family business, if any. Make it a little easier for him to do what he needed to do.

“Oh, we’re pretty boring.” She laughed self-consciously. “My dad is a surgeon, my mom a nurse. I’m supposed to go into medicine, but honestly, I think I’m way too squeamish. Body stuff just makes me…” She shivered and made an exaggerated face, squeezing her eyes shut and wiggling her nose.

Alec resisted the urge to tell her he’d have no problem helping her get past her squeamishness if she wanted to play doctor with him. He wouldn’t mind examining every inch of her body, kissing his way up her legs, massaging her ass, gently probing her most sensitive place with his fingers and tongue. He found himself imagining those luscious lips wrapped around his cock, taking him in, caressing his shaft until he begged for mercy. The thought made him hard, and he shifted abruptly to hide his growing excitement.Not gonna happen.

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