Worth It

A vision surged through my brain, of him staring at me with that same, hard penetrating stare as he stalked toward me, pushed me down on top of a nearby table, ripped my clothes apart and spread my legs open before he took me hard and fast and savagely.

I couldn’t say I was a fan of being dominated, but holy hell if that little daydream didn’t light me up as I’d never been lit up before. My breathing came faster as I stared at him and tried to blink the dirty thoughts from my head.

Then...just like that, he turned away and strode off, uttering something low to Ten as he passed, something that sounded like, “I’m out.”

He prowled toward the exit like some kind of demonic avenging angel, if there ever was such a thing, who’d just completed his mission and was now leaving because his work was done.

I gaped after him, stunned by the force of my strange attraction and not sure what to do to about it, but hell...he’d just helped me. And I felt drawn to him, wanting to get closer, even though rationally, I knew I should probably be wary.

Following my gut, I called, “Hey!” before I could stop myself and hurried after him.

He kept going, ignoring me. I had no idea what to say, but something inside me wouldn’t let me give up the chase. “You,” I added stupidly, wincing and wondering if I’d gotten his name earlier.

He still didn’t stop, so I reached out and grabbed his arm, the warmth and muscle under my hand startling me with how strongly it affected me. He sucked in a breath as if I’d burned him. Then he stopped so fast and whirled back I almost rammed into his ginormous chest. When he jerked out of my grasp, I gulped and drew back quickly, fumbling to catch my balance.

But Christ, he was tall. And huge. As he towered over me, I shrank farther away, because I wasn’t used to this level of instant attraction.

His scowl deepened. “What?” he said, his voice gritty and raspy and really deep.

“Umm…” I tried to say more, but nothing came. So I tried again. “I-I just…I wanted to thank you for, you know, helping me. So….” I bobbed my head nervously. “Thank you.”

He stared at me for a full second from eyes that looked nearly black. I held my breath, not sure what to do because he wasn’t responding. Then my gaze went to his scar, a single angry red slash bisecting the right side of his face, and I gulped.

There was something almost friendly and approachable about the scars Ten bore on his face. Maybe it was because he smiled so much. But there was nothing whatsoever approachable about this guy’s one dark mark. Yet, I wanted to approach, get closer, reach out and touch it, maybe kiss it better.

Exhaling a short breath, he gave a single nod, accepting my gratitude. Then he turned away and dismissed me. Just like that.

“Wait, I didn’t get your name,” I called after him, desperate to try anything to waylay him and figure out what was going on with me, why he affected me so oddly.

He slowed to a stop, but didn’t turn around. Instead, he grated, “Tight T-shirt Guy’s fine.”

“Oh, shit.” Wincing, I slapped my hand to my forehead. “You heard that?”

Not bothering to answer, he left, stalking out the door and disappearing.

I stared dumbly at the empty doorway, dazed by what had happened. But seriously, “Holy hell.”

“Is it just me,” Asher asked, appearing at my side as he also stared at the exit, “or does that guy make you want to piss yourself just a little bit?”

“It’s like you stole the words straight from my mouth,” I murmured distractedly.

Ten joined us, letting out a low whistle. “Damn, Three. You sure made some kind of first impression on Parker. I swear he was going to snap that chick’s neck for fucking with you.”

I swung my face around so fast to gape at him I gave myself whiplash. Not that I felt any pain; I was a bit too busy trying to decide if I’d heard him correctly.

“Parker?” There was no way he could’ve actually said Parker. I had to be hallucinating. I was drunk, my ears were conjuring crazy shit.

But Ten nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t you hear about the dude who took Blondie to the hospital after she went into labor?”

I frowned, trying to remember the details. “Noel said something about it. Zoey met him at a convenience store or something.”

“And after he dropped her off, he took her car to clean it. Pick and I intercepted him when he was returning it to the hospital. I was ready to kick his ass for touching her car, but Pick actually knew the fucker from school, and get this, he’d just gotten out of prison that day...for rape and murder. Can you fucking believe Pick still hired him after that?”