Nigel wailed and threw up his hands toprotect his nose, but all that did was hammer his hands into hisface when Aiden punched him again.
“Whoa!” From the corner of his eye, Aidensaw Saxon lunge forward and yank a stool away from someone. “Thisis between them. You don’t want more ofusinvolved.”
“Enough!” Carha shouted. “Saxon, tell him tostop.” Saxon stared wordlessly back at her. Carha glared at himbefore focusing on Aiden again. “That is enough! If you don’t stop,Aiden, I’ll ban you for life! And that means frommyservices too!”
Aiden lifted his head to glower at Carhawhen she revealed this in front of Maggie. His brief distractionallowed Nigel to punch Aiden in the jaw, but he barely felt it ashe pummeled Nigel’s stomach.
Maggie gawked at Aiden as he battered thevampire and Carha shouted at Aiden to stop before promising to cuthim off from her services. Maggie’s mouth fell open further, andher stomach rolled. What services? Was Carha a prostitute? Shedidn’t see why Aiden would need to use prostitutes. With his looks,he could get a lot of women, but men were weird, and vampires werestranger.
She forgot all about Carha when Aidenflattened Nigel’s nose. Over the years, she’d seen countlessviolence, been on the receiving end of it more than a few times,but she’d never witnessed anything like the rage driving Aiden.She’d caught glimpses of his control slipping, but it appeared tobe completely gone.
The stench of blood permeated the air, andthe sounds of punches hitting flesh resonated through the club.Aiden was doing this because ofher. Nigel was an asshole,but she didnotwant this. However, she had no idea how tostop it. Aiden had become a mindless, killing machine who wouldonly be satisfied with death.
Saxon paced back and forth in front of thefight, keeping back anyone who might try to get involved. The crowdshrank away from him when he smacked his fist into his palm.
“I think he’s had enough, Aiden,” Saxonsaid, but whereas his words had stopped Aiden before, he showed noresponse to them now.
The slightest touch on her hand drew herattention to Zeke. Full of concern, Zeke’s eyes held hers as hespoke. “If you tell Aiden to stop, he will.”
She glanced at the growing pool of bloodspreading beneath Nigel. She had no idea what Zeke was talkingabout; Aiden wouldn’t stop until he’d beat Nigel to death.
“I wouldn’t touch her,” Saxon said in a lowwarning.
Zeke yanked his hand from hers before hecontinued speaking. “Hewillstop ifyoutell himto.”
Maggie glanced from Zeke to Saxon who gaveher the briefest of nods before he glowered at a vamp who wasedging too close. She turned back to the bloody scene before her asNigel’s cheekbone gave way beneath Aiden’s next blow.
“Stop.” The croaked word barely traveledbeyond her. “Aiden, stop. Please,stop.” The words came outstronger this time.
In the process of drawing his arm back tobatter Nigel’s already half-smooshed face some more, Aiden froze.Maggie held her breath as she waited for the brutal beating tocontinue. Instead, Aiden lowered his arm until both his handsrested on the ground beside Nigel’s head. His back hunched and hisshoulders curved forward like a wolf guarding its prey.
Maggie’s eyes widened on his back when sherealized his wound had completely closed. The still reddened skinaround it made the white scars slashing across his flesh morevisible. There was no denying those marks had come from the lashingof a whip or some similar type of weapon.
“Oh,” she breathed, her hand flying to hermouth as sorrow mixed with dismay. What had he endured in his life?Who had done this to him and why?
Aiden grappled to get control of himself asMaggie’s frightened voice replayed through his head. Nigel hadtouched her and called her a whore, but he shouldn’t have goneafter him like that. Not in front of Maggie, notever. Hewas closer to the edge than he’d realized. Tasting her bloodwithout claiming her had accelerated his need to complete themating bond as well as started to unravel him faster.
It didn’t matter; he could control himself,hewouldcontrol himself, for her.
Slowly, he rose to his feet and bracedhimself to see her revulsion of him before he turned to face her.He expected her to shrink away when he stepped toward her, but shestared at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read. Her eyesran over the fresh blood coating his chest and face.
“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have seen that.”He reached a hand toward her, but when blood dripped from hisfingers, he lowered it.
“Here,” Zeke said and handed a wet rag overthe bar.
Aiden took the rag and wiped most of theblood from him before setting the cloth on the bar. Maggie remainedunmoving on the stool when he held his hand out to her. She gazedbetween him and Nigel for a long minute before she slid hertrembling hand into his.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
Maggie tried to tell him not to apologizefor who and what he was. She hadn’t wanted to witness what she had,but he was a vampire, and as extreme as this had been, he’d done itfor her. However, the words froze in her throat when her gaze wentbehind him to the hostile eyes of the crowd. Some were retreatingto their booths, but others remained. The ones who stayed glaredfrom her to Aiden to Nigel and back again.
“Time to go,” Saxon said and waved his handsat the crowd. “What? Like you’ve never seen a man beat another manbefore? Shoo. Go back to your business. Shoo now.”
More of the crowd dispersed, but a fewslipped free to kneel at Nigel’s side. Nigel groaned when theylifted him to his feet.
“Get out!” Carha spat at them.
Aiden helped Maggie off the stool andclamped his arm around her waist.
