Oh, hell no.
All pretense of politeness shattered. Charley removed the weapon from her purse and took a step backward, aiming Beyoncé 2 at the douchebag who’d touched her. “Careful, boys. This trash bites.”
“She saidbites,” Junior said. “That’s so cute.”
“Woman, you don’t know the meaning of the word,” Graybeard said. “But you will.” He flashed a cruel smile, his teeth sharp and long, almost like…fangs?
What the fuck?
Her mind flashed back to the bedroom at the Salvatore. Hadn’t she thought the same thing about Duchanes?
Junior reached for her again, but this time Charley was ready for it. She squeezed the trigger, plugging him square in the chest.
Her mouth quirked into a triumphant grin, but it didn’t last.
The asshole should’ve dropped to the ground, muscles jiggling like a Jell-o mold. Yet there he stood, unmoving, unaffected, still grinning at her like she was the main course.
Charley was sure of it now. The men had actual, real-life, terrifying fangs.
“Was that supposed to hurt?” he asked, plucking the probes from his chest.
“Maybe it’s a kink?” Graybeard said. “Young people are into pain these days.”
Junior laughed. “Then I suppose it’s your lucky night, gorgeous.”
In a blur, they dropped their drinks and surrounded her, Graybeard hauling her backward against his chest, Junior crushing her from the front, snatching at her breasts.
“Help!” Charley screamed, knowing her cries would likely go unheard. “Fire!” she tried again, recalling all the self-defense stuff she’d picked up over the years. Weren’t people supposed to be more likely to help if you yelledfire?
Graybeard fisted her hair, jerking her head sideways and exposing her neck. Junior leaned in and licked her flesh, groaning with sick pleasure.
Charley choked back bile. She didn’t care how strong they were, how determined. She wouldnotlet this happen.
She struggled against their hold, using her elbows, her knees, the back of her head, anything to get in a hit. But it was no use. The men were impossibly strong, like two stone walls closing in from all sides, determined to turn her into a pancake.
But not before they had their fun.
“Fire!” she screamed again, then slammed her head backward, finally connecting with Graybeard’s face. She heard the crunch of bone and hoped she’d taken out a few teeth, but the man behind her only laughed.
“I love it when they fight.” He released his hold and shoved her away. “Run along, little plaything. Fast as you can.”
She took off at a run down the hill, doing her best to stay upright in bare feet on the dew-slick grass. Her heart slammed against her ribs, lungs burning, feet stinging as rocks and sticks sliced through her skin, but she didn’t dare stop. Not until she was certain she’d left them far behind.
For a fleeting instant, she actually thought she’d escaped. But when she took a chance and glanced back over her shoulder to check, her forward momentum came to a crashing halt.
She’d run smack into them. Even though they’d given her a clear head start, somehow, they’d gotten out in front of her.
How the fuck…?
“You’re fast, gorgeous,” Junior said. “I’ll give you that.”
“Not fast enough.” Graybeard laughed, resting his arm on the younger man’s shoulder. They leered at her again, their eyes even hungrier than before.
The reality of the situation sank into Charley’s gut like a sharp-edged rock. Now, she was even further from civilization, trapped at the bottom of a hill in the darkness with two raving psychopaths, no weapons, no phone, nothing but crickets and moonlight.
She dropped into a crouch and fisted a nearby rock. If she was going down, she was going down fighting.
The men laughed again and took another step toward her, their smiles twisting into grimaces, those awful fangs flashing like blades.
