I move to step away, to put some much-needed distance between me and those hands.
“You scare that easily?” he asks, still grinning.
“I don’t know you,” I remind him quietly enough so that only he can hear.
His smile widens, and I realize just how thin the line is between fawning over Carter Forkerro and fearing him. There’s something so uncharacteristically charming about him, but danger brews beneath the surface. It’s like I can see the switch behind those eyes, and how easy it is for it to flip.
“You climbed into Lowesy’s bed in even less time.”
He says it kindly, like an easy joke, but it feels like he just smacked me right in the face. That was a jab, and it was intentional as much as it was mean. I take another step back, this one bigger. My immediate distaste must be written all over my face because Carter winces at himself, but I’ve already heard the comment, and I'll be damned if I let any man speak to me like that. I don’t care who he is.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Red—”
There’s that damn name again. I truly think I’d prefer ‘sweetheart’.
I’m about to storm away and leave this bar, Carter Forkerro,andhis nasty tongue behind, but then two things happen at once. The man behind me finally finds his balls and moves to scurry past us, to get away while Carter isactuallydistracted, but he does the stupidest thing in the world at the same time.
He smacks my ass with so much force that I stumble forward a bit, stunned, and fall right into Carter’s hands.
Before I can even look up at him, Carter Forkerro is gone.
The Beast is in his place.
CHAPTER TWO
carter
I don’t knowwhat happens in my head. I don't know where the girl is, either. That happens sometimes, even when I don’t want it to. A casualty of whatever parasite lives in my brain. I see red, and then the rest of the world disappears.
Including Red, apparently.
When this shit happens, the only thing that matters is knocking some sense into whoever needs it. I lose track of my surroundings, I lose my bearings on my sanity, and I really don’t know when to stop. I don’t knowhowto stop. That’s the worst part about it all. About beingthisperson.
One second, I’m smiling down at the hottest mouth I’ve ever seen, and the next, I hear the unmistakable sound of someone smacking her ass with an open palm. She physically fell forward, right into me. That’s how roughly this piece of shit touched her.
I don’t even blink. Don’t even worry about the repercussions, either. I just fucking lose it.
It’s practically a hobby by now.
Someone’s drink falls to the floor and shatters at our feet. Istep right in this asshole’s way before he can run off, and I bury my hands in the stupid shirt he can’t stop crying about. His face pales when I haul him off the ground, holding him up like a fucking ragdoll.
Pathetic.
He opens his mouth, but the only thing I want to hear from that trap is the sound of his teeth breaking in his skull. I rear back, landing a solid punch to his face. It’s a hard one. A brutal one. I hear his bones cracking, watch his head fall back and his eyes roll with it.
For one horrifying second, I think I’ve killed him. The way he falls back is kind of terrifying, and if I were anyone else, that would have been enough to make me stop. Because I’m me, it just fuels my anger instead.
Blood explodes from his mouth, but I can’t see or think of anything else besides what this idiot just did.
“Since you’re such a fan of assault, maybe you’ll enjoy this,” I sneer when his nearly vacant eyes meet mine again. He’s out of it, head lolling back. For some reason, that pisses me off more. So, I hit him again.
I know there is chaos around me, but all my brain will let me focus on is his face and the groans that leave his mouth. There are hands on my back, tugging on my shoulder, trying to force me away from the situation, but I’m not ready to let him go.
I’m not somebody who gives up until I want to, and he hasn’t quite learned his lesson yet.
My ears are ringing, blocking out the screaming, the music, and the shit his friends are yelling at security in a desperate attempt to get someone to intervene.
