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But he didn’t.
Did he not touch me because he was trying to be respectful or because he truly didn’t want me and I was just the most convenient woman to conjure a fantasy of? Not knowing was frustrating, and soon my high was all gone and I was confused as hell. What if…?
“Hey there, sweetheart.”
The nickname was the same, but it didn’t take me long to deduce that it wasn’t Sebastian. It didn’t take me long to notice, either, that I had gone off-path in my distracted state and was no longer very visible to the crowd. There were two men in front of me, wearing leather jackets and matching tattoos of a wolf’s head. Technically, I could still scream, but…
“Hey. Can I help you?” I asked, opting for a friendlier tactic. It was the wrong move as the older of the men grinned, showing off a row of yellowish teeth with a gold one in the center.
“You’re the waitress in that restaurant, aren’t you?”
I relaxed a bit, assuming they were customers if they knew who I was. I’d never seen them before, but I was still new to the job.
“That’s right. Are you looking for a job?”
They chuckled as if I said the funniest thing. The younger man stepped forward, showing off a gold earring on his earlobe. He was less rough-looking than the other fellow with his hair combed back and all, but somehow, my insides bristled.
“That’s sweet of you, but no. We want you to come with us, sweetheart.”
I tamped down a shudder. I lifted my chin, looked them in the eye, and shook my head.
“No, thanks. I gotta go.”
Before I could continue, a hand wrapped around my wrist, lightning-fast and hard. Pain pulsed in that area when he dragged me to him, and soon the other man joined in, too. Panic flared, realizing I miscalculated everything. I opened my mouth to scream, but a shadow flew in, hurtling toward the men until they broke their grip on me.
I pushed back to give us even more distance, my gaze taking in the fight happening in front of me with shock. But what was even more shocking was that I recognized the man pummeling them to the ground.
“Rupert,” I whispered, then found my voice and called out to him. “Rupert!”
It was like he was blind and deaf to the world around him, only focused on the two men he held down with ease even while they thrashed hard. He didn’t stop punching them until blood spurted from their nostrils and lips. Realization dawned that I couldn’t scream now, not when he’d be the first person arrested for this.
“Rupert,” I tried again, quieter now. This time, he looked up, then pushed off them. Violence pulsed in every fiber of his being as he approached me, but his voice was surprisingly gentle when he finally spoke.
“Did they hurt you?”
Shaken, I rotated my wrist and shook my head. “No. But they knew who I was.”
Gray eyes flared. “What?”
“They knew I worked in the restaurant. That was how they approached me.”
He tensed very hard at that. His next words were on edge. “Hmm. Let’s go.”
I glanced at the men clutching their stomachs, still very much alive.
Then I followed him out of there.
***
Rupert riding a motorbike was so on brand for his bad boy persona, but me riding behind him, our bodies all pressed together and the wind whipping through my clothes wasn’t something I ever imagined happening. I clung to him when he took abrupt turns and again when we left the convoluted traffic and he picked up speed. Fields dotted either side of us as he blurred past them, then forests with lush trees, giving towny vibes. I knew we were still in the city, but it wasn’t an area I was familiar with.
While the men were long gone, the dark energy snapping around Rupert wasn’t. I could feel it in my bones, connected to it through our physical contact. It was as strong as when he’d been charging those men, lost in his intention to hurt them. But beyond that was a recognition, like he knew they deserved it and the violence was personal.
“Rupert!” My voice was faint over the wind, but his head tilted slightly.
“What?”
“Who were they?”
