Fierce (11 page)

Inch
by Inch

The
next day, evening

Evie’s out to dinner with her parents, who
swung by for the weekend. I’m sitting here, alone, reading my books. I’ll
always be reading books. I don’t care whether it’s fiction or educational, I
gobble them up like muffins. It’s more like brain food, and not unhealthy for
your body, unlike muffins.

Although, I would never say no to those either.

I don’t have the time or the luxury to go
out to dinner with my parents. Heck, none of us would have the money for it
anyway.

I’m behind on my homework schedule and
fervently writing down notes as I skim the books in front of me. I’ll read them
thoroughly later on.

When someone knocks on my door, I don’t
even look up before yelling, “Come in!”

“Do you ever do anything else?” Hunter
chuckles as he opens the door.

I turn around and see him standing in the
doorway with a coy smile on his face.

“I need to get this done in time,” I say.

“Oh, c’mon, you can work me into your
schedule.”

I hear him stomp as he walks inside.
“Sorry, but I don’t have time for sparring today.”

“I’m not talking about sparring.”

He’s right behind me. I know because his
body creates a shadow on my work, and I can’t really see what I’m doing
anymore. He reaches forward and grabs my book.

“Hey!”

“Chill. I’m just putting it away. See?” He
puts the book back onto my shelf. “You really need to relax sometimes.”

“I am relaxed,” I say.

And then he places his hands on my
shoulders. His fingers squeeze my flesh, and he starts pressing. Soft and hard,
pinch and release. He’s massaging me.

“See? All tensed up. Can’t be good.”

I struggle not to moan from his touch.

“Tell you what, why don’t we go hang
someplace today? Takes your mind off things for a while.”

“But it’s almost evening, I can’t—”

“Because it’s evening?” he jests. “C’mon.
You gotta give me a better cop-out story than that.”

“I need to get this done.”

“Homework can wait. You need to have some
fun once in a while.”

“But …”

“I’m starting to think you’re just making
up excuses so you can avoid having to hang with me. Are you afraid?”

He leans forward and gazes into my eyes
with a playful look on his face. I can’t deny that he looks so goddamn cute
when he does that cheeky smile.

“No, of course not,” I stammer.

“Do you want me to drag you out of that
seat then? And that’s not an empty threat.”

His words stir my insides, heating them up.

“Oh, all right,” I say. It’s impossible to
say no to him.

“Awesome, let’s go.”

Hunter turns the chair with one hand,
spinning me around. He grabs my hand and pulls me up.

I almost squeal as he drags me along the
corridor and out of the dorm.

♥♥♥

We walk through the city for about thirty
minutes before Hunter stops on the corner of the street. He peers up at the
movie theatre just ahead and then points at it.

“We’re going to the movies?” I say with my
eyebrows raised.

Hunter’s eyes scan the area, as if he’s
checking whether the coast is clear. Then he nods.

“I can’t pay for that, you know,” I say.

“Don’t need cash to have some fun,” he
says, and he grabs my hand and pulls me to the rear entrance.

“What? You want to sneak in?”

He puts his finger to his lips and shushes
me. “Do you wanna get caught?”

I shake my head as he opens the shoddy
door. “I can’t do this.”

“C’mon, live a little,” he says softly. “We
won’t get in trouble if you keep your mouth shut. It’ll be fun. Trust me.”

He pulls me through the door and checks the
hallways for any guards. My heart is beating in my throat as we barely pass an
employee on his break.

“This way,” Hunter whispers, and he pulls
me to the side and into another door that says ‘SERVICE ONLY.’

We come out in a room with booming sounds,
filled with red chairs. A movie is already playing, and there are people who
are watching it and are unaware of our presence.

“Quiet,” Hunter whispers into my ear, and
it tingles against my skin.

We go to the back row and slump down on the
seats, hoping nobody will notice us. My heart is still going crazy, and it
surprises me that Hunter’s relaxing already, putting his arms over the arm
rest. I get the feeling this isn’t the first time he’s done something like
this.

“Do this often?” I whisper.

“Sometimes.”

“But if we get caught, we’ll be in major
trouble.”

“I’ve done this often enough to know how
not to get caught,” he says, staring at the screen.

We watch the movie, and after a while I
settle in more. I’m getting used to the idea we’re doing something totally
against the law. The only way I can make this okay for myself is by telling
myself I won’t be doing this again anytime soon.

But damn, it’s exciting.

I never expected going against the rules
was so freaking thrilling.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he
suddenly says.

“What? The movie? Yeah … it’s fine,” I say.

“No. You’re starting to like being a
lawbreaker.”

“I am not!”

He laughs, and it’s a low, husky laugh,
making my heart skip a beat. “Of course you are.” He leans forward in his
chair, coming a little too close for comfort. “You pretend you’re a proper
schoolgirl, but you feel caged by it.” His hand drifts to my hair, and I
freeze. I can’t breathe. “On the inside you’re begging to be released.” He
tucks one of the loose strands of hair behind my ear and chuckles when it
doesn’t bend to his will.

“I … have to go to the bathroom,” I say, my
voice changing in pitch with every word.

I’m chicken-shit. I can’t handle this.
Whatever it is. I have to get away right now.

As I spring up from my seat, he leans back
again. I try to pass his seat, but his feet are in the way. He doesn’t make any
effort to move them, so when I try to walk past them, I stumble.

And land right on his lap.

My eyes widen as my butt presses down on
his firm legs. I want to squeal, but at the same time my mouth feels sewed
together. I’m sitting on Hunter Bane’s lap, just like in my dreams.

And then I feel his legs stiffen.

Something’s growing in his jeans, poking me
in the flesh.

Oh. My. God.

I panic and jolt up from the seat in an
uncomfortable manner, grasping the arm rests. Clambering out, I run through the
room like a headless chicken and race out the door.

My eyes scan the hallway for any employees
that might catch me before I bolt toward the nearest restroom.

Inside, I jam my foot against the door and
sink down to the floor.

My God. I can’t believe it.

I was on him. I could feel his muscular
legs. And something else.

Just the thought of his cock makes my pussy
clench with need. Especially when I imagine it hard. I don’t even know what he
looks like. I don’t even know what any guy looks like.

I don’t have any experience with this.

That’s why it’s freaking me out.

I have no idea what to do with this. Is he
into me? Or do guys always get a boner when a girl sits on their lap? Both
questions make me squirm.

I wish I had done more in high school than
just kiss some boy, but that’s all I got, unfortunately. I was way too busy
studying back then, but now I’m not so sure it was the right thing to do.

What if Hunter really is going after me?
What do I do?

I have no idea what boys want, or like, for
that matter. All I know is that I felt his cock and that I can’t forget about
it. I loved the feeling. The moment my butt made contact with him, I wanted
much, much more than just
that.

And it terrifies the shit out of me.

Hunter Bane isn’t just ‘some’ guy. Not like
the ones I made out with in high school. He’s like the predator of predators.
If he ever got his hands on me, I’m sure he’d devour me whole.

That’s the thing that scares me the most.
That he wants a lot more from girls than I can handle.

God, what have I gotten myself into?

I wipe the sweat from my forehead and get
up from the floor. I stumble to the sink and stare into the mirror. My hair is
a giant spider’s nest, and I’m startled by my own reflection. I look horrible.
How could any guy want this?

Opening the faucet, I put my head under and
drink straight from the tap.

Suddenly, the door opens, and I shoot up
and almost bump my head into the faucet.

“Sorry, thought this was the guys’ room,” a
guy says.

When I look up at him, I stop breathing.

I’m even almost pissing myself.

It’s one of those guys from the restaurant.
One of
them
, the ones who tried to …

I’d recognize his tattoos anywhere.

Of all the places to run into him, this is
where he shows up? Do I reek of bad luck?

He frowns and squints at me, and then his
eyes widen. It’s like a moment of realization where he notices it’s me. The
girl he tried to …

“Wait a minute …” he mumbles. “What are
you
doing here?”

I grab my bag and don’t wait another
second. With one big sling I slam it into his face.

He stumbles back into the hall, and I make
a run for it.

“You fucking bitch!” he yells.

My heart is pounding in my chest. I have to
get away as fast as possible. Away from here. Anywhere.

Then I see Hunter stepping out of the
theatre. His eyes are perked up like a Labrador, as if he heard something that
caught his attention immediately.

My squeal.

It takes him one look at the guy to notice
who it is.

“You …” he growls.

Then he charges at him and punches him
straight in the face.

The guys go at it, and I look around,
panicking, not knowing what to do.

“Hunter,” I say, as I see a guard
approaching from the back, probably drawn to all the ruckus. “Hunter!”

He roars at the guy and punches him a
second time before getting up on his feet again. “I’ll kill you if you ever
show your face to her again.”

I pull Hunter’s shirt so much it’s almost
ripping. After blowing off some steam by flaring his nostrils at the guy for a
couple of seconds, Hunter turns around and looks me straight in the eye.

“Did he hurt you?” he says.

My eyes widen as I notice the guard has spotted
us.

“Hey!” the guy yells.

“We gotta run!” I say to Hunter, and I grab
his hand and push him back into the theatre.

“No, I want to know if he touched you!”
Hunter screams as we run across the room to the service entrance we came in
through.

“Not now,” I say, and now I’m the one
dragging him through all the corridors until we reach the exit.

Breathing in the fresh air as I open the
door is a welcome change to the indoor mugginess. I’m so glad we managed to
escape before the guard caught us.

And I’m glad Hunter was there to kick that
guy’s ass before he tried something on me again.

Suddenly, Hunter punches a wall, and
screams. “Fuck!”

I’m still panting, trying to catch my
breath, but Hunter’s going mental. I turn around, still gasping, but then I see
his bloodied knuckles.

“Your hand!” I say.

“It’ll heal,” he snarls. Then he grabs my
arm and turns me around. He holds me tightly, staring straight into my soul.
“Did. He. Hurt. You?”

“What? No … No, he didn’t have the chance,”
I stammer.

He snorts, and his nostrils flare again.
“If that guy EVER comes near you again, I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what? Pound in on him again?” I
sigh. “You can’t keep doing this, Hunter.”

“I will NOT let them have their way with
you,” he growls. “They wouldn’t just rape you. They would kill you.”

A cold shiver runs down my spine hearing
him say those words so harshly.

“You don’t know what those guys are capable
of,” he says.

“Oh, and you do? Is that what you’re trying
to say? Tell me, Hunter, what fucking thing are you involved in?”

He frowns, grating his teeth. “It’s none of
your business.” He turns his head away, but I cup his chin between my index
finger and thumb and force him to look at me. I’ve never been this brazen in my
life.