Seduced - Book Three - Surrender Series (24 page)

Shane

As the stun-gun prong plunged into Lia’s delicate skin, Shane saw red. Time for talking was over.

Three men had approached, and of course, the maggots had gone straight for Lia. They were now circling around Shane, knowing he wasn’t as easy a target.

“You need to get away from Andino,” the largest man in the group said, menace clearly written on his face.

“You’re going to pay for hurting my woman,” Shane growled, taking a step back so he could have all of the men in his line of vision.

“What do you think you’re going to do about it?” another of the men said and guffawed.

“Yeah, I think we’re going to have a real good time with
your
woman
. She seems like quite the little peach,” the group’s obvious leader said. He threw a leer in Lia’s direction.

Their circling had pushed the group of men, including Shane, back farther into the alley, blocking them from the view of the passing people on the street — not that anyone had jumped in to help thus far. Shane didn’t think anyone was planning to call the cops or come to their assistance any time soon.

Not that he needed help.

When the man turned toward Lia, taking his eyes off Shane, he made his first mistake. Never take your eye off the threat.

Shane rushed him, and the man turned back just in time to see Shane’s fist slamming toward his jaw.

One hit. That was all it took for him to knock the burly man out.

His friends gasped in shock. Obviously, people didn’t take down their leader so easily. They eyed Shane warily as they pulled out baleful blades.

Shane just smiled. He’d taken on far worse thugs than these pathetic wannabe gang members. He wasn’t afraid of them; he was just seriously pissed off.

“Kid, I suggest you run like hell. Leave the purse,” Shane said, keeping the boy locked in his vision along with the two more hardened men who were still standing.

“I…” The kid was obviously terrified, and he was at a loss for what to do.

“Don’t listen to this piece of shit, Andino!” the other guy said. “This will be your first kill.”

“No one is dying today, unless it’s you,” Shane told him. “It’s your choice.”

Shane didn’t back down, and he noticed a glint of fear in the man’s eyes. Of course he was afraid, as he should be. These street thugs were so used to using intimidation; they didn’t know what to do when their usual tactics didn’t work.

“You come into our territory, mess with our business, and then threaten us?” the man said incredulously.

“This isn’t a business. This is theft and terrorizing. Real men don’t go after innocent women. I lived on the streets. We never hurt women!” Shane thundered.

“Whatever. You haven’t known a hard day in your life. But you’re about to,” one of them said as he braved up and charged Shane.

One kick to the man’s throat and he sank to the ground, holding his bruised windpipe, gasping and gaping like a fish out of water as he desperately tried to draw air.

“Do you want to go, too?” Shane asked the third man, who looked properly afraid.

“Screw this,” the last man yelled and ran from the alley, dropping his electroshock weapon to the pavement in his scramble to get away.

The kid, Andino, was left standing there in a stunned daze with the knife barely grasped in his shaking fingers. Shane moved quickly, removing the weapon from the kid’s hand and tossing it in a nearby trash bin before he moved to Lia and carefully disconnected the probes that had probably sent two or three hundred thousand volts of electricity through her body.

“I need to get her to the hospital, but you have a choice to make, Andino. You can keep living this life, being a thug who goes after innocent women, or you can turn it around.” Shane tossed his card at the kid before gently lifting Lia into his arms.

“The first step would be giving back the purse.”

With that, he walked from the alley. From the terror in the kid’s eyes, he thought he might have gotten through. It just depended on whether Andino walked away now or went back to the safety of his thug friends. Shane didn’t have time to talk anymore. He had to get Lia help.

Coming out of the alley, Shane moved down the street quickly until he found a cab, then had the driver rush him to the hospital.

They got her in immediately, and the damage was minimal. The thugs had hoped to have their way with her, instead of committing murder. If they’d had a gun… Shane didn’t even want to think about what would have happened then.

He never should have chased that kid, never should have put Lia in that kind of danger. He hadn’t thought; he’d just reacted. He’d seen the fear on the kid’s face when he’d snatched the purse, and he’d run like hell.

Shane knew there was hope for Andino, knew the boy could change his life around. Those were the kids he tried to help — the ones who could break out of the life they thought they were destined to live.

He hoped the boy would call.

“Shane?”

His head whipped around, and he saw Lia looking at him full of fright.

“I’m right here, baby. You need to rest.”

“What happened? How did we get away?”

Shane sat there, not wanting to tell her about his life, not wanting her to know his secrets. He was trying to figure out a way around this. If she knew him, truly knew him, he was afraid he would lose her forever.

“They got scared, Lia.”

She looked at him with her brow furrowed. Even Lia knew the dangers of gangs. They didn’t often get frightened — at least not by one unconscious woman and one unarmed guy.

“Why did they get scared? They had weapons. We didn’t.”

Shane sighed.

“There are parts of my life that you don’t know about, Lia. Some things I’m not at liberty to talk about, and other things I haven’t wanted to share. I just…I just want you to know me — Shane. The same boy who showed up on your doorstep as a college student.”

“What don’t I know about you, Shane? What else could there be?”

“It doesn’t matter right now, Lia. We’ll talk more about it later,” he promised, but he hoped it was a talk they’d never had to have.

The medication the hospital was giving her made her tired, and though he could see she was fighting it, her eyes closed and she fell back to sleep.

Shane leaned back, thankful to have some more time. He needed to figure all of this out. He was afraid that if Lia knew everything about him, she’d just give up and walk from his life for good. There was too much — far too much for any sane woman to handle.

Knowing he might not have much time left with her, Shane kicked off his shoes and climbed into her hospital bed, right next to her. He had to hold her, had to grasp on to what they had for just a while longer. Tomorrow, when the sun rose, his life might be much different. For now, he had everything he needed right in his arms.

Tomorrow.

Well, tomorrow might be another story entirely.

Ari

The elevator lurched, and Ari looked at the door with trepidation. They’d been sitting in the cold metal car for about two hours and her bladder was full — darned soda! — and, even worse, they were out of chocolate.

Still, she didn’t regret getting stuck. Thoroughly content in Rafe’s arms, she experienced wonder and desire and a sense of safety. Yes, it was amusing that she felt safe trapped in a contraption that was on the fritz, but he’d opened up to her. Her overarching feeling was one of trust, both for him and by him.

Suddenly, the box began moving with the doors still open a few inches, and Ari and Rafe watched as they passed the different floors. When the elevator stopped again, the doors groaned before they opened halfway and then seemed to get stuck.

Rafe pushed Ari to her feet, then leapt up, wedged himself in the doors, and held out his hand.

“Let’s get out of here before it decides to lock us in again,” Rafe said.

Ari laughed and squeezed past him. The two of them made their way from the building, and Rafe made a call as soon as his phone got reception again, letting the school know the situation so someone else didn’t get stuck in the wretched contraption.

“I have to say that was the best date I’ve ever been on,” Ari remarked as the two of them moved through the empty campus toward the parking lot and Rafe’s car.

He stopped and looked at her with puzzlement.

“Being trapped in an elevator?”

“You talked to me,
really
talked to me,” she said, as if that was the greatest gift he could give. To her, it was. No subjunctive needed, she chuckled to herself.

“I’m sorry, Ari. I’ve been so terrible to you that just a moment of kindness is a shock.” He pulled her into his arms.

“Yes, you have been terrible, but you have also done some pretty amazing things, Rafe. If you were nothing but a monster, I never would have fallen in love with you.”

“If you’re in love with me, then why can’t that be enough?” he asked as he stroked her head, his fingers running through her hair.

“Sometimes love isn’t enough, but the situation isn’t hopeless. I just don’t want to be a fool and make a rash decision because I’m all gooey inside,” she said.

“Gooey?” he asked with a laugh.

“Yes,
gooey
is a word, a perfectly good one,” she told him. She stood on her toes and kissed his jaw.

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment, then.” He held her head and connected their lips, pulling her tight against his body so she could feel his solid heat pressing into her.

Ari couldn’t get close enough to him as he deepened the kiss, his tongue tracing her mouth, devouring her. Her hands ran down his arms, then slid around his waist and came down to rest on his backside so she could pull him more tightly to her.

“I should have relieved the burn while we were in the elevator,” he growled as he pulled back, desire clouding his vision.

“Yes, you should have. Then we wouldn’t be nearly as desperate to remove these clothes,” she said as she squeezed his hard buttocks.

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, Ari. I can take you one minute and be solid and ready the next. I can’t ever get enough of you. Not your body — your mind — your soul — and certainly not your love. I want all of you, day and night, and it will never be enough, because the more you give, the more I want.”

Ari melted at his words. She wanted all of him, too. That was the problem. Even though he was speaking of his love, she couldn’t be sure he was giving all of himself. He was private and guarded, and he had built a wall around himself that he wasn’t even aware of.

Would she be fine to settle for what he was willing to give? Or would it eventually rip her apart to only have the pieces of himself he could share?

What would be worse, though? To live with a piece of Rafe, or to have nothing of him at all?

“I know I can’t change overnight, Ari. I know it will take time for you to trust me, but I promise you this. I promise that if you stay with me of your own free will, if you give us a real chance, I will forever love you, I will always take care of you, and I will listen to you. I won’t ever try to change you again. I will be there for you, in sickness and health. I will support your career and carry you through storms. I will lean on you when I need to, and I will share my life with you. I want it all; I want forever. If you trust me, I will fix everything about me that is broken and I will give you happiness and…well, forever.”

Ari looked into his eyes, saw the sincerity, the passion, the love. Rafe did have a way to go, but as he held her close, she also knew that they could both heal with each other. They could weather the storm if they held on tightly to each other’s hands.

This wasn’t the same man she’d met in his sterile office, the man who demanded her total submission. This man had been hurt, but he was willing to let go of the pain of his past, and was ready to give of himself to another.

To her.

“What are you asking of me, Rafe?”

She wanted to be very clear on what he wanted.

“I’m asking you not to run from me anymore. I’m asking you to stay by my side.”

She didn’t know if he wanted a mistress or a wife, and she wasn’t going to ask. Maybe he wouldn’t want to marry again after what his ex-wife did to him. Would she be content to be his permanent mistress?

As long as he didn’t cheat, as long as he didn’t hurt her again, it would be better to be with him than without, even if that didn’t include a ring and a white wedding dress.

Disappointment coursed through her at the thought, but she tamped it down. This might be all he could give, but it was so much more than others gave. The bottom line was that she loved him, and to have this much of him filled her heart.

She ignored the small pang of wanting more. If it ever got to be too much for her to bear, she could make a decision then. Right now, none of that mattered. At this moment, she just wanted to feel the glow that was coursing through her without feeling guilty about it, without suffering as conflicting emotions tore at her.

“I don’t want to be without you, either, Rafe. Not today, tomorrow or next year. I need you to love me. Please, just remember your promise. Please don’t tear me down again,” she said.

“I won’t, Ari. Never again,” he vowed.

The two of them began walking again toward his car. It was a silent ride back to his place, and that night, when they made love, it was truly lovemaking. She felt his desire, but she felt his love for her as he sank deep inside. He never broke the emotional connection, not even as their breaths rushed out in pleasure, not as he kissed her gently, and not when he separated their bodies.