“Come on, then.” He swung me to the wall and pressed his body against mine, pinning me in place. He leaned in, putting his mouth on my neck with his forearm across my chest.
“Get. Off. Me.” I jerked my knee between his legs and was fairly certain he was tasting his balls right now.
His forearm dropped as he slumped over, sucking wind.
I stepped from around him and started walking down the hall when he grabbed my wrist and jerked me backwards. “Wrong fucking move.” He lashed out. “I get so tired of you women out here dancing like you do. Looking for attention. And then when you get it, you try to push it away. You asked for it, you’re going to get it.” He dragged me down the hall and into the ladies room.
Fuck.
I had tried to play nice with Jordan, but he seemed to need something more direct. When I was in college, there were a lot of girls getting attacked, so I took a self-defense class. I liked it so much I started karate and got my black belt. I lifted my arm and crashed it back down, breaking his grip on my wrist. I turned towards the door to get out, but he ran over and slammed it shut with his arms, pinning me to the door.
This motherfucker just doesn’t give up. I brought my hands down on his arms, causing his elbows to bend and quickly used one hand to grab the back of his head, while my elbow crashed into the side of his cheek, swiping across his face. He grabbed his nose, which was bleeding down to his chest, yelling a mixture of expletives at me. I pushed him off and walked into the hall only to find Callum standing there, frozen, like I’d surprised him.
His intense gaze traveled from me to the door, which was bursting open with Jordan climbing out of it, still pushing forward. Asshole doesn’t know when to take a hint.
I saw a smile tug on Callum’s lips before he calmly walked towards me, his hand outstretched. I slipped mine into his and felt a heat, as he gently guided me behind him. He moved forward and grabbed Jordan by the throat, jacking him up on the wall so his feet were dangling. He leaned in and whispered something to him, so quiet I didn’t even hear it, but the color drained from Jordan’s face and his body went limp. After a moment later, Jordan fell to the ground just as someone else was walking up behind me.
I slid out of the way and saw another man dressed in black and recognized him as the one who was on the balcony earlier that had delivered information to Callum. He was even more beautiful close up. Sandy blonde locks and hints of tattoos protruding from under his black button-down shirt.
“Shit Callum. What did you do? It’s our opening night.”
“I did nothing, Knox. It was all her.” He nodded in my direction and I felt there was a hint of pride in his tone.
Knox turned to look at me, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. “I stand corrected, my lady.” He gave a slight bow, and I smiled at him.
“Get him out of here and revoke his membership.”
“What? Because of her? She better be glad I’m not pressing charges.”
I lost my temper and marched over to him and grabbed him by the collar, pressing him against the wall. “Press charges, you asshole. I dare you. You fucking pussy. It’s assholes like you that make it so fucking difficult for women to go out and enjoy themselves. It’s amazing that all the other men and probably some women were able to not be a complete dick and want to assault a woman. You say it was my fault for dancing the way I was, but I say it’s your fault. You were raised with a sense of entitlement and believing you can take whatever you want. News flash, you fucking can’t.” I raised my fist, and he flinched before I pushed off him.
“Take him.” Callum demanded through set teeth.
Jordan batted his hand in the air before he was led down the hall by Knox.
“Come with me.” Callum commanded, his tone a hair softer than before.
I followed him down the hall to a hidden door just past the ladies room. He pulled out a keycard on a retractable string and swiped it against the pad. The panel turned green, buzzing, before unlocking the door to let us in. He pushed the door open, inviting me in with his gesture. I got the impression he was a man of few words.
The lights flicked on in the room and I saw we were in another bathroom. Perhaps the employee restrooms, it wasn’t completely finished.
“The door is going to lock behind us for privacy, but I will not touch you without your permission. You are safe.” His words sounded rehearsed, like he’d used them before.
I nodded.
“I need to hear the words.” His tone was soft, but final.
“Ok.” I said.
He shrugged out of his jacket and pinched it on the upper corners, folding it in half and laying it on the couch. “Are you ok?” He asked, walking over to the sink. He rolled up his sleeves until the shirt was stretched around his forearm, exposing several tattoos which stopped just above his wrist.
He flipped the water on and let it run for a second before taking a rolled-up towel from a basket to the right of the sink and wetting it. I was entranced. The way he moved, the way his muscles flexed in his arm. The way his fingers expertly wrung out the cloth.
I felt my chest taking deeper breaths the longer I watched him.
“Do I have your permission to wipe the few scrapes on your face?”
I nodded.
