She pulled her hand away, for the first time feeling a sense of panic. It was well after midnight, and she was alone with him in the hallway. “Listen—”
He kissed her again, his mouth hard.
This time, she struggled in earnest, kicking his shin and ripping her mouth free. “Stop—”
Then he was across the hall, hitting the wall with the sound of a bat cracking a baseball. Bosco Albertini stood over him, fury vibrating along his very bare and muscled back. His door was wide open.
Without making a sound, he grabbed Turner around the neck, yanked him to his feet, and slammed him down again. Turner landed flat on his back, his chest heaving.
Bosco went down on one knee, his hand still around Turner’s neck as Turner started to turn an alarming shade of red. Bosco had ALBERTINI tattooed across the top of his back and some sort of military tattoo on his bulging right biceps. His hair was mussed and his torso was iron-hard.
Turner clutched at Bosco’s wrist, kicking up but not moving much.
“Stop,” Bosco said, command in every line of his body.
Turner subsided, red striations cutting through the whites of his blue eyes.
“Did she say no?” Bosco snarled.
Turner paused but didn’t say anything.
Bosco must’ve tightened his hold on Turner’s neck because the guy gasped, and panic had him struggling again. Then Bosco lightened up. “Not going to ask you again.”
“She said no.” Turner gasped, tears leaking from his left eye.
“Got it.” Bosco released the guy’s neck, grabbed his thick hair, and pulled him to stand. Then he turned and shoved Turner toward the door, following him while only wearing unbuttoned faded jeans, his feet bare. “I’ll be right back.”
“No, wait—” Marlie finally found her voice. It was snowing outside, and the ground was already covered.
He cut her a furious golden-brown glare. “Stay. Here.” He opened the door and tossed Turner outside into the lightly falling snow. “I’ll deal with you in a minute, Marlie.” Then he followed Turner and slammed the door behind him.
She froze. Just completely froze. Bosco had turned so casually violent that she wasn’t sure how to react. He’d been saving her, and that was sweet. But right now, he was probably beating the crap out of Turner.
Violence didn’t solve anything.
A few minutes later, Bosco stormed back inside, his feet and chest slightly red from the cold, and his eyes blazing hot. He wasn’t covered in blood, so that was good. However, the knuckles on his right hand looked as if they were swelling.
She backed against her door, her eyes wide and her heart thundering. It was the most alive she’d felt all night, and all of a sudden, she wasn’t tired a bit.
He reached her, and even though snow clung to his thick hair and bare shoulders, heat poured off him. “Are you all right?”
Numbly, she nodded, looking up about a foot at his furious face.
“You going to give me crap about being able to handle that yourself and say that I shouldn’t have interfered?” He stood so close that her heart rate would not slow down.
She blinked. “Thank you for helping me.”
His head lifted. “You’re thanking me?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I wasn’t doing a very good job of getting through to him, and you took care of it easily. I appreciate it.” Her voice was all breathy, and her body felt tingly.
He frowned. “I wasn’t expecting that.” Then he looked at her like he really saw her. “You’re welcome, but we’re not finished with this conversation.”
Yeah, he was right. Full-on correct. She leaped for him, wrapping both arms around his neck, and planted her mouth right on his.
Chapter6
Fire exploded through Bosco so quickly his ears rang. With the adrenaline from the fight coursing through his veins and the fury beating in his heart, the kiss nearly dropped him to his knees. Instead, he caught her with an arm around her waist to keep her from falling after impacting him.
