Reaching for the back of the jacket of the one pinning her to the wall, he flung the idiot away with the ease with which a mortal might flick an insect from their sleeve.
The imbecile yelled with shock, his limbs flailing as he plummeted to the unforgiving concrete.Kronos hardly noticed the noise of several bones snapping when the male landed, his focus already on the one who’d been stifling Kristina’s cries.
Stepping out of the cloak that the ether provided, which was invisible to human eyes, he revealed himself to the men who had thought to touch what was his; the horrified expressions on their remaining faces improved his mood considerably.
“Hey!”Evidently in shock about the seven-foot god who’d just materialized in front of him, the male released Kristina, turning toward Kronos as though he had any chance of being the victor.“Who do you think you are?”
Eyeing the pathetic attempt at a foe, Kronos let out a booming chuckle.“I’m the reason you’re going to wish you’d stayed at home, pretty boy.”
Kronos moved like lightning, far faster than any human eye could follow, grabbing the fool by his neck and sending him flying across the street to join his broken friend.His agitation called forth his scythe, which flew from the atmosphere to meet his outstretched hand before he directed his attention to the remaining one of the impudent trio.
“And you?”Kronos glowered at the fool, though he briefly acknowledged the look of astonishment on Kristina’s face.That was an expression he looked forward to seeing a lot more of.“Do you also choose to fight?”
The guy raised his hands in defeat, his head shaking as he backed away.“No way!”He swallowed, his gaze traveling to see what state his friends were in.“We were just having some fun.We didn’t mean nothing by it.”
“Fun?”Kristina stepped forward, her fear and reverie at Kronos’ sudden appearance morphing into anger that glinted in her expressive eyes.“You think it’sfunto hurt me?”
She screeched the words in the idiot’s direction, jabbing her finger into the air for good measure.“You think it’s fun to threaten me with sexual violence?How fucking dare you?”
“I’m going!”Abandoning his so-called friends, who were moaning in pain behind Kronos, he turned on his heel and ran in the opposite direction, almost slipping on a pool of ice as he went.
Standing on the frozen street, Kristina pulled in a deep breath, and slowly, she turned her head to look at Kronos.
“Th-thank you.”
She looked her liberator up and down as though he was nothing more than a trick of the light.Not that there was much illumination coming from the solitary streetlamp flickering across the road.
“You’re welcome, Kristina.”The scythe vanished from his grasp, and Kronos folded his arms across his chest, his lips curling at her widening eyes.
It was the moment he’d been waiting for.The first precious seconds in her physical presence.Whatever transpired between them, neither of them would ever forget those initial fleeting moments of realization.Silently, he sent a magical ward out across the rest of the street.The wall of protective energy would ensure the road remained free of any other interruptions while he took what belonged to him.
“How do you know my name?”A small gasp escaped her throat as she stumbled back to the wall she’d been trapped against.
“The same way I know your number and the name of the loser who spurned you, Kristina.”Kronos’ smile stretched wider, relishing the way she gulped at the admission.“I told you I’d be seeing you soon, and now, here I am.”
Chapter Seven
Kris
Kris’ fight or flight instincts had splintered into a dizzying array of conflicting responses.One moment, she was in trouble, pinned against the wall by one of three men intent on harming her.She recalled those long, freezing seconds vividly; the sense of escalating dread tightening in her airway, and worse, the heightened realization that, despite her pathetic attempts to break free, there was little she could do to halt their advance.At average height and weight, she was in no position to counter three fully grown men, though she accepted that ‘men’ was a poor word choice when describing the thugs who were threatening her.
Just when she’d assumed the swelling walls of panic would land and flatten her, something remarkable had happened.From out of nowhere, one, and then a second of the bastards had been yanked from her and discarded to the cold street as though they weighed nothing.And she did meanyanked.The ugly one snarling in her face hadn’t stepped away of his own free will.She’d felt the way he’d been ripped from her, and in that split second, she’d witnessed the look of terror in his eyes.Whatever the hell had happened, it had not been part of his or the others’ plans.
With two of the three cast off as if they were nothing but children, a surge of anger had risen in her, compelling her to face the third moron and let him know precisely how he and his friends had made her feel.Only once he’d retreated and disappeared from view had she finally turned to address the guy who’d been responsible for the rapid turnaround of events.
“Th-thank you.”What else could she say?
Glancing up at her unexpected hero, she acknowledged that the man was an absolute giant.Not only must he have been close to seven feet tall in height, but he was strapping as well, his dark attire hiding what she assumed was a significant and muscular body.Swallowing hard, she tried not to let her gaze linger over the expanse of his chest.
Had she ever seen a man as impressive as him before?
No wonder he’d had no problem dealing with the thugs who’d intimidated her.Her neck ached just craning to look him in the eyes.
I was almost just attacked.Is my rescuer’s physique all I can think about?
“You’re welcome, Kristina.”Her savior folded his arms across that vast span of muscle and smiled.
For a millisecond, she was hypnotized by the gesture, her focus flitting back to him and her mind reeling at the sight.He had the most astonishing hazel eyes she’d ever seen, and skin that stretched over model-like high cheekbones.
