“I really want you to enjoy this.”
“I will, I’m with you,” he said simply. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her body closer so that their sides were mashed together.
Giving in, she grabbed the remote, turning on one of her many reality shows. Snuggling in, she laid her legs over his, getting completely comfortable. She fell asleep after one episode.
* * *
Knockingon the door pulled Flora awake; the constant insistent kind of knocking that irritated the ever-living shit out of Flora.
“Dylan,” Flora mumbled, tracing a lazy hand up his arm. He was sound asleep, his arms still loosely wrapped around her body. She didn’t want to move but the knocking wouldn’t stop. Sighing, she reached for the remote and paused the TV.
Untangling herself from Dylan, she stumbled toward the door. Even though he was only a few feet away, she was still unsure about answering the door. There was nowhere she’d be absolutely safe even with Dylan by her side, she’d learned that the hard way. Flora decided she’d only check who was at the door. Her stalker wouldn’t give her the courtesy of knocking on the door, that much she knew. She peeked in the peephole and saw Cassandra. Relief washed over Flora as she pulled open the door.
“Hey, what are you doing here so late?” Flora asked, worry suddenly warring with relief. Standing on the other side of the open doorway Cassandra just smiled, a sweet mothering smile. Except this smile sent chills down Flora’s back. There was a crinkle around Cassandra's eyes that made Flora uncomfortable. Something was wrong. Before Flora could ask what was wrong, Cassandra took a swing at her, kitchen knife in hand.
“What the hell, Cassandra!”
Jumping back, Flora dodged the swing by mere inches. In a panic, she tried to slam the door shut. Cassandra kicked the door wide open as Flora ran into the living room. Romeo stormed in after with a chain swinging from his hand.
Hearing Flora scream out, Dylan woke up and jumped into a wide stance. He pushed Flora to stand behind him.
“I don’t know —” Flora mumbled, gripping the back of Dylan’s shirt.
“I got you,” Dylan muttered, his eyes trained on the two intruders. Cassandra and Romeo looked damn near ready to pounce. Cassandra wielded her knife and the chain Romeo had was attached to a collar like a leash.
Flora fell to her knees. Shock and terror filled her senses, causing her panther to get riled up. Flora herself was not a fighter, but her panther definitely was. She couldn’t stop the shift as her panther took her place behind Dylan. Growling and snapping her teeth, the panther was ready for a fight.
20
DYLAN
Cassandra blinked anxiously focusing between Dylan and the snarling panther. Only a couch separated them, and Dylan was unsure of what the hell was going on. It couldn’t have been this easy. Why would they choose the most obvious time to try to get to Flora? Were they really the ones stalking her? And what for? Why — it didn’t matter. Not right now. It was him standing between them and Flora.
Why the hell was he sleeping though? Why did she answer the door? He didn’t want to blame her for the situation they were in; it sure wasn’t ideal. Taking a deep breath, he held his arm in front of Flora’s panther. Regardless, this was going to happen eventually. They were going to be face-to-face with her stalkers and he should be happy it happened when he was around to protect her.
Dylan’s eyes shot from Cassandra to Romeo and back. She was obviously the head of their operation. Dylan couldn’t decide if he should fight them or get Flora out of there. He should have been watching Flora; her panther was impatient and broke the ice by sliding past Dylan and jumping onto Cassandra. Romeo took that chance by lunging for Dylan.
Cassandra fell to the floor. With the black panther weighing her down, she stabbed her knife into Flora’s side. Flora’s panther ignored the pain, biting into Cassandra’s shoulder. She ripped her shoulder from Flora’s mouth with a scream.
Dylan swung at Romeo who dropped the collar in his hands to block the hit. As quick as Romeo was, Dylan was faster. Pulling his jade dagger from his waist belt he stabbed upward into the man's torso. Romeo groaned and backed away, giving Dylan enough room to jut his leg into the dagger sticking from Romeo’s ribs, kicking it deeper.
Turning around, Flora’s panther charged Cassandra again while the older woman tried to grab the dropped collar and leash. Taking another knife from one of his many holsters, Dylan quickly threw it. The sharp blade went straight through Cassandra’s hand, the bloody blade shining on the opposite side of her palm. Seeing the leash and collar still on the ground, Dylan realized the goal wasn’t to kill Flora but to take her. The dagger in Cassandra’s hand slowed her down, giving Flora’s panther an advantage while buying him time to take out Romeo.
Escaping to the kitchenette, Romeo pulled the knife from his side and Cassandra pounded her fist into the panther's chest before they rolled on the ground, trading hits. Finding a lamp, Romeo smashed it over Dylan’s head to no effect. Dylan rushed forward and used his weight to plummet Romeo to the ground. After a series of punches from Dylan, Romeo passed out.
Dylan rushed toward Flora, but in his haste, fell to the ground, his feet entangled in something.Fuck. A light orange fox skidded away from under Dylan and straight out of the hotel room.
That must have been Romeo.
Turning his attention back to Flora's fight, he watched Cassandra shove the blade from her own hand right into Flora's side. Dylan desperately wanted to push the panther out of the way and take on Cassandra himself, but jumping in the way of a panther on a mission was a death sentence. Instead, he took his ninja star blades from his belt but hesitated, deciding the risk of hitting Flora was too high.
He had to break them up somehow. But jumping in front of a panther scared him shitless. She could get confused and attack him. Losing Flora scared him more. He had to go for it and pray the panther recognized him. He used his body weight to push the injured panther to the side, praying she wouldn’t turn and bite the ever-living shit out of him.
Cassandra got up, seeing her partner in crime had left her, but she knew better than to run from a predator like Flora. Dylan charged at her. The goal wasn’t to kill, but to capture. He reached for the woman, her hair slipping from his grasp as she retreated, running from the room. Deciding to finally go for the kill anyway, Dylan picked up his jade-handled knife from the floor, covered in Romeo’s blood, throwing it at Cassandra’s neck. She quickly shifted, dodging the knife. A white panther dashed out the door.
Cassandra was a fucking panther. Flora's panther tried to run after Cassandra but Dylan quickly closed the hotel room door.
“No, we stay,” he muttered. His adrenaline was coming down and he hoped hers was too.
