She hits with herfist.
I blink like a dumbass who didn’t see the train coming. My brain refuses to compute what just happened.
“What the—”
Thisisthe girl who trembled in my passenger seat, who ducked her head every time Jax got too close. The same girl who looked like she’d shatter if someone breathed too hard in her direction is trying to take me down barehanded...
And it’s working.
The second hit lands before I recover from the first. My chest absorbs it, ribs flaring with heat. She keeps going, pummeling my stomach hard enough that I grunt.
Jesus Christ. She’s actually causing some damage.
I’ve been in more fights than I can count. I’ve taken punches from men twice my size, brawled in alleys until both of us were painted red, but no one’s caught me this off guard.
No one was ever this feral. So absolutely fucking violent.
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
Whack. Her fist slams into my ribs.
“You can’t keep me here!”
Whack. My shoulder takes the hit.
“Let me go!”
Whack.My jaw again.
She’s everywhere at once, savage and breathless, and I’m just blinking, dumb as fuck, while this dainty little thing pummels me like I’m her personal punching bag.
“I think you should listen,” Broadway says behind me. “She looks like she’s just getting started.”
“Aren’t you fucking helpful,” I spit out, ducking a wild swing that nearly clips my ear.
Broadway chuckles. “Suit yourself. I don’t mind the show.”
Asshole. Of course he’d watch and smirk while I’m getting my ass handed to me by a rabid little hellcat. She’s raging, and fuck if I know how to get her under control without breaking her in half.
Somewhere in the back of my head, a voice says,Move, you idiot, but my brain’s still rebooting. Five full seconds pass before I get my shit together enough to clamp her wrists to my chest.
She thrashes about until she pulls her hands free and slams her fist into my rib.
Broadway snickers when I damn near double over.
I glare at him over my shoulder. “Enjoying yourself?”
“Immensely. Keep still, maybe she’ll knock you out.”
“Asshole,” I mutter, covering my face with one arm while Leilani tries peeling my skin off. “Okay, enough. Calm down, I’m—” Pain detonates in my shin, and I stagger back with a hiss.
I get the feeling she was aiming higher.
“Son of a—”
I release her on instinct, and the second I do, she’s back on me, punching, kicking, and scratching my face. I try blocking the worst of it, but she’s fast.
And so fuckingmean.
