Fuck. It seemed Eli had been right about old Leather Vest.
Her top was white, had tiny frilly sleeves, laced up the front, fit like a glove, and showed just a little bit of tan midriff when she stretched up for things on high shelves. She did fill it out really well, if she did say so herself. She would be damned if this guy would make her feel cheap for that.
He moved in closer still. His slightly unwashed scent, sweat layered with beer and smoke, literally raised her hackles. He smelled likebaddanger, not the interesting kind.
“Yeah. Too bad I didn’t wear my leather vest over it.” Her impulse was to do a quick dodge and feint and then dash around the other side of the building. But she was beginning to think this guy might actually enjoy a chase.
She was quick and she knew a lot about breaking types of holds and stomping on insteps and gouging eyes and where to hit a guy to get him to buckle over, moaning. That was all thanks to Jonah and Eli, who had taught her all of that back when they could still all wrestle like puppies.
But this guy was wearing heavy motorcycle boots, so the instep thing wouldn’t work. And these sinewy types could be surprisingly strong.
Maybe sheoughtto take up knitting. If only to get in the habit of carrying something long and sharp around with her.
Inside the Plugged Nickel Tom Petty was singing about American girls and she could feel vibrations against her butt, which was both reassuring and not. It meant there was life inside, but if she screamed, it was entirely possible no one would hear it. Out here in the deep dark sticks, they might mistake it for a fox or a coyote or maybe even a bigfoot.
“My car’s right over there.” Ezekiel gestured to an old Ford something deep in the “parking lot,” an expanse of flattened dirt, entirely unlit, near where her own truck was parked. “Let’s go heat each other up in the backseat.”
“Thank you for the invitation, Ezekiel,” she said brightly but firmly, “but I have to get back inside and finish my shift.” She took a step away from the wall, toward the door.
His hand shot out and closed around her arm.
And he held her fast.
She slowly looked up at him. Absolutely speechless with outrage.
She tugged just a little.
That son of a bitch didn’t let go.
Oh, poor Ezekiel. This wasn’t his lucky night. She was in the mood to do some damage.
“I’m going to need you to take your hand off me. Now,” she said very, very softly. It was very nearly a hiss.
“Aw, don’t be like that.” He used his grip on her arm to lever her back up against the wall. “In a few seconds you’ll bebeggingfor my hands all over you.”
He was still standing too close for her to be able to get a knee up into his gonads.
But then he dumbfounded her by releasing her and turning his hand around to drag it down along her face in a caress. As if they were in a romantic comedy and he was the seductive hero.
She had a hunch this was a move he’d used with some success before.
She didn’t breathe. She kept her eyes even with his black ones. And when his hand reached her chin she turned her head, ever so slightly into his hand, like a cat surrendering to pleasure.
“Yeah,that’sit, baby,” he murmured. “I’m going to rock your—”
CHOMP.She sank her teeth hard into the meat of his palm like a puma.
There was no wayhisscream couldn’t be heard over the Tom Petty inside. It could have shattered windows.
He staggered back just a little, far enough for her to get her knee up, but just as she was about to deliver the coup de grace to his nuts, his eyes bulged, he made a hideous gargling noise and levitated about two feet off the ground.
It was a few seconds before she realized he was dangling from Eli’s fist. The various metal elements on his uniform—his badge, his gun—glinted like stars against the dark and came into focus first. Above that, his face was stone and as cold as that moon.
He’d snagged a handful of the guy’s vest and shirt and hoisted him like a sack of flour.
She spat on the ground, gasping. She tasted beer and smoke and salt from the peanuts Leather Vest had been scrabbling around in on the bar.
She wiped at her eyes, which were leaking tears of fury and sucked in a shuddering breath.
