Chapter Seven #2
the ground, her stomach heaving in revulsion when he rubbed his
face where it landed between her breasts.
“Mmm, this is perfect,” he
mumbled. “You smell good.”
“Get off me, you
idiot, you don’t smell good.” Disgusted, she
staggered back while trying to push him off her.
“Idiot? We’ll see about
that.” Suddenly he seemed to have a dozen hands because they were
everywhere.
Another crash sounded, this one
louder. Delaney didn’t have time to figure out what was happening
at the back of the restaurant. Vance grabbed her hips to pull her
against him, his lips and tongue wet on her neck.
“Fuck, you make me hard.
Always have,” he mumbled.
He ground his erection into the
juncture of her thighs and for the first time, fear rose to mix
with fury. He leaned forward, and off balance, she lurched back
under his weight, coming up against her car. Artificial light cast
shadows over the ugly expression on his face.
“You’re not going
anywhere, not until I have a taste of what you’ve been denying me.
I deserve a little of what I heard you gave that fucker
McGrath.”
Wet lips grazed her cheek. She locked
her arms against her chest to push him away. “Get away from me.”
Adrenaline had the blood pounding in her ears and her field of
vision narrowing so all she could see was the predatory leer on his
face.
Thinking only of survival, she dodged
his mouth, gathered her strength, and rammed her knee up, smashing
it solidly into his groin. He bent double, hands over his crotch,
as he dropped to the pavement while letting out a high-pitched,
agonized groan.
Her chest heaved as she fought back
the urge to kick him again, this time in his ass.
“Good one,
Laney.”
She jerked her head as Walker rushed
over to stand in the glow of the light. His hair curtained his
face, and when he pushed it back, he winced.
“What happened to
you?”
“Nothing.” He nodded to
Vance, now curled like a boiled shrimp, hands still cupped over his
balls. “Guess you don’t need my help.”
Vance was barely moving and continued
to take wheezing breaths, eyes screwed tightly shut. Her stomach
clutched.
“Oh my god, what if I
really hurt him?”
Walker let out a bark of laughter.
“You hurt him all right, but I’m guessing it’s no more than he
deserved.” He gave her an all-encompassing look, which only added
to her nerves.
“Why are you looking at me
like that?”
He shook his head.
Vance uncurled slowly and rolled onto
all fours. Walker pushed him with the toe of his boot and sent him
sprawling back onto the pavement. “Stay down, man. You’re not going
anywhere.” He sounded casual, but there was an undercurrent that
had Delaney giving him a sharp look.
His fists were clenched and his jaw
looked like it was swelling. He was holding himself back, but she
was sure if Vance made one wrong move, Walker’d unleash the power
coiled in his tough body.
“Sorry I wasn’t here
sooner so I could kick his ass for you. I got held up.” He glanced
toward the door to the bar. “What’d he do to deserve
it?”
“Wait, what happened to
your jaw? Was that you banging around outside the bar?”
“Answer the question,
Delaney. Tell me what Norris did so I know whether I need to break
his face.”
There it was again, Walker’s
rock-solid steadfastness. Even when they’d been kids, he’d always
had her back. Now she found his behavior confusing. He’d
disappeared for years yet he acted like he had the right to step
right back into that role.
She took a deep breath and held it,
then let it out slowly so she could speak without adrenaline
causing her voice to quaver. “He had his hands all over me, pushed
his groin against me. I told him to leave me alone, but he said he
was going to get what he heard I’d given you.”
The fists that’d begun to relax
tightened again and Walker’s expression turned murderous. He
squatted and put his face near Vance’s. “You fucker. You’re lucky
all you got is a knee in the nuts. I ever find you near Delaney
again you’ll get more than that. We clear?” His tone was low and
coarse, with an undercurrent of violence that sent a shiver down
her spine.
“I can take care of
myself, Walker. I’ve been doing it a long time.”
“Yeah, I can see that. But
now he knows I’ll watch out for you too. If he lays a hand on you
again, I’ll rip his smug face off. Right, Norris?”
She opened her mouth, but the look he
shot her had her shutting it with a click. He’d always been
headstrong and fiercely protective of those he considered “his
people,” which had basically meant his immediate family, and
hers.
He’d also been strong-willed and, in
his own way, a staunch fighter for justice. Until everything had
blown up in his face and he’d ended up in prison for a crime he
hadn’t committed.
She couldn’t imagine how those events
must have messed with him. But that wasn’t her problem. Walker had
made it clear the summer they’d spent as a couple was over. He’d
moved on, and so had she.
Mostly.
Vance pushed himself to sitting,
Walker still crouched in front of him. “We understand each other,
Norris?”
“Fuck off,” Vance hissed
between his teeth. Something in Walker’s expression must’ve gotten
through because Vance muttered, his tone surly, “I don’t want her
anyway. She’s frigid.”
“Walker.” Delaney put a
hand on his shoulder not so much because she didn’t want him
breaking Vance’s nose, but because No-Neck, the guy who’d walked
into Easy Money with Vance, was lurching toward them from across
the parking lot.
In one swift move, Walker rose to his
feet, shifting in front of her. “Stay behind me.”
No-Neck approached the circle of
light. Blood dripped from a cut lip and the skin around his eye
looked puffy. He eyed Walker with a sullen expression. “What the
fuck’s going on here?”
Delaney moved so she could see the guy
over Walker’s shoulder. “Your friend got handsy with me, that’s
what happened.” He wasn’t someone Delaney recognized from Sisters.
He looked like a bouncer. Between his thick muscles and crooked
nose, she figured fighting wasn’t new to him.
Vance tottered to his feet, his face
pasty white. No-Neck’s presence must’ve given him courage because
he snarled, “You’ll be fucking sorry for this. Both of you. A
stupid bitch and an ex-con. I’ll ruin you.”
Moving so fast Delaney could only
blink, Walker grabbed Vance by the front of his shirt, slamming him
back against the truck high enough to force him to his tiptoes.
Vance wasn’t a small man, but Walker handled him like he weighed no
more than a sack of potatoes. “Watch who you’re threatening,
asshole.”
No-Neck lunged forward, focused on
Walker, and Delaney did the only thing she could think to do. She
stuck out her foot.
No-Neck let out a surprised grunt and
went sprawling on the pavement.