Into the Darkness (Darkness #1)(6)

“Figures,” the other mumbled, his attention slipping past me to a patient and gooey-eyed Jared. “Mine has already succumbed. Look at him. He’s begging for it. Weak-willed, boring human.”

“You must lay it on too thick, that’s why.”

“What do you plan to do?” I asked in a firm voice, a surge of adrenaline boosting my courage. They’d started acting like we wouldn’t fight them off. Which was just silly. Sure, they were colossal and I, solely, represented our combat unit, but I did not intend to be mugged without at least putting up some resistance. Despite the weird urges of my Stockholm Syndrome-corrupted body, I did not intend for this to be easy for them.

“Screw you. Bite you. Maybe bleed you, depending on the time,” Charles said patiently. The other guy moved back around, aiming for Jared.

“A whole day planned then, lovely,” I muttered without meaning to.

I clutched Jared tighter, unsure why the hell he was groping me, and took a step back, trying to get Charles to step with us. My half-cocked plan was to make a hole between them large enough that I could shoot us out into the middle of the street. If I had any luck we’d get hit by a car—at least then it would be forced to stop and help.

“Smells like you like that idea,” Charles grinned.

I swatted Jared’s hands away from my butt. We took one more step back, each large shadow stepping with us, stalking us like predators. One of Jared’s hands reached between my legs, making me jump. Before I could turn that movement into a dart between the lumbering shapes, the Danger Shadow reached out, faster than expected, and swept Jared from my side.

“No!” I screamed, reaching for him.

Large hands swung me toward the alley. My back bumped the wall as Charles pushed in close. Six-five or more, his arms braced around me. His torso was robust and barrel-shaped, no fat to speak of.

He bent down to my neck and inhaled deeply. “You smell like fresh rain in the forest. Seriously, why do you smell like warm, chocolate cake? All decadent and rich. Yum. I’ve never had a human that smelled as good as you. You don’t have to be coaxed. Delicious.”

“Gross. Get away from me!” I pushed at his giant chest, panic thankfully starting to fight my faux arousal.

“There’s no need to fight, little pet. You’ll like this—they all do.” His hand landed on my shoulder with implied intimacy.

A wild urge rose up from deep inside, the part of me that always found fast cars and high-impact sports exhilarating, unfurling gratefully from my usually carefully controlled persona. It screamed one word like a siren.

Fight!

I punched Charles in the chest as hard as I could, jarring him away from my neck. His face backed up, eyebrows dipping low. “What? Do you want it rough or something? Is that the deal? Usually humans aren’t this feisty…”

“Yes, exactly, roughly screwing bullies on street corners is my gig,” I said through clenched teeth. I kicked his shin. A stab of pain screamed up my leg.

He grabbed my hair and yanked my head back with an assessing glance, startling a cry.

Cue hysterics.

I slapped at his face like a five-year-old, panicking. Then turned palms into fists and tried again. My fists splashed against a hard, square jaw. Crying out, gritting my teeth against the pain, I tried to poke an eye, aiming for vulnerable spots. He didn’t seem to have any. His hand reached for my breast, completely oblivious to my kicking his shin as hard as I could.

What was this guy made of, rocks?

I was losing the fight. Fear started to drip down my body like acid. I welcomed it, chasing away the weird, completely unnatural arousal that would not go away. But he wasn’t relenting and I was no match for his size. Hell, not many people, women nor men, were a match for this giant.

Tears near the surface, brain scrabbling for some way out of this, I heard, “Stop.”

Like a whip-crack, the command echoed through the alley. Charles froze. A dissatisfied whine came from somewhere across the way, but I couldn’t focus on that. I couldn’t even focus on Charles, still too close. My attention was sucked toward the speaker.

“Release her.”

My head dropped forward as Charles let go of my hair and stepped back quickly, dropping his hands to his sides like a kid trying not to be caught ransacking the cookies. A massive shape dominated the mouth of the alley. The glow from distant streetlights partially illuminated a breathtaking face. His body, poised, ready to fight, stood tall and firm, strength and power tempered with deadly grace.

It was him! The guy walking under the street light yesterday!

Something inside me sparked and started to glow, the draw of him once again tugging at me. His eyes swept past me to the other side of the alleyway. I followed their journey.

And then squeaked in horrified shock.

Danger Shadow stood with a ramrod straight back, his pants around bulging thighs. He’d frozen like Charles. My boyfriend, who never even wanted to have sex with the light on if he could help it, and preferred the missionary position, was railing against the stranger with a serene expression. Going to town. As the receiving end. With a man that wasn’t pushing back.

What. The. Fuck?

“You’re supposed to be securing the area,” the newcomer continued, his voice tight with anger. “We’ve had territory breaches every day this past week. They’re trying to take down as many of our people as possible. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that they have a powerful mage. So I ask you again, what are you doing here, playing around with a couple of humans?”