Rock Chick Rescue (Rock Chick #2)(105)

Then a hand wrapped around my ankle and I was pul ed back, my arms let go of Lottie and I rol ed, thinking Mace had got to me but it wasn’t Mace, it was Vince.

Just my f**king luck.

He pul ed me to my feet, an arm around my waist and started running, me tucked under his arm. I noticed he jumped over a prone Shirleen, lying on her side in the hal .

Fuck!

I didn’t let the surprise at seeing him get to me and I didn’t let my worry for Shirleen break my focus.

This was about life, death and rape. I wanted no part of the second two and the first one was just getting interesting and I wasn’t about to let it go.

I twisted, struggled and screamed at the top of my lungs.

That’s when Mace arrived.

I saw him, Vince saw him and Vince stopped. He jerked me upright and pul ed me back against his body, an arm around my rib cage.

“Not another step,” Vince said and I felt the cold against my temple.

Mace froze.

Mace was carrying a gun, held up and pointed at us, left hand to his right wrist, head cocked to the sight of the gun but his eyes shifted to my temple.

My eyes slid there too.

I could see Vince’s gun held to my head.

Wonderful.

Now, at this juncture I had two choices. I could get dragged out of there and hope someone found me and took care of Vince before I got raped and possibly kil ed.

Or I could fight, maybe get kil ed but at least I wouldn’t spend the last hours of my life being scared out of my mind and violated.

No choice, real y.

I brought my head forward, then back with a vicious snap. I cracked my skul against Vince’s chin and for some reason, it didn’t hurt.

The gun fired and I felt the burning pain at my temple.

Now that hurt.

I thought surely I was dead, but my limbs were stil taking orders from a brain that was stil working and positioned in my skul and I noticed Mace move, fast as lightning.

Vince’s arm around me went slack when he went into defend mode, forgetting me when faced with an aggressor who, one second, was five feet away, the next second, on top of us.

Mace grabbed me and threw me free and since apparently I could run, I did.

I heard a struggle, a grunt of pain but I kept going and didn’t look back.

I went down running, doing a sliding skid on my knees, stopping next to Shirleen. I had time to get my hands on her and noticed she was breathing when a strong arm went around my waist. I was pul ed to my feet and redirected.

It was Mace, he was running, half dragging me along with him. I remembered his orders and didn’t try to go back even though I real y, really wanted to.

We cleared the bar, running flat out, Mace’s hand in mine, to an SUV. The locks and lights were bleeping as we ran toward it (I found, in a desperate situation I could run in stiletto heels).

He directed me straight to the driver’s side. He picked me up and shoved me through to the passenger side, got in, started the truck and took off without either of us wearing seatbelts.

He drove down Colfax, then swung into an empty parking lot and round the back of some building. He braked, kil ed the lights and turned to me.

Before I knew what he was doing, his fingers closed on my chin and he gently pul ed my face around. It was the dead of night and there were no lights where we were.

There was no way he could see but I could tel he was looking.

“Graze,” he said, though I didn’t know how he could determine that in the dark.

Then he muttered, “Fuck.”

He let me go, looked forward, and I got the weird feeling he slipped somewhere else for a moment.

Then he shouted, “Fuck! ” And that one word was like a control ed, muted, explosion that I was surprised didn’t shake the windows.

I put my hand to my head, tentatively exploring the wetness there but I could feel it wasn’t that bad. I’d skinned my knees worse.

“I’ve skinned my knees worse,” I told him.

At my words, he turned, his arm went around my waist, he yanked me across the seat and then he kissed me.

Eek!

It was a ful -on kiss, tongues and everything. I shouldn’t have responded but I did. Maybe it was the life or death situation, the thril of being alive, desperate gratitude or maybe it was because it was a great kiss. It was likely al of that and more. I wasn’t going to analyze it, I was going to go with it, then bury it. Deep.

His head came up but he didn’t let me go and stayed firmly in my space.

For my part, I had both hands curled on his neck, just below his ears, and I found I couldn’t let go.

We both sat there, silent, staring at each other in the dark and breathing heavy.

There was something important about that moment for Mace, I felt it, I didn’t entirely get it but I was honored by it.

The only thing I knew was that, for me, it was about him saving my life and me being alive.

Then Mace broke the moment.

“You tel Chavez I kissed you, we’re disappearin’ in Mexico where no one can find us.”

Sweet Jesus.

He said “us”.

I couldn’t blame that on the Smithie’s uniform.

“What was that about?” I whispered.

He was quiet for a beat.

“I’m just glad you got a face left to kiss.” Hmm.

Guess, for Mace, it was the thril of me being alive.