A Real Bad Boy(32)

This time I spit solidly into his face, pleased with the effect it had  as it trailed down his skin. He was a piece of shit and he didn't  deserve one ounce of my respect.

I wasn't going to give it to him. Not now.

It didn't matter that it earned me the hardest punch across my face that  I'd ever received. Or that I spat out blood and coughed and cried out. I  didn't care. I didn't care about it at all. He could beat me, flay me  alive, whatever the fuck he wanted. I wasn't going to allow him to win  over me. He was a nasty, nasty man. But I wasn't under his control  anymore. The outcome of what would be, would be.                       
       
           



       

But I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"You're a little slut, but you're mine. It might take some retraining to  get you back to where you should be, to make you obey, but you aren't  going to leave me again, Willow." He grinned, chaos in his eyes as he  punched me again.

Fuck. It hurt. It hurt so bad.

"You know how long I've been waiting to get you back? How many women I  turned down just to have you, while you were fucking some stupid  meat-shield?" he asked. "Oh, you didn't think I knew, did you? About  your little boy-toy. Your stupid little soldier. Yeah, I had him pegged  as soon as he came up to North Carolina. Did a little digging around,  too. That piece of shit worked on some of the nastiest missions  possible. Army Ranger. A real fucking hero to our country. But a real  monster, too. You know how many men he killed in the line of duty?" he  asked. "More than you or I could even imagine."

That wicked face of his was turned up in disgust.

"You call me a monster, but he killed and killed, consumed with a  bloodlust. We call it heroism, but it's fucking barbaric. You think he  won't kill again? Rumor is he went into the mercenary guild to keep  satiating his fucking bloodlust. To be able to continue to kill  legally." He sneered. "That's who you've brought into your bed."

"It's better than someone who harms innocents," I said. "I'd rather be  with a man who has killed a thousand monsters than one who beats people  who are smaller and more helpless than he is." Zachary was coming for  me. I knew it.

He was coming to rescue me, I was right. He wouldn't just leave me here.  He wouldn't give up until he had me. Until he had my baby.

My baby. Our baby. It had to be our baby.

There was a small chance that the baby wasn't his, but it was so small.  So inconceivably small that I refused to believe it. I would never tell  Elijah. Never give him a reason to fight harder for me than he already  was.

Part of me was certain that if I was pregnant, he would kill me before he would let me go into the arms of someone else.

Hell, I was worried he would do that regardless.

"Oh, honey. What I am going to do to you won't hurt. At least not once  you finally get in the mood." He grinned and pulled me up off the floor I  was sitting on. I struggled, but he was so much stronger than me. So  much bigger. I would never be able to run away from him and I knew it.  Elijah prided himself on taking care of his body. He made sure he was in  the best physical condition of his life at all times.

It made him even more handsome, even more charismatic, but it also made  him a formidable opponent. Fuck. I shuddered in revulsion as he bent  down and kissed me. I couldn't squirm away but I could refuse to  respond.

I made myself as stiff as possible so that when his lips connected to  mine he didn't get anything. But he held that kiss for an uncomfortably  long time before releasing me and pushing me back to the floor.

"You'll figure it out, baby. You just need some more time."

More time for Zach to figure out where I was and what I was doing. Something had to inform him. He had to know.

But he wasn't working with the military anymore; how would he ever be able to track me?

Maybe it was hopeless, but I had to believe he was on his way. I had to believe he was coming for me.

It was the only thing that was keeping me focused. The only thing that was keeping me from giving in to despair.





Zach



I pulled into the little cottage driveway and looked around. No other  cars, no guards outside. Nothing. This man had taken her with absolutely  no safeguards for his own health.

That seemed more than a little foolish.

It was downright stupid.

I charged the door, not even worrying about the consequences of coming  alone. I knew better, but I also knew that a man like him wouldn't have  anything with him that could rival my skill. There were only a select  few men like me in the country, and I knew them all.

This scum ball might find a few people to guard him, work for him, but  none of them had my level of skill with a weapon or even physical form.

But he was also mentally unstable. That much was clear, and when it came to Willow, he wasn't thinking correctly at all.

I kicked in the door with my boot and stormed in to an empty foyer.

"Help! Help me!"

Willow.

I'd know that voice anywhere. I followed it to the back of the house to see her chained to the floor.

"Where is he?" I asked. He wasn't in the room with her.

"Upstairs. He'll come after you-" Her voice went up an octave at the end. I turned to see him coming at me, a pipe in his hand.                       
       
           



       

It was easy as fuck to dodge him, slamming him into the wall. It was  pathetic, really. A man like him taking his strength out on a woman like  Willow. He was not a bad opponent; he should've focused on people more  his own size.

Like me.

He dodged me and moved around, my own punch dodged. He'd clearly trained  for combat before, and he knew the basics. It would be a better fight  than my normal barroom brawls.

I almost looked forward to it, except for the fact that my woman was chained against the floor.

She was mine and I wasn't going to fucking stand for it.

He swung, I countered, and I landed a blow to his face, but he hit me  square in the gut. Dammit, it hurt. I let out a breath then went for him  again. I was going to kill that son of a bitch with my bare hands.

We got tangled up in punches, but I extracted myself from his grip and landed one right on the fucking jaw.

"You stupid motherfucker, did you think I was going to just let you take  her away from me? Did you think it would be that easy?" Elijah spat.

I balled a fist, ready to lunge at him. I was going to beat him into  submission then finish it. I was going to make sure that I took what was  mine.

What was always meant to be mine. I was done playing games. I grabbed  him by the neck and threw him against the wall. I was stronger than he  was, better trained, and I clearly had a handle on combat that he didn't  even understand.

He was more than just my prey. He was a dangerous. To everyone. To himself.

Ending him would be so easy.

"No, don't!" Willow screamed. "Don't kill him."

Murder must've been in my eyes because it was what I was about to do.

"Yeah, man. Don't kill him. Besides, the police are on their way," a  voice rang out in my ear. All this time, I'd forgotten to take my  earpiece out.

Glitch.

"What the hell?" I growled into the earpiece.

"You wouldn't let Leo turn into a murderer. You think I'm going to let  you? Hell no. Police are pulling in now. Along with an FBI contact.  It'll be nasty news, but a senator's son guilty of kidnapping? I don't  think he'll walk away from it."

I threw Elijah down onto the ground and kicked him for good measure. "You aren't fucking worth it."

It was true. He wasn't worth it.

I didn't want to turn my back on Willow. I didn't want to be the monster I thought I always had to be.

Sirens surrounded us as I searched Elijah for the keys to the chains that kept Willow on the floor.

It was about to get ugly and I wanted to make sure that she was free.

The uniforms swarmed in through the kicked in door and took control of  the situation in a matter of seconds. Elijah was too hurt to put up a  fight, and they dragged him out of there without more than a few words.

"Are you okay?" I asked Willow.

"I'll be all right."

"Did he hurt the baby?" I was so fucking worried about her, I'd  forgotten about the baby until now. I checked the ground for signs of  bleeding.

"No, he was just getting ready to-" She couldn't say the words. She was  trembling. He was a fucking menace. I still wished I'd snapped his neck  when I had the fucking chance.

But instead, I held her close and cradled her while the police did their job.

He'd never ever hurt her again. Not if I could help it.

His days fucking up her life were done.

It was the second time in a day I'd had to see this happen, but I knew  this time I'd have a lot more questions to answer. So would Willow.

I didn't give a shit, as long as I got to walk home with her at the end of the day.