Branded (Strand Brothers Series Book 1)(6)

I turned to walk away when his firm hand landed on my shoulder. “No tricks, Aimee,” he warned. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

As I tried my best to smile, I fought off a cringe. “Of course, darling,” I said in a saccharine tone. Meanwhile my brain screamed, “Run! Tell him to take a flying leap and run like hell.” If only, that was even a possibility.

Once I rounded the corner, my pace quickened. I was nearly sprinting towards the ladies’ room when—bam—I ran into a wall of muscle. Crap! It’s probably one of his damn henchmen. I looked up and up and up through my eyelashes. Finally, I saw the face of the giant I’d bumped into. My goodness, he was freaking gorgeous! He was not only tall but big all over. I was thoroughly convinced that shoulders like his belonged on a football field, not in a hotel corridor. His massive hand came up to steady me so I wouldn’t fall on my butt. There was a rough, raspy sound. “Are you all right?”

Oh my! The sound was his sexy as hell voice. I stammered, “Um…yes. Yes, I’m alright.”

His lips curved up slightly on one side. “You seem to be in a hurry.”

Wow. That hint of an accent of his was unbelievable. I smiled, “Just need to pee.” OMG. Did I just say that?! The odds of me saying anything intelligible around this man were slim to none. “I’m s-sorry. I can’t believe I just said that.”

He chuckled low in his throat. I swear if he did that one more time, I would have an orgasm. “No need for apologies,” he countered. “When you have to go, you have to go.” He motioned with his hand towards the restrooms. “Please, don’t let me keep you.”

“Right. Excuse me.”

I darted into the ladies room and then leaned against the wall. I just met a god. And I needed to hurry, because I really wanted to talk to him some more. Fact was, I actually did need to pee. Ironic. Once I had myself put to rights, I walked back into the hallway where Thor was glaring at my intended. Oh, just shoot me now. They appeared to know one another, nonetheless their voices were terse, and the tension was thick between them. For whatever reason, I stepped in the middle. But I wasn’t there more than a moment. Caleb yanked me to his side with enough force to knock me off balance. And that was when the heel on my brand-new, lace-up Jimmy Choo’s snapped. I shoved him with both hands. “What the hell, Caleb?”

He squeezed my upper arm so tight I knew I’d have a bruise. At that moment, I caught a movement out of my peripheral vision. A fist came back, and I knew what was about to happen. Or, so I thought. Before Thor could make contact, four huge secret service men were on him. Caleb shoved me into action, pushing me up the hallway while I struggled to help my rescuer. I filled my lungs with air to scream, but Caleb’s hand was quicker—clamping over my mouth so snug breathing became difficult.

He roughly shoved me inside a room, all the while I struggled for air. I fell to my hands and knees, gasping. My lungs burned. And it took me a few moments to catch my breath. Then, I heard the door lock. I looked up from under my hair and saw Caleb had drawn his foot back to kick me. I quickly rolled out of his way, which only managed to piss him off more. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. I mean, yes, he had threatened to hit me before, but never had he followed through with it. My gut told me that was not the case this time. I beseeched, “Please, Caleb. I’m sorry. I’ll do whatever you say.”

He twisted my hair around his fist. “You’re damn right you’ll do what I say.” He unfastened his slacks and slid them along with his boxers to his knees. “Open your mouth,” he commanded.

I was complying when the door flew in with a loud thud. And there stood, in all of his muscular glory, my protector. Caleb fumbled to pull up his pants, but he wasn’t quick enough. Thor landed a roundhouse kick to his solar plexus, followed by a dead-on right hook to his jaw that sent him a good two feet across the floor. He sprawled face down with his pants still around his ankles so his ass was bare for all to see. Under different circumstances, it would’ve been funny. A large hand gently reached under my arm to help me up. As I stood, the once beautiful, red chiffon tiered dress slid off my shoulder where the strap had been torn. Uh…when’d that happen? I tried to at least keep my breast covered. All of a sudden, an extremely large suit coat was placed around my shoulders. Thor’s finger grazed tenderly under my chin to raise my face up so our eyes met. As a tear escaped, I murmured, “Thank you.”

The pad of his thumb caught it. “Hey, now,” he comforted, “It’s okay. I’ll take care of you.” With that vow, I was tucked safely under his arm.