Never Kiss an Outlaw(32)

I pointed toward my boss' office. Velvet pouted, but she moved, clicking her high heels against the wooden floor.

The clock overhead ticked on. Fifteen more minutes.

“Holy shit. Cora fuckin' Chase?”

I whirled around and faced the gravely, slurred voice. A tall, older man I didn't recognize at first stood backstage, a tall beer in his hand.

Not his first, judging by the way he swayed while he looked at me.

“Tony Pearson?” I squeaked, vaguely recognizing the deadbeat dad. Mister Fisher had a lot of trouble with him in class, always getting into parent-teacher shouting matches over the phone when his kid, Billy, flunked quizzes.

“Yeah, fuck yeah. When did you turn into such a big slut? Shit, Billy said you'd disappeared, stopped teaching altogether. Real big mystery...”

I pursed my lips. “That isn't what's going on here. Hey – stay back!”

I held out my hands. The drunk wasn't deterred. He moved, coming towards me, backing me against the tall dresser Velvet had just abandoned.

“Hot little cunt. Always knew you had a nasty side when I saw you, coming to the school to deal with that prick over Billy's shit. Fuck, how 'bout a couple kisses, princess? We'll call it payback for all those times you made me shit my pants over those fuckin' Fs you slapped on his papers!”

“You shouldn't be back here! Get out, before I call security.”

The bastard grabbed me. His hands went all over, moving rough and sloppy. He went for my breasts, between my legs, through my hair.

Help! I looked around desperately, but I was all alone. The girls were all on break or else out on the floor, doing their acts.

He reached under my shirt, tearing at the blouse so hard I lost several buttons. I screamed, but the beat of the music through the curtain was too loud, drowning out everything except raw bass and wailing guitars.

“Get. Off!” I pushed him as hard as I could, but there wasn't any leverage. He'd thrown me across the dresser and his gut was too big, holding me down, slowly pushing his way between my legs while he felt up my skirt.

“Shuddup. You like it rough, we can play rough!” He pulled my hair so hard it nearly ripped.

Goddamn it. This was going to ruin everything.

Even if somebody came back here and stopped him before something awful happened, I'd lose everything I'd built with the girls. Gossip ran deep in these circles. They wouldn't listen to a woman who'd been shredded by a drunken, stupid, dirty old bastard like him.

I wasn't going down like this. Hell no!

My teeth sank into his arm. He reared up, shaking me off with a roar, bringing his entire arm into the blow that landed on my cheek.

He hit me three times – or at least that's what I could count before I felt myself being dragged under.

Then the heavy weight against me lifted. I blinked, staring through the darkness, and saw Tony's bulk lifted high into the air like he had wires pulling him up from the ceiling.

He flew through the air and hit the floor. His body made several loud snaps. The broken ribs must've winded him. When he opened his mouth to scream, nothing would come out, and it was too late by the time Firefly's boot started ramming his gut.

“Drunken sack of shit! You stay the fuck off her and apologize if you wanna crawl outta here alive!” His hatred was the only thing harsh enough to cut through the music growling all around us.#p#分页标题#e#

The deadbeat choked, sputtered, and wrinkled his face into a brutal grimace with every kick. Against my better instincts, I ran up, desperately wrapping myself around Firefly's neck, trying to reach him before he killed the asshole.

“Firefly, don't! You'll get us all in deep trouble if you don't just let him go.” I pulled on his shoulders hard, digging my nails in, trying to get his attention. “You hurt him. Bad. That's what he deserves. I'm satisfied.”

“Yeah? Well, fuck, babe, I'm not!” Another brutal hook hit in the drunkard's gut.

Tony was barely conscious now, staring up at me over Firefly's shoulder. Begging, without words.

Please. Stop him. He's gonna fucking kill me.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Meg came storming out with Velvet at her side, her phone in one hand. “Jesus, Firefly, stop! This man needs an ambulance.”

“Stop kicking the shit outta the sorry, stupid fuck who tried to hurt Cora, you mean?”

My boss' eyes went wide. She looked at me while the stripper at her side wisely slunk away.

“It's true. He snuck backstage. Asshole was already drunk by the time he wandered back here. He recognized me. His kid used to be in one of the classes I helped with...he pushed me up against the dresser over there, tried to force himself on me...”

Firefly's fists twitched. I could tell he was just a second away from tackling the beaten demon on the ground, finishing him off. I grabbed his arm, jerked it into me, and mouthed a phrase when he finally looked at me, his blue eyes on fire.