Page 37

Someone cried out. I saw a body go limp, or almost limp, and the victor emerged. He was straddling the loser, knees locked around his chest. Both arms raised overhead, fists clenched, like he was about to deliver another blow.

And he was big. Way too big, too tall, his arms far too long to be Holden…

I swung my hands in a downward arc. Connected with the back of his head as hard as I could.

CLANG!

At the last second the man turned, sensing the blow. It was too late for him though. If anything he turned the direct impact into a glancing blow, but it was still hard enough, and heavy enough, to drop him like a marionette whose strings had just been cut.

He dropped limply on top of Holden like a bag of bricks.

In a burst of illumination, the overhead lights clicked on. For a few agonizing seconds, I was utterly blind.

“WHAT THE FU—”

Randall was there in a heartbeat, kneeling beside Holden. Shoving some big, dark-haired giant of a man off his friend’s chest.

“Hey!” he cried, blinking up at me. “What just happened?”

“I— I don’t know! This guy broke in… and they started fighting… and… and I…”

Holden groaned and sat up. Aside from a trickle of blood at one corner of his mouth, he looked okay. Relief flooded through me.

“Holy shit,” swore Randall. He looked from me, to the unconscious assailant, then back to me again. A smile formed. “You rang his bell!”

I was standing there, arms shaking, still holding my weapon. Which as it turned out, was an old brass boxing bell.

I gasped and dropped it with another CLANG.

“There’s a bunch of old cord over there,” Randall pointed, as he helped his friend to his feet. “Grab it?”

I moved quickly, returning with a long, thin coil of wool rope. Randall used it to tie the intruder’s hands behind his back, using a series of impressive knots I assumed only a sailor would know.

In the meantime, I slid an arm around Holden. He was upright now. He was no longer groaning, but he was holding his shoulder. He looked more angry than hurt.

“Gotta fix it again?” asked Randall, who was now binding the man’s feet.

Holden nodded mechanically.

“Hang on, I’ll help you in a sec—”

“Put some fucking clothes on first?” Holden grunted.

I had to stifle a laugh. In all the chaos, I hadn’t even noticed my other lover was still naked. He’d apparently leapt out of bed so quickly he hadn’t pulled on his boxers.

“I’m cool with the clothes being off,” I teased.

Holden grunted again. Randall shot me a look and winked.

“See? Barbie’s okay with it.”

He stood there looking hot and amazing, all muscles and tattoos and smile. And… dangling. Very impressively, might I add.

“I’m okay with lots of things,” I smirked, allowing my eyes the joy of a quick wander. “But being called ‘Barbie’ isn’t one of them.”

Randall chuckled apologetically and took off. When he was gone, I spun to face Holden.

“You okay?”