Page 23

23

COLLINS

I’m going to kill him. Straight up, on the streets in Portland, I’m going to gut the man alive and paint the city with his sacrificial blood just to send a message to anyone who dares to touch Penelope Hoffman.

All witnesses can be paid off. All security footage can be wiped clean.

Because right now, I don’t think I’ve been angrier.

Or more dangerous.

He touched her.

He fucking touched her.

And all of the self-defense moves I taught to her just days ago went right out the window because she was paralyzed by fear.

Bastard.

I’m done with this game of tug-of-war with Penny where the only way it ends is by us both getting hurt. But dammit if I’ll stand back and watch another man claim her soft lips or touch her smooth curves.

“Penny, are you okay?” I mean, how can she be?

Her silent nod is all I need to confirm that today’s the day I wage war on this poor excuse for a man.

“She wanted it.”

Turning my attention back to the kiss thief, I pull back my fist and drive it forward, connecting with the flesh of his cheek. He roars from the pain and stumbles to the concrete. As I pull back to go another round, I feel soft determined hands tug at me.

“Please, no, Collins,” Penny pleads.

“He touched you,” I say simply, as if that is explanation alone.

Does she not understand the severity of this? Because I’m about to show her what happens to assholes who overstep boundaries.

“I know. But I’m okay. Let’s go before someone calls the cops for assault.”

“He won’t call anyone because the cameras on the store front will show him pushing himself on you first.”

“I’m okay,” she whispers. “Please…”

Relief floods through me that Penny is at least talking and not slipping into the dark hole she buried herself in most of last year.

My mind goes through my list of potential ways to make this look like an accident if he lays one more fucking finger on Penelope Hoffman—who is my responsibility to protect.

Just one more finger…

And then I’ll end him.

For fun, I’ll make him bleed slowly too. I know just how to prolong the inevitable if it means righting some wrongs. And this fucker made an unforgivable mistake.

That’s how irate I am.

I can’t believe he forced himself on her. She was not enjoying that at all.

I’d make her enjoy the feeling of being ravished—not abused.

Why can’t pricks understand there is a difference between being dominant and being abusive? Every male wants to pretend he’s an alpha, when in fact most are just insecure assholes who treat women as if they are expendable.

Penelope Josephine Hoffman is not replaceable.

She’s a one-of-a-kind diamond in a mine of dull rocks.

My mood has been volatile all evening. And this… This is sending me over the edge, and if the abyss has this idiot’s bones decaying at the bottom of it, I’ll follow him down just to spit on his bloody grave.

He fucking touched her.

I should have been here sooner. Regret has already seeped into the shallow cracks of my dark soul. But I’m here now. And I will finish this fucker no matter how much cleanup it’ll take in the aftermath.

Stumbling about on the sidewalk, the asshole bares his teeth toward me. “What was that for?”

“Never lay a finger on her again. Never look at her. Never come near her. Do you understand?”

Not saying a word, he approaches me for another round.

Let the fun begin…

I guide Penny behind me, as I prepare myself to unleash my wrath onto his face.

The kiss thief makes the first move, sending his fist barreling through the air. I catch it and drive it down toward the ground, as I punch right underneath his armpit into the ribs.

I hear a crack—and it’s not my knuckles.

He crumbles to the sidewalk, weeping.

I pivot to check on a trembling Penny who is now tucked into a ball on the cement beneath her hugged arms.

But then in my periphery, the spud gets up and grabs for my knees, which I dodge.

Primal rage courses through me, as I grip the kiss thief’s neck, dragging him up to come face-to-face with what he decided to set into motion.

“Straighten your spine,” I hiss, “and face your demons like a man.”

“Collins!”

My head feels like it’s in a tunnel, and the only light at the end is justice for Penny.

“COLLINS!”

It’s her voice. Her sweet, innocent voice…

“Don’t hurt him,” she yells from behind me, holding on to my biceps before I deliver another punishing blow. “Please.”

Please?

“Sometimes lessons need to be taught. This idiot deserves to suffer for what he did to you. Throwing himself on you like that…”

“Let’s go. Please.”

There’s that plea again. And just that one word is wreaking havoc on my conscience—something I didn’t even think existed anymore.

I let go of the man, allowing gravity to take over. I want to solidify my point, yet I don’t want Penny to have a front-row seat to my anger. She’s been through too much and has experienced enough trauma tonight.

“She, ah, waa…” he stutters.

“Collins!” Penny squeals. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

My eyes dart to hers, silencing her with what I can only assume is fear from my piercing gaze. “He touched you,” I scoff, as if that should be enough reason for my temper. Why isn’t she begging for me to annihilate him right now, right here?

Using the toe of my shoe, I kick at the fucker, getting him to roll over and look up at me. “There are twenty-seven bones in the human hand. So, if you touch her again, I’ll break all twenty-seven and then rip both of those hands off, just to beat you with them. You dare to look at her again, I’ll use a rusty sling blade to carve out those eyeballs of yours and shove them down your throat to choke on. And if you even think of coming within fifty yards of her, I’ll saw through your femur so you’ll never walk again. Do you understand?”

I watch as he throws himself off the ground and scampers off down the street to his car. Smartest thing the asshole has done all evening. I know he’s had his eyes set on Penny. And if he thinks he can just charm his way into her panties, then he obviously doesn’t understand the lengths I go through to keep her safe.

“Was that necessary?” Penny asks, gasping for air and pointing at the guy’s retreating form. He better the hell scurry away before I neuter him. “Was it?” Her voice is louder.

“Yes,” I snarl. Why are we even discussing this? The obvious answer can’t be anything other than yes. Why is she now mad at me? “I spared him his life, Penelope. And that’s something I never do.”

“Why do you care? You don’t even want me. Hell, every guy in that room”—she points behind her toward the coffee shop—“didn’t want me.” Tears pour out of her eyes in a cascading waterfall that I worry will never end. “Did you hear me? No one wants me!”

Oh, they wanted her. Who couldn’t want someone as beautiful and flawless as Penelope Hoffman?

I grab her hand and pull her away from the coffee shop, trying to get space between us and the location where I almost took a man’s life.

Dropping her hand, I rub my hands over the back of my neck.

I need time to cool off.

Even I know I have a temper that needs checked at times. But no matter how mad I get, I’ll never lay a hand on Penny Hoffman. Unless, of course…

Dammit.

I need to get my head on straight.

But it’s her fucking sniffles and her whimpering that are going to destroy all the self-control I’ve been trying so hard to maintain.

I glance over at her.

She looks so sad—lost.

I take a step closer, reaching up my thumbs to trail across her lips. “I want to wipe that disgusting guy’s memory from your lips and make it so that the only thing on your mind is me.”

“Then do it,” she challenges.

It takes just a few seconds to weigh the consequences.

“I’ll take you home, Pen,” I say with finality.

I should take you home.

I’ve already exposed my hand to her tonight and my true feelings on the matter. She wanted me to kiss her at the apartment gym, but what she didn’t realize is that I wanted to do so much more with her.

I’m in way over my head with desire for this girl, and the only way to fix it is to remove myself entirely from the situation.

Penny shakes her head. “No. I just want to stand here until I drown in enough self-pity to feel numb. Then I may think about going with you. But I’ll decide—not you.”

I take a step closer, just now realizing we have migrated into the alleyway along the side of the coffee shop. With hesitation, I extend a hand for her to take. “Come.”

She lets out a demonic laugh and uses her thumb to point back behind her toward the coffee shop. “Nearly fifty men inside that place and not a single one got matched with me.”

I clear my throat. None of those men deserve to even breathe the same air as her, let alone have a chance to score a real date.

Her hands fly into the air with exaggerated animation. “Like, am I really that repulsive?”

“Penelope…”

Her eyes study mine. “Answer the question.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I warn, almost sounding angry.

“But I am here. I’m here,” she snaps. “And I am fucking tired of putting myself out into the world, just to feel the bitter sting of rejection. Just tell me what is wrong with me?”

“Not a damn thing.”

The night is a dumpster fire. Why not just embrace the chaos and solidify my spot in hell—all in one day’s time?

“But there is. There must be!”

I close the distance between us, allowing my need to prove her wrong to be my sole motivation. I feel edgier with every second that passes, and when I can’t exercise any more restraint, I slide a hand to the base of Penny’s throat, resting it gently against the pulse point.

Warmth coats my skin as I stand in her presence. It’s like two souls meeting for the first time—and really seeing each other.

She is my stability, and her happiness is my strength.

My thumb massages over her sensitive skin, causing shivers to run up her body, all the way to her limbs where I see the telltale sign of my effect on her. “You are like the rarest, most exotic flower in a garden of weeds, Penny.”

“Oh, wonderful,” she groans, tilting her head up at the muted lights casting a glow into the alley.

The exposed column of her neck beckons me—taunts me. I want to bite it and then lick it better.

“What?”

“No wonder why no one wants to ravish me. I’m a freaking flower.”

She pulls away from my loose hold on her, causing my hand to drop, and flops her head in defeat. Her come-fuck-me heels tease me.

I want her like no one I’ve ever wanted before…

I’m not sure if Graham and Nic have hired someone from the inside to tamper with her dates tonight. But if they did, I owe whomever a huge thank you.

Tilting her chin up with two fingers, I force her to look at me. “What’s wrong with that? You are unique and one of a kind.”

She shakes her head adamantly, placing both palms onto my chest. “I just wish men would quit seeing me as something that needs to be preserved and start seeing me as something meant to be enjoyed and experienced. No one wants to fuck a flower.”

“You are a lot more innocent than you think. You need to be careful, or you’ll wind up in a lot more trouble than you bargained for.”

She makes a face. She does this a lot at me. “And how do you know?” She pushes up the hem of her shirt to reveal her navel, running her hand over her abdomen. “Are you keeping tabs on my sex life?”

My heart skips, and I can feel my nostrils flare. She’s getting to me, and I’m allowing it. “Keep toying with me and see what happens.”

A huff of breath deflates from her, while her eyes roll upward. “It can’t be worse than what is happening now.”

“And what is happening, Penny? Enlighten me.”

“You are impeding on my fun just like everyone else in my life has done for the past year. I’m tired of being told when to sleep and when to eat and when to talk. I just want to live. Can you blame me? And if the answer even resembles something close to no , then please back down for just one time. Let me make some stupid mistakes. Let me get hurt.”

“You did get hurt, Penelope,” I snarl. “That bastard back there should be thankful he has full function of both of his hands.”

“Maybe I want to experience pain if just to feel alive.”

“Did getting manhandled in the streets of Portland by some asshole fulfill your needs?”

“No. But that’s because I want you to do the manhandling. I want the same experience but with the right person. That’s what went wrong tonight, Collins. He was not you . I want you .”

“Penny…you’ve been drinking.”

“No. I mean, yeah, I have been, but that isn’t warping my true feelings on this shitty subject. So hear me out,” she says, moving to poking her finger into my chest. “I’m tired of everyone around me putting me up on a shelf for safekeeping. I am not some expensive doll that never gets a chance to play. I want to play, Collins.”

“You don’t know what you are saying.”

She takes a step backward, moving her hands down her body and then cupping her boobs.

Fuck.

What is she doing?

“I’m not a child, Collins. I’m a grown woman if you haven’t noticed.”

I choke on the spit pooling in my mouth, and then awkwardly swallow it down. “I noticed.”

“Have you?” she questions. “Because to me, I’m constantly stuck wondering what is going on in your head—and every other guy’s for that matter. And quite frankly, I’m not sure my ego can handle another man saying no to me tonight. I’m tired of not being good enou?—”

In one fluid motion, I take Penny into my arms and push her back so her shoulders rest against the cold stone wall of the building. My hands rest on her curvy hips, playing with the belt loops of her painted-on jeans.

My touch is gentle, reverent—and every part of me holds back the beast inside that wants to show this girl exactly what I’m made of…

“What are you doing?”

“I’m about to enjoy the best taste I can imagine of forbidden fruit.”