Page 12 of One Bad Knight

A picture of me rubbing against some stranger out at a dive bar with cheap drinks in my stomach would give the press a heyday.

My brain screamed that coming out had been a bad idea. My uncle worked too hard for me to ruin things for him.

Still, my hips swayed in time with the man behind me. I couldn’t break from his spell, though that nasty thread of fear wound its way through me.

One of his hands slid up my ribcage, resting just below my breast. I ached for it to go higher. “Nobody knows who you are, though, do they? You make sure of that.”

I couldn’t tell if I was being seduced or threatened. If this guy thought he could blackmail me, he had another thing coming. Trying to turn my head again, I needed this charade to end. “Do I know you?”

His fingers grasped my cheeks as he pressed his lips against the sensitive shell of my ear. “You don’t know me,” he rasped, accusatorily, as if he were referring to something far deeper than addressing whether we were strangers or not.

Copper hit my tongue and I instantly sobered. He gripped my face too hard, and my teeth cut the inside of my mouth.

I stiffened as I felt his hardness against my back. Despite my arousal, I realized I’d engaged with a totally unhinged lunatic. I needed to get the hell out of this and fast.

Before I could think of a way to extract myself, cold air replaced where his body just was. I turned around but there was no trace of the man who’d held me captive a second ago.

I was left panting, with chaotic thoughts of fear and arousal, underscored by a deep pit of curiosity.

Viet trotted over to me on her impossibly high heels, with two drinks in her hand and a clutch wedged under one arm. In her binding, strapless dress, her sleeve tattoos were on display. She looked off in the direction I was searching.

“Who was that hottie with a body?” Viet asked, holding a fresh drink out to me.

I took a drink of the cold liquid, but it only highlighted the fever running rampant through me.

“Nobody,” I said, as I realized my hands were shaking. My stomach somersaulted, and the press of the people closed in around me.

Setting my mostly full drink down on a nearby ledge, I yelled over the music. “I’m not feeling so hot. I’m going head out.”

Viet gave me a pouty face, as if to argue. But something about my expression must have let me off the hook. She gave me a one-armed hug and instructed me to text her when I got home.

I grabbed my bag and helmet from behind the bar, then changed in the bathroom back into my jeans so I could ride home.

I didn’t feel at ease again until I was riding through the streets of downtown Denver, the wind whipping around me. It helped cool my skin, erase the hot brand of his intense gaze and possessive touch. I was just letting off steam, letting him get so close. No different than dancing and having fun in a dive bar.

So why couldn’t I stop wishing I got a closer view of his face? I got the strangest feeling that if I got to see the stranger in proper light, look him in the eyes, I’d get back something I lost.

6

Kat

What the actual fuck had that been about? Was I so desperate to avoid New England that I was willing to self-sabotage?

Good job, Kat. Now let’s go find another sexy-looking maniac to give you the hottest night of your life before chopping you up into itty bitty pieces.

Still, the guy left me utterly hot and bothered. The vibration of the powerful bike between my legs had me itching to get to my bedroom and break out my “assistant” to work off this buildup.

Thankfully, no one ever asked to meet my assistant when I said I had a meeting with her. Because she was purple, vibrated, didn’t ask questions, and delivered on my every whim.

I was pulled out of my horny thoughts by the sight of a lone figure ambling along the side of the road. It looked like a girl around nine years old. A little girl was wandering the downtown streets of Denver at one in the morning?

That was definitely not right.

What the hell was a little girl doing out here on her own? Worst-case scenarios cascaded through my mind.

The girl wore a dirty nightgown, and her long, dark hair hung around her face. I hadn’t seen anyone else around for several blocks, but this was not the safest side of town. She staggered slightly as if exhausted.

As my bike rolled past her, I could have sworn I heard words filter through my helmet.