Page 40 of Falcon

“Fu—AAAHH!” The man shrieks in pain as his neck is squeezed even harder.

“Don’t ever disrespect a woman like that. Ever, and not in my presence, because if it happens again, I’ll rip your fucking throat out.”

I’m trembling from head to toe as I watch the scene unfold before my eyes. None of the other people this guy is with step in. No one tries to defend him; no one says a thing.

No, instead they all have their cell phones out, recording every second of what is transpiring.

This raw, primal energy he’s emitting is running over my skin and pulling goosebumps to the surface. It’s not fear. It’s arousal.

He’s pure power before my eyes, and it calls to an animalistic side deep within me.

“Falcon, stop…let’s go,” I say. “He’s not worth it. This isn’t worth it.”

“Not until he apologizes.” He squeezes again, causing the man to groan in pain. “Tell her you’re sorry.”

This is going to be all over the internet in a matter of minutes.

I step forward and place my hand on his shoulder. “Marco,” I say his real name. I don’t know why I do, but something deep inside tells me it will make him understand. “Please. He’s a drunk asshole. This is ridiculous. Just take me home.”

He sweeps his eyes over to mine and the rage inside of them softens. He takes in the scene. A crowd has formed and cell phones are pointing directly at us. We are the center of attention. And not for positive reasons.

He looks back at the man in his grip before squeezing once more then shoving him away, releasing his neck.

“Come on.” I take his hand and tug him away from the crowd as quickly as I can.

“Faith. Faith, stop,” he says when we reach the historic staircase that will take us up to Bay Street, where my car is.

I spin around to face him and he takes my face in his hands. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. It just made me a little nervous. I’m fine. You didn’t have to protect me, and really, you shouldn’t have touched him. Everyone got it on camera, Falcon. What if you get in trouble?”

“That won’t be the first time someone recorded me putting someone in their place on the street. I don’t tolerate disrespect toward women, period. Ever. No exceptions.”

“I was fine. You didn’t need to cause a scene like that. You can’t just swoop in all alpha male and beat everyone up who makes a cross remark toward a woman.”

“You were quaking like a leaf in my arms, Faith. That, plus him calling you a bitch was all it took. I saw red. I’m sorry if that scared you,” he says. “But I’m not sorry I did it.”

“It didn’t scare me. You didn’t scare me at all.” I place my hands on the railing of the stairs. “I’m thankful for what you did, even if it was unnecessary and stupid.”

“The last thing I want to do is frighten you.” He strokes his thumb against the skin of my cheek. “I like you.”

“You barely even know me,” I say in a soft whisper. My skin is ignited under his touch. I’m shocked there aren’t sparks appearing in his thumbs wake.

“I know you enough to know I like you, and that right now, all I can think about is finishing what we started in the gym yesterday.”

There’s so much adrenalin in the air. It's clouding my judgment and making me feel like I’m on fire and the only thing that will douse it is him. Hell, who am I kidding? Falcon won’t douse the flames, he’ll send them soaring higher.

I glide my tongue along my lips at the mention of it. My nipples pebble under the fabric of my shirt, straining against it, looking for some type of friction.

“What’s stopping you?” I ask brazenly.

“Since the first moment I saw you, I wondered what you would taste like.” He leans forward, just barely ghosting his lips over mine and I moan at the barely-there connection. “Strawberry? Mint? Cherry? It drove me mad. I wanted to know.”

“I’ll save you the trouble. I taste like mint.” I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer, smashing my lips onto his.

I need him. I need this.

Falcon

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