Page 27 of Forbidden Temptations

The thought lit a fire in her mother’s heart that threatened to burn them both to cinders. That the brute could do this to his own daughter. Drive such a sweet girl to such a fit of terror, sickened her to her very core. What parent, no, what kind of fucking beast could do such a thing?

Struggling to keep her tone soothing, Alice slowly steered Rebecca inside. “Come on, let’s get you inside and I’ll-”

“Come back here you little bitch!” the other voice bellowed from above amidst a thunder of footsteps. Then he was there on the bend on the stairs, Derik Blaire, red faced with murder and madness scorching his wild eyes. “Where is it, I want it, you fucking whore,” he seethed, half lumbering down the last few steps like a hippopotamus, not even seeming to notice Alice. “You hear me? You’re a whore. Just a fucking whore, like that bitch mother of yours, now give it to me!”

Rebecca stiffened at her father’s call, her knuckles going white like bone as she clung on with a death grip. However Alice hardly noticed as she turned to look at the man. With a gaze as cool as ice, she gently pried herself free. Then, with a gently push, she urged the girl inside the flat. “Go inside,” she instructed, her tone firm but just soft enough so that Derik wouldn’t overhear. “Lock the door. I’ll knock and call for you when it’s safe to come out.”

“No, please… don’t leave me, don’t let him-” Rebecca’s eyes were glassy with tears and visibly pleaded for Alice not to leave her as she tried to cling to her arm. It was the same look she saw in the eyes of many kids on their first day of school, when their parents left them at the gates for the first time.

“I won’t. Go on, I’ll take care of this. You go put a brew on.” It tore at Alice’s heart, but she pushed her inside regardless and pulled the door shut with a firm slam.

She felt like a bitch for it but it was the only way. She couldn’t deal with the problem at hand if she was concerned for the girl.

“What the fuck you think you’re doing, bitch? Get the fuck out of my way!” he slurred angrily, staggering to a stop only a metre or so from Alice, swaying from one foot to the other. As if only just seeing her for the first time, he grinned in a way that made her feel dirty just for him looking at her.

“AlrightJohn, I don’t know what you’re on tonight, but I think you need to go back upstairs and sleep it off.” Alice wouldn’t be cowed. He may have towered over her, but she was well accustomed to dealing with people bigger than her. She held his gaze with steely determination, doing her best to ignore the fact that the only thing protecting her modesty was a silk robe that showed off way too much leg and did nothing to hid the swell of her bosom.

“Don’t you tell me what to do, you little cow,” he slurred, sneering down at her. “I’ve had it with all you posh tossers… talking down to me… treating me like shit… That whore in there… took my shit… and now she’s going to give it back or I’m gonna beat her ass black and blue then throw it out on the street.” The thick stink of booze was coming off him in waves. He’d definitely had more than a skinful.

“No,” Alice said firmly. “You’re not going anywhere near her in that state. So just go back upstairs before I-”

“You’ll what?” Derik Blaire barked, his mouth spreading into a mocking grin that could have curdled milk as he stepped forward, closing the gap. “What are you gonna do? Don’t give me all that shit… Your man’s not here to protect you. What you going to do to me, you little bitch? How are you going to stop me from taking whatever I want from your fat arse…” The threats were almost as ugly as he was. With that squat face crowned by a brush of chestnut-grey hair and a body like a barrel that had been sat on by something heavy one too many times, he gave the faint impression of being the love child of Bruce Willis and Ray Winstone. Only without the charisma, good looks, or height.

He was taller than her though. And that must have made him feel cocky because he loomed over her. Enough that she knew he’d be able to see straight down the valley of her cleavage soon enough. One of his hands slowly reached out to touch.

“You know, I’m sick and tired of you and limp dick treating me like I’m shit. Don’t know why a cunt like you puts up with him. Look at those fat tits and ass… come on bitch, let me have a feel… mmm… too good for him… maybe it’s time I show you how a real man treats his bitc-”

His words died with a sickening wet crunch.

Just before his fingers could touch the slope of her right breast, Alice rammed the heel of her palm up into his nose. Blood arced, and he wheeled away, howling in agony.

“Don’t touch me,” she growled. The very idea of thisthinglaying a hand on her provoked a fresh surge of fiery rage inside her. How fucking dare he, this…beastthink he could touch her, even lay a single, filthy fucking finger on her.

Derik Blaire gave no sign of having heard her, however.

“Bitch… you broke my nose,” he spat out, glaring at her with both hands clamped up to the ruin of his nose. Blood was oozing out from between his fingers.

“Yeah, I did,” Alice shot back, and slowly she sunk down into the ready stance her instructors had ingrained into her, ready to spring to the attack. It felt awkward to assume the position again, but once upon a time, the position had been as natural to her as any. “Try to touch me again, and next time I’ll break your hand and shove it so far down your throat, you’ll be scratching your balls.”

His eyes widened, perhaps surprised by her threat, then narrowed dangerously as hate and anger burned through whatever was left of his common sense.

“Scratch this.” He lunged, cranking his fist back and swinging it up and around. It was a decent effort. If it landed, it might very well have taken her head off, but he was nowhere near fast enough. Pissed as a skunk as he was, the attack was pitifully obvious and Alice danced away, ducking down under his arm then sidestepping as his momentum carried him by. Whatever it lacked in subtlety, the robe made up for in freedom of movement, if nothing else.

Derik wheeled around after her, faster than anyone could have expected from a man so deep in his cups, bellowing his fury like a barbarian. His second swing was smaller, but the distance between them was so slight, she couldn’t dodge him this time. Nor had she meant to. Instead, she closed the gap. Stepping in and driving her left forearm up into the hook of his arm, stopping it dead, as she folded her right arm and swung it up, clubbing his broken nose with her elbow.

The sudden explosion of pain obviously seared across the man’s brain as his head jarred back and as his knees gave way. He went down hard, collapsing on his back to lie in a heap, conscious but dazed and soon to be in a lot of pain.

Alice turned away, walked back to her flat door, raised a hand to knock, and the door open. Rebecca stood behind it, her eyes wide but her look of terror now replaced by a mix of puzzlement and disbelief. Clearly, she had been watching everything through the peephole.

“How…” she started but seemed to think better of it halfway through and instead went with. “I mean, he was, and you’re so- I mean a…”

“My dad was in the SAS,” Alice said, like that should have explained it all, stepping inside and shutting the door on the sight of Derik Blaire lying there on the landing, broken and bruised, like some beached walrus. “When the boys at school started teasing me, he had the PT instructors give me some private coaching, then had me doing drills with the lads atThe Linesover the weekends. They even let me run the selection march across the Brecon Beacons over summer holidays, and no boy ever pulled my pigtails again.”

That wasn’t strictly true. There had been a few who had tried to make fun of ‘the little girl’, but they hadn’t been laughing for long. A throat punch could be one hell of a punch line, especially when delivered by a girl half your size.

The memory made Alice’s mouth curl, then she took in the sight of Rebecca’s pale and haggard face and it fell away. “Come on, honey, let’s go get you cleaned up.”

Richardblinked,almostata loss for words. Almost.

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