Page 13 of Tainted Obsession 1
My stomach drops as another masculine form enters my personal space, far too close. He’s massive, at least a foot taller than my five-foot-five frame. For a moment, all I see is his back; broad shoulders completely block my view.
I edge away from the menace that rolls off the man like a palpable force. When his profile comes into view, my breath catches.
His strong, stubble-shadowed jaw might’ve been carved from granite, and those sensual lips are peeled back in a contemptuous snarl. His muscular arm flexes with barelyleashed violence as he reaches out and plucks the beer bottle from the smaller man’s hand.
Those fierce wolf’s eyes fix on his prey, and he tips the bottle back to take a swig of beer. Then he gestures at the drink that’d been meant for me, which is still clutched in the other man’s hand.
“That one is for you,” he tells the man.
Something about his gravelly voice makes my belly flip. His accented English is out of place, but I can’t pause to process anything other than witnessing the tense scene that’s unfolding before me.
He leans in slightly, and the smaller man seems to shrink by a few inches.
“I—I didn’t realize she’s with you,” he stammers. “My mistake.”
“Drink it,” the stunning stranger commands, voice rumbling like thunder. “Or don’t you like the taste of whatever drug you put in her beer?”
My skin pebbles, the fine hairs on the back of my neck rising in response to the presence of a predator. I’m sure if the fearful reaction is because of the man who tried to slip me a roofie or an instinctive wariness of the dangerous, beautiful stranger who’s come to my rescue.
It’s the same man I saw in the market over the weekend—the man I dreamed about. I’m sure of it. Those eyes…
The sound of glass smashing on the hardwood floor jolts through my body, and I cringe. The drugged beer splashes my jeans and pools around my worn sneakers.
My savior growls his frustration, white teeth flashing in a feral expression that makes my insides quake.
“You think that will save you?” he seethes. “Now you’ll have to taste broken glass too. I will make you lick it up like the dog you are.”
My would-be assailant shudders in revulsion and backs away, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender.
“I’m sorry,” he gasps. “I’m leaving now.”
The beautiful, terrifying stranger swells with fury, his massive body tensing to attack.
“Wait!” Instinct drives me to stop the violence before I can think better of my actions.
My fingers wrap around my ferocious savior’s corded forearm, as though I can somehow hold back this beast of a man.
Shock thrums through me when he goes still as a statue, his hard muscles bulging beneath my desperate touch. My skin sparkles with awareness, and electricity arcs through my body in an almost giddy response. Somehow, I’ve harnessed the attention of the powerful stranger, staying his hand before he carries out his threat to brutalize the weaker man who tried to drug me.
His eyes flash as he watches his enemy hastily retreat. Powerful muscles shift beneath my hand, and I know my savior is about to snap and go after the creep.
“It’s okay,” I assure him quickly. “I’m okay.”
It’s all I can think to say to soothe his protective fury. I’m grateful that he came to my rescue, but I can’t bear to witness the carnage of what he’d threatened to make the man do. After my ordeal with the cartel, the prospect of more violence makes my blood run cold.
He rounds on me, and his intense gaze punches the air from my chest.
“Go back to your friend,” he rumbles, a deep command that rolls through my body.
I finally place his accent: Italian. What’s he doing here in Mexico City? Is he a tourist? I saw him in the market, and now he’s in the same bar as me.
It’s strange, but not beyond reason that he might visit both locations; the bar is in the same neighborhood as the market. There are probably many people who frequent them, but I’ve only taken notice of this particularly beautiful, imposing man.
He captures my full attention so completely that I don’t notice the small crowd that’s parted around us: people giving the broken glass and dangerous man a wide berth.
“Go on,” he prompts when I don’t move.
He wrenches his arm away, and my fingers tingle in the seconds after he breaks contact.
