Page 30 of Throttle Me (Men of Inked 1)
I grabbed him by the throat before he could land another blow; I slammed his body to the ground. The force of his head connecting with the concrete made a horrific sound from his skull cracking. Straddling him, I pummeled him with my fists, feeding off the sound of his jawbone crunching underneath my knuckles. He moaned, but I didn’t give a fuck. He hit a woman, my woman. Punching him again, I grabbed his head and wanted to bash it into the cement to watch all of his blood ooze out, but a pair of hands began to pull me off him, stopping me.
“City, you’re going to fuckin’ kill him,” Bear said as he tried to pull me back.
“Fuckin’ bastard deserves to die.” I moved my hand to punch him again but Bear grabbed my wrist.
“Goddamn, man. He’s out cold. Get the fuck away from him and take care of your girl.”
Suzy. I had been so busy beating the fuck out him, lost in my anger I forgot to check on her. She lay on the cement with her eyes closed and not moving. She was limp in my arms as I cradled her against my chest. Blood dripped from her lip and nose and I brushed the hair from her eyes to look for more damage. She had a red mark that would turn into a bruise near her temple.
“Suzy,” I whispered brushing my fingers across her face. “Suzy, wake up, sugar.” I gathered her legs off the cold ground and placed her in my lap.
I looked at Bear as he stood over me with wide eyes. “Call an ambulance, Bear.”
“On it, buddy.” He stood over the asshole laying on the ground unconscious and I saw Bear kick him. “The attacker is knocked out on the ground. I’ll keep him restrained,” Bear said to the person on the phone.
“Suzy, come on sweetie. Wake up, beautiful.” I kissed her warm lips. This is my fucking fault. “I’m so sorry, Suzy.” Fuck. Her clothes were in place, nothing was torn, but they had dirt on them from being on the ground.
Her eyes started to open and I felt like I could breathe again. I smiled at her, touching her cheek. “City,” she said with a shaky voice.
Her arms started to move, reaching for me. “Don’t move, sugar. Wait for the ambulance.” I didn’t want her to injure herself worse than that fucker may have already done.
“What happened?” she stared at me with her big, beautiful blue eyes. I could see the confusion and hurt in them.
“I’m sorry, Suzy. I got held up inside and I showed up too late. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t force you live out one of your fantasies.”
She smiled sweetly at me. “Ouch.” Her tongue slid across her lip and stopped on the blood.
“You’re bleeding, sugar. Just lie still until the paramedics can check you out.”
“What about?” she didn’t have to finish the sentence I knew what she wanted to know.
“He won’t hurt you anymore.”
She closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. “What did you do, City?”
“I gave the fucker a taste of his own medicine. He’s out cold.” I wiped the tear away from her cheek with my thumb.
“Is he,” her lip began to tremble, “dead?”
“He’s alive. I wanted to kill the prick, but Bear pulled me off him.” Sobs tore through her as her body began to shake. “Shh, I got you. No one’s going to hurt you ever again, Suzy.”
I held her until the paramedics arrived and a second ambulance pulled in a moment later. Two men pulled her from my grasp, assessing her injuries before placing her on a stretcher and completing their evaluation. I watched as they checked the fucker’s body on the ground. Fuck him, I hope the bastard fucking dies.
“We need to take her to the hospital. She’s sustained some head injuries and we want to make sure it’s not serious,” the EMT said. “Would you like to meet us there?”
“I’ll follow you.” I looked over his shoulder and saw them loading Suzy into the ambulance. “Can I speak to her first?”
“Yes, quickly so we can leave.”
I climbed in the ambulance and crouched down next to the stretcher. Her body was strapped in and machines were attached to her arms. Suzy looked worse with the lights shining on her face. “Sugar, you want me to go with you or follow them?”
“Take my car, City. I don’t want it here, please.”
I leaned over and kissed her. My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest. “I got it. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry,” I said, not wanting to leave her, but I wanted to obey her wishes.
She gave me a weak smile before I climbed out and headed for her car, moving as fast I could to be by her side. I had to beg for her forgiveness and I prayed her injuries weren’t serious. I could never live with myself. I found Suzy’s phone lying by her purse and I knew what I had to do. I dialed Kayden and Sophia and knew there would be hell to pay.
Sometimes Shit Needs to Stay Fiction
Time seemed to pass in slow motion as a flurry of doctors and nurses poked and prodded me. I repeated the story of what happened so many times I could’ve recited it in my sleep.
“One more time, ma’am. What happened to you tonight?” The doctor asked as he placed a small light in my eyes.
I sighed and wanted to tell him to fuck off as he moved the light back and forth, momentarily blinding me. ?
?Do I have to say it again? I’ve told you the story already.” My patience was wearing thin.
“I need to make sure you have no memory issues from the blow to your head. Last time, I swear.”
“You said that last time we did this,” I rolled my eyes.
The doctor snickered. “I guess there’s no short term memory problems.”
“My boyfriend and I were at a bar tonight and I walked out before he did. I thought he was right behind me and when I unlocked my car someone grabbed me from behind. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already on the ground and tried to fight back, but it was no use. I don’t remember much else.”
A police officer stood in the corner and scribbled on a little note pad as I spoke. “I remember waking up in Joey’s arms and then the ambulance arriving.”
I couldn’t give the truth. My boyfriend was supposed to kidnap me as we played out my fantasy for him to abduct me and make me his sex slave. Who did shit like that?
“We’re just going to keep you here overnight for observation. You have a couple bruised ribs, the laceration on your lip, and a concussion, but nothing that will cause long term damage.” The doctor said, staring at his clipboard. “We’ll get you into a regular room as soon as possible so you can rest. We will release you in the morning.”
“Is anyone here to see me?” I couldn’t believe that City hadn’t shown up or anyone for that matter.
“Yes, but he’s been instructed to wait outside until we complete your assessment.”
“Can he come in now, please?” My body ached, my face throbbed, and my head pounded from the after effects of the attack. I wanted to rest my eyes and turn off the light, but I needed to talk to City. I had to find out what happened and why he wasn’t the one to find me alone in the parking lot.
“Yes, I’ll have the nurses talk with him and send him in. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. McCarthy.”
“Thanks,” I said with a fake smile. I had nothing to be thankful for. All I wanted to do was crawl in my own bed and sleep against City’s body. Crunchy hospital sheets, plastic mattresses, and thin blankets were not my idea of comfortable.
I threw my head back onto the thin paper pillow, squeezing my eyes shut. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t have any tears left.
“Ma’am,” the officer said and cleared his throat. “I’ve taken down your statement, but I may need more details. We have your attacker in custody and the statement of Joseph Gallo and another gentleman, but we may still need your side to fill in the gaps. Here’s my card. Call me when you can talk. It can wait until you’re home and more comfortable.” He smiled at me and I could see he was genuine.
“I’ll call you, sir. I just don’t feel like talking about it anymore tonight.” I rubbed my eyes, the lights were making my headache worse and I wanted to sleep.
“No problem, ma’am.”
Drawing back the curtain to leave, I caught a glimpse of City. A frown was visible as he looked at me. I could see the pain on his face. His hands appeared swollen and red dotted his knuckles, blood from the pounding he must have given to the asshole.
“Hey,” he said as he approached my bed.
“Hey yourself.”
“Are you okay, sugar?” He sat down on the bed and held my hand.
“I’m okay, City. They’re just keeping me for observation.” I shrugged.
Touching my cheek with the rough pads of his fingers, he studied my face. His eyes roamed over every inch, stopping on my lips and cheekbone. “God, I’m so sorry, Suzy. It’s all my fault.” His eyebrows were furrowed and deep lines appeared on his forehead.
“It wasn’t your fault. You meant well. I give you an A for effort, but a D in completion, big boy.” I smirked. I couldn’t really be mad at him.
“Don’t make jokes, sugar.” He tried to keep a straight face, but I saw a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. “I could’ve lost you tonight.” He squeezed my hand, his eyes looking at our hands.
“What happened to you? You were supposed to be only a minute behind me, Joey.” Closing my eyes, I remembered the fear I felt when I realized it wasn’t City grabbing me from behind.
“I was on my way out of the bar after joking with the guys but I got held up. I tried to get away as quickly as possible. I didn’t want you to be outside alone. I should’ve never taken you to that bar. Fuck.” He rubbed his face, “What
