Tempt Me - By Shiloh Walker Page 0,36

driving his fist into his face, once. Twice.

Then he remembered, clear as day, a hand on his arm.

Rocki.

Then there were sirens.

“You’re wasting you’re fucking time,” Dwayne said, his voice thick and nasally, distorted by his broken nose and a swollen lip.

Between the head injury Rocki had dealt him with the broken bottle and the damage Cole had done, the man was not in good shape. But he was still belligerent and full of attitude as he fought against the cop who was slapping him into cuffs.

“Stupid bitch won’t do a damn thing,” he said, smirking at her. “Not a damn thing.”

Rocki stared at him. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

She was pale, shaking from the strain and cradling her right hand. But she wouldn’t go to the hospital. Not yet. Not until she saw that fuck into the police car. Not until she saw them take him away.

And not until she told him. Not until she let him know. He wouldn’t control any part of her life. Not through her memories, not through fear.

Although her legs shook under her with every step, she wasn’t going to hide meekly behind the cops. Even as they tried to pull her back, she evaded them. Clayton tried to block her way and she stopped, looking up at him. “Relax...I’m not going to try and kill him or anything.” Shifting her gaze, she stared around her friend to look at Dwayne. “I want him to suffer more than that.”

Cautiously, Clayton lowered his arm.

Rocki didn’t try to get any closer. “You think I won’t press charges this time,” she said quietly. “Because I didn’t last time. But that’s where you’re wrong. I’ll press charges...and if I can see your ass in jail, I’ll pat myself on the back for it.”

He snarled. “You fucking bitch.”

She smiled.

“I’ll fucking gut you—” One of the cops stepped between them then and started muscling him into the ambulance waiting to take him in for treatment... before he was hauled to the police station. “Should have already done it!”

Rocki ignored him, focusing on the silent, somber-eyed man who waited by yet another ambulance. This one was hers, she suspected. She needed to get her hand looked at. And she was feeling more than a little...disconnected. Shock, maybe?

She didn’t know. Didn’t care. The only thing that mattered just then was getting to Cole and wrapping her arms around his waist. Pain shrieked through her as she hit her busted hand, though, chasing some of the fog away. Whimpering, she shifted around, resting her side against Cole’s front.

As one of the paramedics approached, she shot him a narrow look. “My white knight...”

He didn’t say anything, just curled an arm around her shoulders, his face pressed to her hair.

He was shaking. Shaking almost as badly as she was.

“Damn it, Rocki...”

She closed her eyes at the broken, hoarse sound of his voice. “I’m okay.” Then she flinched as the medic twisted her arm upward. “Okay, I’m hurt...but I’m okay.”

His mouth pressed to her temple. “I don’t think I want to let you out of my sight. Not for a year, at least. We could go to the beach. Stay there for a year. I can make sure you’re safe. You can heal. We’d both be happy.”

“Hmmm. Don’t tempt me.”

“Before you go taking off to the beach, you need to hit the hospital,” the paramedic said. He had a sympathetic look on his face as he gently wrapped her wrist. “You need x-rays.”

Her belly cramped and fear shot through her. X-rays. Those weren’t bad. Right? She could do that. Something had to be broken. She needed to get it set, she knew that. Even though the medicine the paramedic had given had taken the edge off the pain, it still hurt pretty bad. She could handle going to the hospital, getting x-rays and letting them set it. No reason to feel terrified.

But she could already feel that terror creeping through her.

Focusing on the paramedic, she tried not to let the panic show. “Yeah, I figured as much.” The inside of her cheek was all but bloody from how many times she’d bitten it to keep from crying out. Her fingers were fat and swollen, discolored. “Damn, I did a number on them, didn’t I?”

“You did.” A smile twitched on the paramedic’s lips as he glanced at her. “The man may have a head like a rock, but maybe he’ll think twice before he messes with you again. I suspect you broke his nose.”

“Not enough,” Cole muttered behind her.