The shifter backed up a step, dragging me with him. His attention was on the stranger more than me, and I knew there was never going to be a better time to break free.
I reached back, grabbed his gonads, and twisted—as hard as I could. He screamed, and his grip around my neck loosened reflexively. I broke free but didn't release him, spinning around and punching him as hard as I could instead.
I released him then, and he dropped like a stone to the concrete. I blew out a relieved breath and glanced up at the Aedh. He was a good six inches taller than me and solidly built. And he didn't have wings, which was decidedly odd. Given he was in flesh form, he should have.
"Thank you for the timely intervention."
He gave me a slight bow, but the grin that teased his full lips was both sensual and amused. "I could hardly walk past and let those men accost such a beautiful woman, now, could I?" He glanced down at the shifter. "Would you like me to finish him off?"
Again that frisson of fear rolled through me, but I swiped it away. These men—as shifters who'd attacked another shifter with the clear intent to harm—would be lucky to last through the night once I called Uncle Rhoan. The Directorate had gotten harsher over recent years, and while death had once applied only to nonhumans who'd murdered, the increase in street violence had meant those boundaries had been eased in recent years. The trouble was, it hadn't done a whole lot to reduce the aggressive tendencies of those on the streets.
"Thanks, but I need to question him."
"Then permit me to at least break his leg. That way, you'll be in no danger from him." He hesitated, his gaze briefly sweeping me before rising to meet mine again. Amusement, and something else—something heated and primal—began to burn bright in those jade depths. The warmth of it flooded my senses, and the embers of need and desire stirred. He added, in tones that suddenly seemed a whole lot lower and sexier, "You can obviously handle yourself, but I'd hate to see you with bruises—or worse—when we go on our date."
I raised an eyebrow. "I can't remember hearing—or accepting—such an invitation."
His smile grew, and mirth crinkled the corners of his bright eyes. It marred the perfection of his face, yet made him all the more appealing. "But is it not the human way to thank your savior by sharing a drink or a meal?"
"Ah, but I'm not human."
"Neither am I," he conceded, his warm and seductive tones nothing like I'd expected of an Aedh. At least, not a full Aedh. All the stories Uncle Quinn had told me about the full bloods had made me believe them to be cold and distant beings, but this man seemed about as far from an iceberg as you could get. "Yet it is a custom that—in this case—I'm eager to embrace."
Something in the way he said that suggested he wanted to embrace a whole lot more than just a custom.
"You may have saved my life, but I can hardly go out with someone when I don't even know his name."
The shifter moaned and his fingers twitched. I stepped out of range and the stranger stepped forward, but I raised a hand to stop him. I could do my own dirty work.