Lucky Charm (26 page)

In her self-defense classes they’d always emphasized not letting panic take over, to think and keep thinking until you could get yourself out. It was the only way to survive.

The other two closed in.

From behind her, the man holding her said, “Remember, don’t mark up her face. Nothing visible.”

A chill went through her.

“This is in the nature of a discouragement,” the one she’d kicked said.

He rubbed his belly where her foot had hit him.

“A discouragement?” she asked, bewildered.

He nodded. “You’re getting too nosy. Don’t get nosy. Don’t ask questions. Whatever you see, or think you see or hear, you keep it to yourself. We know where you live. We know where your parents live. Do the job you were hired to do, nothing else. Or next time will be worse.”

Worse. Next time. That implied there would be a first time.

This would be that first time.

“You owe me for that kick.”

He hit her, quick and hard, low in the ribs. Pain, and the air was driven out of her. Her lungs seized up. It was a second or two before sense took hold again. Her diaphragm was locked. It had happened in self-defense class. She remembered what her instructor had told her. If you get the wind knocked out of you, relax and stop fighting for air. Keep thinking.

Ariel went limp.

Smiling, the one that hit her said, “That took the fight out of her.”

That’s what he thought
. She could breathe again.

His hands went to her breasts, squeezed hard. “Sweet.”

No
.

Behind them the door to the hotel opened a little. A flare of hope blossomed as over and between their shoulders she saw Matthew slip silently through, letting the door ease shut behind him.

None of them noticed, they were all focused on her. All three were big guys, heavy with muscle and two were as tall as Matthew. He was alone but she could see from the look in his eyes he was going to try to help her. Despite the circumstances of their first meeting there was a confidence to him, an assurance and a capability she’d sensed in him. He’d said then that normally they wouldn’t have gotten him. Still, he was outnumbered now as he had been then.

This time, though, surprise would be in his favor.

A hand went from her breast, snagged in her panties, bunched and pulled, hard, ripping them away. Elastic burned across her skin.

No, oh no
.

That one was too close.

Matt had vaulted railings, scrambling down the stairs as fast as he dared. A broken ankle wouldn’t help Ariel and if they were taking her somewhere he was already too late. Too much time had gone by. He hoped not. The thought of it tore at him. All he could do was pray she was still fighting as hard as she had in the stairwell, struggling, doing everything she could to delay them. Making it hard for them.

He slid silently through the door and into the alley.

They were still there.

One of them had Ariel’s arms drawn up behind her back. The one he thought of as Moe. Larry and Curly were standing in front of her.

Ariel.

Those dark-fringed blue eyes were huge. Pain and fear were etched on her face. Then he felt her eyes on him and knew she’d seen him, she watched him. Surprise was his only advantage against three guys this big and he prayed she wouldn’t scream for help, that she wouldn’t say anything that would give him away. Give them both away.

Her eyes were clear when she looked at him, desperately frightened but not panicked. Terrified but thinking. Good girl.

There was blood on her lip and Larry had his hands on her. With her arms pulled up behind her, her skirt was rucked up too high, revealing her pale legs and a flash of white lace.

His fingers twisted in the lace, Larry ripped it away.

Fury cleared Matt’s mind in a hurry. They hadn’t heard him yet but they would know it when he hit them. He moved, fast, while they were preoccupied.

Feeling the man’s hand bunch in her panties, Ariel’s mind nearly went blank with terror but then her feet touched the ground when the one who held her craned his head to look. Her feet had purchase. The burn as her panties ripped away galvanized her. She snapped a kick, as hard as she could, into the one in front of her, at the same time smashing her head back hard into the one behind her. It hurt but she felt something crunch against her skull painfully. Worse, her kick was off center and not hard enough to do real damage. Both, though, were hard enough to distract the men.

“Bitch!” the one behind her squealed, loosening his hold on her to grab at his nose.

Matt saw Ariel buck, her head smashing back into the one Matt thought of as Moe, standing behind her. He remembered her swinging the two-by-four. She was a fighter and she was still fighting. The one with his hands on her flinched, stepping back a moment. It was an opportunity Matt wouldn’t pass up. A high sweeping side-kick smashed solidly into Larry’s head. He staggered as Matt turned to Curly. Who swung at him.

It was clear Curly knew how to fight; he’d had some training somewhere. Ex-military, martial arts, something. Staggering, Larry shook off his kick but came at him, too. Matt’s time in the Rangers, his martial arts training even before that, paid off but it was quickly obvious he was going to need every bit of it.

Launching another kick, he caught Curly in the gut but Larry had recovered and was driving in, swinging. Matt blocked the punch, diverted it and then followed it up with a few of his own.

Astonished, Ariel watched. She’d never seen anyone move that fast or fight like that, not since her self-defense teachers.

Seeing the way the fight was going, the man holding her shoved her away to throw himself into the fray.

It was obvious Matthew knew what he was doing but with the two in front of him his hands were full. He didn’t need another and this one was coming at him from his blind side. She had to distract him, buy Matthew some time. She scrambled up, grabbing his arm before he could swing. Pivoting, he swung with the other hand, fast and aiming for her face. Ariel ducked, evading the punch but he got a handful of her dress before she could twist away. He threw her into the wall. She flung her hands up in front of her but not in time. Her head struck the bricks and lights exploded behind her eyes.

Dazed, she fell to her hands and knees. Something warm dripped down the side of her face.

Shaking her head, she tried to get her feet under her.

Matthew. What had happened to Matthew?

Matt had just taken Larry down and was pivoting to face Curly when he saw Ariel dart toward someone behind him. Moe. Blocking Curly, Matt’s heart went cold as he saw Moe throw a punch at her. She ducked and then he was too busy with Curly. It took two good hits before Curly went down.

Spinning, Matt turned just as Moe threw Ariel into the wall. She crumpled into a heap as Moe turned on Matt.

Moe had had training, too, but not Matt’s cold rage to fuel him. He kept seeing Ariel strike the wall.

Watching her struggle to her knees gave him another surge of strength. Moe went down, too.

Unfortunately, it was unlikely they were down for long.

A hand reached for her. Startled, her head spinning, Ariel scrambled away as she tried to clear her head. She looked up into Matthew’s green eyes. He was safe, alive.

Matt saw her flinch away and his heart wrenched. Then she looked up. Those beautiful dark-fringed blue eyes were dazed, clouded, and then they cleared as they met his.

“Matthew!” she said.

She launched herself at him, locking her arms around his neck. Relief and terror gave her strength. She held him tightly. Matt closed his own arms around her, cradling her head, drawing her close against him. She was shaking, trembling violently. Tilting her head back to look at him, she reached out to touch his face with unsteady fingers. Her blue eyes were dark and wide with shock and fear.

Fear for him.

Blood trickled down the side of her face from the scrape on her forehead. His jaw tightened at the sight as he swung her up into his arms, holding her close. She was shaking so badly he wasn’t certain she could walk. He didn’t want her to anyway, he needed to hold her close, feel her safe in his arms.

It certainly wasn’t safe here, not for long. These boys were down. Down or out, they would come around quickly. Already Larry was dragging himself to his hands and knees. Matt had to get her out of there.

Thankfully, the door to the stairwell hadn’t latched. Matt wrenched it open and went straight through the inner door to the alcove where the elevators were. That had been one thing he had worried about in the layout to this hotel, that there was no clear view of the elevators from the lobby. Now that worked for them. No one had seen them come in. The elevator doors opened as soon as he touched the button.

He knew he couldn’t take her to her room, the stooges knew where it was. He punched the button for his own floor.

Ariel buried her face against his throat, wrapping her arms around his neck, clinging to him. His arms felt warm, solid and safe, they held her firmly. She could feel the beat of his pulse against her lips. The fear and terror, for herself as well as him, threatened to overwhelm her. It was reaction and she knew it but it shook her. She fought it back, breathed in the scent of him to calm herself.

Raising her face, she looked at him. One trembling hand went to his face, again, her fingers lightly touching where a glancing blow had hit him.

“Are you all right?” Matt asked, looking at her.

There was blood on her face, a swelling under the cut where her head had struck the wall and another smear of blood at the corner of her mouth. On her cheek was a darkening bruise from the backhand. He was glad he couldn’t see those men, that they weren’t within reach, because a part of him now wished he’d done more damage.

Ariel nodded in answer to his question. “Yes. Matthew…?”

Her voice trembled.

The door to the elevator slid open and he strode down the hall, setting her down only briefly as he juggled her and his room key, carrying her into his room before she could finish.

He sat her carefully on the bed, brushed her ebony hair away from her face with gentle fingers. Remembering the night before he started to move away. He didn’t want to frighten her again. She’d had enough of that.

“No,” Ariel said, reaching for him. “Matthew. Don’t go.”

For the moment all she wanted to do was curl into him. She wanted, needed to be held, to take refuge in his presence. A bulwark against the fear that still had her nerves jangling. She also wanted to feel him, to know he was all right, that they were both all right. She turned her face into the curve of his neck and inhaled the spicy scent of him, the salty tang of his sweat.

Matt drew her back into his lap and enfolded her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Matt held her, rocked her until her breathing evened out and her arms loosened. He brushed his cheek against her hair, hating himself for what he was about to do, for what he had to ask her. He had to, though. For Bill. It had to be done, and now, before she had too much time to think.

“I need to ask you not to call the police,” he said. “After what happened down there you have every right and I won’t stop you if you do but I’m asking you not to.”

Her head tilted back so she could study him. The look in her eyes was solemn and still a little dazed, but they were surprisingly aware.

The police.

Just the thought made Ariel want to cringe. Questions. Men in uniforms like Scott. Telling what had happened to them over and over again. She shook her head. All she wanted to do at that moment was curl into Matt, feel his arms around her and take shelter within them. Pretend, if only for the moment, that nothing had happened. She pressed her face into the curve of his throat and inhaled the spicy scent of him.

Licking her lips, Ariel discovered she could taste him, the slightly salty taste of his sweat on her lips. She tilted her head back to look into his green eyes. Reaching up, she ran her fingers lightly over his mouth. Heat tugged low in her belly. She wanted to be touched and held, sheltered and comforted, and to forget, if only for a few moments, the fear of those moments in that alley. She desperately wanted clean hands on her.