Out of Line (Out of Line #1)(30)
Author: Jen McLaughlin

His unsteady hand made the knife slice Carrie’s throat. It was just a tiny scratch at best, but it made me ready to make him bleed a hell of a lot more. “Let go of her.”

“Once I’m done, you’ll get her back,” the man sneered. He pressed the knife even deeper into Carrie’s neck and a tiny trickle of blood rolled down her throat. “Money. Now.”

I wanted to throttle the piece of shit. Now. But I knew I had to set the scene right. I needed to get the threat away from Carrie before I made my move. Then it was game f**king on. The asshat wouldn’t know what hit him.

“Here you go,” I said.

I took a wad of cash out of my pocket and held it out, waving it around just out of reach. The f**ker reached for it, but couldn’t quite touch. He extended his arm, letting the knife fall away from Carrie’s throat. Bingo. Just what I’d wanted.

Moving so fast the man never saw it coming, I captured his wrist and spun it behind his back. The knife clattered to the ground and Carrie leapt back from it, her eyes wider than ever before. Yanking the guy’s arm up behind his shoulders, I kept a firm pressure on him. I wrapped my forearm around the guy’s neck in a chokehold, squeezing tight enough to knock the guy out but not kill him.

No matter how tempting it might be.

“Come near her again, and next time you won’t wake the f**k up,” I snarled in his ear, fury making it hard to keep my grip loose. The thief tried to break free, but went limp in my arms. I let him drop to the ground and took the bracelet out of the guy’s hand, then shoved the cash back in my pocket too. “Let’s go now.”

Carrie nodded quickly, taking my hand when I offered it. Neither one of us spoke as we climbed on the bike, helmets on and tension high. She clung to me, so I could feel her entire body shaking. Trembling. She might be in shock. I didn’t know if the shock was from my quick reaction to the robber, or the robber himself.

Either way, it wasn’t good.

I choked the throttle, speeding down the PCH to my apartment. When we got there, I hopped off the bike and yanked off my helmet. After helping her to her feet, I gently removed hers. She looked at me, not touching me but not moving away either.

“Why did you bring me here?” she asked.

I looked around. Though I hadn’t thought it through, I’d brought her back to my place. Leaving her alone was out of the question right now. “I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”

“Oh.” She took a shaky breath, her face still far too pale for my liking. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to—”

“I want to,” I said simply, making sure my tone left no room for arguments. Though I wanted to rail at her, scream at her, I swallowed back my anger. Now was neither the time nor the place to release my frustrations at her actions.

She didn’t say anything. Just swallowed hard and nodded.

I brushed her hair out of her face tenderly and her eyes drifted shut. “Are you okay, Ginger?”

“Where did you learn how to do that?” she asked, her voice tiny and soft. “It was…crazy.”

“The Marines,” I said, swallowing past the huge lump in my throat threatening to choke me. So, she was scared of me now. Fucking fabulous. “You know I would never hurt you, right?”

She bit her lip and latched gazes with me. I couldn’t read the emotions in her eyes. Fear maybe? “Of course.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I hugged her tight, resting my head on hers and breathing in her scent. “But I’m not sorry I did it. He could have…you could have…”

She gripped my sides, fisting my shirt, and my stomach clenched. “I know.”

Seeing that man holding a knife to her throat had done weird things to my insides. I’d be a fool to deny she meant something to me. Something real and huge and unstoppable. Like a force of nature, only stronger. How much longer could I push her away? How many times could I deny the feelings that were so clearly there before I gave up trying?

She shuddered and buried her face in my shirt. “Just take me up to your place, please.”

Not trusting myself to speak right now, I swung her in my arms, carrying her up to my apartment. For once, she didn’t fight me. She just lay there, letting me cradle her in my arms. Once we were inside, I sat down on the couch with her still in my arms.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “That’s was the stupidest, most stubborn, idiotic—”

“I know.”

“—thing I’ve ever seen you do.”

“I know.”

“And you will never, ever go there without me again. Understood?”

She swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”

Her easy acquiescence did nothing to soothe my temper. I needed a fight. Needed to make her see how stupid she’d been in storming off like that. “If I hadn’t been there—”

“But you were,” she said quietly.

“But if I wasn’t.” I tightened my arms around her, picturing all the horrible things that could have happened to her. All the gruesome things men liked to do to defenseless women like her. “Do you have any idea what it would do to me if you were hurt? I can’t even imagine—”

She lifted her head and kissed me, shutting me up quite effectively. For once, I didn’t want to fight her off. Didn’t want to give a damn about my duties or expectations. Didn’t give a damn what kind of contract I’d signed that said I wasn’t allowed to touch her. For once, I…

Didn’t want to stop.

Chapter 14

I held on to Finn as tight as I could, kissing him for as long as he would let me. At any minute, he would push me away and curse, but I didn’t care right now. After the scare in the street, and his even more impressive saving of my stupid butt, I couldn’t stop thinking about how it had felt with that knife to my throat. I hadn’t been as scared for myself as I had been for Finn when he went for that guy. I’d been terrified he would get hurt trying to save me.

Frightened he would get stabbed or worse…die.

All because I had to go and be a stubborn idiot who refused to leave with him. I knew better than to walk off into the dark city streets. Knew not to storm off in a huff when danger lurked nearby. My actions had put myself, and consequently, Finn, in danger. If he had been injured trying to save me, I never would have forgiven myself.

I strained to get closer, but his hold on me didn’t allow me to move. He broke off the kiss and dropped his forehead on mine, taking a shaky breath. “I don’t want to stop, babe. I swear it. But you could be in shock…”