Everyone looked at me like I was the crazy one asking what was going on. And rightly so they completely ignored me.
"I expect you to offer her your protection Alcide." Quinn said folding his arms across his chest like he was expecting a fight. I stepped back further into the shadows expecting the same thing.
"I don't have to do a damned thing tiger," Alcide growled as he slammed back another drink. I wondered what he was trying to forget judging the fact that he was starting to sway I was sure he had been drinking since he left work.
"Bullshit. She was attacked by wolves in your city." Quinn spat. A few growls rolled up from the peanut gallery. I stepped back closer to Quinn. Just in case someone got froggy. Who knew fear could finally help me to learn the Texas two step.
"She can stay with me." I turned back to the boy who seemed excited that this was going to involved a Sookie, whatever the hell that was. He was a cute kid but something about his yellow eyes told me that staying with him would not be a good idea for my health.
"You call Sookie and she can stay with me. That's all your getting tonight Quinn." Alcide growled.
"Bet." Quinn whipped out his phone and faded into the background to make his phone call. I was still in the dark and it looked like no one was going to tell me what was going on.
"Does this mean we get to keep her?" The boy asked as he came around me. I yelped and jumped away from him.
"Leave her be Evan." the woman bartender snapped. Evan gave me one last sniff before returning to his chair. "Stacy bring her some shoes and pants." I looked down. I hadn't realized how short my dress had gotten when I tore it off to cover Quinn's naked ass cheeks. If I bent over I would expose the world to my burning bush. Whoever Stacy was she returned with a pair of running shoes and some jeans that looked like a little girl had rolled around in the mud before pulling them off.
My nose crinkled as I took the clothes, but I didn't want to offend anyone. Quinn returned a few minutes later. "Sookie says she can be here tomorrow night." Alcide nodded at this proclamation. He turned and looked down at me. "I've got some work to finish up but Alcide here is going to take care of you and he will be a damned gentlemen about it." Quinn shot Alcide a look that told him he had better be nothing but a gentlemen with me, but for someone reason I panicked at the thought of Quinn leaving me. I gripped his bicep as hard as I could. Which probably felt like a baby's sneeze to him. "Don't be scared no one will hurt you alright." He bent down and kissed me on the forehead. "I will see you back here tomorrow night." He gave Alcide another look and then tromped out of the bar. Everyone tracked his movements. Once he was gone everyone went back to whatever it was they were doing before we arrived.
After that little showdown no one paid me any attention. I was on my own as to where the bathroom was, but since this was just a bar I figured they were over near the glowing exit sign. I was rewarded with a relatively clean bathroom with two stalls. I was not about to pull those filthy jeans on so I just slipped off the shoulder of my dress and wiggled it down till it fell down to the middle of my thighs. More of my breasts were exposed but that was better than my bare ass. Or if I were honest an outline of a bare ass. For a black girl I was sorely lacking in the butt department.
I was looking at myself in the mirror when it finally hit home. Oh my god I had almost been raped. That man had torn off my panties and had been a moment away from raping me. When the thought registered in my brain I ran into the stall and threw up. "Holy crap," then the waterworks started.
Then I started to hyperventilate. "Oh my god," I tried to duck my hand down to my knees, but the circuitry behind my eyes start missing firing.
I sank down to the floor. Then the lights went out.
Something was dripping on my face. I groaned and opened my eyes. Someone was cleaning my face with a soft bath cloth. I wasn't sure how long I had been out but I wasn't in the club anymore. I was lying on a couch in nothing but my bra and a bed sheet. I moved to sit up and and big hand pushed me back down. "Easy. Unless you want to start throwing up again." It was Alcide.
"What happened?" I croaked. My voice sounded like rough gravel. Tasted like gravel too.
"Stacy found you in the bathroom passed out." He finished washing my face then got up off the couch. I was embarrassed that they had found me in the bathroom after my hissy fit and more embarrassed that he had seen me naked.
I slowly pulled myself up to a sitting position.
We were in an apartment judging from the relative size to my own place. The living room was comfortable with its sofa I was sitting on and two chair facing a flat screened TV. Alcide shambled back into the living room holding a glass filled with some sort of fizzing soda. "Its ginger ale." I gave him a weak smile and accepted the glass. The soda loosened my throat muscles and I wanted to sigh in appreciation.
He pulled a phone out of his back pocket and handed it to me. "Call whoever you need to." He nodded and then left me alone. He didn't look too steady on his feet as he left. I guess I was right about the drinking.
I dialed up Sage and hoped she wasn't in the middle of her sexual aerobics as she called it. She was a cranky bitch if I interrupted her. She picked up on the third ring. "Hello." she didn't recognize the number so I got her standard bill collector voice. A mix of pissed off and venom.
"Sage its me." I whispered. I didn't know why I was whispering.
"Nolan where are you calling from? Did you and Josh have sex on the first date." She was instantly awake now. I could hear the smirk in her voice.
I swallowed, "No he stood me up." As if that were the worst thing that happened to me.
"That asshole. I don't care who he is no one stands up my girl. Want to drive by his house and throw a brick through his windshield?" She stopped talking long enough to take a pull on what I was assuming was a bottle of water. I never saw Sage with a soda in her hand.
"No Sage listen. I went to Trade Street." I started
"Why the hell did you go down there? Why didn't you call me I would have come with you?" She snorted.
"I was attacked." I said trying to get a work in the conversation.
"Oh fuck Nolan are you ok? Where are you? I'm coming to get you." I was amazed at how fast she could switch from one stream of sentences to the next to flawlessly. I felt like a ping pong.
"I'm fine. I'm fine, but I'm staying with a friend. I think the guys that almost raped.." I slapped my hand over my mouth as soon as I said it.
"What the fuck!" She screeched. I had to pull the phone away from my ear and wince. "You said you were attacked not almost raped. I'm coming to get you. Where the hell are you?" she demanded.
"Sage I'm alright. I'm staying with a friend. I didn't want to go back to my place. I was scared they may have followed me home." I tried to be as calming as I could.
"What the hell Nolan." I knew she was working up to chew me out but I just didn't have the strength to listen.
"Sage I am ok. I will call you tomorrow. I promise." I hung up before she could say anything. I sagged into the couch. Sometimes talking to my best friend was just too much of a chore. Wrapping the sheet around myself I stood up and wobbled down the short hallway. I needed to find a bed fast or I was liable to pass out again and I had had enough of the zombie routine. A smart bathroom was behind door number1.
I shut that quickly before the urge to throw up ran up on me again.
I opened another door hoping it was a bedroom I could crash in. Luck was on my side. It was a neat little room with a queen bed calling my name nestled underneath a window. The comforter looked soft as a cloud. I waddled over and sank down into the bed. It was as soft as I imagined it would be. Either that or I was just dog tired and sandpaper would have had me singing its praises.
I curled on my side and laid down. I was facing a row of closets. The headlights of passing cars threw curious shadows across the doors. I could feel what little energy I had seeping out of my body and I tried to close my eyes, but I couldn't. That man's face was seared on my eyelids.
I rolled over on my back and tried to go to sleep. It wouldn't come. It was dodging me like I was the police with a warrant for its arrest. I groaned and flopped over on my stomach and still sleep evaded me. Though my body was ready to crash my brain kept replaying my attempted rape over and over again and my eyes did not want to close.
I sat up and climbed off the bed. I had no idea where I was going but I wasn't getting any sleep. I heard soft snoring coming from the closed door across the hall for me and I cursed myself for what I was about to do. I turned the doorknob as softly as I could and I poked my head into the room.
My breath hitched up and I swear my heart stopped beating. Alcide was lying sprawled across the bed, and he was stark naked. He looked like melting carmel against the stark white sheets. I finally understood the term onion booty because Alcide had the kind of butt that made me want to weep at the sheer perfection of it. "Stop staring at me." He growled. I yelped like a spanked dog.
"I'm sorry." I stammered totally mortified at being caught peeking at him. I wanted to dash back to my room and hide under the covers till the second coming, but I didn't move. God he was beautiful.
"Well fuck, either come in or get out." He lifted his head to turn and look at me. I closed the door with a snap. "You just going to stand there and look at me?" He asked. I stupidly nodded my head. He laughed darkly and rolled over onto his back. I caught a glimpse of his hard on before he threw the covers over himself. "Scared?" He asked me softly.
I nodded, "I couldn't sleep." I answered back. He patted the bed next to him and I took the hint.
On shaking legs I moved to the other side of the bed and sat down. I was very aware that he was naked and I was nearly naked and he was aroused and I was aware that he was aroused. I swung my legs up on the bed and laid back into the pillow like I was preparing for my own embalming.
Alcide turned over on his side with his back facing me. I sighed and did the same. It was barely five minutes before he was snoring again. I leaned up and repositioned my pillow again. I still couldn't sleep and I tried sleeping on my stomach again. Then I rolled back over onto my back. Alcide grunted and threw his arm across my stomach. I stiffened as he pulled me up against his body. He turned so that my back was pressed up against his chest. Judging from his snoring he was still asleep. He was probably thinking I was someone else. Which was not helping my self esteem issues right now.
He was holding me too tight for me to try and wiggle out of his grip. His body was blistering hot and it wasn't until I relaxed that I relaxed how tightly wound I was. I let go of the breath I was holding and finally my eyes closed.
It was a curious thing waking up. I felt like a microwaved burrito I was so warm and snuggled.
My eyes fluttered open. Light was leaking into the room through the closed blinds and looking at the clock on the nightstand I had only been asleep for an hour in a half. Oh this was starting out to be a great day. I moan escaped my lips before I could stop it. I was lying in the crook of Alcide's arm and he was holding on to my waist for dear life. He leaned down and nuzzled my neck gently. I stiffened in his embrace.
I was covered in sweat at this point so I was so not in the mood for this cuddle fest we had going on. "Um Alcide," I said trying to wiggle out of his grip. He growled deep in his chest and I stopped moving. I turned over till I was facing him. He was still asleep so he probably didn't remember who he was trying to cuddle with.
I tried poking him in the chest, he didn't wake. I shook his shoulder and still he didn't wake up and I really had to pee at this point. Finally I grabbed him by the ears and pulled him in for a kiss. When our lips touched lightening struck. Lights burst before my eyes and my whole body felt lit up and his eyes flew open and he jumped back from me like I was a nuclear payload.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I said scrambling out of the bed. "You wouldn't let go of me." I told him.
"So you thought kissing me was a good way to wake me up?" He asked like I was begging him to throw me on the bed and take my virginity.
"You started growling when I moved and you were nuzzling my neck Fido." I snapped. My nerves were fried and wasn't I the victim in this equation?
His eyes narrowed and nailed me right between the eyes. "Get out." He pointed at the door like I was a naughty child.
He didn't have to tell me twice. I stuck my tongue out at him and I stormed out of the room slamming the door as I went. I hurt my shoulder in the process, but I didn't care. It felt good. I hoped I knocked over a picture or something in the process.
He was the one cuddling with me I didn't touch him. Hell he invited me to sleep with him first. I was thinking maybe he could stay up and talk with me. Yeah that was totally girlie of my but I wasn't ready for sleep and I am in fact a girl so sue me.
I found my ruined dress in a heap in the bathroom as I went to at least turn some toothpaste around in my mouth. The medicine cabinet was bare so that was a no go. Angry at having to walk around with funky breath I snatched on the running shoes, I tied the sheet around my body like a toga and stormed out of the apartment.
I wasn't sure where the hell I was going or where the hell I was but once I got down to the lobby I walked out of the front door like I was Princess Di. I was wrapped up in a bed sheet, but I still had my dignity.
I was standing in front of a five story apartment building facing a little park. I had no idea where I was. I had only been in Shreveport for a few months and I had spent most of my time at the office my apartment and Sage's apartment. I turned left and started walking hoping to find something that looked helpful. On the corner I found a working payphone.
If the dating gods were pissed at me Lady Luck was singing my praises. The phone actually worked. I called Sage collect, geez I didn't even know you could do that anymore. I asked her to come pick me up. She was halfway out of the door before we hung up. I had to give her address off the phone.
Alcide didn't come looking for me the entire time I stood on that corner waiting for Sage. Some protection he turned out to be.
Sage tore me a new one the minute I got into her car. She cussed me out six ways from Sunday. Andrew Dice Clay would have been impressed. There were some curse words in that I had never heard before. She should write a dictionary. Sage yelled at me the entire ride back to my apartment. I was just too tired to go get my car and then drive myself back home.
"And is that blood in you hair?" she asked once she soft of calmed down.
I reached up and felt around my head. I didn't remember bleeding. I had forgotten the whole slamming against the building part of my ordeal. "Yeah I guess it is." I said yawning.
"Jesus, Nolan why the hell didn't you call the cops?" She had to swerve to avoid hitting a slow moving mom van on the highway. I swear I would rather face those wolves again.
I sighed, "Sage I told you this guy came and helped me. He took care of those guys better than the police would have done. They were Weres." I told her.
"Like on TV?" The conversation of my foiled rape had just gone out the window.
"Yeah like on TV. Seriously the guy that saved me was an actual honest to god tiger. Built like a brick house." Maybe if I could distract her with tales of Quinn she would forget to keep yelling at me. Lord knows my throbbing head needed the break. "He had purple eyes and smelled like fresh cut grass and soap." She turned down my street.
"Was he cute?" She took a hand off the wheel to fluff her hair like she was a second away from meeting the man in the flesh.
I shrugged, "He sort of looked like one of those old fashioned strong men. Not really my type." I felt like Quinn could flick my into the wall with his tongue. That was a great quality to have in a body guard or an armored truck, but not in someone you wanted to sleep next to. I was barely five feet tall so I was too damn small for that.
"Don't knock it till you try it." She pulled into my assigned parking spot and killed her engine. "Do you want me to come up with you?" She asked. "I could play Florence Nightingale." She offered.
I shook my head, "No I will be alright." I climbed out of her car and leaned down into the open window. "If anyone asks just tell them I got food poisoning or something and I will be in tomorrow."
"Nolan are you sure you're alright. For a black chick you're looking kind of white around the gills."
"I'm fine. I just need a hot bath and a cold drink." I assured her. She waited till I was at my door before she pulled off. I waved her out. "Damn," I remembered my house keys were still in my car which was still over on Trade Street. I went next door to Mrs. Crandell's house to get my spare key.
I almost had to knock the door down to get her to open it. I had to help the poor dear change her hearing aid battery. She gave me a plate of chocolate chip cookies so I figured I had done my good deed for the day.
Once I got home I ran myself the hottest bath I could stand. Standing in front of my full length mirror I saw the collection of bruises I was sporting. I had a huge hand print around my throat and scratches and welts on my legs. I ran my hands over the bruises trying to erase the memories. I could still smell his breath.
I climbed into the tub and winced. Maybe the water was a little too hot, but I wasn't about to get out. I sat in that water and tried not to think about what would have happened it Quinn hadn't ran in claws a blazing as it was. It was no use thinking about that. Quinn had gotten there in time. So what I was a little battered and bruised. Bruises healed.
I stayed in the tube till I looked like a walnut. Which while a delicious nut was not an attractive nut. After my soak some of my bruises didn't look so bad anymore. I slathered myself in coco butter and climbed in the bed. I deserved this nap before I could get any sleep my phone rang. I cursed something fierce and snatched it off the hook. "Hello," I snapped. All I wanted was a solid 8 hours of sleep. Why was that so hard?
"Nolan," I sat up straight in my bed.
"Alcide?" I asked just to make sure I wasn't really asleep imagining his husky voice.
"Are you at home?" He asked. I guess he figured he didn't have to announce himself.
"Yeah." I don't know why but I ran a hand through my hair trying to fix it.
"Stay there I'm bringing your car." Then the line went dead. As tired as I was I hopped out of bed. It wasn't that I was a dirty person but I was a bit of a pack rat so I had papers strewn all over my apartment and since I fancied myself a budding author there were plot sticky notes posted everywhere. I turned into a human hoover snatching up all the post it notes and paper. I dumped the whole load into the bottom of my closet which was clear because all my shoes were stacked up in the corner of my room.
I threw all my dirty dishes in the dish washer. I started a load of laundry and then ran my actual hoover through the entire apartment. I was covered in a sheen of sweat when I heard the knock at the door. I grabbed a dish towel and did a quick once over before opening my door.
Alcide stepped into my apartment without invitation nor preamble. He was dressed in a polo shirt and stone washed jeans. I tugged at the bottom of me Saints jersey feeling like something the cat drug through the mud.
My apartment was standard issue. The door deposited you in the living room with the kitchen off the the right. A little dining room was tucked into the corner. A short hallway led you back to my bedroom and bathroom. It was small but it was home. Alcide looked around like he was thinking of listing my apartment. "I brought your car." he said.
I hadn't even been thinking about my car, "Well thanks." I said looking pointedly at the door. He might be gorgeous but he was an ass.
He turned and looked at me as if he knew what I was thinking, "I'm sorry about this morning." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Well you should be," I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I'm trying to apologize you don't have to be a bitch about it." He growled.
"Some way to apologize calling me a bitch." I shot back. "Look I can see you don't want to be here, and that you don't like me very much. So excuse the hell out of my for being dumped in your bar after surviving a rape attempt by a pack of your flea buddies." I was right pissed at this point and there was no stopping my mouth. "So how about you go back to the dog pound and I stay here with my Doctor Who dvd's and my hot chocolate and we just tell Quinn that you were really nice to me. Because frankly I'm tired of your funky ass attitude." I opened my door and stood back so he could pass without touching me.
He stalked to the door, "You women are all the same. When you need protection you come running with your tear streaked faces asking for help, but when the dust settles you disappear." He gripped the edge of my door. The wood started to crack under the pressure of his grip.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. I was sure I had just met Alcide.
He snarled at me. I yelped and jumped away from him. "Quinn will pick you up tonight." He bared his teeth at me before storming out of my apartment.
How in the hell did I just piss off a Were?
