Piper emerged from the big building and walked over to the kerb, hoping to flag down a passing taxi. She didn't have any cash on her but she had plenty at home, and no way was she going to be able to get back there by walking, not in her current state. She wiped wearily at her still wet face and raised her arm, giving thanks that at least something was going her way when the taxi actually pulled over and she got in. After giving the address she slumped back in the seat and closed her eyes, trying not to let the little voice of reason in her head remind her of what a total moron she must have looked to him. She let the alcohol wash over the embarrassment and drifted off as the car moved into the traffic.
The next thing she knew the driver was leaning over and calling to her. "Hey lady, we're here," he said, looking and sounding bored.
She scrabbled out of the car and rushed indoors to get some money, staggering out a few seconds later with some and handing it to the driver, who took it without a thank you and drove away at high speed. Typical, she thought. All the men she ever met were rude, why should her taxi driver be any different? She threw herself down on the sofa when she got indoors again, and thought about what she was going to do for damage limitation. If a bad situation could be made worse, then she had just done it. Her mouth tasted sour and she grimaced, going into the bathroom to clean her teeth. After looking in the mirror at her dishevelled image, she decided maybe a shower would be a good idea too. And perhaps it would sober her up, she thought, wishing she hadn't gone into that bar in the first place.
When she emerged from the bathroom she looked and felt more human, but now her head was starting to really pound and she went in search of some painkillers....anything at all that would get rid of the thumping in her skull.
She found a bottle of aspirin in the cupboard and filled a glass of water, reading the label on the bottle before she opened it. The ringing of her doorbell stopped her from cracking the lid, and she walked into her hallway still holding onto it, the pills rattling about in the plastic container.
She opened the door without even looking through the spy hole, and then instantly regretted it when she looked up and saw Mark Calloway standing there, looking grim. His eyes narrowed on the bottle she was holding and he grabbed her arm, twisting it out of her small hand with ease and pushing her back into the apartment.
"Oh, hell, no you don't," he muttered as he looked at the bottle, then glared at her with astonishment.
"What...what are you doing here?" she asked belatedly as he dragged her along to the living room. "Get out of my apartment!"
"I'm not leaving you here to kill yourself!" he snapped, throwing the bottle of pills in the trash and then making her sit down on the sofa, standing with his arms folded over his chest while he contemplated what to say.
Piper hadn't taken too much notice of his size before, but it was hard to avoid it now. He was making her apartment shrink with his huge bulk filling up her living room, and she felt nervous with him in her own home. "I was going to take them..." she began, trying to explain, but he cut her off.
"You damn well are not going to take them!" he said, frowning at her. His hand raked through his hair. "Of all the stupid, childish things to do...don't you damn well move!" he snapped when she went to get up, and Piper started to get over her shock and get angry instead.
She stood up instantly and glared back at him. "Don't you order me about in my own home, you overgrown snake! You get out of here or...or..."
"Or what? You'll vomit on me again?" he asked, raising his chin and looking arrogantly down at her, a small smile curving his lips. She didn't want to notice that he had very nice lips, and the fact that she did just fuelled her temper.
"Don't you laugh at me! I'll have you know I have a black belt, and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"A black belt?" he asked, finding himself amused now by this infuriating woman who wasn't even half his size. "In what?"
"In...in..." she broke of and searched her mind for something. "Karate. And I can kick your ass any day of the week!"
"That so? Well, why don't you just go ahead and prove it, if you're so brave?" he taunted her, leaning forwards and bending so his face was nearly level with hers.
Piper found his proximity unnerving and she backed up a couple of steps, making that small smile return to his mouth. "That doesn't seem to be the action of a black belt," he said, watching her back off. "It couldn't be that you're lying to me, could it?"
"I do too have a black belt," she said, thrusting her chin out aggressively. It was true, she had belts in lots of different colours, although none of them had anything to do with karate. Still, he didn't know that!
"So where are all your fancy moves?" he asked, closing the distance between them again, his green eyes narrow and glittering as they stared down at her. He looked at what she was wearing and frowned when he felt himself getting aroused by the glimpse of flesh he could see in the opening of the bathrobe. Obviously she had come from the bathroom, and her hair was wet and tousled, the black strands clinging to her face. He had the annoying urge to brush them out of the way, and his fingers actually twitched as he resisted the impulse. Her odd whisky coloured eyes were staring at him, a mixture of anger and fear in them, and also something else. Embarrassment, he decided as he continued to stare and she blushed. "Come on, Piper Williams, Black Belt in Karate, attack me," he said, reaching out and brushing one strand of hair away before he could stop himself.
Piper stared at him, starting to get mesmerised by the way those amazing green eyes were looking at her, but his words finally got through and her mouth dropped open. How did he know she wasn't really a karate black belt? She could be! He was just so arrogant, and pompous and...she gritted her teeth and drew her foot back, letting go with a kick that a horse would have admired.
Mark hadn't expected her to do anything, more fool him, he thought as he went down. Her foot had connected with his knee and the surprise of the attack made him lose his balance. Piper didn't let it end there, though. She needed to teach him a lesson, so she threw her fist at his chin, giving him a surprisingly strong uppercut that felled him like a giant oak.
Mark found himself laying on her floor staring at the ceiling, one hand clutching his knee and the other rubbing his chin in shock. How the hell had she done that? She was only a little bit, there was no way she could put a man his size down. But she had. He had a second to think about that before her small body came down to his level and she straddled him, smiling triumphantly.
"I told you I could kick your ass, you should have listened!" she said, sneering at him.
He stared up at her and a smile lit up his face. She didn't even realise what position she was in, he thought, his smile getting wider as he ran his eyes over her body and felt his own body start to tell him graphically that he liked what he saw.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked, frowning now and feeling a little less sure of herself.
"Do you have anything on under that robe?" he asked slowly, his voice drawling out and sounding unlike any of the other times he had spoken to her.
Piper felt her face fill with colour when she finally took in how she was sitting on him, and just what part of his anatomy would be directly underneath her. She hadn't even thought about what she was doing, and he probably saw it as some huge come-on, and she struggled to get off him without her robe falling open and revealing her to his gaze.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he murmured, his hands grabbing her hips and stopping her from retreating, and he smiled when he felt her freeze.
The danger of the situation slowly permeated her shocked brain and panic made her mouth dry. "Let go of me," she said as imperiously as she could manage, trying to look tough.
"Make me," he shot back at her, his smile getting wider as she started struggling again.
"Let me go!" she said, her voice higher pitched this time as she attempted to get off him, and she eventually managed to make one of his hands loosen when she dug her nails into his skin. She used her body weight to throw herself sideways, landing on the carpet and trying to pull away.
Mark gave a small chuckle and rolled her underneath him easily, grabbing her wrists and pinning them above her head on the floor, subduing her struggles with virtually no effort. His eyes glittered down into hers. "And now what are you going to do?" he asked her, cocking his head to one side and waiting for her to speak, which she didn't. "Not so brave now? You know, I think I prefer you this way Miss Williams, all soft and warm and, most importantly, unable to escape." Another chuckle made his chest rumble as he settled more firmly over her, seeing the fury and fear written in her face. "There are always consequences for attacking me, Piper, and it's about time you learnt that," he murmured, and her eyes were like saucers as he lowered his head, his mouth covering hers before she could turn away.