~*~
Warm-ups. I don’t know what I expected, but it wan’t men slamming each other to the ground. Aiden is talking to one of the others while they watch the two in the ring go at it. I’m not sure who is who, I can’t remember their names, and at the moment I have them organized by the color of their shorts. Blue and Red are warming up.
I suck in a breath when Red goes down, thinking he shouldn’t get up. I wouldn’t get up. I’d lie wheezing, and counting my broken bones.
My eyes dart to Aiden and then I hold my breath. He’s separated from the group, and is doing what looks like a dance move, swaying agilely back and forth. Then he moves fast, and I let out my breath as he balances onto one hand, every muscle taut as his whole body straightens like an arrow in the air. I tip my head sideways, waiting for him to tumble down, but he eases himself down and I sigh dreamily. It’s just not right that one person should look so good. It could be hazardous to someone’s health, like mine – I’m already struggling to breathe, let’s not even get going on the heart palpitations.
He repeats the swaying motion, with much concentration on his face, his body subtle. When he moves again, he twists his body into the air, and I lift my eyebrows. Right about there I’d be eating dirt and lots of it, but he lands gracefully again.
“Aiden, you’re up,” Green Shorts calls.
Blue and Red help them strap on gloves, and then Aiden walks into the ring. I grab hold of his sweater and lift it to my chest. When they tap each other’s hands, my heart sets off at a maddening pace. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but they look relaxed.
Green moves in on Aiden, kicking at him, and I shriek low in my throat for him to move. When he jumps out of the way, I press his sweater in under my chin.
“The real fighting hasn’t even started yet. Relax, honey.” My eyes jump from Katia, as she sits down next to me, to Aiden, and then back. “How are you, Emma?”
She turns her body to face me, and drapes her arm on the back of my chair. She’s way too close for comfort, but at least she’s not leeching onto me, it’s one positive. As long as she keeps her distance I can deal with her.
“Adjusting to the American way, how are you?” I ask.
If I’m going to be around Aiden I might as well try with the people he hangs out with. Although Katia is a different cup of tea altogether. Not sure how I’m going to get along with her.
She beams a smile at me. “I’m great.” Then she leans into me. “Are you cold, princess? You’re hugging that sweater awfully tight.”
I drop the sweater back to my lap and glance to the ring. It’s empty. My eyes flit all over the place until I find Aiden. He looks intimidating, to say the least, as he stalks towards us. At first his eyes are on Katia, and I’m just about to start feeling awkward, thinking I might have missed something between them, when he reaches his hand to me.
“You don’t mind if I borrow my girl, Katia?” I don’t wait to hear her answer.
I’m up and dropping his clothes in the chair before she can think of a response. His hand is warm when he weaves his fingers through mine, and I struggle to keep the daft smile off my face. He called me his girl. I’m swooning.
“People are starting to arrive, so it’s going to fill up real fast. I just want to get you something to drink. Please don’t take anything from anybody but me,” he says, as we walk in the direction of the pool and bar counter.
A bar counter means alcohol. I’d rather drink pool water than alcohol. Aiden dashes in behind the counter and retrieves two bottles of water. Lucky for me, no pool water. We don’t head back to the ring, though. Instead, he leads me over to the steps next to the pool, where he pulls me down beside him.
“Let’s just enjoy this moment before it gets crazy.” His words aren’t even cold when music starts to beat into the air. Even though the bass is hard, vibrating the water in the bottles, the background tune is slower, lending a trancy vibe to it.
“Thank you for comin’.”
He places his hand right behind my bottom, leaning in, and it sends my heart on a mad dash across the lawn.
“It’s different,” I start. I won’t lie, I’m concerned. “Won’t you get hurt?”
“Are you actually worried about me?” he teases me, and as my luck would have it I flush. I can feel the blood pulsing in my cheeks.
With him sitting so close, his eyes are too intense to look into. I look out over the garden, letting my hair fall between us. I can’t keep the daft grin off my face, and I don’t want him to see it. It’s one thing to like him, it’s another letting him know I like him.
“Maybe a little.” I’m moving into flirting territory with my flatmate. I’ve never done anything like this. Am I even doing it right? I should ask Chloe for some tips. She’s good at this kind of thing. “I can’t drive you home. We’ll end up being one with a tree on the wrong side of the road.” I was almost one with him. The thought makes me flush all over again. I get a feeling I’m going to be permanently red around him.
“I’ll be fine, there’s no need to worry,” he reassures me.
“What does the word on your on your shorts mean?” I suddenly remember, I wanted to know the meaning of it.
“It’s the fighting style I prefer. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and martial arts. I throw in some other things I’ve learned along the way, but Capoeira teaches you respect and patience. The sport is about hope.”
I sit stunned, my eyes glued to him. Hope. With one single word he’s floored me.
His hand brushes my hair away from my shoulder, slipping up my neck and I feel the same explosion of flutters in my stomach I feel everytime he touches me. His mouth presses against mine and I feel a sweet tightening in my abdomen. I open my mouth to let him in, to experience more of him. I love the way he makes me feel. He makes me feel wanted, and I’ve never experienced that before.
~*~
The fights are brutal, to say the least. I sit mortified through the first three before life returns to my limbs. Aiden’s fight didn’t even last seconds. I’m not sure what happened. The bloke attacked him and Aiden got hold of him around his neck and they went down to the floor. Only Aiden got back up. I’m still not sure if I should be relieved or worried about that.
I’ve seen blood before, and I’m not faint-hearted when it comes to the sight of it. I can’t say I approve of what’s happening here. Blokes going at each other until one is unconscious – it’s almost barbaric.
Colton steps into the ring with a bloke who looks half his size, and it just doesn’t look fair. They circle each other, and I hear Katia cheer for Colton to wipe the poor fellow off the face of the planet.
I’m too tense to sit. I stand up, walking closer to the side of the ring. I can see Aiden on the other side, talking to a few of the others. He’s not even looking at the fight.
The moment Colton pounces, my eyes flit back to the ring. I flinch at the impact with which they collide. People cheer them on and it lends a charged excitement to the atmosphere.
The other bloke grunts when he hits the floor, and I cover my mouth for like the tenth time tonight. Am I the only one who finds this disturbing? I search for Aiden through the wire of the ring, he’s watching the fight with such concentration on his face, as if he’s studying it.
Disappointment starts to bubble up, but I hardly have time to reflect on this emotion as Colton straddles the other bloke. He pins the bloke’s chest between his knees, and just starts to pound down on him – not hitting – pounding. Like I’ve seen gorillas do.
The bloke’s head wobbles with the blows and I move, because it’s not right. Nothing about what’s happening here tonight is right. Someone must stop them. My heart is pounding hard, as hard as Colton’s fists. I grab hold of the wire that forms the ring, and rush in toward the two men. When I shove at Colton, he shifts slightly. For a second it looks like he’s going to hit me, and a cold wave washes over me, making my hair rise all over. But I
stand rooted and shove again, harder, budging him more.
“Move,” I growl. “Are you bloody mental?” I’m seething, and when he moves I look down at the mess.
The bloke is unconscious and I try to remember what to do. Keep him still. I can’t move him until the paramedics come. There’s too much blood surrounding his nose, and I open his mouth. Leaning down I feel, I wait. There’s nothing.
“O God!” I need to stay calm. I grab his wrist and feel for a pulse. The seconds stretches out endlessly, but I can’t find a pulse. I move my fingers to make sure I have the right spot, and I still feel nothing. I really didn’t want to move him. I tilt his head back slowly, and press my fingers to his neck, praying I’ll find a pulse. Precious seconds tick by, and still there’s nothing.
Panic wells up in my chest, threatening to rob me of my own breath. Aiden kneels on the opposite side, and I feel almost predatory, protective of the poor bloke. “Back off,” I hiss at him.
“Let me help,” he says, far too calm, calmer than I feel.
“Back the bloody hell off,” I scream at him.
I interlace my hands and shove hard into the bloke’s chest. My throat feels too thick, but I swallow and lean down. I blow in, starting CPR. I don’t know how long I do it, how long I try until I feel him breathe, until officials arrive. I don’t know who phoned them.
Time warps around me, people all blur together and I feel sticky with his blood on my hands and mouth. I wipe it off with the back of my hand, and walk away from the second most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t make me feel any less sick than when I have to face my mother. My stomach feels heavy, burning raw.
It’s really dark out, but it’s good, because no one can see the blood smeared on my jeans from where I tried to wipe my hands clean. My body is out of adrenaline, and I hate that I’m shaking like a leaf caught in a shitstorm. I hate that I don’t know exactly where I am.
The farther I walk, the more I try not to think. I can’t, because then I start thinking stuff like, does Aiden beat other blokes up like that? How can that even be legal?
Well, I was looking for some flaw in his perfect package, and now I have it. I am most disappointed in myself for falling for him, and not seeing this coming. Why do I make myself such an easy target? I run away from one monster only to find another!
Lights come up the street, and I keep to the shadows, trying to make myself as small as possible. When the car slows, I quicken my pace even more. I hear a door slam closed and glance behind me. Suddenly Aiden doesn’t look as innocent as he did before.
“Emma, please get in the car. You can’t walk home,” he says, still sounding far too calm for my liking.
“You’re right,” I shock myself by snapping at him. I’m not the type to get into a fight with someone, I’d rather walk away, but this isn’t about just me, it’s about someone else getting hurt – it’s about, yeah, I guess I am scared, and this is me trying to show him I’m not. Instead of becoming a quivering mess, I lift my chin and snap at him some more. “I can’t walk home because I don’t bloody know where I am. Because I’m daft. Because I got in a car with a maniac.” Instead of just walking away, I do something I never dreamt I would do in my entire life – I stand and face him. It must be shock. Yes, I must be in shock to take on a bloke twice my size. “I should’ve listened when you warned me last night, when you said you could be psycho. Not could be, you bloody are!”
Oh bloody hell, now I’m insulting him! Have I gone nutters from all the tension? I should run before he gets angry. Run, Emma. Now! I spin around and I start down the road as quick as I can to who knows where.
“Will you let me explain?” He doesn’t sound so calm any more, and it sends my heart flitting into the nearest bushes. Bugger! It’s going to be like one of those dreams where you scream and no noise comes out, no one can hear you. He catches up to me and blocks my way. I cringe a step back and I don’t know what my facial expression looks like, but his changes.
He tilts his head and his features soften. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” He says the words calmly. We’re back to being calm again.
I just stare at him. Words mean nothing to me. Words are empty things, spoken by people to gain control over others. Actions, now those count, and his actions are screaming for me to run.
“Will you let me explain?” he asks again.
“You beat people to a bloody pulp? How do you explain that? You can’t almost kill someone, snap your fingers and then say ‘Bob’s your uncle’.” My voice falters at the end, and I step back to place some more distance between us.
“They do, Emma. They do. I don’t fight like that. I’m there so I can stop that. I’m only there so I can stop it,” he says, quite passionately. Gone is the calm again.
“I don’t understand.” And I don’t. I honestly don’t.
“You can’t tell a living soul, Emma.” He scans the area around us before looking back at me with that penetrating gaze of his. “The whole student thing is only a cover so I can get in. Girls have been going missin’, and it has to do with these fighting circles. Girls like you, who don’t think, and just do.” I should be upset because he just insulted me, but I’m not. Not about that, but because something else is making all my alarms go off.
I’m bolted to the floor. I’m gobsmacked as I start to realize what it is.
“What are you saying?” And even as I ask the question I start to shake my head, willing him not to answer me.
“I told you I’m not on the wrong side of the law,” he says again, as if he wants me to figure it out for myself.
The final realization hits hard, harder than Colton’s fists were hitting that poor fellow. I suck in air through my teeth and I hear the hissing sound I make, like a pricked balloon.
“You’re a copper?” I spit the word out as it burns up my throat. I manage to take another step away from him, and then realize I’m still shaking my head.
I stop. I stop everything.
Breathing. Blinking. Thinking.
My heart stops for a second or two as the edges around my vision darken.
“You’re one of them?” I strangle the question out. “You’re a policeman?”
~*~
Chapter Six
Aiden~
She said it as if I’m one of Satan’s spawn. She completely withdrew. I’ve never seen anyone switch off like that before.
I got her into the car, finally. She’s in her room and she might be packing. Not good.
I’ve taken a shower to give her time, and for the first time, I feel nervous knocking on her door. She doesn’t answer. When I push the door open, I see her standing in the middle of the room, as if she came in and stopped right there, she hasn’t moved since.
I hate that I’ve placed her in that position. It’s taking a lot of strength for me to not take her to the shower so I can wash the blood off of her myself.
“Emma, can we talk about this?” I ask, hopeful. I’m not one to leave things unsaid and undone.
She doesn’t move.
I close the distance between us and move around her. She’s gazing at her hands, clamped tightly together at her abdomen. She looks so submissive. Gone is the fire she had when she fought for that guy earlier.
“There’s really nothing to talk about,” she says softly.
Her eyes darts up quickly, but only to my neck before they settle on my chest where she knows the eagle is.
I take a shot in the dark. “I’m still the same man as before, the same man you kissed today, the same man who held you. Now that gut feelin’ you had about me then, just go with it. Nothing has changed.”
“Everything has changed,” she whispers. “There’s nothing to talk about. I came, I saw, I’m going.”
“Is it really that bad?” I’m actually dumbstruck. What’s so bad about being a policeman?
She ducks her head down, focusing her eyes on her hands. “Yes. Yes, it’s bloody awful. You’re a policeman. Policemen…” She can’t fi
nish her sentence, and reverts to swallowing. Her small shoulders jerk, but I can’t hear a thing. There are no sounds as she cries.
I take a step closer and lean my head in. “Emma,” I whisper, as tears glide down her chin and neck. What can be so bad to bring this on? She doesn’t move. She just keeps her head down, and it’s starting to eat away at my insides.
“You’re supposed to be protectors,” her voice rasps right at my heart. “If you can’t even protect those you call family, how will you protect others?”
Her words hit hard. I take a second to breathe them away. I have to remember she’s talking about herself. This has got nothing to do with Laurie. “Who are you talkin’ about?” I want to reach for her, but hold back. I don’t think she wants me touching her right now.
“My father protected everyone but-” she stops, and a breath shudders through her, “I didn’t put an ocean between us to move in with another one. I won’t.” She looks at her suitcase, and for a second I think she’s going to run, but then she just settles back into her submissive stance.
My first reaction is to tell her not to judge everyone the same, but that might be disastrous.
“I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but do you really think I’m the same?” She doesn’t answer me, and I move closer still. “You came to me to get away from Katia, why is that, Emma?” I wait, my heart hammering. I really don’t know why it’s so important to fix this.
She turns her face slightly up and peeks at me, and then she reaches for my chest, but she hovers an inch from the eagle.
“I thought you were different.” She sounds drained.
“Is it really just because I’m a detective?” I can’t believe that’s a deal breaker.
“An eagle is the ultimate bird of prey, but like you said, it’s the only one that doesn’t look over its shoulder when it attacks. It’s fearless for a reason. Nothing will dare attack the most formidable creature, so why should it know fear? What chance do I stand in your presence?”
I stand still, not sure how to react to that.
Wake Me Up (Love Knows No Boundaries) Page 7