Stryker

by Lexi Buchanan

  The thought of going back to my apartment for anything else turned my stomach. I’d started to dread it but was more resigned than any time before. Now though, the only thing I wanted from him was access to the gym…and my freedom, which I would get when I called off this engagement.

  At the end of the week, I’d break things off with him and call my parents. I winced at the thought of talking to my mom about the wedding and cancelling everything. It would be a headache, one which I was going to have to deal with to save my mom the hassle. After all, it was my fault that I’d let the engagement go this far. Last minute as well.

  “You’re sulking like a five year old now, Evie. A fighting gym is for fighters whether they’re male or female. I know my father’s gym only caters to the male fighters because he discovered having women around too distracting for the men. But it isn’t a place that I want you, or your little friend around.”

  Arrogant asshole!

  “Okay,” I mumbled as his cell started to ring.

  I pretended to ignore his call as I stirred the ice in my glass of water but I listened to him the entire time…and noticed the tightness of his lips as he listed to the caller.

  It was all I could do to keep the happiness from my face as he waved the server down for the bill. He stood, urging me to do the same while still in the middle of listening to his call.

  Reaching for my purse, I realized that he’d want to drop me off at my apartment, even though it was only a few blocks away. So not wanting that to happen, I made my escape.

  “You go. I’ll get a cab right outside the door after I’ve used the restroom.” I kissed him on the cheek and quickly dashed into the ladies’ room.

  I could breathe.

  Finally.

  He wouldn’t follow me in here. Would he?

  Holding my breath, I dashed into a stall and made sure it was locked before I dropped to the toilet. No one looking underneath would know that I was just sitting on it. Well, they might, as I didn’t have my panties down, but heck.

  After a few minutes of silence, I started to chuckle with how ridiculous I was being. Totally. Patrick had better things to do than search stalls in the restroom for me.

  Shaking my head, I laughed as the automatic flush triggered and made me jump slightly. I moved out of the stall and over to the vanity table with a huge mirror in front. I searched out my lipstick and quickly applied the cherry red color, smacking my lips together. It was one of my favorites and, of course, Patrick didn’t like it, which was probably why I’d worn a muted lip-gloss when I met him for dinner. Now that dinner was done, my lip-gloss was off, and my favorite color was on my lips…to hell with Patrick.

  Stryker would like it.

  Popping the lid back on the tube, I slipped it back into my purse and headed outside.

  I knew where I was going and it wasn’t home.

  Chapter 6 ~ Stryker

  AS SOON AS I arrived, Julio cleared my usual table, much to the grumble of the group of guys who occupied it. All it took had been one look at me and they moved. I hadn’t even done anything but stand next to Julio. Unfortunately, there was no disguising my size and I looked threatening, if I wanted to that was.

  An hour later, the crowd had thinned, which suited me just fine. I liked to be able to see who’d entered on the off chance I’d been found. My luck was still with me so far in that respect, but not in the other—no Evie.

  Even though I wanted to run tonight at the thought of Patrick being with her, I still came here…hoping, even though I knew it was hopeless. She obviously loved the prick and he had so much more to offer than I ever would so this infatuation was stupid. It needed to stop before I made a fool of myself, or before anyone discovered she was constantly in my thoughts and could be used against me.

  Hearing a throat being cleared, I watched Julio as he took the seat beside me. “Can I ask you something?” His voice had a huskiness to it after many years of smoking, or so he’d once told me.

  I nodded.

  “You always keep to yourself…and you’re always alone. Never come in with anyone, or talk to anyone here. I have no idea what’s going on, but I want you to know that I’m here to help you if you need it…I don’t want trouble, but I want you to know that you don’t have to be alone.” Julio moved back to the bar as soon as the words had left his mouth.

  Not only did my heart pound with fear for Julio because he couldn’t know what my life was like, but the longing to accept his help caused a pain in my chest. I wanted to be free of them, but not at the expense of anyone else, especially not Julio who’d only ever shown me kindness.

  My thoughts quickly changed direction when the door opened and in walked Evie. My breath caught at the back of my throat at her beauty. Tonight she wore a pale green dress that was fitted around her chest and flowed into lots of material around the skirt. I wasn’t familiar with women’s clothing so I had no fucking clue as to what it was called, but either way, she was stunningly beautiful.

  Locks of hair bounced around her face as she moved and I ate up the sight of her. She wore low-heeled shoes but her soft, silky legs seemed to go on for miles, causing my fingers to twitch with the need to touch her. Through the people lingering around a subtle scent floated toward me, light and flowery, which I knew was Evie.

  My senses had become attuned to her, and every move she made caused a reaction within me.

  I wanted her to sit with me.

  Talk to me.

  Eat with me.

  Sleep with me.

  None of that would ever happen.

  My head knew that, I just wished that my heart did.

  Evie stopped at the bar and laughed with Julio while my eyes continued to caress her. I couldn’t move them away even if I tried.

  Desire rapidly warmed my body, and my dick hardened, lengthened, and pulsed.

  As if she felt eyes on her, she slowly turned and stared. She wouldn’t be able to see me because of the dark corner but I could certainly see her. Her gaze faltered when Julio drew her attention back to him and his eyes shifted in my direction.

  He knew there was something going on with me. He’d seen me rush out to chase her down…and he’d watched me stare with longing at her. I hadn’t told him anything, I knew that he trusted me, and that meant a lot.

  She knew someone watched her from this corner, but she had no idea it was me. The connection we’d felt at the gym hadn’t been a fluke. It had been powerful, and I wanted her to know that it was me sitting here. I didn’t want her to think it was a creepy stalker. Perhaps if she did know who it was, then she’d come over. There was no one here watching us. No security keeping her away from me like at the gym where eyes followed me everywhere. A fact that surprised me with my reaction to her being in the gym. I’d expected to have my distraction pointed out, which was what I thought the visit from Patrick had been about. But no. I was off the hook…for now.

  My attention back on my woman, I noticed her slipping down the side of the bar to the restrooms. I blinked and narrowed my gaze when two guys followed her.

  Without thinking, I moved to follow them and caught the frown on Julio’s face as I started to pass the bar.

  “I’ll come with you.” Julio lifted the hatch, but I stopped him with a steady hand on his arm.

  “No. I have this. Follow in a few minutes but stay back.” I didn’t wait to see if he listened, and quickly made my way down the hall.

  I was just in time to catch the back exit as it closed with a clunk. Pausing, I listened and decided to check it out.

  My fear of alleys had stayed with me all these years, but my fear that something bad was about to happen to Evie overrode everything. I had to protect her at all costs.

  Shoving through the heavy door, my head snapped to the right at the sound of scuffling. My fear for Evie rose as I let the anger I’d felt take over when I saw the two men dragging her down the alley.

  “Hey,” I shouted as I jumped over the railing, bypassing the five or so steps dow
n to the ground.

  Startled, they glanced at each other, and straightened when I moved closer.

  No way would I let them take Evie. I didn’t look at her because I knew if I did it would be her I went to. My anger would snap like a twig so I kept my concentration on the assholes who’d chosen to take her.

  I was bigger than they were, and I had years of training. I could easily take these guys. The one on the right looked to have more muscle than his partner, but they were both about to have a lesson they wouldn’t forget.

  “Give me the woman,” I growled, my fists flexing at my side.

  “Go back inside and mind your own business,” the bigger of the two men spat the words out while the other guy looked between us and took a step back.

  Yeah, that’s right. Keep going.

  “You really don’t want to threaten me… This is the last time I’ll ask nicely. Give me the woman.”

  “You ass—”

  “Fuck no.” The other guy grabbed his friend’s arm, effectively cutting off his words. “That’s Stryker.”

  His friend blinked and shoved Evie forward so abruptly that she flew down to the ground, crying out in pain. She lifted her face to look at me, and fear, stark and vivid, glittered in her eyes. Panic welled in my throat as I crouched down to help her.

  The two guys took off down the alley and disappeared around the corner.

  Fucking pussy assholes!

  “Can you stand?”

  “I don’t know,” her voice wobbled, and tears streaked her face.

  “I won’t hurt you. I only want to help.” Before she could do anything, I had her up in my arms. She snuggled into me as my heart pounded with a mixture of fear and relief.

  Evie rubbed her face into the curve of my neck and I nearly stumbled when she inhaled. Her arms slipped around my neck, her fingers threading through the hair at the nape.

  “I won’t hurt you,” I repeated, my voice a whisper against her ear.

  The tension was gone from her face when she met my gaze. Her arms tightened around my neck. “I know, Stryker.” She offered a wry smile. “I had a feeling that you were one and the same.”

  I frowned as I carried her back inside the bar, wondering what she’d meant.

  We didn’t have more time to discuss what she’d meant as Julio was rushing down the hallway. When he saw that I carried Evie, his eyes widened before he ushered me into his office.

  “Is she all right?” he asked, panicked.

  “She’s fine,” Evie reassured him while I placed her on the desk, the only place where Julio hadn’t stacked papers.

  “I do things a bit backwards.” Julio shrugged. “I have to get back. Busy again. There’s a first aid bag in that cabinet.” He closed the door on his way out.

  I met her gaze before I did a once over to see where she was hurt. Her knees looked to have taken the brunt of her fall and, as she held her hands out, I realized she’d scraped the palms of her hands, as well.

  My anger at those assholes was seething inside me and I wanted revenge against them. I would love to chase those fuckers down and let my fists tell them just how mad I was. But Evie was more important than my revenge so I tamped my anger down…I’d save it until I met them again.

  She was a small thing, at least to me she was. Fragile. Her wince caught my attention though, and brought my eyes up to hers. She was hurting.

  Opening the cabinet, I grabbed the first aid kit and placed it beside her. I was familiar with a lot of the stuff inside, having had to be patched up plenty of times in the first few years of having a ‘leash’ around my neck.

  I set a few things aside and moved in closer to her. My eyes unable to leave her face for long. “I know I promised not to hurt you, but I have a feeling I’m about to when I clean your knees.”

  “I trust you, Stryker.”

  I closed my eyes and had to swallow a few times to hold my emotions in check. She made me feel so much more than I knew what to do with.

  The touch of her hand to my cheek had my eyes snapping open with surprise. She smiled and taking hold of my wrist, brought my hand closer to her knee. “Please. Let’s just get this over with.”

  I nodded and started to clean one of her knees, my hand unsteady but after a deep inhale, and a slower exhale, I quickly cleaned both of her knees, and palms, while I tried not to hear her audible gasps of pain. I was as gentle as possible and I hated causing her more pain.

  Her eyes stayed on mine the whole time, my face, my chest, my hands…and lower. I tried not to react to her gaze on my body, but I wasn’t sure I succeed because my dick throbbed behind my zipper. All it would take was one more glance downwards and she’d see just what her closeness did to me.

  Standing between her legs, I met her searching gaze and quickly looked away, feeling heated. “What did you mean?” I asked to hide my embarrassment. I’d never been this close to a woman before, and with how much I craved to really touch her, I was afraid that I might give in to that need.

  She cupped my face in her palms and urged me to meet her gaze. “Mean about what?”

  “One and the same.”

  She smiled and her whole face lit up. “I saw you fight, and the other day when I noticed a large man sitting in the bar… I wondered if you were one and the same. I’m so glad that you are.”

  “You are?”

  Her fingers caressed along my flushed cheekbones not only with shyness, but arousal.

  “Yes, I am…very glad.” She smiled, moving her hands away, leaving me craving them back on my body.

  She moved forward to slide off the desk, but, with me not moving, all she did was come up against my thighs, hers spreading wider. She tilted her head to look at me. I breathed in as I tried to fight the urge to sweep her up in my embrace. A few seconds later, I reluctantly moved to the door. Without looking at her, I told her, “I’ll walk you home.”

  Her touch on the small of my back had me turning and I finally met her gaze again.

  “I usually get a cab, but I’d love to walk with you.”

  Evie

  AT MY WORDS, A look so sad crossed his face before it was replaced with longing, his eyes sparkled, and then he hid them from me.

  He guided me outside, a hand low on my back. However, once outside, a shudder rippled down my spine at the thought of what would have happened if Stryker hadn’t appeared.

  I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and the large man walked silently beside me. We moved in sync, thanks to him matching his pace to mine. As we walked, our hands brushed together until he hooked my thumb with his.

  Butterflies took flight in my belly at the light touch and when our fingers intertwined, desire pooled low. Every slight movement caused the bodice of my dress to brush lightly against my pebbled nipples.

  I wasn’t sure he knew how much he affected me, but I’d certainly seen his reaction to me back in Julio’s office. He’d been heavily aroused with just my tender touch, which had surprised me. Me being forward, making the first move was a change. Usually I’d be too shy, but with Stryker, I wasn’t, and I realized that I wanted to touch him. I sensed affection was missing from his life. I didn’t know why, considering I didn’t know anything about him.

  “Please talk to me,” he asked gruffly, surprising me in the dark. Obviously I’d been too lost in my own thoughts.

  I looked up and he turned his head to meet my gaze. He didn’t smile but the longing in his eyes made me open my mouth.

  “I’m not sure what to say.”

  He flexed his fingers around mine. “Tell me anything. No one talks to me unless they want something from me.” He glanced away before meeting my gaze again, and this time my step faltered when he smiled.

  A real smile that lit up his face.

  My heart pounded knowing that this gorgeous man was interested in me, and even though I shouldn’t encourage his attraction, I wasn’t going to do anything to stop it.

  He raised a brow and I realized that, not only had I been stari
ng, but that he’d been waiting for me to start talking. On impulse, I raised our joined hands and kissed his knuckles. I’d surprised him with the kiss because he stumbled forward, which made me smile all the more as I admitted, “My mom is a homemaker and my father is a state senator.” He hesitated slightly, which was really subtle and I would have probably missed it if I hadn’t expected it. “My mother wants me married; popping out grandbabies…my apartment is the fourth building up.”

  He growled, looked around, and pulled me into the alcove of my favorite Italian restaurant, which had now closed for the night.

  “Not with him,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Please tell me it won’t be with him.” His forehead dropped to mine, his hands gripped my hips, and my hands reached up and stroked along his shoulders.

  “It won’t be with him, Stryker. The wedding is supposed to be soon, but at the end of the week, I’m going to call it off. If I do it now then I won’t have access to the gym. I need access.”

  “Why?” he breathed the question.

  Because of you…

  “I haven’t finished researching my book.” I smiled, shyly. “I write even though I haven’t published anything. I’m hoping my next book will be the one for me to give others to read.”

  “I’ll read it,” he whispered, brushing the hair back from my face. “Tell me more about your family, please. Something that he doesn’t know.”

  “Okay, but only if you promise to tell me your name when I’m finished.”

  I’d caught him off guard, and knew it instantly. His body went tense beneath my hands, but as the tension drained from him as quickly as it had come, he nodded. “I promise, but my Christian name only.”

  That would have to do.

  “At first, I hated that my father was running for senator because it meant he’d be away from home more than he already had been. I missed him and wanted him home. My mother was the social butterfly and still is. She told me that I was selfish and that my father needed and wanted the support of his only child.” I sighed. “When he won, I got caught up with all the celebrations, and accepted that I’d become the daughter of a senator. The thing is, as I became older, I realized he was good at his job. He wasn’t a pompous ass like some of the others I’d met, but he really was making a difference. Slowly, but he was. He always supported the underdog and would only support a cause if it were something he believed in regardless of how popular he thought it would be. I love him for that, and I’m proud of him.”