by Kar, Alla
Biting my lip, a shimmer of steel catches my eyes. On the table beside me is a kitchen knife. It’s not huge but big enough to do some damage. “Well, shows how much you know,” I say, my voice sounding a lot stronger than I feel. “Killing me won’t help you any. They’ll find you and you’ll be in jail. I hope you get a cell with Bubba. He’ll like your pretty eyes.”
I know I’m walking on thin ice, but I need him to let his guard down. Just let me get the knife. A loud laugh escapes his mouth, and he throws his head back, enough time for me to slip the knife behind my back. “You think you’re fucking funny, huh? I’ll slit his throat in a goddamned heartbeat, baby. Then I’ll peel every piece of clothes off of you and make you scream before I kill you.”
Taylor chokes out something, making him grab his neck and twist his head toward me. “Look at him before I kill him. See that bad-boy smile you love so much.”
Taylor’s face startles me. A long whimper escapes my lips. I’ve never seen Taylor afraid. Never. He never backs down and keeps his calm. But this – this is different. He isn’t afraid for himself, he is afraid for me. Clutching the knife, I close my eyes briefly, feeling a tear run down my cheek. “I love you,” I say, my throat raw.
Taylor smiles. “I love you, too,” he says straining from scorpion guy’s hand on his throat.
Right when he thinks he has won, right when he brings the gun out from behind his back, I throw the knife as hard and as fast as I can toward him. A scream pierces my ears, as he falls to the ground. Taylor scoots away, his hands still captured behind his back.
“Get my hands untied before he gets up.”
Frantically, I’m pulling at the ties, watching as scorpion grabs at his eye that looks like it’s about to pop from its socket. “Fucking, bitch!”
My hands are slippery tugging at the ties, knowing that this is getting me nowhere. The knife is lying close to him. I don’t dare get close enough to touch him. I’m in the middle of fumbling through the kitchen drawers for a knife when I feel something slide against my skin. A searing pain races through my body. I fall to the ground, cradling my side. Blood oozes from my wound. Before I have a chance to think, he grabs my hair slamming my head into the floor. My head spins, dots blurring my vision. I have to stay awake. I force myself up, holding my head and my side.
There is struggle beside me, Taylor kicks out knocking scorpion against the counter. Still unable to use his hand, he head butts him, knocking him to the ground. A red stain drizzles down scorpion’s head.
Taylor is half-way to me when he falls to the floor, scorpion’s outstretched foot hooked on Taylor’s ankle. Before I can get my vision cleared scorpion guy is hitting Taylor over and over. Taylor unable to hit back, wrists tied behind his back. The sound of flesh hitting bone quivers throughout me.
Red rushes through my mind, I steady myself before I launch at him. I grab his hair and pull until a scream rips from his throat. Backing up, he bashes my head against the wall, making the dots swarm my vision again. I stumble falling against the stove. Grabbing an eye from the stove, I sling it back until I make contact with his face. He growls, grabbing my throat until I’m dangling from his outstretched arms.
The blackness is threatening to take over. Taylor’s Mom hasn’t moved, and a sob escapes my throat. Taylor is trying to get up, swaying from the loss of blood. My vision is almost black when scorpion guy falls against me with a thud. Before the darkness takes my sight, I see light green eyes, and I’m being picked up. Then I swear I hear something about Jesus before I let the delicious darkness take over.
Chapter Thirteen
Taylor
Pain. It’s an emotion that I’m used to. I enforce it on other fighters, and I’ve taken a lot of it myself. But, that’s physical pain. A pain that will slowly go away with time. A pain that may leave a mark but doesn’t always weigh on you. This isn’t the pain that brands you. No – that pain is emotional pain. A pain that weighs down at your heart, eating at your soul until you’re only a shell of your previous self.
The pain I’ve felt in the last five hours was some of the worse I’ve ever been through. To walk in and see my mother lying in a pool of blood. Thankfully alive but barely hanging on. My fists tighten around the hospital bed’s arm. She is sleeping right now. She has a mild concussion, but they want to keep her here overnight. Mom’s not one to take time off for herself, ever. But, I refuse to let her work herself to death anymore. Her time is too previous. This has shown me that.
“Sweetie, she is just going to sleep all day. But, your girlfriend is awake down the hall. Do you want me to walk you down there?”
Layla. My heart throbs at the thought of her. She had been so brave today, so fearless….I thought she was gone. I thought he would take her, and I would spend the rest of my life without her. The hallway is cool and empty when I walk out of my mother’s hospital room. Layla is three doors down to the left of us. My palms are sweaty and my heart beat quickening.
I stop before I walk in, watching Damon. A ting of jealousy rolls through me. He saved her. He was the one that was able to pull her from him, to save her life. To get her to a hospital in time. The lump in my throat is hard to swallow, but pushing it down, I walk into the room.
Damon doesn’t notice me at first, he continues to stroke Layla’s hand and laugh. My stomach tightens again. There is no way he isn’t in love with her. I saw it from the beginning. I just didn’t think he was trying to watch out for her. Turns out he was sent her to protect her. Something I couldn’t do. Something that he did.
“Taylor,” Layla’s voice is soft, bringing me back from my daze.
Damon turns around and releases her hand instantly. If this was any other circumstance I would beat him to a pulp. Not that he doesn’t look like death already. His lip is busted, his eyes cut, and I can still see the vague residue of blood on the side of his head. If he hadn’t saved Layla’s life, I would break his jaw.
“She’s doing better. How is your mom?”
My throat feels scratchy, and Layla’s gaze is making me nervous. “She’s fine. Asleep.”
A few minutes pass and no one has said anything. I shove my trembling hands into my jeans. I’ve never felt so much like a pussy than I do now. I can’t even look Layla in the eyes. I failed her. I promised I would protect her and keep her safe. There I was on my knees in front of the love of my life not going to be able to save her. It’s hard to take someone down when your mother is dying in front of you and a gun is pressed to the back of your head. Damn it. I want to punch the fucking wall.
“Hey, Damon. Can I talk to Taylor for a minute?”
Damon’s brows furrow in concern, and it pisses me off. I can’t speak to my own girlfriend? What. The. Fuck. He walks past me and shuts the door behind him. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, when I hear the door click.
There is a big elephant in the room and I’m him. I haven’t looked at her since Damon left. My fucking heart hurts, more than I’ll ever be able to explain.
“Why won’t you look at me?” I knew it was coming. I just hadn’t thought of an answer that makes any sense.
Swallowing, I glance up at Layla. Her blue eyes are coated with tears, her lips turning down at the bottom. Unable to keep myself together, I rush toward her cradling her bruised cheek in between my hands. “Baby,” I choke out. My voice weaker than I’ve ever heard it. “I’m so – so sorry, baby. I can’t – I’m so fucking humiliated.” Tears are streaming down my cheeks, so unfamiliarly foreign on my skin. I’m pressing my lips all over Layla’s face, my tears caking her flesh.
“Taylor,” I hear through my sob. “Look at me.” I’m pressing my head against her neck, holding her like I’ll never get to again. Layla’s hand reaches down and cups my chin, bringing my face parallel to hers. “Look. At. Me.”
I move my head up, looking her in the eyes. She is smiling at me, despite the fact that she is bruised. Despite the fact that I couldn’t save her. “Taylor, you are more than I deserv
e. You have saved me in so many more ways other than today. You’ve opened my heart to love again. You are meant for me. You are mine, and I love you. You did whatever it took today to save me. Don’t you ever forget that, because there is no reason why you shouldn’t be proud of yourself. You put yourself in harm’s way to save us.”
Gripping her hospital gown, I pull her toward me, wrapping my lips around hers. “I wish I could have been able to save you. To be the one to take care of him –“
“Taylor,” she whispers, trailing her finger over my lips. “You have. You’ve saved me in here.” She takes my hand and places it over her heart.
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, bringing my mouth down halfway between her ear and her shoulder. “If loving you is all it takes, then you’ll always be saved.”
Layla laughs, one of the best sounds in the world. “Always.”
Epilogue
Layla
My palms are sweaty and my head spinning. I haven’t seen Damon since I was released from the hospital. He saved me when he didn’t have to. After being nearly beat to death by Taylor, he still came to save us. I reach up and rap my knuckles against the door. I hear the TV from inside and then footsteps getting closer. I take a couple of steps back, I can still make a run for it. Before I have a chance to run for my life his door flings opened.
Damn. My mouth goes dry as soon as I open it to talk. Damon leans against the door frame, shirtless, sweats hanging low on his waist. I avoid looking at that and pick at the end of my shirt. “Hey,” I say lamely.
Damon doesn’t say anything so I glance up at him. His eyes are hooded, raking over me. I know what he is thinking. The same thing he told me at the hospital before Taylor came in. That he likes me. Thinking it is better to keep to myself, I didn’t tell Taylor. “You want to come in?”
I nod, unable to make eye contact. Damon opens the door wider inviting me in. It’s probably not the best idea, but I need to straighten this out. I need to know we can be friends.
Damon’s house is clean, a few plates in the sink and shoes scattered around. The door clicks behind me making me jump. I’ve never been this nervous around Damon, but I hadn’t known he was sent here to watch over me. “You cleaned up.” Double lame.
Hiding a smile, he scratches the back of his neck and gesture toward the couch. I slide onto the couch, feeling something furry slid against my leg. I bend down and a small black and white kitten is looking up at me.
“His name is Spotty.”
I snort. I don’t mean to, it just comes out.
Damon raises an eyebrow and smiles. “Are you making fun of his name, Layla?”
I shake my head and pick him up. “He looks like a Spotty, even though it sounds like a second grader named him.”
Damon narrows his eyes but I see a small smirk rising from the corner of his lips. “So, are you feeling okay?”
Running my fingers over Spotty’s stomach, I nod. “Yes, my migraines have gone away.”
“What about the nightmares?”
A cool shiver runs down my back, traveling to the tips of my toes. “I still have them. My therapist said they would go away one day. That’s its normal. How is your dad?”
Damon intertwines his fingers and places them on his bare stomach. “He is fine. Worried about you. He wants to see you soon.”
“I would love to see him again. It’s been ages.” A few quiet minutes go by before I get the nerve to say anything. “Damon thank you for – everything – for saving us. For putting your life in danger for me. I – I appreciate it so much.”
Damon is still staring at me. “You’re welcome. Layla listen – I’m sorry I came on so strong at the hospital. I didn’t know how else to come out and say it. My feelings haven’t changed at all for you. I care about you so much. When I told your dad I would watch over you, I meant every word I said. I will continue to watch over you.”
His gaze is still on mine, he scoots onto the couch closer to me. “Damon I’m a big girl and don’t take this the wrong way, because I appreciate your help but I can take care of myself. I’m not alone –,”
Damon scoffs, leaning back and running his hands wildly through his dark hair. “Don’t remind me. I know you’re with him, and you love him. Clearly he loves you, too, but – how do you know he is right for you when you haven’t given everyone else a chance.” He moves closer.
I’m panicking, my heart rate accelerating in my chest. “Damon, I –,”
“I know,” he whispers. “You can’t do that to him, but when you’re ready I’ll be waiting for you. If that day never comes, then I know he is the right one for you. But, until then --,” he tucks a stray hair behind my ear and kisses my cheek.
I smile over at him and wrap my arms around his neck. “I don’t know what I did to deserve two guys that want to take care of me so much, but I thank God for you both. I would be dead without you.”
“You deserve so much more, you just don’t see yourself for how amazing you are.”
My eyes are blurring, and I wipe at them, trying not to smear my make-up. “Okay, enough with the mush fest. I’ve got to get back to our apartment. I’m making chili tonight. You want to come by later?”
Damon grins. “I would love to. You sure Taylor will be okay with it?”
I stand up, dropping Spotty in Damon’s lap. “He has no choice. See you at seven.” I hear Damon chuckle before I walk out of the room.
***
Taylor. A word that makes my heart beat faster, and my stomach twist. I never thought I would be where I am today. The first time I saw him he was leaning against a pool table, watching me with hungry eyes. I, of course, thought he was an ass. If you would have told me I’d be in his arms three months ago I would have laughed in your face.
I saw him cry for the first time in the hospital. Crying because he thought he had failed me. He will never know how much he has saved me from myself. At the rate I was going, I would have been alone forever. He showed me I didn’t have to be.
Taylor’s Hummer is sitting in the gym parking lot when I drive up. It’s a Sunday so no one else is here but him. The front doors are locked, so I sneak into the bathroom window on the left side of the building. Music is blasting from the speakers, and I hear the faint sound of the punching bag. My heart still thumps wildly when I see him. All six foot one male inch of him. His shirt is off, sweat dripping down his flat stomach. He is hitting the bag hard, making the chain holding it squeak in protest. His blue wind pants are low on his waist, showing every inch of his tribal tattoo crawling up his torso to his shoulders and neck. Sweat has plastered his hair to his head. His large hands are curled into fists, jabbing at the bag. The thought of his calloused hands makes my thighs warm.
Taylor finally catches a glance at me, stopping his workout all together. Breath rising and falling quickly, he nods his head for me to meet him in the empty ring.
I crawl between the ropes, watching as Taylor takes me in. I’m not wearing anything sexy, only jeans and a low-cut T-shirt, but it makes me blush the way he takes off every single piece with his eyes.
Reaching up, he stretches from side to side, cracking his neck and groaning. I watch in amazement as he bounces around the ring, never taking his eyes off of me.
“Come here,” he says, his voice deep and inviting. I walk toward him without question, glad to close the distance. I stop a few inches away, glancing up at him. A dark smile crawls up his face, his tongue darting out and sliding against his lip. “I’ve missed you, baby.”
Shaking from wanting to touch him, I clench my fists to keep from reaching out. “I’ve missed you, too. Have a good workout?”
He lifts a pierced eyebrow, eyes raking over me. “I am now. Wait here.”
He jumps the ropes and disappears into the locker room. My nerves are everywhere. He hasn’t touched me since I’ve got here. Is he mad? Does he know I went to Damon’s? Did it piss him off? I’m tapping my feet against the floor and picking at my T-shirt when he returns. His ha
nd is clenched around something but everything else is the same. Taylor never looks away from me while he walks to me. He bottom lip is clenched between his teeth, and his face sweating a bit. He looks nervous as hell and it makes me nervous.
He clears his throat, letting out a throaty sigh. “One - I’ve never met anyone as beautiful as you.” He takes a step toward me, eyes latching onto mine. “Two - you’re just as fun and sexy as the first day I met you.” A low groan leaves his throat and he pulls me closer to him so I can feel his hot flesh and hard muscles against me. His arousal is rock hard against my thigh. “Three – I love the way you bite your lip when you’re nervous. Four – I’ve never felt so alive in my life until I met you.” His fingertips run along my jaw, grabbing a strand of hair and tucking it behind my ear. “Five – you accept me as who I am no ifs, ands or buts about it. Six – you always put others before yourself.” His other hand skims down my side, resting its wide palm over my ass. I try to keep from moaning. “Seven – I love your long ass legs. Eight – you accept my past without second thought.” Closing his eyes, he pressing me harder against him, palming my ass. “Nine – you’re a sexy as hell hustler that can beat my ass in pool any day of the week.” Taylor glances down at me, gray eyes smoldering. “Ten – these are the reasons I love you and want you to be my wife.”
Did he --? Did he just propose to me? My mouth won’t open, and my eyes won’t close. Taylor licks his lips, opens his palms and bends down on one knee in the middle of the boxing ring. He opens the small red box, and a small gasp leaves my mouth. It’s gorgeous, a princess cut Tiffany’s. I know because Cindy and I picked out our favorites a few months back. I smile at the thought of Cindy showing Taylor the right one. I almost laugh at the thought of her keeping a damned secret. “Layla, I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you. You’re smile, you’re heart, you’re fucked up past, I want every last goddamn ounce of it and you. Will you be my wife, baby?”