She pulled herself off the floor finally, her blue eyes bright with unshed tears, and poured herself a heavy-handed glass of stout red wine. Annie kicked her heels off and collapsed onto the couch, clicking off the sports contest numbingly, only half aware that Ken had been watching an MMA match. She smirked to herself when it sunk in, and she toasted the glass to the empty air of her apartment.
Chapter Five
Annie called in sick to work the next day, just to get her bearings and to sort through her own brain, and to start packing up Ken’s belongings. As it turns out, he did not own much beyond some clothes and some sports memorabilia. She had paid for nearly everything in the apartment and decided that she would sort through what she still wanted at a later time. She stacked the one suitcase and the few boxes by the front door, realizing that at some point he would be allowed to retrieve them.
She stood under the stream of the hot shower for what seemed like ages, trying to scrub off the residue of the ended relationship and the imagined smell of beer that seemed to permeate everything. When she finally finished, she wrapped herself in a thick pink robe and curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and a plate of cheese and fruit and crackers. It was only the first day but thus far she liked singlehood. After several hours of Lifetime movies, she hauled herself off the couch and threw on a tee shirt and yoga pants.
Officer Blackstone called with an update, to let her know that some friend of Ken’s had posted bail and that he was out. The man was permitted to collect his things, and Annie knew that fact. But that did not mean she was not nervous about the encounter.
“Can you send someone for me? For when he comes?”
“I’ll see what I can do. We’re short staffed today, so it may be a while.”
“I understand. I don’t want to be a bother or a burden.”
“It’s not that. I saw that guy last night, and I get it. We’ll do everything we can.”
She thanked him for all of his help and hung up the phone. And waited.
She knew Ken would be there as soon as he could. She rubbed her eyes and decided to preempt his need into the apartment. She hauled the suitcase and boxes to the bed of his pickup truck. She removed the apartment key from his key ring, and put his wallet and his truck keys into a large envelope and taped it to the door so that technically he would not have to come in. The television was playing some cavity-inducing romance story and she only half paid attention to the sickeningly happy ending that was evident from the opening credits.
She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew she was awakened by the pounding on the door accompanied by the bellowing voice of her now ex-boyfriend. Her heart pounded against the inside of her ribcage and she tried to bury herself in the couch cushions with her eyes squeezed shut.
He was screaming something about getting her ass out there and she thought that he must have lost his mind to expect her to comply. Everything went silent, which turned out to be even scarier.
The door frame splintered apart with a shatter when Ken kicked the door in. Her eyes flew open and her body moved into a crouched position in the corner of the couch. Her brain was screaming at her to get up so that she was not trapped but she could not make her muscles move.
As he approached her, in a sober state that she had not seen for quite a while, her legs found their nerve endings and she leapt up and towards the door for an escape. He lunged and she dodged as best she could but his fist found her flying blonde hair and he yanked as hard as he could. Her back struck the coffee table hard and at an odd angle and she winced as the breath escaped her lungs.
When Ken loosened his grip to find a better hold, something flashed through her head and she rolled on the floor, swinging her legs wide so that she swept his out from under him. His rib cage landed against the edge of the coffee table and he growled something at her that sounded deep and bloody and deadly.
When he crawled towards her, somehow she actually remembered the moves that Tony had taught her, and she managed to clasp Ken in a headlock of sorts while he clawed and scratched at her exposed sides. While he struggled to understand what had just happened, she managed to find a lamp on the end table and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head. When his heavy body slumped into unconsciousness on top of her, she wriggled out and scrabbled to the phone to dial 911.
The officers arrived quickly and put him back into the handcuffs. It seems that in attacking her, he had violated his bail conditions, and would not see unbarred light until the trial. Officer Blackstone took pictures of the dented and cracked coffee table, the shattered lamp, and the bruise that was already blossoming across the middle of her back.
The next day, Annie returned to work. She had always had a strong work ethic, and it kept her mind occupied even while her body still ached from the attack. Her assistant noticed that she was moving strangely as she went about her day, but kept her mouth shut just like the last time. Annie made it through the day without breaking down into tears or hysteria. She knew there was a stop to make on the way home, but opted to fill her stomach with tacos and guacamole before taking that plunge.
Chapter Six
After her stop at the Mexican restaurant, Annie parked at the gym and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. It was a dangerous step to make, but she could not be sure that Ken would never return and she needed to know how to better defend herself. She was rationalizing that it was not a bad skill set for any woman to own, but in her case, there was a specific reason. And that reason had large fists and a lot of anger at her personally.
She was still dressed in her suit and heels since she had not thought ahead to bring anything else with her. She was only here to sign up for self-defense classes; she had no intention of actually taking a class tonight.
She smoothed the stray hairs back into her blonde French twist, and patted on a nude pink lipstick. She hated the thought of running into Tony and looking like a mess. Her shoulder blades throbbed with the deep purple bruise but she straightened her spine and walked through the door with her head high.
The young woman at the front desk was the same receptionist, but apparently did not recognize Annie in her work clothes versus her oversized sweatpants. Annie had always heard that dressing nice will get you further, and the young woman’s reaction to her was evidence of that theory.
“Oh hello there. How can I help you?” the girl’s smile beamed brightly from her unlined face.
Annie widened her eyes in disbelief, and nodded. “I was hoping to sign up for some self-defense classes.”
“Oh wonderful. We have some available several nights a week. The instructor is great!”
“Perfect. Can we do maybe twice a week?”
“Certainly!”
The girl’s bubbly chipper attitude was grating on Annie’s nerves, but she smiled politely while signing the paperwork and paying the fees. Her first session would be the following night, which worked out since she had not thought to bring any workout clothing with her to work that morning.
Annie thanked her aloofly and headed back to her car. When she got home, the first thing she did was shed the suit and the French twist for a tee shirt, yoga pants, and a ponytail. She dropped onto the couch and embraced the silence of her empty apartment.
The next day she packed a gym bag and headed to the office. She went through the motions of her job including a quick lunch of salad at her desk. By the time the day ended, she was certain she had accomplished something but she just was not sure what. Hopefully her assistant could remember.
She headed to the gym early to change and wash her makeup off. As she came out of the locker room door, she physically ran into Tony’s solid muscled chest. She bounced off slightly and could only mutter a soft ‘excuse me’ as she attempted to disappear into the tiled floor.
“Hey, whoa, where are you going?” he caught her by the elbow as she tried to escape back into the women’s locker room.
“I… You… “her voice trailed off with a
sigh.
“Got your letter,” he said in a stage whisper. “What’s going on?”
“I, It, You, It was just too much,” she tried to dance around the truth of the matter.
“Ah, I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do, but that’s okay,” she offered a half-smile with her pardon.
“I’d love to have you explain it sometime.”
His eyes looked into hers and she saw none of the confusion that she felt in her own head. That, of course, only made her feel worse about the whole situation with someone who was turning out to be a very nice guy.
“Well, I’ve got a class to teach but maybe I’ll see you around.” His brown eyes had been soft but something locked in place over them.
“Sure, maybe,” she offered.
He disappeared down the hall and she stopped to fill her water bottle before headed to class. As soon as she opened the door to the room, she knew she should have walked back out and just abandoned the payment money as collateral damage in the week’s events. There, in front of a handful of women, was Tony getting ready to teach self-defense techniques.
Annie managed to get through the class with another woman as her partner, and successfully avoided any kind of physical or eye contact with her teacher. Annie thought it was interesting that only women were taking the self-defense class, but she supposed it made sense in a sad way. Prior to her own experience, she just had not related to women in that situation. Now she understood on a whole new level why it can happen to attractive, smart, successful women.
After class was over, she was kneeling down to collect her belongings when she could feel him standing behind her.
Chapter Seven
Annie slowly stood up and turned to face Tony. She forgot how tall he was and found herself staring at his well-defined pecs.
“Hi there,” he said, stepping back to cross his arms over his chest.
“Hi,” she sighed.
“Well, class is over and everyone’s gone. You want to explain yourself?”
“I needed a self-defense class.”
He rolled his eyes and the copper sparks flashed. “You know very well that’s not what I meant.”
She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. You could say it’s been a rough week.”
He relaxed his stance and rested his hands on her upper arms.
“C’mon, I didn’t mean to scare you off. I just wanted to take you for a cup of coffee or something. That’s it, I promise. But if you’re not, ahem, available, I get it.”
“Oh oddly enough, I’ve become available since I last saw you.”
He raised one eyebrow at her in an unspoken question.
“It’s a long story,” she whispered.
He slid his hands up her arms and across her back, but withdrew instantaneously when he saw her wince and felt her pull away violently.
“S-S-Sorry,” he stammered, confused.
They were alone in the workout room, so she stepped back from him and turned around, pulling her tee shirt over her head at the same time. His face grimaced when he saw the thick purple line across her upper back.
“Good god Annie, what the hell happened to you?”
“Don’t get involved with the wrong guy,” she admonished. “That’s all there is to it really.”
She turned to face him in her bra and watched the scowl on his mouth and brows turn deadly.
“It’s nothing really, nothing time won’t heal.”
“I guess that explains why you’re here in this class,” he reasoned.
“Yeah, something like that. He’s in lock-up right now, but we both know that won’t last forever. And I don’t really want to get a gun. So here I am.”
His biceps twitched and bulged with restrained anger, but somehow his brain fought through the red fog and he realized that the last thing she needed right now was an angry show of physical force. Despite his deepest desire to punch the man’s face, or at least the nearest wall.
She saw the muscles twitch but in the same moment, she also watched his eyes melt into liquid copper and he stepped towards her, letting his hands encircle her waist gently.
She felt, in a moment, the kindness that had completely eluded her previous relationship. When he kissed her, she felt her resolve melting into a warm puddle between her thighs and she returned his passion several times over. Her barely-clad breasts pressed into his tee shirt and the fabric of her sports bra puckered as her nipples reached for the attention of his fingers and lips. Her mind and her body longed for the fire of passion instead of the burn of anger.
Tony could feel her breath change. It had been strong and determined but now escaped her full pink lips in tiny breathy gasps. He could not resist the demands of his swelling cock and he longed to bury himself inside her until she felt no more pain.
One of his hands cupped the firm curve of her ass while the other gripped the swell of her hip, and he pulled her body against his. His growing excitement pressed into her stomach urgently. Her body responded as a woman to a man, and she slowly ground her hips against his. She gasped when she realized what was happening and what was about to happen, and pulled away sharply.
“I-I-I’m sorry, I have to go,” she tossed the words over her shoulder as she darted out of the room with her bag in hand.
Again, her hunger overwhelmed her. She was starving when she fled the gym, and stopped by that diner nearby to have coffee and that same spinach and mushroom omelet. She nearly inhaled the food and was gone before the waitress could even refill her mug.
As she pulled out in a screech of rubber on asphalt, Tony’s eyes met hers from behind the steering wheel of his truck as he pulled in to the parking lot. She blinked several times in confusion, but turned away quickly as she entered the flow of traffic.
When she got home, she realized just how badly she had needed some kind of positive human contact. And the warm fiery embrace from Tony just illuminated how bad her previous situation had gotten. Still dressed in her workout clothes, she crumpled into a pile on the couch and buried her face into the pillow. For the first time since she had broken up with Ken, her eyes burned as the tears drenched her cheeks.
Chapter Eight
Annie realized that if she was strong enough to have withstood Ken for those years and then strong enough to end it despite the risks, she was strong enough to face Tony despite the potential for embarrassment. The next morning, she packed her gym bag and headed to the office. Her assistant was still confused by the swirl of emotions on her boss’s face, but continued to hold her tongue.
The paperwork seemed to be mind-numbingly boring and Annie found herself staring out the window more than she stared at her computer. She barely tasted her turkey sandwich over lunch, and even the Earl Grey tea tasted flat and dull. After work was finished for the day, she headed back to the gym for the next self-defense class. She gritted her teeth, changed her clothes in the locker room, and strode into the classroom with her head high.
Tony nodded to her as she entered, but gave no indication there was any awkwardness between them. He went through the motions of the class without acknowledging her as anything but a regular student. Annie found another student to pair up with for the exercises, but could not even remember what she had learned the night before. The other woman was helpful and patient which made Annie smile for the first time that day.
At the end of the class session, all of the other students filtered out of the room and Annie found herself alone with Tony. She took a deep breath and waited for him to slowly walk towards her. As he neared her, she took in his tall muscled frame, his serious brown eyes, and the gleam off of his smoothly shaven scalp.
She was standing with her back against the wall, and when he arrived at her spot, he rested one palm on the wall behind her head so that she was almost crooked into his arm. Annie could smell his combination of sweat and cologne and soap, not a hint of beer-soaked slob anywhere on this man.
He leaned down to her ea
r and whispered, “I wasn’t sure if you’d be back today.”
His warm breath tickled her skin and her voice caught in her throat. Her answer turned out less smooth and more nervous schoolgirl than she intended.
“I-I-I need the class.”
“Oh is that it?” he was still breathing each word into her ear.
“Y-Y-Yeah. I need to know how…”
“How to what?” This time his words were accompanied by the tips of his fingers trailing softly down her upper arm.
“Defend myself,” she whispered back.
“Against me?” he chuckled softly.
She giggled, much to her own embarrassment. “No, not that I know of. What do you have in mind?”
The words slipped out from between her lips before she realized what she had said.
ROMANCE: Stolen by the Alien Lord (BBW Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (Contemporary Science Fiction Paranormal Short Stories) Page 155