Page 53 of Forgiveness
By the time Flux was inside again, he cursed his fucking heart because it was beating so fast and he couldn’t hear anything going down in the hallway. He tried to focus.
There. A small sound. Muffled shouts.
But it was too far away still, and Flux sped down the hallway until he took a sharp turn and came face to face with a conference room that was used for VIP clients.
Flux didn’t hesitate. He brought his leg up and rammed his shit-kicker into the doorknob, crushing the hunk of metal and breaking it off the door in two hits as he barreled into the room.
What he saw made his blood go cold.
“Fucking hell!” Chet yelled, shaking his head with his pants around his ankles and his dick hanging out. Splayed on the desk was Maggie on her stomach. “Get the fuck outta here, asshole.” A slight quiver cut through the bravado in Chet’s voice.
At first the situation before him didn’t really sink in, and he stared at Maggie’s tear-stained cheek as she looked at him from where her face was slammed against the desk. Her shirt and jeans were down around her ankles, and another guy held her hips as if he was about to ram home inside of her. Chet held Maggie’s arms behind her back.
“Flux,” she sobbed softly.
A white-hot, seething rage shot through him in a quick burst of sensation.
Then he saw red.
The whole universe condensed down to his hand, and in two quick strides Flux was in front of the first motherfucker, clocking him so hard the pussy landed flat on his back, out cold. Flux rounded out the beating with a few solid kicks to the asshole’s ribcage.
Maggie struggled up from the desk, and Flux put himself in front of her within a split second and caught Chet’s fist as it flew through the air.
“Fuck. She’s got bruises from you. You’re gonna pay for every fuckin’ one of them,” Flux rumbled low in his chest as he gripped Chet’s fist and threw him off his feet. “Let’s see you do the same shit to me that you did on Maggie. Fuckin’ pussies like you always pick on the women.”
Before Chet could reply, Flux locked an arm around the bastard’s neck and dragged him back off balance, nailing him over and over again in the kidney with Flux’s knee. The first blow knocked the air out of the wimp. After that it was all muffled screams, small pleas, and useless attempts to breathe. Flux didn’t relent for a one second. He pounded the guy in the noseagainfor good measure and swung Chet around and pushed him toward the desk as Flux held the cowboy’s arms behind his back.
“Give him something to remember you by, Duchess. You get a piece in this fight too.”
Flux locked eyes with Maggie as her lower lip trembled and she licked at the dried blood, wincing. He wanted to keep beating the fucker until he was dead and buried. Instead, he settled for tightening his grip as Chet moaned in pain.
“If you pass out, I’ll fuckin’ wake you up. I’m not done with you yet,” Flux growled in Chet’s ear as Maggie stared at them both, a vacant look in her eyes.
Flux nodded and jerked his head toward the bedraggled bull rider. “Go on, Duchess.”
Maggie hesitated for a second then kicked her leg forward and delivered a solid blow with her foot right between Chet’s legs. He groaned and sunk to his feet, and Flux dragged his ass back up so Maggie could deliver a second blow.
Flux laughed dryly when Chet groaned again. “There’s a rumor going around that you fuckin’ suck in bed, asshole. Maybe my woman will make that true for you. It’s kinda hard to perform without functioning balls, asswipe.”
Maggie doubled up her fists and landed two good blows to the other man’s stomach. Flux felt them shudder through his spine and he couldn’t help but smile at his woman with a look of straight pride written across his smug face. She wiped a hand across her mouth and it came away with blood from a split lip. Another sharp stab of hatred made Flux twist Chet’s arm until he was half-naked and on his knees before Maggie, who spit on his head.
“The only fuckin’ thing keeping you from the goddamn grave is that I don’t want my woman to be a party to your murder. But if you ever so much as speak or even look her way again, I’ll make sure you meet the grim-fuckin’-reaper, pretty boy.” Flux dropped the rider’s arm, slammed his shoe into the back of his spine until Chet yelped and went flat to the floor. “You stay there like the fuckin’ slug you are and think about how every damn minute of the day you should be thanking me for sparing your pitiful life.”
Without another word, Flux scooped up Maggie into his arms burrowing his nose into her hair and whispering all the sweet nothings he could think of that might comfort her after what she’d been through.
“Is it okay that I’m doing this? You’re not … sore or anything?” Flux asked, carrying her out into the hallway and making a beeline for her truck. But what he really wanted to ask was if he was only making things worse by touching her now. He hoped the shit she’d suffered at the hands of Chet and the other fucker hadn’t bled through to Flux touching her.
But he had his answer when Maggie’s teeth chattered against him and her fingers dug into his T-shirt, as if she never wanted to let him go again.
“Okay … shh … I’m taking you back to the motel, Duchess. I’ve got your back—always.”
