Chapter Nine

Nate

Black rage hits me the second I lay my eyes on the scene before me.

Just the shattered dishes, destroyed furniture and Sam sitting slumped over on the ground with her hand covering her face is enough for me to charge at the man standing over her.

He’s scrawny and pathetic looking, his arms coming up to block his face while he cowers in fear. I wonder Sam did the same thing before he hurt her. I wonder if he didn’t even think twice before striking her.

I hate weak men who take their anger out on everyone else, making others pay for their own self-hatred.

The guy lets out a yelp when I grab him by the front of his shirt and toss him across the living room. His body crashes into the side of the couch where the wind is knocked out of him.

“Nate!” Sam sounds so relieved. That eats me up inside.

“Sit tight, angel.”

I cross the living room in three paces, pulling her pathetic fiancé up off of the floor and giving him a good sucker punch to the gut. He chokes out a whimper and slumps back down, gasping for breath.

On second thought, maybe Sam shouldn’t be seeing this.

“Angel?”

“Yes?”

My chest is so tight with emotions that it’s hard to focus. God, I’m half in love with this woman already. “Why don’t you go upstairs and pack your things while he and I have a little chat.”

She doesn’t argue and instead runs upstairs, taking them two at a time. I wait until the sound of some door far away is opened before picking her fiancé up off of the floor again.

“I’m only going to say this once.” My hand tightens around his collar. “If you ever contact her again, I’ll come back here and kill you. If you so much as cross paths with her, you’re going to turn the other way and run. I don’t want your pathetic eyes to even look at her. Do you understand me?”

His teeth clack together hard enough to make a sound and I hope he bit his fucking tongue in the process. “Do I make myself clear? No contact. I’ll be sending some people over here to get the rest of her things. You touch any of it and I’ll come back here and deal with you myself.”

He chokes, eyes watering, but he nods.

I drop him and wipe my hands off on my pants. Thankfully, Sam’s coming back down the stairs with a duffle bag stuffed. I meet her at the bottom, relieved when she throws herself at me and hugs me tight.

I can feel her heart pounding against my chest, sickening me that the cause of it is only a few feet away.

Not wanting to let her go, I carry her out of her house and to my truck that I’d parked in the middle of her front yard. She kisses my cheek when we finally get to it.

“I’m so glad you came. I knew you would.”

I set her down, pulling her into a deep kiss.

She knew I’d come. She knew as soon as she texted, I’d be there to save her from being hurt. Whatever reason she left this morning doesn’t matter anymore, not when she’d clearly planned on coming back.

Why else would she text me to come rescue her?

She moans against my lips, letting her bag fall off of her shoulder.

I pull back before either of us can get carried away. Not that either of us would probably care, unless the cops showed up to arrest us for indecent exposure.

She smiles at me. “Can we go home now?”

“Of course we can.”

***

Sam sticks close to me while we unpack her bag.

She’d followed me back in her car, which ran surprisingly well. I didn’t want her to have to leave her car behind, even if my inner thoughts had been screaming at me not to let her out of my sight. She deserves that amount of freedom.

I’m relieved that she’s here, though, and that she’s safe and away from that psychopath.

“Nate…”

Turning, I see her looking down at a pair of socks she’s folded over at the hem a few times. I cross the room and cup my hand under her chin. “Talk to me.”

Her eyes are shiny. “I don”t want to stay here.”

My chest tightens, ready for the inevitable ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech. I know it’s going to hurt me badly when she says it, but so soon after what happened with her fiancé makes me not want to fight her on it. She’s been through enough as it is; she doesn”t need my needy ass adding to the already tall pile.

“With me?” I ask.

She blinks in astonishment. “No. In this room. I don”t—can we not be separated? Or maybe you can stay in here too?”

A surprised laugh escapes me. “What?”

Sam swallows, reaching up to take my wrist. “I don’t want us to sleep apart. I liked you next to me last night. I’m sorry, I know that this is all kind of sudden. I just…”

Anticipation chokes me. Oh god. Please feel the same way. “Just what, angel?”

She wets her lips twice before finally saying, “I’ve really fallen for you, Nate. And I… I don’t want there to be any distance between us.”

I grab her face and kiss her hard.

Fuck! She wants me too!

Sam giggles against my lips, walking us backwards to the bed and tugs me down onto it with her.

“Nate,” she says between my kisses. “Tell me.”

“Tell you what, angel?” I lean back to look at her.

Her voice is soft. “That you feel the same.”

I smile, brushing my hand down her beautiful face. “Of course I do. Sam, I’m the luckiest son of a bitch to have met and fallen for you.”

Her eyes grow shiny again. “Really?”

“Really, really,” I say and kiss her once more.