Part 31 (1/2)
He moved aside and looked up.
John's body seized.
The big man standing over him was dressed in black camouflage pants and a leather jacket. His hair and skin were utterly white, and his pale eyes had an eerie s.h.i.+ne to them.
Evil. Undead.
Enemy.
This was his enemy.
”Some kind of mess you got on this floor,” the guy said before narrowing his gaze on John. ”Something wrong?”
John fiercely shook his head and dropped his eyes. His first instinct was to run to his apartment, but he didn't want the guy knowing where he lived.
There was a deep chuckle. ”You look a little pale there, buddy.”
John took off, shooting down the stairs and out into the street. He raced to the corner, took a left, and kept going. He ran and ran, until he couldn't go any farther because he'd lost his breath. Squeezing himself into the juncture between a brick building and a Dumpster, he panted.
In his dreams, he fought pale men. Pale men in black clothes whose eyes were soulless.
My enemy.
He was shaking so badly he could barely get his hand into his pocket. Taking out a quarter, he gripped the thing so tightly it dug into his palm. When he had his breath back, he leaned out and peered up and down the alley. There was no one around, no sounds of heavy feet hitting the asphalt.His enemy hadn't recognized him.
John left the Dumpster's sanctuary and walked quickly to the far corner.
The dented pay phone was covered with graffiti, but he knew it worked because he called Mary from it a lot. He put the quarter in the slot and punched out the number Tohrment had given him.
After one ring, voice mail kicked in with a robotic recitation of the numbers he'd dialed.
John waited for the beep. And whistled.
Chapter Twenty-eight.
It was right before dawn when Mary heard male voices out in the hall. As the door opened, her heart skipped in her chest. Rhage filled the frame as another guy spoke.
”Man, that was one h.e.l.l of a fight as we left the bar. You were a demon out there.”
”I know,” Rhage muttered.
”You're incredible, Hollywood, and not just with the hand-to-hand. That female you-”
”Later, Phury.”
The door shut and the closet light came on. By the sound of clicks and metallic s.h.i.+fting, he was disarming. When he came out, he took a shuddering breath.
Mary faked being asleep as his footsteps hesitated by the foot of the bed and then headed for the bathroom. When she heard the shower come on, she imagined everything he was was.h.i.+ng off of himself: s.e.x. Fighting.
Especially the s.e.x.
She covered her face with her hands. Today she would go home. She would pack her things and walk out the door. He couldn't make her stay; she wasn't his responsibility just because he said so.
The water shut off.
The silence sucked all the air from the room, and she grew out of breath while holding herself in place. Gasping, suffocating... she threw the covers back and bolted for the door. Her hands latched onto the k.n.o.b and fought to free the lock, jerking, pulling, until her hair whipped around.
”Mary,” Rhage said from right behind her.
She jumped and wrestled harder with the door.
”Let me out. I have to get out... I can't stay here in this room with you. I can't be here... with you.” She felt his hands come down on her shoulders. ”Don't touch me.”
She careened around the room until she bounced into the far corner and realized there was nowhere to go and no way to get out.
He was in front of the door, and she had a feeling he was keeping the locks in place.
Trapped, she linked her arms over her chest and propped herself up against the wall to keep standing. She didn't know what she would do if he touched her again.
Rhage didn't even try.
He sat on the bed, a towel around his hips, his hair damp. He dragged a hand down his face, across his jaw. He looked like h.e.l.l, but his body was still the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She pictured the hands of other women grabbing on to those powerful shoulders, just as she had. She saw him pleasuring other bodies as he had hers.
She was torn between wanting to thank G.o.d she hadn't slept with him, and being p.i.s.sed off that after all the women he'd done, he refused to have s.e.x with her.
”How many?” she demanded, the words so hoa.r.s.e they barely carried. ”And tell me, was it good for you? I don't have to ask whether they liked it. I know how talented you are.”
”Sweet... Mary,” he whispered. ”If you'd let me hold you, I would. G.o.d, I would kill just to hold you right now.”
”You are never coming near me again. Now how many were there? Two? Four? A six-pack?”
”Do you really want the details?” His voice was soft, sad to the point of cracking. Abruptly his head dropped down and hung loosely from his neck. For all appearances, he looked like a ruined man. ”I can't... I'm not going out like that again. I'll find another way.”
”Another way to get off?” she snapped. ”You sure as h.e.l.l won't be sleeping with me, so are you thinking about using your hand, maybe?”
He took a deep breath. ”That design. On my back? It's part of me.”
”Whatever. I'm leaving here today.”
His head twisted toward her. ”No, you aren't.”
”Yes, I am.”
”I'll give you this room. You won't have to see me. But you aren't going anywhere.”
”How are you going to keep me from leaving? Lock me in here?”