Bayleigh frowned at the slurred words. She turned to face the man and her frown deepened.
The man reeked of alcohol. He was steady on his feet so he couldn’t be as drunk as she thought. Still
she didn’t know him and she didn’t want to be around him.
“No, thank you. I’m waiting on someone.”
The guy smiled, but it turned into more of a leer. Her skin crawled at his expression. Why
did people like him have to come out in the general public?
“We can dance while you wait.”
She shook her head. “Not thanks, I’m not interested.”
His smile slipped a little. “After five minutes alone with me you would be.”
Bayleigh shuddered at the mental image. No way would she go anywhere alone with this
creep. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find my date.”
Before she could walk away, he reached out to grab her. Bayleigh tried to avoid his touch but
he was quick for a man who had been drinking. He was strong as well.
“Take your hand off of me.”
“You don’t like my touch?”
“No I don’t.” She looked pointedly at his hand. “Now, please release me.”
“Come on baby. Just one dance.”
Bayleigh rolled her eyes. It was just her luck, another guy who didn’t understand the word
no. “Didn’t I just—”
“I believe the lady said no.”
Bayleigh looked up. Dane stood there with two drinks in his hand and she almost sagged in
relief, almost. The look on Dane’s face worried her. He sat the drinks down and Bayleigh prayed her
captor would let her go. Instead his grip tightened. She winced at the pain that shot up her arm.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me. I said the lady said no, which means you should take your hands
off of her.”
Bayleigh felt a sense of dread travel through her. This could get ugly. The stranger’s next
words told her, her suspicion was right.
“Sounds like you’re going to try to make me.”
Dane seemed to draw himself up to his full height, as if his size wasn’t commanding enough.
Finally the stranger released her.
Before she could say anything, the man pushed Dane. He hardly moved.
“Keep your hands off my girlfriend and keep your hands off me.”
The stranger smiled but it lacked humor. “I think your girlfriend likes my touch.”
Bayleigh bristled at the words. The guy was a piece of work. “I don’t know who you are
but— oh my God!”
Bayleigh cried out when the man sucker punched Dane in the face. To her amazement Dane
didn’t go down. It also didn’t take him long to recover. Dane charged the guy, taking him to the
floor. Shock reverberated through her as Dane threw his own punch. Blood appeared instantly.
Bayleigh gasped in horror. Some of the other partygoers moved closer. Not to help, just to watch.
Isaac appeared a second later moving to pull Dane off the man. He needed the help of two other
men before he was successful. Isaac was busy trying to pull Dane to the side to calm him down,
while another pair of men escorted Dane’s assailant from the room. The drunken guy cursed at
Dane as he held on to a nose that was definitely broken. Bayleigh tried to calm herself still not
believing what had just happened.
The instant she walked through the door she knew this party had been a bad idea. Closing
her eyes she took a deep breath. She had to get herself under control, needed to check on Dane and
make sure he was okay. Her attention went to Dane who was still fuming. Anger radiated from him.
Bayleigh approached him slowly, his expression gradually calmer.
“Are you okay?”
His expression softened. “I’m fine, sorry you had to see that.”
“I would really like to go home now.”
“I’m sorry Bayleigh. I had no idea this would happen” Isaac stated with an apologetic look.
around her. “It’s okay Isaac. You couldn’t have known. Thank you for inviting me. I hope you don’t
mind if I pull Dane away early.”
Isaac shook his head. “You have every reason to want to and again I’m sorry.” Isaac turned
his gaze to Dane. “Are you going to be okay?”
Dane gave a curt nod. “Fine.”
Dane looked down at her. “Let’s go home.”
Bayleigh nodded, allowing him to lead her through the crowd. She lost count of how many
apologies they received. The drive to his home was quiet. There was nothing to say and Bayleigh
wasn’t going to force conversation. They both needed time to digest what had just played out.
Bayleigh had never seen anything like it in her life, at least not in person.
When they walked through the front door of his house, she released a pent up breath. Dane
locked the door before pulling her into his embrace. “I’m sorry you had to see that Bayleigh.”
Pulling back to look at him, she barely held back a wince when she saw his eye. “It’s okay
Dane. I’m not a fan of violence, but the guy sucker punched you. He deserved a broken nose. Thank
you for coming to my rescue again.”
Dane placed a soft kiss against her temple. “Anytime.”
They stood there like that for another moment. Dane finally pulled away. “I don’t know
about you but I could use a drink.”
“You go get comfortable. I’ll get your drink and some ice.”
“Is it bad?”
The area around his eye was starting to darken and swell. Deep down, she had a feeling it
would change to other colors before it was all over with. “Not now, but it will be.”
Dane nodded. He brought his hand up to touch her but stopped halfway, a grimace on his
face. Concern filled her. “What’s wrong?”
Bayleigh watched him flex his hand slowly. It dawned out her it was the hand he hit the jerk
with. “Is it broken?”
Dane shook his head. “Just sore.”
“I’ll get some ice for it as well.”
Dane nodded. “Thank you.”
Bayleigh watched him head down the hallway. Sighing, she made her way to his kitchen. It
didn’t take her long to pour him a glass of bourbon. She also had two bags of ice, one for Dane’s
eye, and the other for his hand. When she made it to the room, he was lying on the bed sans shoes,
socks, and shirt. Nearing he bed, she got a better glimpse of his eye in the lamplight. It already
looked worse. It was going to be nasty, when it was all over and done with. Bayleigh handed him the
drink first.
“You look like you could use this.”
Taking the glass from her, Dane gave her a grateful look. She watched him take a big sip
before sitting the glass down. He took the ice from her, setting one bag on his eye. When he
muttered a curse then put the other bag of ice on his hand, she smiled.
Bayleigh sat down on the bed beside him then reached for his glass. A sip of the liquor made
her gasp. Her eyes were watery when she looked at him. “How can you drink that stuff? It burns all
the way down.”
He smiled, then groaned in agony. “Man this hurts.”
“Is there anything else I can do?”
“You could come lay beside me.”
She gave a warning look, causing him to laugh, but it ended on a groan. “I was serious. I just
want you to lie down beside me. My eye hurts too much for anything else right now.”
Bayleigh st
udied him for a moment. This wasn’t how she planned for her night to end. In
that moment, she wanted to go back to the party and hit the guy for ruining her night. Instead she
stood, slipping her feet out of her shoes. There was always later.
came up to pull her closer. Settling into his embrace, she rested her head on his chest and listened to
his strong and steady heartbeat.
She lay like that for several minutes, listening as his heartbeat slowed. Lifting her head, she
looked at him and sure enough his eyes were closed. The corners of her mouth tilted upward at his
boyish expression. Bayleigh checked to make sure his eye and hand were still covered by the ice
before returning her head to his chest. Listening to his even breathing, she wondered how he could
sleep after such an adventurous night. Her body was still wired and her mind raced. The way he
came to her rescue, defended her honor, she was touched.
She always was. Dane had come to her rescue more times than she cared to admit to. At
least she was able to come to his tonight. Bayleigh smiled when he emitted a soft snore. How could
everything about him be so sexy? She stifled a sigh. Thinking about Dane was trouble. So why
couldn’t she stop doing it?
* * * *
Dane bit back a groan as he came awake. His hand hurt like hell. His eye felt even worse.
The pain tempted him to find the asshole that hit him and give him more of a beating. But if he did,
it meant he would have to let go of the curvy woman lying beside him. An action he didn’t plan to
do anytime soon—or ever.
When he saw Bayleigh being handled so roughly, he almost lost it. The panicked look in her
eyes hadn’t helped any. He’d been worried about her the entire night. In a way he felt guilty.
Bayleigh hadn’t enjoyed herself even though she pretended like she had. Dane knew how shy she
could be when in unfamiliar settings. She was quiet, restrained, and intent on not calling unnecessary
attention to herself. Even though she hadn’t caused a scene. Bayleigh tried to handle the situation
with class. No dramatic antics, no screaming, even when she had all right to.
He, on the other hand, had lost it. Disrespect of Bayleigh was something he would never
allow. His mother raised him to respect women. The way Bayleigh had been treated tonight still ate
at him. His thoughts were interrupted as she shifted against him. Dane removed the bag of ice off
his hand, the bag of ice on his face went next. He looked down at Bayleigh, her beauty captivating
him. It amazed him how much she was unaware of it.
His body tightened just thinking about it. Her curves drove him wild. So did the sounds she
made when he was deep within the folds of her body. She was more passionate than he ever
imagined she would be. Bayleigh gave herself to him in a way he couldn’t remember experiencing
with another woman.
Dane shifted to readjust the discomfort growing between his thighs. Even though certain
parts of his body hurt, he wanted her. Brushing her check with his hand, he paused when she stirred
again him. When he looked back at her, she was staring at him sleepily.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I do need to go to the bathroom though.”
She shifted away from him. Sliding out of the bed, he realized he and Bayleigh never crawled
under the covers. She was still completely dressed, minus her shoes. He planned to rectify that as
soon as he made his way back to the bed. After he entered the bathroom, he closed the door,
wincing when he turned the light on.
His eye was puffy and red but at least it was still open and he could see out of it. The ice had
helped. Dane splashed cold water on his face. His hand still hurt but it was worth it. After relieving
his bladder, he washed his hands, then exited the bathroom. The empty bed surprised him. Where
had Bayleigh disappeared to? Exiting the bedroom, he walked toward the front of the house. Sounds
came from his kitchen giving him a good idea of where she was. He froze at the sight of her. While
he was in the bathroom she had taken the liberty of making herself comfortable. She stood at his
kitchen counter wearing nothing but his button down shirt. Dane loved the way she filled out his
top. It would also save him from having to undress her.
Shaking his head, he tried to get a grip on himself. His focus should be on convincing her to
give herself to him outside of the bedroom as freely as she gave herself to him in the bedroom.
Regardless he couldn’t deny his body was already hard with anticipation. The small amount of
smooth cleavage peeking from underneath the shirt didn’t help. He cleared his throat. “What are you
doing?”
Bayleigh looked up at him with a tempting smile on her face. “Making you another ice
pack.”
Dane moved closer to her and saw she was indeed preparing another ice pack for him. Yet
his gaze quickly moved to her puckered nipples underneath his shirt. His blood heated, need raced
through him. Having to go a week without making love to her affected him more than he realized.
He stepped behind Bayleigh, grabbing her waist. She gasped when he pulled her back into
his body. There was no way she could ignore the rude erection he was sporting.
“Dane, the ice—”
“Can wait,” he finished, arching her slightly, so that her bottom rested against the bulge
straining behind the zipper of his pants. Grasping her hands, he made her put the ice down and
pushed it aside, before placing her hands on the counter in front of them. The corners of his mouth
curved upward when her hands slid to the edge before gripping it. Her uninhibited response to him
was more of a turn on than she would ever know.
Lowering his head, he nuzzled the side of her neck with soft kisses. Dane slid his hands
upward to undo the buttons on the shirt she wore. When it was completely open, he skimmed his
hands down to her hips, pushing her panties down. She moaned when his hand brushed the heart of
her in a teasing touch. Her hips pushed back into him and he bucked against her involuntarily,
releasing his own moan.
“Bayleigh, I have wanted you here like this all week,” he whispered in a raspy voice.
“So have I,” she murmured in response.
“I want to see you more often.”
Bayleigh shuddered against him. “You see me every day.”
“Not like this,” he groaned, pushing his hard length against her.
She responded, pressing back against him. Dane pulled back from her, smiling when she
made a sound of protest. It took all his concentration to unzip his pants to free his demanding
erection. Pulling his wallet out of his back pocket, he sent up silent thanks for his earlier memory
lapse to get completely undressed. If he’d had to stop to go find protection, he might have lost his
mind. Right now he wanted Bayleigh so badly, he couldn’t think about anything else.
Removing one of the condoms he had recently stashed there he covered his sex. Dying to be
inside of her, he gripped her waist with one hand, sliding the other down her stomach. The first time
was going to be fast but he wanted her to be right there on the edge with him. His hand slid lower
finding her ready and wet with desire. Her knees gave out and he tightened his one handed grip o
n
her waist.
“Dane, now, please,” she whispered breathlessly.
Unable to wait any longer, he accepted her invitation and plunged deep inside of her. She
cried out and he sucked in a deep breath. Their hips moved instinctively in a rhythm belonging
exclusively to them. Bayleigh leaned back against him, he released her waist, sliding his hand upward,
capturing one of her breasts. The other he slipped further between her thighs to caress the swollen
nub of flesh. Gasping, she pressed against him. He lowered his head, placing light nips down the
smooth skin on her neck. Finding the tender flesh between her neck and shoulder, he bit down hard
enough to brand her as his. She moaned his name, waking a wild hunger within him. His muscles
coiled tighter with each thrust.
Bayleigh panted, pressing back into his chest each time he entered her. Dane grunted when
she stiffened against him before the internal contraction swept through her as she climaxed. She
screamed his name and he followed right behind her with his own explosive orgasm. Dane did his