“Hey!” she yelled, turning around. A tall, dark-haired man with a tattoo on his arm held her in a painful, viselike grip.
“Come on, baby,” the man said, yanking her so close she could smell the beer and tobacco on his breath. “If you’re looking for company, you’re in luck. Let’s meet my brother over by the door, then take a walk to my van. The three of us can rock the night away.”
Terror gripped her. Hastiin Sani had died trying to keep the others from hurting her. Now Ranger would be forced to take on two drunks. She was certain it would happen once he spotted her being strong-armed outside. Anger swelled inside her. No one she cared about would ever again be harmed because of her.
She looked up into the man’s eyes and smiled. “Sounds like fun!”
He eased up on his grip, and she kicked him hard in the knee. He howled in pain, and as he bent over, she chopped down on the side of his neck with the heel of her right hand. Her aim was off and she mostly struck him on the back, but the force of the blow sent him down to one knee-the injured one.
With a scream of pure rage, the man hurled himself at her. She sidestepped the tackle and stuck out her foot, tripping him. His momentum dropped him facedown on the floor.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” she said, backing away. But it was too late. Without a fight in the center ring, everyone’s attention had suddenly shifted to the rear of the room-to her and the man she’d just knocked down.
“Fight, fight, fight,” the chant started up, like kids in the schoolyard during recess.
“Twenty dollars on the babe,” someone yelled from behind her, followed by a chorus of laughter.
The drunken, wannabe rapist outweighed her by at least one hundred pounds. He wasn’t going to back away, not with all eyes on them. She looked around for Ranger, but three men were struggling to hold him back. He’d get away eventually, but for the next minute or two she was on her own.
The man howled with rage and charged at her like a bull. She tried to step aside at the last minute and trip him again, but this time he was ready. He grabbed her arm as he went by, spinning her around. They nearly fell together, but somehow he kept them on their feet, yanking her back against him by the hair.
Pinned to a man with biceps the size of a side of beef, she panicked. She struggled wildly to break free, scratching him on the face but that only made him angrier.
“Got you now, witch!”
Then she remembered her lessons with Ranger. His arm had been in the same place. Dana sagged as if giving up. Then, as his hold eased somewhat, she rammed her elbow right into the man’s midsection as hard as she could and stomped on his instep with the heel of her boot, putting everything she had into it. The man yelped in pain, letting go as he stumbled back.
“I’m not done yet,” she yelled, arms up in a defensive stance. The drunk staggered away, then disappeared into the crowd.
“Hey!” Someone behind her called out.
Remembering that her opponent had a brother, she spun to face the new threat. That’s when she saw that Ranger had managed to break free.
“Give it up for the lady,” a tall, thin man shouted from the edge of the crowd.
As the people laughed and cheered, Ranger scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder and hurried out the side door. The novelty over, the crowd’s attention quickly shifted to the next two combatants climbing into the elevated cage.
Once they were outside in the parking lot, Ranger quickly did as she asked by setting her back down, and they hurried back to the car.
Ranger finally spoke as they were racing down the street in the Ringer. “So much for staying low-key.”
“Hey, at least my wig stayed on. Good thing I pinned it in place.”
He stared at her. “That’s all you have to say?”
Dana opened and closed her fist. It hurt like crazy, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t broken anything. “What else could I do with my bodyguard AWOL? And, just for the record, I didn’t appreciate that caveman routine when we left. It’s not a comfortable method of travel.”
“But effective. Nobody wanted to have ‘the babe’ thrown at them. We got a wide berth.” He looked at her, and then burst out laughing.
She glared at him for a moment, then finally started laughing, too.
“I can’t believe I lived through that,” she said at last, tears of laughter running down her face.
“Crazy Louie’s one mean drunk. But you ate him alive,” he said, admiration in his gaze. “But why didn’t you just pretend to go with him? I’d have seen what was going on before you ever reached the door. Didn’t you think I could handle him?”
“It wasn’t that, or even that he’d said his brother was going to join him and you would have been outnumbered. I made up my mind right then that no one else would ever be hurt on my account,” she said, then added, “even if my hand is black and blue in the morning.”
Chapter Ten
Once they were a safe distance away, he pulled to the side of the road. “Let me take a look at your hand,” Ranger said.
She flinched when he touched her fingers. “It hurts. Go easy. It was like hitting a brick wall when I got his backbone instead of his neck.”
“Nothing’s broken,” he said after a moment. “At least you remembered how to make a fist.”
“I remembered everything you taught me, but he ran before I could get to the N and G of that Sing move. Too bad. The guy could have used a good kick in the G.”
“You’re one helluva woman, Dana.” Before she could even think, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Feeling her melt against him, he pressured her lips to part, then tasted her slowly, deliberately, changing the angle of the kiss only to deepen it.
His fingers skimmed the column of her throat. Her pulse was beating wildly, and her soft sighs drove him crazy. With a groan, he let her go. He’d take her right there and then if he didn’t cool off. Whatever crazy feelings drew him to Dana were real and more powerful than he’d ever dreamed.
“Why…” she whispered breathlessly, running the tip of her tongue over her lips. She could still taste him.
Ranger settled into the driver’s seat, keeping his distance. “Wanting you is making me a little crazy,” he warned, an edge in his voice.
The expression of disappointment on her face was almost his undoing and he had to look away. “Let’s go to the house. You need to change clothes. Then we’ll set out again.”
SHE SHOWERED QUICKLY and changed clothes. The sweater had been smeared with Crazy Louie’s blood and was torn in places. She tossed it into the trash. She’d buy its owner another as soon as her life got back to normal.
Normal…would she ever have a normal life again? Her feelings for Ranger changed everything. Thoughts of him simmered in her mind, mingling with hopes and dreams. They persisted, even though she knew that giving in to those emotions would only distract and endanger both of them.
Dana joined him in the living room minutes later. As she saw his gaze traveling slowly down her frame, she had to work hard to squelch the flutter in her stomach.
“That brown, long-haired wig changes your looks completely. It’s perfect. Even if we run into someone who was at the fight, chances are you won’t be recognized.”
She held out her swollen hand. “This’ll give me away. It’s already starting to turn blue-even though I put makeup on it.”
He started to take her hand, then abruptly changed his mind and turned away, but not before Dana saw the flash of fire in his eyes. There’d been a burning there, a hunger her soul recognized.
As they walked out to the car, Dana remained a discreet distance away from him. He was still too much of a temptation. “Where to next?”
“The Back Alley. It’s a bar on the other side of town.”
She cringed. “More fights…”