BUNTY
1201 Words
Lucy's pov
I clutched my phone to my ear as Marcus talked, his tone light as ever.
"Sorry, Luce, I'm in the middle of a business meeting. I won't be able to pick you up tonight, but how about takeout? My treat."
A soft sigh left my lips. How did one human being have so much consideration in all that he did? Marcus had been like this forever—kind, dependable, always watching out for me in ways that I didn't feel I deserved.
How could I not adore him?
"Yeah, sure," I grumbled, tightening my purse.
"That's my girl. Get home safe, okay?"
I smiled despite myself. That's my girl. Only if he spoke as I had hoped he would.
I clocked out with Angela, easing my aching arms. My own shift ended at 4, but as usual, I had been stuck until 7. Twelve hours of racing back and forth, for a paycheck that was barely enough to cover my rent. I wished I could gripe, but what was the point? At least I was still getting paid.
Cool night air I took the corner off the alley home. The most direct route—typically abandoned with the exception of stray cats and the infrequent drunk stagger too far off of the main thoroughfare.
I then encountered a person.
Large. Imposing. Oafish cologne that narrowed my lungs.
Memories of past asthma attacks rushed to the front of my mind. My breathing hitched, and I turned immediately, forcing myself to breathe purer air.
A hand closed on my wrist.
"Hello, Vietnamese."
Every nerve in my body shrieked.
I knew that voice.
Slowly, I pushed my glasses up, jamming my face into a neutral look. "Please, I have to go home, sir." I attempted to keep my voice light, hoping to defuse whatever nasty thing was about to happen.
Then I saw them. Two other men.
They weren't here to chat.
My stomach roiled.
"I'm going to f**k you till you switch races, you hear me?"
Ice-cold fear seeped down my back. I moved back, another, but too late. They were faster.
I barely had time to react before I was shoved to the ground.
A body—too heavy—came down on top of me, slamming me against the cold concrete. My glasses were knocked away, my vision becoming hazy as the rough texture of the ground scraped into my flesh.
"Please," I whimpered, but the word barely passed.
Laughter.
My skirt ripped.
I struggled, my heart thudding like a mad drum against my ribs, but I was too thin, too small.
A fist twisted in my hair, yanking my head back. The room spun dizzily, my head throbbing from the shock. Through blurred eyes, I saw it—his belt undone, his shaft out, precum glinting at the head.
"Leave me alone, please!" I screamed.
More laughter.
"Oh no, don't lose your fire now. It makes me horny."
A jarring crash—my head striking concrete. Pain scorched through my skull, white-hot and blinding.
Then—
"She told you to let go of her, you f*****g asshole."
The voice was deep. Unknown. English-accented.
A whirl of motion. A struggle.
The crush was lifted off my shoulders. I breathed, spasming limbs trembling as I strained to push myself upward. My head spun, my eyes oscillating between light and dark.
And then I gazed at him.
A man. Wearing a suit. Towering. A goddamn force of nature.
One of my attackers dangled in his hold, gagging, choking, clawing at the iron-hard fingers closing off his air. The other guy—the one who'd been pinning me—lay motionless, blood trickling from a wound on his head.
Dead.
I didn't know why, but I inched toward my merciless savior. My body refused to stand, but my hands clung to the fabric of his pants, clinging weakly.
"Please," I whispered. "Please… let him go."
He didn't move.
I swallowed hard, my voice cracking. "Please. Please let him go."
Finally, he let the man go. The man fell on the floor, face an unnatural blue.
My breathing was hard, my body still trembling when he knelt in front of me.
His eyes—grey, metallic, cold.
"Is this how you let people who have hurt you get off scot-free? You are a madman."
My body trembled.
Then, he smiled.
"Oh, bunty."
My vision came back as my glasses settled into resting on my face once more. He picked them up for me. He literally bent down, picked them up, and put them carefully on my nose.
All was clear again, and I could finally see him properly.
And—oh.
I almost gaped. He looked like someone out of a fantasy novel—the kind I used to read in marathon sessions on w*****d when I was twelve.
He had short but long enough hair so that it could probably be pulled back into a miniature man bun. His features were delicate but sharp, an easy mix of refinement and danger.
He was… gorgeous.
Far more handsome than the fuzzy figure I had seen before.
"Stop staring at me and get up."
His voice was brief, apathetic.
I tried to comply, but my head swirled. Black spots blotted on the edge of vision. My body tilted.
The biting coldness of fabric wrapped around my knees made me leap. His jacket coat.
His arms were around me before I could react.
He lifted me off the ground as if I weighed nothing.
"Where do you live?"
His cologne wrapped around me. It wasn't as potent as the guy earlier. It was rich, earthy, like chocolate and something else… something that made my head spin.
I blinked hard, trying to focus. "I… I live a few blocks down from here."
He nodded curtly and exited the alley.
Outside the entrance waited a jet-black car—glittering, sleek, threatening. Two tuxedo-clad men guarded it, their sunglasses glinting off the dim streetlights.
Who was this guy?
My senses returned in an instant.
I struggled despite the pounding in my head.
"Put me down!" I wriggled in his arms.
He barely winced, merely raising an eyebrow.
"Why?" His tone was flat, emotionless.
"I don't know you!" I spat, fighting to keep the nausea in my throat.
He breathed slowly, as if I was being ridiculous. As if I was a child throwing a tantrum.
"I saved you from three idiots who were going to send your virgin self to the gods or something." His accent thickened slightly on the word virgin, his tone dry.
He wasn't wrong.He put me down gently to the ground,with a kind of softness that felt like I was going to break.
I swallowed hard, my throat tightening. I didn't want to think about that.
I gasped in sharply and made my legs go. One step, then another, and another. I walked away, ignoring the thudding in my head.
I didn't glance back.
The sedan revved quietly, then moved forward, passing me with slow, unhurried ease.
Behind the tinted glass, his eyes met mine.
For an instant, neither of us blinked.
Then, just as fluidly, he brought the window all the way up.
- Writer
