Chapter 9
1138 Words
Elena's POV
His lips graced mine in a slow and steady movement, one that had me leaning in — not only for spite but pure novelty. But the moment was only short-lived as Brad was pulled away from me in a split second and knocked to the ground.
"You p*****t!"
Adrian's broad back was to me as he trudged toward Brad, who was still trying to steady himself from the floor, and pounced on him again.
"Adrian! Adrian!" The sight of blood made my head swim with panic. I tried to wrap my hands around the thick muscles of a grown, brooding man who had taken it upon himself to fight someone still struggling to his feet.
"How dare you touch my wife!"
Another blow attempted to land directly on Brad's face when Brad shifted out of the way and Adrian's fist went straight into the window. A spiral of cracks bloomed across the glass. But before I could react to that, Adrian was knocked flat to the ground, pinned between Brad's legs and bleeding.
"What's going on here?" More farmers came rushing from the fields. Taking in the chaos, they moved to pull both men apart even as they fought against it.
"Adrian! Stop!" I stepped between them this time, arms spread wide, my back to Brad and my eyes fixed on the man whose nose had been broken by a single punch, his eye already swelling shut.
He should have known better than to fight a man from the countryside. But how would he, living entirely inside his own head.
"Get out of here. Now. You do not belong here." I tried to give him the lifesaving advice he did not deserve, but he attempted to bypass me to reach Brad, who had now retreated a few steps back.
"Are you not ashamed of yourself? Getting dirty out here with this filth?" He jabbed a finger toward Brad, still trying to make a point. I stepped in his way again.
"I know what you are doing, Elena. I know you want to get back at me for Vivian. But you have stooped this low? With someone like this?" His face twisted.
"The only lowlife here is the man who picks a fight with an innocent person to soothe his ego and still ends up on the ground. Now get out." Brad stepped forward at that, and so did the rest of the farmers who had drawn closer around us.
Adrian's face reddened with restrained fury. He stepped back, his eyes moving slowly from Brad to me.
He straightened his jacket and fixed his cuffs, slow and deliberate, like a man who had not just been pinned to the ground and bled on.
"I know you, Elena." His voice dropped, quiet and certain. "You can jump on whoever you want out here. Play whatever game this is. But you will come back. You always do. It is just who you are."
He said it like a fact. Like something he had studied and filed away and would never need to question.
"You will regret this," he added finally, then turned toward his car and drove off.
It was only after he left that I let out the breath that had been locked in my chest. I could barely register what had just happened, how quickly a few hours outside had become this. But the moment Adrian's car disappeared through the gate it felt like someone had poured cold water over everything.
"Hey." Brad reached out to me, his eyes softening as they found my face. He took my hands and pressed his lips to my palm. My heart shimmered. Every small thing he did reminded me how much I had missed this, the quiet steadiness of him, the softness in his eyes even now, bleeding and unbothered.
Everyone was still there. Staring. Waiting for answers. Gran Gran most of all, lines of confusion scattered across her face.
"Your ex?" she murmured quietly the moment our eyes met.
I nodded and turned to the small crowd.
"Please go back to your stations, thank you all so much. And you too, James, you are a darling."
"Oh dear." Gran Gran pulled me into a hug. The scent of mint settled around me like something familiar and safe. "I am glad you are free from such a violent man. Welcome back." She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before turning away. Everyone else filed out with her, leaving Brad and me alone.
"He is stalking you," Brad said through a bleeding nose and a sore cheek. For a man who had absorbed that many blows, his surfer's build had taken the punishment far better than anything Adrian thought he was capable of delivering.
My heart softened just looking at him. The way he still looked at me, even like this.
Then I noticed the small cut on his lip, still bleeding slightly. I took the hem of my shirt and pressed it gently against his mouth before kissing him, slow and deliberate, rekindling the tension Adrian had interrupted.
This was for telling me I could not leave. For believing I was not capable of surviving without him.
A slow moan vibrated in my throat as Brad leaned in deeper, his hands finding my waist and pulling me flush against his chest. Every part of me wanted this. Wanted to be held, consumed, touched in the most honest way possible.
My back met the car as Brad pressed closer, and everything in me rose to meet him.
"Ouch."
He pulled back immediately, eyes wide with confusion.
"Did I hurt you?"
"No, no. It is my rib. I have a bruise." Before I could say another word he had lifted the hem of my shirt, his brows knitting together the moment he saw the redness spreading across my side.
Here we go.
"You need to have this looked at."
"How did this happen?"
"Elena. Why did you not tell me?"
"I treated it. It was an accident. It slipped my mind."
He set me down carefully, the easy warmth in his face replaced with a quiet, steady concern that was somehow worse than anger. There was no hiding it. I had killed the mood and now he was going to worry himself into the ground about it.
"You do not have to worry. I am fine."
"The least you could have done was tell me. I would not have held you like that."
He took my hand gently, the frown still sitting on his face. I knew Brad well enough to know he was not going to let this go easily. So I rose onto my toes and kissed him softly on the lips.
"I like it rough," I said against his mouth. "And I want it rough as well."
- Writer
