She yelled it as loud as she could, startling him as he dropped her wrist. A cab pulled up beside her and the driver got out of the car, his eyes boring into the man standing in front of her. She glared at him. Took him in one last time before she ducked down into the yellow car. The driver slid back in and drove off, leaving James standing on the street.
“You okay, ma’am?” the driver asked.
But Kallie wasn’t paying attention.
Her phone was immediately ringing.
James was calling. Messaging. Leaving voice mails she didn’t want to listen to. She turned her phone off and closed her eyes, leaning back against the seat. What the fuck had just happened? Where the hell had that come from? James was many things, but forceful and possessive he wasn’t. It was like he wouldn’t let her go. It was like he came to the restaurant with the idea that she wasn’t leaving without him.
The thought made her shiver as she rattled off the address to her apartment.
She ran upstairs and tossed her things into a corner. Peeling her clothes off, she left a trail from the door to the bathroom, her hands trembling as she started to run a bath. The water was hot and the bubbles were thick. All she wanted was to wash off her ex-fiancé and the terrible feelings he engendered. Kallie poured herself a big glass of wine and settled into the bath, still trembling from the night’s activities. Tears streaked her cheeks as she chugged the red liquid, trying to get her body to relax.
“It’s okay,” she said to herself. “You’re safe. You’re fine. He’s gone.”
With the hot water soaking around her body and the quiet of her apartment, the wine was able to do its job. On an empty stomach, it warmed her and relaxed her muscles, easing her into a new life. A life without James or his disgusting tongue. The thought made her shiver again. That dirty mouth had been on hers and she didn’t like it. She couldn't believe the last man that would touch her after what she experienced with Ash that day was him.
James.
The man who had touched five other women during the course of their relationship.
Oh, shit. Ash.
She forgot to call Ash.
Before she could get out of the tub, a bang resounded at her front door. Her entire body tightened up and fear encased her heart. The bang sounded again and that time, Kallie jumped. Yelped. Shook as goose bumps fluttered along her skin. The wineglass toppled over as she reached for her bathrobe. Was James at her door?
James better not be at her door. She was going to claw his eyes out if he was.
With a shaking form, her eye looked through the peephole of the door. And what she saw settled her gut. It wasn't James standing at her door. It was Ash.
And he was pissed.
Kallie opened her door and he stormed in. His eyes raged with fear and confusion as he slammed her apartment door behind him. His eyes darted around the apartment as his nostrils flared, and Kallie planted her hands onto his chest.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry I didn’t call.”
“You promised,” he said as he gripped her hips. “You promised me you would call.”
“It was an eventful night. I turned my phone off. Ash, look at me.”
His wild eyes fell to hers as he backed her into the wall. His hands slid up her curves. His eyes darted along her skin. His warmth was comforting, and she instantly relaxed against every part of him.
“I called. Texted. Left messages. There was nothing, Kallie. I thought...”
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you call?”
His lips crashed against hers with a ferocity that sent shock waves through her body. His hands pinned her wrists above her head as his thigh pushed between hers. He stroked his leg against her bare pussy and she ached for him. She needed his touch. Needed Ash to be the last man who kissed her that night. Who commanded her that night.
Who pressed against her that night.
Ash’s lips fell from hers and she gasped to catch her breath. Her head was swimming and silver stars burst in her vision. It was clear he was riled up. Desperate. Worried. Angry. And she was all those things too. How was she going to explain what happened? What James had done and the things he had accused her of?
She didn’t want to relive it.
All she wanted ... was Ash.