Captivation

Captivation Part 12

The drunk scuttled away quickly. He swaggered off as if he was the injured party.

Jared did a double take. He watched the man disappear around the corner and scowled. That wasn't a real apology. But he had no option but to let the man go. Jared looked at Caitlin. Why hadn't she done something about that idiot? He was angry that she hadn't insisted on a fulsome apology, and beyond angry that she had put herself in this position in the first place.

"He wasn't sincere." Jared stepped up toward her, wondering what it would take to shake this woman's composure. She'd been attacked by that drunk, was probably likely to have been assaulted had Jared not happened on them, and to add insult to injury she'd been offered a paltry excuse for an apology and had accepted it. Instead of getting her pound of flesh she'd allowed that man to leave. Incensed his language became ripe. "He fucking didn't mean a bloody word!"

"I know." Caitlin couldn't help trembling. She'd been so stupid. But she hadn't expected this part of the building to be deserted. When she'd excused herself from the dance, she had thought to escape him. But he'd followed her. She was used to handling difficult situations. But for the first time in her life she felt as if she was in serious trouble. In danger of being assaulted. If it hadn't been for Jared appearing on the scene she wasn't sure what the outcome would have been. That sent a shiver of apprehension through her. She couldn't stop shaking on the inside.

Jared gritted his teeth and bit down on his growing annoyance. She couldn't be that naïve. How could she just stand here and say she knew the man hadn't meant the apology, when she had just let him walk away. This woman was a danger to herself! Too bloody naïve!

"He insulted you." Jared was tempted to try to shake some sense into her. Or at least force her to wake up to the seriousness of the situation. Surely she realized how close she'd come to being seriously mauled, even sexually attacked. If he hadn't chanced upon them, who knows what might have happened to her. He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it. The last time he'd been this scared for someone was the last time he and Doug had got into a fight to protect Doug's younger brother and the odds were stacked against them.

"I know." Caitlin mumbled, her words a bare whisper. Her breathing was still shallow and her heart was still racing from the fear of a few moments ago. All that might have happened raced through her mind. She was struggling to fight the scary images that registered. She'd been stupid. Way stupid. She wasn't silly. But she had allowed herself to be trapped.

Jared ran a hand through his hair. The action was telling. His tenuous hold on his temper gave way as he all but yelled, "Then why the fuck didn't you stand up for yourself, and insist on a proper apology?"

That's why they were chalk and cheese. In his world, there was no way any woman would have allowed that drunk to get away with walking away without him grovelling. At the very least she should have threatened to report him. But Caitlin had simply allowed that man to walk away without even a sincere apology.

Jared jammed his hands in his pockets. They clenched and unclenched as he thought about the man who had walked away. "For fucks sake, you could have been attacked. He probably thinks it is perfectly acceptable to maul women and get away scot free!" He paced away, before he did what he wanted to do and shake some sense into her. Finding her in such a predicament had seriously rattled him. He shouldn't be feeling this raw about what had nearly happened.

Caitlin said nothing, her stomach was rolling, her heart racing. Any minute now she was going to be sick as shock and fright merged. She could feel the nausea build, feel her throat try to choke it back down, feel her hands go clammy as she fought off wave after wave of queasiness.

"You can't be that stupid." Jared snapped as his temper frayed. "He was fucking drunk." He reminded her, spinning back to face her. "And a good deal bigger than you!"

"I know." She whispered, still fighting off the nausea. She thought about the drunk. He made her skin crawl. "I didn't realise, until we started dancing." She whispered as if she was explaining it to herself. She swallowed as bile rose in her throat.

"Then what the hell were you thinking? What the hell were you doing bringing him back here?" Jared forced his hands to remain by his sides.

"It was crowded in there," She took a steadying breath, trying to fight off the nausea as it started to work it's way up her oesophagus. She had swapped one danger for another. At least on the dancefloor she had some measure of protection, there were people around. But here, she was on her own. Except at the time she did not know that.

"Yeah. That's the point! He wouldn't dare try anything on in a public place!"

She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. "I didn't want him touching me. He was making my skin crawl." A tremor shivered through her. She'd come too close to being molested. Fright was catching up with her. And shock. She'd come way too close to being sexually assaulted.

"So you came back here, to a deserted corridor, to a..." Jared growled, as he gestured at the small storeroom, "I gave you credit for more sense."

Caitlin felt queasy. "I expected people to be here." She murmured. She couldn't help the shudder, but she forced herself to stay calm. She could not break down. Not now. Not here. Not with him. Taking a shaky breath she faced him and with ingrained aplomb said, "I appreciate your assistance. Thank you."

"You appreciate my assistance?" He looked at her as if she had just grown horns. Didn't the woman realise just how vulnerable her situation was a few moments ago?

Caitlin swallowed on the rising bile. She dug her fingernails into her palms and willed herself not to throw up. Then she muttered, "Excuse me, my sister will be wondering what's keeping me." The last thing she needed right now was for him to see her being physically sick. It was bad enough that he was the one who found her in the first place. And though she was relieved he had come upon them, she wished it hadn't been Jared who found her in that predicament. If it had been anyone other than him, she'd feel a lot better. She could see from his expression that he thought she was foolhardy. She felt the same way. She had been incredibly stupid. But she did not want to add to her humiliation by throwing up in front of him. "Excuse me."

Jared ran a hand through his hair, "I should have left you to him." She sounded as if this was just some minor irritating inconvenience. Bloody ice queen. Hadn't she realised she could have been attacked. Raped. And she hadn't even insisted on a real apology.

"You have too much integrity to do that." Caitlin replied as she made to walk past him. Her stomach was roiling. She was sure she was going to throw up any second now. She needed to be far from him when she did that. Her eyes started to smart with the effort she was expending in trying to keep from being sick.

He snorted at her statement. "You were bloody stupid. You know that, don't you?" He was annoyed. Did she really think she could have prevented that oaf from taking liberties? Jared knew he was reacting out of character. But it concerned him. Seriously worried him that she might have been hurt had he not shown up. "How would you have stopped him? He could h..."

His words resurrected exactly what she was trying to avoid, the prospect of being attacked had been very real. The fact was that she'd realized that way too late. "Stop it. Just stop it." She cut him off, her voice clogged with unshed tears. Jared was shocked to hear her voice nearly break with the strain. He watched as she took a breath and fought to remain in control. "I know." She said quietly, one hand going to her mouth the other to her stomach. She felt ill. Her bodies reaction to the recent shock of coming close to being molested had her retching.

Quickly she turned and raced down the corridor. She really was going to throw up. She needed some air.