Pierce~
Pierce rode his emotional high through the night, unable to sleep, unable to forget the feel of Natalie's soft skin. His body was fighting against him, clinging to thoughts of Natalie as he restlessly tossed and turned. Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Pierce threw on some sweats over his boxers and headed into his living room. He mindlessly flipped through the TV channels, hoping to find something semi-interesting on at 1:00am when a sudden motion at the window stole his attention.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as a shadowy figure passed, stalling right outside the window before moving toward the front door. With his eyes trained on the door Pierce slowly and silently reached for the gun that was secured under his coffee table and rose to his feet. His steps were slow and calculated as he moved across the room without making a sound and positioned himself with his back to the door frame. Feeling his adrenaline spike he used it as fuel to focus through the silence and ready himself for the assailant outside.
A noise caught him off guard and he scrunched his face in confusion.
Was that a knock?
Normally he knew better than to check the peephole or position himself in front of the door at all, but what kind of a hit man knocks on the damn door?
His eyes went wide as he focused through the lense and he threw open the door as fast as he could.
"Natalie?"
Her cowered posture and tear stained cheeks were the first things to grab his attention as he looked her up and down, still in disbelief that she was at his door.
"I'm so sorry. I know this is an intrusion, but I didn't have your number...I was just packing up my stuff at Kenneth's and we got in a huge fight...I didn't know where else to go...I thought maybe..." her words were falling out of her mouth faster than Pierce could piece them together.
"Natalie." He said her name gently to stop her rambling and to get her inside.
"I'm glad you're here. Come in and tell me what happened, sweetheart."
He planted his hand high on the door jam creating enough space for her to pass underneath and gestured with his head toward his apartment for her to enter. She complied instantly, walking under his arm and into this living room with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
"How did you know where I lived?" he asked, not minding the intrusion, but genuinely interested in how she found him.
She bit her lip nervously before answering, which under any other circumstance would have been sexy as hell.
"I uh...looked up your account at Luxe. Your driver's license is on file...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I know that was such an invasion of your privacy and it was wrong. It was really wrong..."
Her frantic rambling and relentless apologies, tugged at Pierce's heart strings, making him want to wrap her up in a tight hug and hold her until she calmed down.
"Natalie it's okay..." he soothed as he stepped forward, placing his hands on her arms in an effort to comfort her.
Flinching beneath his hands, she yanked her arms away, stumbling backwards to evade him.
The sudden movement of her tiny body was jarring and took Pierce by surprise, but as she stepped backward into the faint blue light of the TV, her fearful reaction started to make more sense.
Taking advantage of the light illuminating her face, Pierce studied her from head to toe, connecting the dots on his own of what had transpired at Kenneth's house. One of her cheeks was swollen with a bruise starting to form and the collar of her t-shirt was stretched and torn.
He put his fucking hands on her.
The sight set Pierce's blood on fire and he clenched his back teeth to try and maintain his control and conceal the absolute fury that overwhelmed every cell in his body. His chest heaved with fast paced breaths as his adrenaline pumped, but he used every ounce of his strength to restrain himself, trying not to scare her more than she already was. He needed to be calm for her. She didn't need rage, she needed comfort and safety.
Lowering his hands slowly, he faced his palms out toward her in a non-threatening stance and took a slow step backwards, creating some distance between them.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that." she said in a shaky voice.
"No need to apologize. Let's just take this slow, okay?"
She gave him a nod in return.
Seeing her so lost and confused by her own emotions was heartbreaking and difficult to witness. Natalie was scared out of her mind, unsure of who was going to strike her next and it gutted him. He lowered the volume of his voice and gentled his tone, trying to calm her with his words if he could.
"You know I'd never hurt you, right?"
Another nod. "That's why I'm here," she said meekly.
"Good. Tell me what happened so I know how to help you, sweetheart." he kept his voice low and even, trying to maintain some space between them.
She swallowed hard before she spoke and blew out a shaky breath to steady her voice.
"Kenneth sent me a text and told me to get my stuff out of his house. So I went there after I got off work and started packing. He wouldn't leave me alone and followed me around the house trying to pick a fight with me. He just wouldn't stop." her voice cracked, but she regained composure.
"Finally I snapped and said some things I probably shouldn't have and he...he just lost it."
A tear rolled down her cheek and she swiped at it with the back of her thumb. He felt like he was going to come out of his skin as he watched her cry in front of him, wanting to take her in his arms and kiss away every tear that fell.
"How'd you get that bruise on your cheek?" Pierce asked, taking one slow step forward with his eyes fixated on her.
She didn't respond, clearly avoiding saying the words out loud as if verbalizing the abuse made it real.
Unshed tears clouded her bright blue eyes and fell down her cheeks with each blink of her long lashes as she stared back at him.
"He hit you?" Pierce said, needing confirmation of what he already knew to be true.
A small nod was all she could muster, but the gesture was enough to tighten Pierce's jaw as he bit back his anger and cracked his neck side to side.
"Can I see?" He asked gently, entering her space slowly, one cautions movement at a time.
Nodding her head again, she took a step toward him, giving him permission to inspect the bruised skin on her face.
He laced his fingers behind her head and tilted her face toward him, using his thumb under her jaw as leverage.
"Shit, Natalie," he said as he inspected the small cut where the blow had broken her skin.
Using his knuckle, he tenderly wiped away the tears that had escaped and placed a feather-light kiss on her bruised cheek before bringing her eyes to meet his.
"Where else did he hurt you?" he asked softly hoping she felt comfortable enough to confide in him.
"That's it. He hit me across the face and sent me to the floor. Before I could react he jumped on top of me and told me he was going to fuck me like a slut deserved to be fucked, which is how my shirt got ripped, but it didn't go any further than that. I kneed him in the balls...hard... which gave me enough time to get away."
"Atta girl," he said with a half smile.
"But I left in such a panic that I didn't grab any of my stuff. I don't have any clothes or even a toothbrush. I was hoping...I mean I came here to ask you..." she stuttered and stammered, trying to find the right words or work up the courage to ask him something.
"Ask me anything, beautiful." he encouraged her with a comforting smile.
"Will you go back with me to get my things, to make sure he doesn't...hurt me?"
His heart swelled with pride and broke into pieces simultaneously at her request. He cupped her face and lowered his stance so he could be completely eye level, only inches away from her bright blue eyes.
"Abso-fucking-lutely. That asshole won't lay another finger on you. Not after I'm done with him."
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