Fight for Me Read Online Free PDF

backpack.
    He took a deep breath and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. An uncomfortable feeling rose within him, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Fear.
He didn’t want to send her in there alone, but there was no better option.
    “I’ll wait around the side of the building. If you run into any trouble,
anything
at all, just scream and I’ll be there.”
    She nodded, her eyes wide and trusting. She let out a little breathy laugh and put on a brave smile. “It can’t get much worse, right?”
    She leaned into him, taking him by surprise for a second. Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body close. He didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse to have met her in these circumstances.
    He put his face in her hair and smelled the faint scent of strawberries, which momentarily overrode all that surrounded them. Blessing, he decided. Definitely a blessing.
    His eyes focused on her slightly parted lips, then shifted up to her eyes. They widened for a split second before her eyelids closed and her body shifted imperceptibly closer.
    Then he crushed his mouth to hers. She stiffened for just a moment, before yielding and letting her body form to his.
    He hadn’t planned to do it, but God, looking at her with her brave smile to cover her fear, how could he not? She had to feel an inkling of what he did.
    She clung to him, matching his urgency with her own. They were both in the moment, alive in the here and now, like they weren’t in an impossibly fucked-up situation.
    She pulled away, and her chest heaved as she breathed deeply. Her lips were slightly swollen and red, making him want to pull her to him again.
    There will be time for that later,
he promised himself. That promise was the only thing that kept him in place as she crossed traffic and into the motel lobby, out of his sight.

    Getting a room key was easy. The clerk was more interested in watching reruns of
Maury
than getting a good look at her. The woman had handed her an actual metal key and not a key card. Natalie didn’t even know there were hotels that still used real keys, but apparently this one did.
    She emerged from the hotel office, and her protector was waiting for her along the side of the building as promised. When his eyes locked with hers, some of the tension left them. He was obviously relieved to see her again.
    He had the opposite effect on her—she became tense, but for a very different reason.
    He took her breath away.
    He would be good-looking under any circumstances, but what could she say? The fierce protective look on his face made him her warrior. He had a presence about him that captivated her. He was wild, dangerous, and unlike anyone she’d ever met. She should run from him as soon as she knew it was safe.
    But she wouldn’t. She didn’t want to, and she didn’t think she could.
    “What room?” he asked.
    “One-oh-seven.”
    They walked swiftly to the door. The metal seven had fallen off the door, but someone had drawn it on with a Sharpie. Natalie inserted the key into the lock while he kept watch, shielding her body with his own. When she opened the door, a strong, musty scent spilled from the room.
    She hurried inside and he closed the door behind them. The room was dingy, with outdated wallpaper and scratchy polyester bedspreads. The security lock was broken, so he moved the dresser in front of the door while she drew the curtains tightly closed.
    She whirled around to face him, suddenly feeling shy. She didn’t even know his name.
    He walked the perimeter of the room, watching her, reminding her of a caged tiger: stunning, untamed, and threatening.
    “Who are you?” she ventured bravely.
    “Knox,” he said simply.
    “Knox? Knox what?”
    “Just Knox.” He propped himself against the edge of the dresser and crossed him arms over his chest, saying nothing. Watching her.
    “I’m Natalie,” she said, her fingers toying with the simple moon-shaped pendant on her necklace.