Free Fight for Me by Jessica Linden Page A

will defend you with everything I have.”
    He pulled her to him, feeling the rise and fall of her breasts against his chest. He touched his lips to hers, tasting her, letting his tongue explore her mouth.
    A purring sound emanated in her throat, and his dick hardened.
    I will protect her.
    Until he was sure she was safe, he wouldn’t be separated from her unless it was over his dead body. And even after she was safe . . . he’d deal with that part later. Natalie deserved more than a fuck-up like him.
    A sharp knock at the door had Knox pulling away and putting his body in front of Natalie’s.
    “It’s probably just housekeeping,” Natalie whispered hopefully.
    Another knock at the door sounded, this one more insistent. “Police! Open up!”
    Natalie clutched Knox’s arms. “Shit. That’s the only door.”
    “Window,” he said. He quickly ripped the lamp’s plug out of the wall and wrapped a towel around its base. Then he used it to smash the glass pane.
    “
Police! We’re coming in!
”
    The knocking at the door turned into banging as they worked at breaking the door down.
    Natalie already had her backpack on and held Knox’s bag. He grabbed it from her and tossed it out the window. He laced his fingers together to boost her up.
    “Go.”
    She stepped into his hands and shimmied through the window, inhaling sharply as a shard of glass caught her arm.
    The banging at the door rattled the hinges on the door frame. The police were almost through.
    As soon as Natalie’s feet were through the window, Knox pulled himself up just as two uniformed police officers burst into the room. They pointed their guns at him.
    “Freeze!”
    With one final glance at the black metal of the guns, Knox slid out the window to the alley below. He took his bag from Natalie and grabbed her hand, cursing at the wet blood on her palm. “Run!”
    They took off at a sprint down the back alley, and Knox tipped over a few trash cans along the way to make it harder for the cops to follow them. The first one had made it through the window.
    “Stop or I’ll shoot!” The officer’s voice was shaky and a glance back at him told Knox he was a rookie. Luck was finally on their side. Despite the officer’s warning, he wasn’t likely to deploy his weapon.
    They turned the corner, and Knox took them down another alley to a side street, stopping at a boarded-up basement-level storefront. They quickly descended the half-flight of cracked concrete stairs. There was just enough room for him to fit his fingers under the board and pull it up. He kicked at the rusty lock several times, and when it broke free, Natalie yanked it off the hasp and pulled the door open. Knox followed her in and replaced the board from the inside as best he could. A close inspection would reveal it had been tampered with, but they’d have to take their chances.
    Just seconds after the door was closed behind them, the
thud-thud-thud
of the officers’ boots slapped on the sidewalk just outside the window at their shoulder level.
    Natalie breathed heavily, holding her arm that was streaked with blood. Knox took a second to catch his breath, then unzipped his bag to retrieve his first-aid kit. The sight of the officers’ boots outside the window made him pause.
    There was static and a muffled voice from a radio.
    “Yes, sir,” the officer responded. “We’ll canvass the area. Someone had to have seen them.”
    The officers took off on foot and Knox breathed a little easier.
    Until he inspected Natalie’s arm.
    Goddammit.
The gash there was about three inches long and looked deep. He turned her hand and found a shard of glass in her palm. He pulled it out and she winced, tears filling her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her neck and put his lips to her forehead, hating himself for causing her pain.
    “Sorry,” she said. “I should have been more careful.”
    “It’s not your fault.” He wanted to say it was his fault, that he should have made a cleaner break of