Free Savage: a Fighter Erotic Romance Novella by Christine Elliott

take his arms and pin them behind his back.
    It made me shudder to see the light go out of his eyes.
    “Come,” Mitch ordered his men, turning from me.  “Let’s go.  We have some punishments to mete out.”  He turned on his heel and began walking away.
    I couldn’t handle it.
    “Wait!” I shouted at them as they started to leave.
    Luke looked over at me with a pained expression, but Mitch just smirked. 
    He tilted his head at me with a disgusting smile. 
    “Yes?”
    “Come back,” I growled.
    His smirk grew wider as Luke yelled at me to run.  Mitch strolled forward easily, a bounce in his step that was too lighthearted for the life-and-death situation that was going on.  He locked eyes with me as he approached, stopping only an inch or two from me.
    “And what do you have to say, dear?”
    I glared at him with my most murderous face.
    “You can’t leave with him.”
    Mitch and his men erupted into thunderous laughter.  Luke’s face grew even more pained, and I could see him begging me to run with his eyes.  But I couldn’t move. 
    I had to do this.  It was Luke’s only chance. 
    It was my only chance.
    “Because you forgot something,” I said weakly, pulling myself up to my full height.  Mitch gained an amused expression, leaning forward so that he filled every inch of my space.  I could feel his disgustingly hot breath on my neck and remembered what he had said before.
    It made me hate him even more.
    “And that would be?” he asked lazily, putting his face so close to mine that our noses were just a millimeter apart.
    I looked him in the eye, suddenly unafraid.
    I was going to do this, I realized.  I had nothing left to lose.
    “Those darts still have serum in them, you son of a bitch,” I hissed as I plunged the one I had hidden in my pocket deep into his chest.
    Time stood still for a moment as everyone realized what happened.
    In an instant, Mitch grasped at his chest as his men started roaring and screaming.  Mitch’s eyes grew wide as he realized how far I had buried the dart into his heart.  He would have no time—the serum was already pumping through his body in every vein. 
    And there was so much that a direct hit to his heart was deadly.  We both knew it.
    His eyes turned dark as they slid onto me.
    “You little bitch,” he seethed.
    He reached out an arm to grab me by the hair, but I had learned a thing or two watching them fight.  I dodged it and began to run under his arm. 
    “Luke, run!” I screamed as Mitch grabbed me by the arm.  He twisted it sharply behind my back and I gasped and winced in pain.
    “You … little … bitch!” Mitch screamed, throwing me against the wall.
    “Don’t touch her,” Luke roared.  I watched him thrash so violently against the men that held him that they were thrown off of him.  He began charging forward as Mitch stalked to me. 
    “I … will tear you … to … pieces,” Mitch rasped.  I saw his hands shake.  His breathing had become labored.  The serum was already taking hold.  He leapt forward to grab me by the neck, but his movements were just slow enough that I could escape it.
    Before he could reach for me again, Luke grabbed him by the neck and forced him up to look him in the eye.  Mitch stared at him with pure venom in his gaze.
    “You will never touch her again,” Luke growled.
    “I … I….”
    I watched as Mitch went limp in his arms. 
    There was a moment of silence.
    Luke turned to the men behind us and looked each of them in the eye.
    “Do any of you want to challenge me?”
    They were silent.
    “Do any of you really think you can take me?  Do you think it’s worth it?”
    Still silence.
    “Good.  Now get the fuck out of here before I decide to punish you for what you’ve done.”  He snarled those last words with a curl in his lip and a deadly look in his eye.
    Without wasting another moment, the men took off, leaving us alone in the middle of the alley.  I watched as the last of them