Page 85 of My Craving

I’m sure he believes that. He has several inches and a hell of a lot of weight on me, and men have been looking at my size and deciding what I can handle for most of my life. I drop my weight instead of fighting his grip, drive my heel onto his foot and throw my head backward hard enough to catch his face. His hold loosens when he grunts, and I turn into him, changing the angle enough to wrench my arm free.

Adrian swings before I can get any distance between us. His fist catches my jaw and knocks me backward into a chair, sending pain through the side of my face. I stay on my feet, but he grabs the back of my jacket when I turn toward Duncan’s voice and tries to drag me away again. This time I turn with the pull, drive my elbow into his ribs and bring my knee up between his legs hard enough to make him release me.

The ballroom is chaos around us. People try to reach the exits while hotel staff and security push them back, and the emergency lights leave everything above knee level in shadow. I hear Duncan shouting my name, but Adrian is already coming at me again. He gets both arms around me and tries to lift me, dragging me another step toward the corridor before I manage to get my feet beneath me. Whatever he and Alina planned, getting me through that door is obviously part of it, and I fight harder when he tries to pull me that way again.

I duck beneath one of his arms and turn into him, driving my shoulder into his chest while he’s still moving toward me. His own momentum carries him backward into the table behind us, tipping it hard enough to send glasses and plates crashing to the floor. I get away from him and turn toward Duncan’s voice as he pushes through the people between us.

He reaches me seconds later and runs his hands over my shoulders and chest before cupping my jaw. His thumb brushes the spot where Adrian hit me, and I flinch.

“I’m okay. He hit me once, but that’s it. He was trying to get me through the west corridor.”

Duncan pulls me against his side as he looks toward the overturned table. I follow his gaze, expecting Adrian to still be there, but he’s already disappeared into the crowd.

Taylor reaches us a few seconds later, and Duncan tells him Adrian tried to force me into the west corridor before I got away. Taylor immediately relays the information to his team while scanning the people moving around us.

Duncan keeps one arm around me as he searches for the rest of his family. Kieran has Alessia with him near the stage, and Conor and Jaxon are together several yards away. I find Declan next, but the people moving between us make it harder to see Xavier. Then the crowd shifts, and I spot him.

Declan has Xavier tucked against his side when a surge of people pushes toward the nearest exit. One of the hotel security guards steps in front of them, trying to redirect the crowd, and Xavier gets forced around him while Declan is shoved the opposite way. Declan immediately reaches for him, but two people move between them before he can get his hand back on Xavier.

It only puts a few feet between them, but Adrian is already there.

“Duncan.” The second he follows my gaze, the emergency lights catch the blade in Adrian’s hand.

Duncan shouts Declan’s name as Adrian grabs the back of Xavier’s jacket and jerks him backward. Declan tries to push through the people separating them while Xavier twists around and catches Adrian’s wrist before he can bring the knife down. Duncan starts toward them too, but I’m on the same side of the crowd as Xavier and have a clear path to him.

Xavier has both hands around Adrian’s wrist now, fighting to keep the knife away from him. I shove past the last person between us and hit Adrian from the side with everything I have.

The impact knocks Xavier away and sends Adrian stumbling sideways with me. His knife hand drops between us, and before I can get enough distance, he drives it into my side.

For a second, all I feel is the force of it. Then Adrian yanks the knife out, and a burning pain tears through my side so fast my knees almost give beneath me. Xavier is only a few feet away, trying to get back to Declan, and Adrian still has the knife in his hand.

I grab Adrian’s wrist with both hands when he tries to raise it again. Blood is already soaking through my shirt, hot against my skin, and the pain gets worse every time he twists against my grip. I hold on long enough to drive my forehead into his face, and his fingers finally open.

The knife hits the carpet just as Taylor reaches us. He drives Adrian face-first to the floor while another security man grabs his arm, and Taylor kicks the knife out of reach before Adrian can get anywhere near it again.

I try to step backward, but my leg gives beneath me. Duncan catches me before I hit the floor and lowers me to the carpet with one arm around my back. The second he sees the blood soaking through my shirt, his hand covers the wound and presses down hard enough to pull a sharp breath from me.

“Nash, look at me.” His voice is rough, nothing like the controlled tone he usually has even when everything around him is going to shit. His hands are steady, though, one keeping pressure against my side while the other comes up to my face. “Keep your eyes on me. The paramedics are coming.”

I wrap my hand around his wrist while another wave of pain moves through my side. Breathing is starting to hurt, and the noise around us feels farther away than it did a few seconds ago, but Duncan is right in front of me.

“I’m okay, Daddy.”

His jaw tightens as he leans closer, keeping his hand firmly over the wound. “Stay with me, mo sholas.”

Xavier drops to his knees beside us with Declan right behind him. There’s blood smeared across the front of Xavier’s shirt, and for a second I think Adrian got him too until I realize it’s mine from when I knocked him out of the way. Declan apparently hasn’t made that connection yet because his hands move over Xavier’s chest and sides, checking him even while Xavier tries to push them away.

“I’m not hurt.” Xavier catches one of Declan’s hands and holds it against his chest before looking at me. His face has gone pale. “You got between me and the knife.”

“I was trying to knock the asshole away from you. Getting stabbed wasn’t part of it.”

A shaky laugh escapes him, but it disappears almost as quickly as it came. Declan pulls Xavier closer until he’s tucked against his chest, one arm locked around him while he looks at me.

“Thank you.”

I understand why he’s saying it, but there wasn’t enough time for me to decide whether getting involved was worth the risk. I saw Adrian raise the knife while Xavier was fighting him, and my body was already moving.

“If that had been Duncan, you wouldn’t have stood there and watched someone hurt him either.”