What He Explores (What He Wants, Book Twenty-One) by Hannah Ford

calmly. “It is my business when cowardly men try to intimidate a young lady.”
    “Yeah, well suck my balls, faggot,” Marvin said, grabbing his crotch.
    I shook my head. “I’m leaving,” I said, starting toward my car. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. I felt scared and tired and completely undone.
    As I got closer to the car, I stopped and saw that the man had jumped off the back of the truck and was moving towards my three cousins.
    Shit.
    He was going to get himself beaten half to death.
    “If your parents didn’t teach you how to speak with respect, then I guess I’ll have to do it,” he said, removing his jacket and tossing it back toward his truck.
    “Please, don’t do this,” I said, knowing it was already too late.
    He turned to look at me, and now I was certain it was him. Even though I couldn’t see the telltale green eyes, I would have recognized that face anywhere, even half in darkness at night.
    Where had all his friends gone and why was he still here a couple of hours later, waiting in a dark parking lot?
    As he turned to look at me, my idiot cousins ran at him, all three at once.
    I shrieked.
    It was going to be horrible. I’d seen this play out before, only in the past someone had always been around to break up the violence. This time we were in an empty parking lot and I knew my cousins wouldn’t stop on my account.
    Suddenly, they converged on him.
    But in a matter of moments it became clear that this was different. This man wasn’t just an ordinary frat boy.
    I’d been wrong about him.
    Very wrong.
    He stepped back, dodged one of their clumsy punches and then attacked with a barrage of his own punches and kicks. Each blow that he threw was precise and intended to cause maximum carnage.
    He blasted Devin in the face with two quick punches, and Devin fell down on the concrete like a sack of bricks, completely still.
    Blake tried to grab a hold of Green Eyes, but the stranger easily broke away from Blake’s clutches, pivoted and threw a powerful kick that landed in Blake’s midsection. Blake fell backwards and crashed through some bushes.
    Now it was just Green Eyes and Marvin.
    “You like calling women names?” the man said.
    “Hey, just—chill out,” Marvin said. “You can chill, man. We get the point.”
    “Not yet you don’t,” he said, and then he leaned forward and head butted Marvin, and Marvin’s nose exploded in a fountain of blood as he collapsed to the ground and writhed in pain.
    The man turned and walked toward me quickly. “You okay?” he asked. He wasn’t even breathing heavily.
    I nodded, too frightened to talk.
    “Good,” he said, giving me that strange grin. “What’s your name?” he asked, sounding casual, as if he hadn’t just dealt out devastating violence to my three cousins, who were even now in various states of distress.
    “I’m Caeli,” I said, swallowing. Even after all of the madness, I was still struck by his gorgeous good looks. Nobody that good looking should be able to fight like that, I decided.
    It seemed almost against the laws of physics.
    “My name’s Zack. Zack Wild,” he said, offering his hand.
    I reached out and he took my hand in his, surprising me with his gentleness. “Hi, Zack,” I said. “I think you should probably go or you’ll be arrested.”
    He smiled and laughed a little. “Probably right.” He held my hand a bit longer and I felt the heat spiral up my hand and through my arm. “Caeli what?” he said, cocking an eyebrow.
    “I shouldn’t—“
    “That’s okay,” he said, letting go. “I get it.” And then he turned and walked back to his pickup truck.
    “It’s Caeli Powers,” I called out, just before he got inside.
    He stopped, gave a quick nod, and then opened the door of his truck and got inside. He drove away from the scene only a couple of minutes before the police arrived.

    Z ACK
    Waiting outside for that girl had been stupid. I’d sensed that she was going to bring me