Nicole’s heartbeat quickened. If this asshole hurt her in any way, Sean would tear him limb from limb, and things would go sideways. Fast.
Pasting a terrified look on her face, she spoke in a tremulous voice. “Marge said—”
His grip tightened painfully. “Marge is sleeping and won’t hear a thing.”
Was she really? Or was he bullshitting?
Nicole opened her mouth and called, “Mar—!”
The hand on her face swiftly shifted to cover her mouth. “You stupid bitch,” he hissed. “If you want someone here to be your friend, let’s see how much you like being mine.” His gaze dropped to her chest.
As soon as his free hand reached toward her breasts, Nicole clenched Nick’s phone tightly and drove it up into Kent’s chin as hard as she could.
Kent grunted as the device made contact. His head jerked up. Stumbling backward, he raised a hand to his mouth.
“Kent?” Rylan called, sounding more alert. “What’re you doing? You okay?”
When Kent drew his fingers away from his mouth, they were slick with blood. “I bit my thongue,” he cried incredulously. Face mottling, he glared down at her. “You bith!” Drawing back his arm, he swung.
Nicole tried to dodge to the side, but the seatbelt left her little maneuvering room. Pain exploded through her head as his fist made contact. It wasn’t as hard a hit as it would’ve been if she hadn’t tried to avoid it, but it still hurt like hell and rang her bell.
“Damn it, Kent!” Rylan hissed.
Momentarily stunned, Nicole raised a hand to her head. She’d thought he meant to slap her. Instead, the bastard had punched her!
Her eyes widened.
Wait. He had punched her?
She glanced at Sean
His brown eyes flashed with amber fire. The muscles in his arms bulged. The zip ties snapped and fell away.
Oh crap.
Sean rocketed from his seat. Several thuds and yelps sounded before Nicole could even register that he and Kent weren’t beside her anymore. She turned to peek around the high back of her chair.
Kent was down on his hands and knees in the aisle, blood gushing from his nose and mouth as he wheezed and gasped for air. Sean tore through the rest of the cabin like the Tasmanian Devil. One of the unnamed hired goons collapsed to the floor in front of the big-screen television, his face a mangled mess from Sean’s punches. The other slumped onto the sofa.
Neither moved, but she didn’t think they were dead.
While explosions played out on the television screen, Sean knocked out Rylan, who had leaped to his feet.
Kent drew a handgun from the back of his pants.
Sean pounced and knocked it out of his hand.
Wow. Sean proceeded to beat the crap out of the taller man.
No match for Sean’s enhanced speed or strength, Kent couldn’t even call for help. It was like watching one of David’s cats toy with a mouse it had caught.
Well, she thought with satisfaction, the dumbass shouldn’t have laid a hand on me.
Sean yanked the battered man back against his chest and sank his fangs into his neck. Kent’s eyes, already beginning to swell, widened as much as they could, then closed. His struggles ceased.
Nicole unbuckled her seatbelt and rose. Still clutching Sean’s phone, she stepped into the aisle. When a sudden bout of dizziness struck, she grabbed the seat headrest with her free hand to steady herself.
Sean dropped Kent, stepped over his prone form, and strode forward. As soon as he was within reach, he swept her into a tight hug. “Are you okay?” he asked hoarsely.
The raw emotion in his voice made her want to cry. Wrapping her arms around him, she rested her head on his chest. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
She nodded. “I didn’t expect him to punch me. I thought he would slap me.”
Loosening his hold, Sean allowed just enough space between them to look down at her. “I should’ve taken him out sooner.”
“That wasn’t the plan.”
“You getting hurt wasn’t the plan either,” he countered furiously.
No. But they’d all known it was a possibility. “Honestly,” she said, hoping to quell his anger, “I expected Rylan or one of the others to step in.” When he opened his mouth, she held up a hand. “Quietly, please. We don’t want to wake Marge. And my head is killing me.”
Worry furrowed his brow. “Marge isn’t sleeping.” Gently taking her by the chin, he encouraged her to look away so he could study the side of her head. He brushed the hair above her ear up without touching the place where Kent’s fist had made contact. “He didn’t break the skin. But this is going to swell.”
“It was more of a glancing blow.”
“If I had my blades, I’d cut his fucking hand off.”
She smiled.
Releasing her chin, he tunneled his fingers through her hair and felt the back of her head.
When he touched the place where the football had struck her, she winced. “Yeah, that hurts.”
Several more curses poured forth. “There’s a lump. Do you have a concussion?”
“I don’t think so. I’m a little dizzy. But that’s probably from whatever drug they gave me, because I’m still not thinking quickly.”
He cupped her face in his hands. Smoothing his thumbs over her cheeks, he studied her carefully. “Your pupils are dilated.”
“That explains the blurry vision.”
The amber light in his eyes brightened. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Who, Kent?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you won’t hear any objections from me. If Marge hadn’t insisted on buckling my seatbelt, he would’ve groped me. I saw it in his eyes.”
A growl escaped Sean as he turned to face the downed man.
Nicole grabbed his arm. “Hold on there, tiger. That can wait. Right now, we have a situation.” She motioned to the unconscious men, all of whom still lived. “We’ve gone and messed up the plan again.”
“We didn’t.” He pointed at Kent. “He did.”
“True. So what now, George?” She forced a smile. “By the way, could you have worked any more Britishisms into your speech?”
He laughed. “No. Those were all I had.”
She would’ve shaken her head if it didn’t ache so much. “Where did you even learn so many?”
“Network headquarters. One of the med techs is British. And Bastien spouts them every once in a while.”
Nicole took in the splayed bodies and spattering of blood. “Well, crap.”
“No one will blame us for this.”
“I know.” Even the special ops team had been told to step in if it looked like she was in danger. “Wait. Marge isn’t sleeping?”
“No. After she left, Marge made some calls, just like she said.”
“You could hear that over the engine noise and the television?”
“Yes.”
She studied him. “And?”
“They weren’t going to torture me to get you to talk.”
“Good.”
“They were going to torture you to get me to talk.”
“What?”
“I was more convincing than I thought when I told them I was tight with Nick. They figured I knew whatever you did and thought hurting you in front of me would get them the answers they needed faster.”