Winter Kisses by A.C. Arthur Page B

began kicking, her arms flailing, slapping against him. She wanted to scream but no sound came from her mouth. All she knew was that she had to get away, to keep him away. He wasn’t going to do this to her, she wouldn’t let him, not ever again.
    When her palm connected with his cheek, her knee barely missing his groin, Alex knew something had happened. They’d gone from a sensual foot rub to something he couldn’t explain. Her eyes were closed so for a second he thought maybe she was asleep. But no, she’d been with him just a minute ago. Moaning and panting, wanting his touch as desperately as he’d wanted to touch her. Then she’d gone buck wild. Instincts had him catching her wrists before she could slap him again. He half rolled off her just to get out of the line of fire of her flailing legs, but he held her wrists. He gave her a shake until her eyes opened. Alex wasn’t pleased with what he saw.
    â€œGet away from me! Let me go!” she yelled.
    He recognized fear when he saw it and figured the best thing to do was to gain back a level of trust. It was obvious she was mistaking him for someone else but she wasn’t up to hearing that right now. So Alex let her go, got to his knees then stood watching as she scrambled across the floor, putting distance between them. When she finally stood he took a step toward her.
    â€œNo!” She held out both arms to stop his procession.
    â€œJust take a couple deep breaths,” he instructed her from where he stood. “You’re not there anymore, baby. You’re here with me.”
    She was shaking her head, her long hair swishing and wrapping around her shoulders like a cloak. “I won’t go there again. I won’t.”
    â€œYou don’t have to,” he said with rage so raw his throat felt scratchy. He wanted to touch her, to wrap his arms around her until she felt safe again. Instead he took one tentative step toward her.
    â€œI can’t do this,” she whispered, her hands covering her face.
    Alex was beside her now, reaching out to touch a hand to her shoulder. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now. I won’t let him hurt you.”
    More like he’d kill the sonofabitch if he even thought about putting a hand on her again. Because Alex knew this fear, he knew that look she’d had in her eyes, the fight-or-flight way she’d gotten the hell away from him. That look would be permanently etched in his mind after seeing the way his last secretary looked every morning after her husband had beat her. Every morning except the one when she hadn’t come in to work, because the jerk had finally killed her.
    Now he was seeing it again and hating it even more because this time it was Monica. Everything in him wanted to fight, to kill, to claim this woman from the man who’d terrorized her—the bastard who’d hit her.
    â€œNo,” she said without the punch her voice had held before. She took another step away from him and looked up at him, not bothering to fix her hair or stand in that ramrod-straight way she normally did with her chin held high.
    What she looked right at this very moment was defeated and still afraid, maybe not of him but of what she’d remembered, what she’d thought might be happening to her again.
    â€œI need to get out of here. I need to go home.”
    â€œBaby, listen to me—”
    â€œI’m not your baby,” she said defiantly. “I’m nobody’s baby.”
    Alex nodded. “Monica.”
    â€œDon’t, Alex. I’m not doing this with you. None of this. Let’s just forget about the last couple of days, forget we were stranded here. Just forget it all.”
    â€œI can’t do that” was his honest reply.
    â€œThen that’s your problem,” she said before turning and running into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
    He wanted to go after her, wanted to demand she open the