Pierce

Chapter Six

Pierce~

Pierce rode his emotional high through the night, unable to sleep, unable to forget the feel of Natalie's soft skin. His body was fighting against him, clinging to thoughts of Natalie as he restlessly tossed and turned. Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Pierce threw on some sweats over his boxers and headed into his living room. He mindlessly flipped through the TV channels, hoping to find something semi-interesting on at 1:00am when a sudden motion at the window stole his attention.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as a shadowy figure passed, stalling right outside the window before moving toward the front door. With his eyes trained on the door Pierce slowly and silently reached for the gun that was secured under his coffee table and rose to his feet. His steps were slow and calculated as he moved across the room without making a sound and positioned himself with his back to the door frame. Feeling his adrenaline spike he used it as fuel to focus through the silence and ready himself for the assailant outside.

A noise caught him off guard and he scrunched his face in confusion.

Was that a knock?

Normally he knew better than to check the peephole or position himself in front of the door at all, but what kind of a hit man knocks on the damn door?

His eyes went wide as he focused through the lense and he threw open the door as fast as he could.

"Natalie?"

Her cowered posture and tear stained cheeks were the first things to grab his attention as he looked her up and down, still in disbelief that she was at his door.

"I'm so sorry. I know this is an intrusion, but I didn't have your number...I was just packing up my stuff at Kenneth's and we got in a huge fight...I didn't know where else to go...I thought maybe..." her words were falling out of her mouth faster than Pierce could piece them together.

"Natalie." He said her name gently to stop her rambling and to get her inside.

"I'm glad you're here. Come in and tell me what happened, sweetheart."

He planted his hand high on the door jam creating enough space for her to pass underneath and gestured with his head toward his apartment for her to enter. She complied instantly, walking under his arm and into this living room with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"How did you know where I lived?" he asked, not minding the intrusion, but genuinely interested in how she found him.

She bit her lip nervously before answering, which under any other circumstance would have been sexy as hell.

"I uh...looked up your account at Luxe. Your driver's license is on file...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I know that was such an invasion of your privacy and it was wrong. It was really wrong..."

Her frantic rambling and relentless apologies, tugged at Pierce's heart strings, making him want to wrap her up in a tight hug and hold her until she calmed down.

"Natalie it's okay..." he soothed as he stepped forward, placing his hands on her arms in an effort to comfort her.

Flinching beneath his hands, she yanked her arms away, stumbling backwards to evade him.

The sudden movement of her tiny body was jarring and took Pierce by surprise, but as she stepped backward into the faint blue light of the TV, her fearful reaction started to make more sense.

Taking advantage of the light illuminating her face, Pierce studied her from head to toe, connecting the dots on his own of what had transpired at Kenneth's house. One of her cheeks was swollen with a bruise starting to form and the collar of her t-shirt was stretched and torn.