Broken but not lost

Chapter 3, BRIAR

This man holds me by my waist outside of the lobby until I've calmed down. Which feels like forever when all you're fueled by is rage.

He finally loosens his grip and asks me in a deep voice, "Can I let you go now or will you just run back to the kid with a broken nose?"

"If his nose was the only thing I broke then you might be chasing me if you let go." I respond, craning my neck, trying to see him.

"Trust me, I think you succeeded in breaking more than that. Including maybe a finger or two." He lets go with one of his hands and grabs my left hand, bringing it up to see it.

Swollen. Bloody. Maybe I did.

He releases me and without hesitating I whip myself around to see him.

He's taller than I thought he would be, I tilt my head up to see his face. He has dark hair that gently curls at the top, and beautiful, beautiful green eyes, and a tattoo peeking out on his neck, just above his shirt, then running down his arm. He looks at me through dark lashes and raises a brow as his eyes trail down me as well.

"Who are you." I ask.

"Sit." He completely ignores me, pointing to a fallen stone from the crumbling building.

I scoff. "No. You either answer my question or I do what I'd prefer and go get my necklace and beat up Kai some more."

Before I can even turn, he takes his hand up from his pocket in a swift motion and then holds it in the air. And there, of course, dangling from his large fist, is my necklace.

"H- How—"

"I took it from the ground before I carried you this way. Saw the whole thing, by the way. Yeah, the whole 'reaching into the fire' wasn't the smartest idea." He interrupts and then puts my necklace back into his pocket.

"I don't care if it was a good idea. I don't care if it hurt my hand or burnt me. I don't care if it took my whole arm. I wasn't losing that necklace." I take a step forwards, attempting to reach into is pocket and take it back.

He yanks my wrist away from his pants, pulling me towards him but keeping me from getting my necklace. "Sit." He commands once more. I widen my eyes, infuriated. "It did burn you. And you did break a finger or two. So... sit." He speaks firmly, clenching his unnaturally sharp jaw.

"You can't tell me what to do. No one tells me what to do. I don't even know you." I try and yank my hand free but he doesn't even budge. I use my other hand, hitting his wrist but he only grabs mine with his free hand and pulls me closer to him, chest against chest.

We're so close I feel his body heat, and his breath on my skin. I look up to him with my eyes, he's already staring down at me with a tilted head and a fire in his eyes.

I could hit him the groin and run and he wouldn't see it coming. Part of me wanted to. The other part liked being this close to someone when I'm not hitting them.

He walks towards me, making me walk backwards. My legs hit stone, I lose my balance and fall. Now I'm sitting on the stone he told me to sit on a minute ago.

Asshole.

* * *
_______

Hey guys, sorry if these chapters are a little short. They'll get longer as I go along but I'm still new to this and trying to figure out how much to write. But for now, enjoy and thanks for reading!