A man.
He deftly caught the small pup and cradled the trembling dog against his black leather-clad chest. His big hands gently soothed the puppy with long strokes down its back.
The man was tall, well over six feet, wearing black leather down to his heavy boots. The ebony hair curling at the edge of his collar needed a trim and a few days growth of beard shadowed his square jaw. Tiny brackets edged his mouth and weathered little creases outlined his eyes.
But it was those dark orbs that sent her pulse into shock.
Though he stared down Tyler, she saw the hard glint of rage shining from the fathomless depths of his black eyes.
Tall, dark and dangerous. Nothing but trouble there.
Claire resisted the urge to back away. She’d learned long ago that she was susceptible to the kind of guy that sent good girls scrambling for cover. Claire wasn’t a good girl; she’d done some horrible things in the past. Things she was ashamed of. But she’d turned her life around and wasn’t about to backslide.
Tyler scowled. “Hey, mister, that’s mine.”
“Not anymore.” Anger punctuated the stranger’s words. His accent wasn’t from the Pacific Northwest.
He thrust the butterball of a dog into Claire’s arms. His gaze flicked over her before once again settling on Tyler. Claire shivered at the fury in those impenetrable eyes.
She cuddled the puppy close. Its heart hammered against its little ribs. She met Tyler’s fierce glare. Animosity glowed bright in his eyes. She wasn’t winning any points with the kid. A long, tough road stretched ahead if she wanted to help him. But she was up to the challenge.
“Time for you to leave, little boy,” the man said. A command, not a suggestion.
She groaned into the puppy’s fur. Not the thing to say to a teenage boy who was trying to grow up too fast. Was the man deliberately trying to provoke Tyler? A quick glance at the tall stranger confirmed what she feared. His expression dared Tyler to react.
Tyler’s chin jutted out in a mutinous gesture. “Who’s going to make me?”
The man didn’t move a muscle, didn’t say a word, but the charged silence crackled with suppressed hostility.
He’d have no trouble taking on an undernourished fifteen-year-old, even one with the attitude of Godzilla. Why was the man still so enraged now that the puppy was safe?
Beside her, Mindy shuffled her feet, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Wide-eyed, Tyler’s friend looked between the intimidating man and Tyler. His hunched shoulders and the way he edged away from Tyler told Claire that the blonde would bolt at the first sign of a fight.
The fire in Tyler’s eyes slowly turned to fear as the man stood there waiting, his expression intense and unyielding. She held her breath, hoping Tyler would take heed of his own internal warning system and leave.
He didn’t.
“I’m not going. Not without the dog.” Tyler’s voice quivered slightly.
“You might want to rethink that idea.”
The steely edge in the man’s voice sent a ripple of concern down Claire’s spine. Time for damage control. She couldn’t let this male posturing go any further. Tyler was just a boy trying to survive in the world.
She stepped toward the stranger and laid a hand on his arm. The leather-clad muscles of his forearm bunched beneath her palm and shot little sparks of heat up her arm to settle in the middle of her chest.
Her hand tightened.
For a tense moment she thought the man wouldn’t back down, but then he turned his gaze on her. The burning anger in his eyes slowly drained. Stark, vivid torment filled his expression.
Aching compassion welled within her, making the need to heal, to offer comfort, tangible. She’d seen the haunted expression before, in the faces of teens who’d confronted the unimaginable and survived. But glimpsing the wounded soul of this man made tears sting the back of her eyes.
His eyes widened slightly, giving her the distinct impression that he’d somehow glimpsed her thoughts. Invaded her mind. She blinked rapidly, using her unshed tears as a shield against the threat of this man who twisted her up inside and made her forget to breathe.
Abruptly, he turned away, fixing his attention back on Tyler and giving her a moment to catch her breath. His body language relaxed slightly, giving her the signal that she could remove her hand from his arm. She did, her hand immediately turning cold.
“Go. Just go.” The tired, ancient sound of the man’s voice gave testament to the pain she’d seen in his eyes. “And don’t come back.”
Claire opened her mouth to protest, to say she wanted the teens to come, to know that they’d always be accepted at The Zone. But she met Tyler’s gaze and the words died in her throat.
Hatred gleamed from his gray eyes. He brought his hand up and made a slicing motion across his throat. The stranger stiffened, all semblance of relaxation vanishing.
Tyler curled his lip and backed up. “Come on, let’s blow this dump,” he said, his chin jutting out once again.
Relief showed on the other boy’s face. “Yeah, this is boring.” He didn’t waste time retreating, gaining a large lead on Tyler as he headed west toward one end of the park.
Tyler kept backing up, his gaze darting between the man and Claire. “Mindy, let’s go.”
Claire put a hand on Mindy’s slender arm. “You don’t have to go. I can help you.”
Mindy chewed her lip, her young face pale, scared. Indecision shone in her blue eyes.
“Mindy!” Tyler’s demand made the girl jump.
“Don’t go,” Claire implored.
The puppy squirmed in her grasp and she loosened her hold. Mindy twirled her long, dirty brown hair around a finger, gave Claire an apologetic grimace and scurried after Tyler.
As Tyler’s arm settled around Mindy in a gesture that Claire knew all too well, heaviness descended on Claire’s shoulders. Billy had possessed her like that. Made her his property. She shuddered and repressed the memory. She was never going to allow herself to be that needy again.
“Lord, please protect Mindy,” she murmured the prayer aloud.
Claire snuggled the puppy and turned to thank the stranger, but he’d walked away. His long legs carried him in the opposite direction of the teens, toward the parking lot at the east end of the park. The pocket-size Bible sticking out of his back pocket snagged her attention. Interesting.
She hurried after him, not wanting him to disappear without thanking him. In this day and age, not many people would have come to her aid.
“Hey, wait,” she called.
He paused, glancing over his shoulder. When she caught up to him, he arched a black brow. His expression was less intimidating now, more playful. She swallowed.
Her first impression that he was good-looking had been marred by the anger hardening his features. She realized he was beyond good-looking and sliding straight toward gorgeous. Everything inside went on alert, like the quills of a porcupine sensing danger.
He raised both brows. Heat crept into her cheeks. “I wanted to say thank you.”
“No big deal.”
The soft rumble of his voice vibrated through her, sending tingles along her nerve endings.
He started forward again and she doubled her steps to match his lengthy stride. “But it was a big deal to this little guy…and to me.”
One