her weigh
silence, the drunk's hand hung in the air an inch from his face, an
looked at the woman in the doorway the way a man looks at someon
g around her boots. She looked at exac
. He straightened, dropped h
re you? This is
d nuts from her pocket, shook
Security's going to drag you out of he
ce dropped, which was
from the
grinned. "You gonna protect the d
out without quite deciding to, ringing her the way men do who hav
hands closed o
tight. He had already decided that if one of them put a hand on her, he would kill the man with
see what she
an reached f
grab slide past, and caught his wr
g a crab. He went to his knees, screaming, and then he cou
r stopped mov
hooked a boot behind his ankle and put him
h of them. Her breat
wet, and she could not have told you if it was fear or relief or something he had d
so they were
you h
Slow. Careful. As
*, the fingers unsteady, and - God help her -
rubber grips. Her knuckles were scu
t you out
anything, and let
ng him, as though a man in a chair needed steadying on flat carpet. Her palm came to rest against the base
pulse was going l
der the curiosity, something warmer and a great deal less convenient - and on
did not intend to
k her h
and the coat she was wearing smelled like vanilla
tened themselves against
idre looked ove
ar him again, I'll brea
im out into
ay from the woman pushing his chair
minutes she had broken a man's shoulder for him and laid her hand on his throat,
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