Surrender 01 - Surrender

get dragged away from the dance floor. He would have loved to take out his irritation on the passing customer, who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    “What’s going on?” Shane asked as he placed his hand on Rafe’s shoulder. That move nearly got him knocked out.
    “She’s obviously drunk, passed out on her feet, and the bastard is taking advantage of her!”
    With Shane right behind him, Rafe quickly made his way across the club and followed Ari and the stranger, coming up to them just in time to hear the man speaking to his pals.
    “Hey, Chandler. Looks like you got another one.”
    “ Damn ! She’s smokin’.”
    “Yeah, if you liked the drugged-out look.”
    The four men started laughing as Chandler sent them a knowing glance, then headed for the back door. Rafe was right behind him. He followed them to the parking lot and saw the Chandler guy begin leading Ari to some run-down house behind the club.
    Over Rafe’s dead body.
    “I dialed the police. I don’t think this is the first time this creep has tried something like this.”
    Rafe turned to see Shane right next to him as they approached Chandler and Ari. Rafe nodded and then closed the gap.
    “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Rafe thundered as he grabbed the guy’s arm.
    “None of your damn business,” Chandler snapped as he tried to pick up his pace.
    “From what I overheard your friends saying, you drugged this woman and now plan to take her to your drug house to rape her.”
    “Who in the hell are you? You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is my girlfriend. She just had too much to drink tonight and I’m taking her home to sleep it off.”
    “Listen, jerkwad, if I were you, I’d hightail it inside without the girl and hide your sorry carcass because my friend is about to kick your ass all over this parking lot. I’m mighty inclined to give him a helping hand,” Shane said with a smile of anticipation.
    The guy’s eyes were darting around. Rafe could see he was trying to decide whether to fight for his victim or drop her and run like hell. Fear won out when he saw the fury in Rafe’s eyes and the determination in Shane’s. Chandler suddenly pushed Ari toward the two of them, then took off running to the shack.
    Rafe caught Ari just before she hit the hard pavement. He thought for one moment of setting her down and going after the punk , but when she groaned in his arms, he knew he wasn’t leaving her.
    Shane understood his friend’s dilemma and reassured him. “I’ll keep an eye on the place, make sure he doesn’t run for it. You take care of her. Just give me a call later and let me know if she’s OK,” he said before he walked to the ramshackle steps of the house and leaned against the rail, intently watching the door.
    “Ari? Ari, are you OK?” Rafe asked as he scooped her up into his arms and gently shook her. Slowly, her eyes came open, and it was obvious her vision was blurred as she squinted up at him. It took several moments for her to focus on his face.
    “Rafe? When did you get here?”
    Her hand came up and patted his cheek, her fingernails trailing down the side of his face before she smiled at him.
    “Mmm, you smell good,” she slurred.
    “What are you doing here?” he demanded.
    Her brows puckered as if she didn’t have any idea and it was a very difficult question for her to answer. “I…I can’t remember.”
    “I’m taking you home!”
    Rafe was furious. What was she doing at a club on a Friday? And how had she allowed herself to get into this position? If he hadn’t been there, she could have been getting violated at that very moment. This was why she should just accept his generous offer, he told himself. She clearly wasn’t able to protect herself on her own.
    He strode to his car and put her on the front seat, where she quickly passed out again. With an angry turn of his wrist he pulled out his phone and sent Shane a text message, asking to be informed the minute the guy was arrested. He wanted to make sure the scumbag was locked up for a while and, he hoped, never able to do this to another woman.
    Rafe started driving toward his home, then changed his mind. He’d never taken a woman there and he wasn’t going to start now. With a jerk of the wheel he turned down a side road and reversed the car, heading in the direction of her apartment.
    When he pulled up to her address, his eyes narrowed in disgust. Why would someone choose to live in such