Lockdown by Cher Carson

even want to think about it.
    “He said he wanted to what? Tell me.”
    His voice was deceptively soft and gentle, but she knew he was on the verge of snapping. She couldn’t avoid his inquisition; she might as well get it over with. “Fuck me, okay?” she whispered. Thinking back to the way he said it… his hands were all over her, backing her into a corner. She trembled just thinking about it. No one had ever manhandled her that way before. The guys in their hometown knew they would have both Tucker and Jake on their doorstep faster than they could blink if they ever pulled a stunt like that. No one wanted to borrow that kind of trouble, especially when it came with a license to pack heat.
    He closed his eyes as he muttered a curse. “Did he put his hands on you?”
    She swallowed, praying he would see how difficult this was for her and grant her a reprieve.
    “Answer me, right now.”
    “He just… he…” She looked down, unable to look him in the eye. She knew Jake was blaming her for this. If she had taken his advice in the first place, this never would have happened. “He slipped his hand inside my bikini bottoms, pinched my nipples… hard.” Her voice broke on the last word. She’d tried to push Noah away, told him not to touch her, but he wouldn’t listen. He was too drunk, too far gone to understand reason.
    “Son of a bitch,” Jake muttered, brushing past her.
    She grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”
    “I’m going to get my gun, and then I’m going to get his address from your brother. I need to pay that little prick a visit.”
    “No! Please, Jake, don’t.” She dug her nails into his rock hard biceps, unsure he even felt it. “My brother handled it. He’s not going to come back. Please, don’t go, just…” She needed to feel his arms around her. No one else knew what happened. She’d begged her brother not to tell their parents, and he reluctantly agreed, but not before he tore a strip off her about inviting trouble. “Will you just hold me, please?” She hated burdening him with her problems, he had enough of his own to deal with, but Jake had always been her rock, her safe place to land.
    Reluctantly, he pulled her into his arms, lifting her off the ground as he clutched her hard against his chest, burying his face in her hair. “If that bastard hurt you, I’d have killed him,” he whispered, his words a harsh, fierce vow in her ear.
    “Ssh,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “He didn’t, please; I don’t want to think about him anymore. You were right. I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”
    He stroked her hair with one hand as he gripped her waist with the other. “If your brother hadn’t been there… if you’d been alone with him… he would have raped you, baby. God, it kills me to think your first time could have been like that.”
    “But it wasn’t and he didn’t.” She framed his face with her hands as she pulled back to look at him. He looked enraged, but beneath the anger, he was terrified. She could see the panic in his eyes, hear it in his erratic breathing. Jake had always been her hero. She knew it must have killed him to know he wasn’t there when she needed him most. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Please, can we just let this go?”
    “Let it go?” He set her down before thrusting his hands through his hair. “How the hell am I supposed to do that? I haul guys downtown for shit like this all the time. And now it’s happened to you, someone I… care about, and you’re asking me to just let it go?”
    She kissed his lips tenderly because she knew, for the first time, he was the one who needed her reassurance. “I’m fine. I promise. He didn’t hurt me. I was just a little shaken up, that’s all.”
    He touched his forehead to hers, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m trained to protect people, Jess. It’s what I do, it’s who I am, and the thought of not being able to protect you…”
    She smiled, trying to lighten