Chapter Four
Just Wait Till We Get Home
"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?" Despite his words, there was something very close to the mildest form of concern etched into his tone. The three men were out cold – one with a broken jaw, two with broken ribs and all three with some part of their body bleeding. They alley they were in afforded them privacy, and anyone walking by who cast more than a single glance into the alley took one look at Dante's size and kept walking.
It was difficult, but Dante was trying to look everywhere but her. Brick, brick, a dumpster, old cardboard hobo home, a dead cat – anywhere but the image of her still lying on the pavement, shirt spread open and her simple black bra rising and falling rapidly with her breathing. She wore no laces, no fringe. There was not even a brand he could see on the bra strap – and what was the norm these days? Veronica's Asscrack?
Whatever, he thought. Her bra isn't important.
Though they stood in silence for a long while, the sounds of the city surrounded them. Cars honked, sped, and sputtered in the roadway directly behind them. High heels clacked on the sidewalk outside the alley. People were practically everywhere, and no one had helped her.
He knew, without being an egoist, that she was seconds away from getting gang raped. But no thank you, no nothing. Just a wide-eyed stare in his direction with the same deep breaths in and out, giving the look that her ribs were expanding and shrinking. She looked like a trapped animal, edging herself in the corner as a last ditch effort for protection.
Her eyes, though, were devoid of fear. There was shock there, a little of what he would have expected, but there was mostly anger. Indignation. He could see the different emotions swimming beneath the surface of her bi-colored eyes and wondered how old this girl's soul was. Where were the tears? The screaming? The one guy had had a bloody mouth before Dante had even touched him, which meant that she had given them a run for their money. What kind of schoolgirl fights first, and then thinks and cries later?
Her, apparently.
"Lady? You hear me?" Dante kneeled down, hoping to get into her level. While she had been looking at him she certainly had not seen him, and almost looked at him as if she thought he were one of the bastards that just attacked her. But when he finally got over himself enough to look at her, it was easy to see that her shirt was a goner. Buttons rested in the grime around her, the same grime he was (very lightly) kneeling in. Her waist was slimmer than he had expected, nd it was eas to tell even though her skirt had been hiked up to the small of her waist, bringing the hem far up her thighs.
From his angle, Dante could see slightly what lay under the shadows beneath her skirt. Not panties like any normal girl, but shorts. Shorts. He did not know why it was so funny but he could not help the slight laugh that escaped him then. What a process that would have been – they would have had to try and tear off the strong-looking fabric of her skirt, then tear off her shorts and finally her panties. And he had no doubt that she was a girl who wore all three layers.
Virgin, for sure.
"What's so god-damned funny."
Her words brought him out of his own thoughts, as his cold blue gaze immediately found hers. Despite her words the width of her eyes had changed only somewhat, and her breathing was only now beginning to rapidly rise and fall again. Was it because of him now? He was not sure, but he would place a good amount of money on it.
Great. She thinks I was laughing at her.
Instead of answering her, Dante began to shrug out of his coat. She recoiled at the sudden movement, much like a cornered animal still. Mentally and physically sighing, Dante finished removing his coat before he held it out to her with one hand, the length of it trailing slightly on the dirty asphalt and causing a subtle cringe from him.
She didn't take it.
"Put this on," he said.
"No."
Is she serious?
"Why not?" His voice was exasperated, and his patience was wearing thin. Hadn't he just saved her from a really bad afternoon?
"I don't need anything from you," she practically spat her words, and he noticed – with some dismay – that the wide-eyed look in her eyes was being replaced by that abject apathy that had landed her in this situation in the first place. He had to watch himself around this attitude, he knew. She was unpredictable with it.
"Lady, just take the damned coat and let's get the fuck out of here."
"No." Already she was struggling to stand – and that was exactly what she was doing. Struggling. She was favoring her right leg and when he finally looked down to it (and most of it was bared to him, with her skirt position,) he noticed the bruise blossoming on her knee. It was not all he noticed, but he knew that the time was more than inopportune for noticing how well endowed she was in every place a woman needed to be. And she was not even a woman yet.
Which makes you a pervert, Dante. He had to give himself his own reality-check, and it helped to put some things into perspective. Like her unknown age. Her school uniform. Their current situation that did not allow for him to get horny.
But he let her try and stand. He stood with her, though at a much faster rate, and waited. She tried once, twice, and finally on the third managed to stand somewhat erect before her bruised knee buckled beneath her and she toppled over, arms flailing. He caught one in time, pulling her quickly so she more or less landed against him. She recoiled immediately, but he caught her arm again. Again she pulled, using her small hands against his right bicep as leverage to push herself away. He heard something rip and saw it was the long sleeve to her school uniform blouse, and it was bloody at the back of her shoulder where she had most likely been pushed earlier.
Holding only her sleeve once she scrambled away, Dante sighed and thought that he could really use a cigarette and a beer. Maybe a few. And as much as he wanted to leave her there, he knew he couldn't. She was, somehow, his responsibility.
He was beginning to think that maybe he could have done without the money in the first place, which would have left him in debt but without a struggling schoolgirl on his hands. And even though he managed to hold her against the wall long enough to tie her hands with her shirt sleeve iand/i throw her arms in his coat, she never stopped. Not until he slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Wha-… put me down!" She beat her two collective fists on the backs of his thighs, but it just felt like a massage to him. A few people gave them a second glance as he walked down the sidewalk, but he saw no one pull out their phones to call the police. Good sign. They just looked like an eager couple to the rest of the world, maybe.
"Calm the fuck down or I'm going to do it for you." Dante's words were serious, though he was getting amusement out of the situation. She would have turned into even more of a hellion if she had seen the smug grin on his face.
"Put me down!!" She bit at the tie on her wrists, trying to pull the knot he made to no avail. He'd have to cut it to get it off. And he was beginning to think that maybe he liked her tied up a little more than untied.
"Oh, I'll put you down babe. Just wait till we get home."
It was the way he said it that caused Mary to let out a scream of indignation that was soon lost to the public behind the closed doors of Devil May Cry.
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Author's Note: I tried to make this update in a much timelier manner, so I hope people are pleased! I decided to answer a few reviews, but don't forget that I appreciate EVERY SINGLE ONE!! Please continue to support me by your reviews. They make me very, very happy.
Inujak: no, I never saw Dante smoke. But it didn't surprise me either, and like the story said, I think he would only smoke Marlboros. I don't smoke myself, but it seems like something he would do.
KuteInsanity: Your review made my day! And yes, there will be VxL coming up.
Lord Europe: Your criticism of my update time is why this update is up faster! So thank you.
And to everyone else, thank you so much! Please review this chapter!