Captivation

Captivation Part 12

A few seconds later, Douglas was escorting Caitlin onto the dance floor in the main hall. Jared tried not to glower. But as he stood and watched his best friend dance with a woman he thought he only just tolerated he found himself taken by surprise by his sudden jealousy. It was a new feeling. This was the first time he'd ever felt jealous of his friend.

Deciding that standing and watching them was not a good idea, if he wanted to keep his blood pressure at a normal keel, Jared turned and walked away. But even as he did he couldn't help the niggling thoughts. Was Doug right? Had Jared reached the wrong conclusion where Caitlin was concerned? She was pretty enough. And clearly not the mouse he had thought she was initially. Though there was something rather charmingly naïve about the way she championed other people. But given what the other women had said, it was difficult trying to decide who to believe, her or them.

Half an hour later, Jared recognized her voice. But it was the tone that caught his attention. Tense he thought as he came round the corner, and took in the scene quickly.

"She said 'No'." Jared stated flatly, coming to her rescue. The temper that flared in him when he saw her predicament was unexpected. But seeing her being accosted hit him hard. It wasn't just the automatic protect instinct that kicked in. It was outrage. How dare that guy manhandle her? "I suggest you release her." Jared stepped nearer just to make sure his expectation was clear. He wasn't sure quite why his reaction had him ready to dismember the other man. But the fact that she was being threatened was enough to have him wanting to tear the man limb from limb.

"What's it to you?" Came the slurred question.

The fact the man was clearly inebriated made no difference to Jared's reaction. "Release her." Jared restated softly, the growing anger clear and the demand authoritative. The muscle at his jaw began to hammer as he fought down the urge to punch the man. Jared waited for the man to do what he'd commanded and release Caitlin.

Reluctantly the man released Caitlin. He might be drunk but he was sober enough to recognise his predicament and with sanity came self-preservation. He opted to keep his face intact. "Bloody frigid bitch anyway." The man muttered and turned to leave.

But Jared's hand grabbed his shoulder. Jared was livid. Incensed that the man would dare to harm Caitlin, and then think he could insult her as well. There was no way he was going to allow this idiot to get away with doing either.

With his voice dropping several degrees to almost an icy contempt he held the other man's shoulder with relative ease and stated with crisp diction, "You have two options." His eyes remained flint hard as he ordered, "You can apologise, or we can take this outside."

"Apologise? What the fuck for?" Too drunk to realize he was simply adding more fuel to the fire, the man tried to shrug off Jared's hand. It was a futile move, for the vice like clamp remained firm and the man remained immobile.

Jared narrowed his eyes and waited as he kept his anger in check. It was then that the drunk man realized that Jared was just about holding onto his temper, and given that the drunk had not been able to shake off Jared's hand, he decided that tossing out an apology would be the lesser of two evils.

"I apologise." He slurred, and then ruined it by adding with a sneer, "Satisfied?"

Jared turned to Caitlin, quirked a brow. In his experience no woman would accept that paltry excuse for an apology. He was waiting to see just how vitriolic Caitlin would be in her response. Most of the women in Jared's experience would enjoy this moment.

"Thank you for your apology." Caitlin said quietly. She wrapped her arms around her waist and tried to sound as if she was calm and collected, even as her insides were quaking with shock and anxiety. She wasn't sure what might have happened if Jared hadn't happened by.