One

Prologue

I was dying. The coldness radiated throughout my battered body telling me that my life had finally ended. It was a numb feeling, almost serene in some way. My life was being taken from me so easily and there was nothing I could do about it. I could feel the cold gravel digging into my back and the icy rain pelting into my clothing, the wet, cold liquid chilling me to the bone. I couldn't help but think back to how I got here. My lying, stealing, and cheating ways had gotten me here. It was anyone’s fault but my own. I knew that this day would come.

Chapter One

“Hey boys…” I purred behind them.

They turned around quickly and the tallest one eyed me up and down with confusion clouding his eyes. He was handsome. Around six foot four with piercing blue eyes and brown hair. He had a bit of stubble on his chin and that made him look ruggedly handsome. He just looked at me and nodded to the other two as if he was their leader. The other two men were not as pretty to look at to say the least. One was balding with eyes that were raking up and down my body, obviously he was a pervert. The other was easy on the eyes, but not as handsome as the tall one. He had blonde hair with green eyes and a sly smile glued on his face.

“What is a little lady doing out here in the cold night with no one to protect her?” baldy said.

“Oh, but who says I need protecting?” 

“Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But coming up to three guys that you don’t know looking like that? You obviously need to be protected from yourself if you are that reckless,” the blonde one said to me with lust clouding his eyes.

“Now boys, no need to scare the little lady away,” the handsome one said making it obvious that he was the leader. 

They all looked me up and down and shifted. They didn’t think that I would notice that they inched towards me, but I did. I could tell they wanted to do something, but their leader hadn’t quite decided yet. It was almost as if he was confused that I would come up to them like this with no fear evident in my eyes. 

The tall one then shifted and his jacket came apart just enough to show his almost see-through white shirt to reveal a very sculpted chest. My eyes widened in shock and he noticed my reaction.

“Like what you see?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

How cocky. I was in a trance I realized as I started to think about how much I liked what I saw. Snap out of it! I then realized that while I was focused on his sculpted body that his two minions had gotten even closer. They were almost at an arm’s length. This was getting out of my hands.

“Now boys, get any closer and you’ll only thing that you will get a glimpse of is my a*s retreating away from you.” I said while shaking my pointer finger at them.

While they were distracted, I proceeded to pull out my two daggers. Their eyes widened at my weapons. 

“What do you think you are doing?” blondie questioned me.

He then looked at his boss. It was as if they had a silent conversation. It went on for two minutes. All the while I was silently staring down baldy and his snake-like eyes. I then heard two words come from the most handsome man I had ever laid my eyes on.

“Get her.”

Both blondie and baldy lunged at me at the same time. I saw their move even before they made it. Anticipating their next move, I stepped to the side while blondie grabbed air where I was just standing. I then took his arm and used his weight against him flipping him on his back and knocking the air out of him. I could see the leader watching from a distance with narrowed eyes as I was grabbed from behind and thrown onto the ground. 

 Crap. I was in trouble now. My calm demeanor was slowly giving away to my panicked state and I didn’t want them to notice. I realized that I had to get out of here and fast. 

Baldy was towering over me with a menacing look on his face. What he didn’t realize was that his manhood was completely unprotected. So I did what any rational person would do when given the opportunity… I kicked him where the sun don’t shine. He fell over clutching his family jewels as I flipped up on my feet using my body like a whip to get up. I was just about to high-tail it out of there when I heard a low voice.

“Now just where do you think you are going?” he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

I turned around and was taken off guard by the wall of hard muscle that I slammed into.  As soon as I touched him, my body erupted into shivers. It was like sparks were flying in between us and it felt so good. I looked up into his eyes and saw them clouded with lust. He was feeling the same way I was. Pull yourself together! I thought to myself giving my mind a mental slap. He was still in a daze as I looked around for an escape. I saw that his men were recovering and getting up from the ground when I spotted what I was looking for - a wallet. It must have fallen out of one of their pockets.

I darted for the wallet and picked it up. I then looked around frantically for a place to run when I decided just to run to my right and hope for the best.

I heard them start to chase after me. From what I could tell from their quick footsteps, all of them were now chasing after me. 

“If you let her escape, I will have both of your heads as mantelpieces!” I heard a deep voice yell at them out of breath.

I was slowly pulling away from them. I could hear their footsteps fading into the background as I ran faster and faster. 

“She’s getting away!” I heard a voice, not sure which one said it.

I smirked in triumph as I turned a corner, nearing the run down factory that I had taken up residence in. Only a few more blocks and I would be home. Well, home is a stretch, but its all that I have at the moment. I slowed down into a brisk walk as I neared the window that I always get in through. I got a running start and vaulted myself through it with little effort.

I heard a angry, manly howl off in the distance. I grimaced. I had no doubt that it had came from him. I rummaged through the leather wallet that I had taken off the ground. I first went through the cash. Score! There was about one thousand dollars in cash. Now, that would buy me a much needed night in a hotel with a warm shower and a comfy bed. 

I sighed and laid back as I pulled out the credit cards that were stuffed in the other little slits. A platinum visa was at the bottom. I smiled evilly. Oh, I was going to have fun. I then came across the I.D. that was stuffed into the wallet. A pair of piercing blue eyes stared back at me from the picture. Damn. That man sure knew how to take a photo. He looked like he had just woken up and his hair was messed up on his head. Perfection. 

I then stared at the name on the card. No. The name was Ash. Not just any Ash though. Ash Crystalson. Billionaire playboy known for charming the ladies with his promises of forever. I had heard about him through the thrown away magazines in the dumpsters. 

How ironic. The poor homeless girl who has nothing running across the billionaire playboy who had not just everything, but everyone. The guy deserved to get robbed. 

I gathered up my small bag of clothes and jumped out the window. Time for a shower and a nice meal in the fanciest hotel I could find. Then maybe some online shopping with a certain piece of plastic. After all, I could use some new clothes.