Caitlyn opened her eyes and could not believe what she saw. Jason, still with one hand gripped tightly into her shoulder and his other coiled ready to strike, now had Vera standing behind him with one of her hands gripped to his striking arm refusing to let it budge and the other with a vice-like clutch on his throat.
Jason struggled slightly in his speech but still managed to clearly define his words; "Fuck off bitch, you aint part a dis!" With that sentence, Jason released his other hand from Caitlyn and sent a left elbow rocketing back into Vera's cheek-bone. Vera's head was sent swinging backwards. Caitlyn knew how strong Jason was and when she saw him strike her new friend Vera with such ferocity she could not help but scream "NO!", and lurch forward to try and stop his arm. But Jason was too fast, and quickly replaced his hand where it had been and shoved Caitlyn back against her door which now was making cracking noises under the force she was being man-handled against it. "Don't you fucking go anywhere!" Jason snarled.
To Caitlyn's astonishment she noticed that while Vera's head had been met with the full force of Jason's elbow, her feet remained planted to the hallway floor as if stabilised by decade old tree roots and her hands were holding their grips like vices. Vera tightened her grip of Jason's throat, which was evident when Jason started to make slight gargling noises while trying to breathe, and slowly brought her head back to where it had been before. Blood was now noticeably escaping the newly formed gash on Vera's cheek when she spoke in a tone Caitlyn had never heard come from a woman before. It was dark and full of fury yet calm at the same time, almost as if a demon was speaking through the lips of this beautiful woman. She said "This is the only one you get, you pig. Now leave while you still have the ability to bear children." The latter words were spoken so sinisterly they were almost guttural grunts you would expect to here on a death metal song.
Jason coughed at first then turned his head towards Vera making as much eye contact as he could before retorting "I thought I told you to FUCK OFF!" Caitlyn felt Jason's hand release her shoulder once again as he sent another elbow hurtling back towards Vera. But this time with almost cat-like reflexes, Vera had avoided the blow and spun her body around the Brut. She was now barricading herself between Caitlyn and Jason.
In what seemed like milliseconds to Caitlyn, Vera had sent the base of her palm directly up into Jason's nose, she had dropped into a crouch and had sent a thunderous punch directly into Jason's manhood. Caitlyn screamed. She could not help it. Even though neither of the two fighters in front of her had even glanced at her, she still felt the terror and surge of adrenaline pump through her blood as if she was part of the action. As it unfolded before her she sank to her knees, turned to her side and brought her hands over her face.
After a moment, she slowly widened her fingers to peer through the gaps. Vera, now upright once again, was standing over Jason, who was now rocking slightly back and forth on his side on the hallway floor, one hand between his legs and the other clutched over his nose now visibly streaming with blood.
The next emotion Caitlyn felt surprised her. In that moment, at the sight of Vera standing tall over the now beaten body of the man who had abused her physically and mentally over such a long time, Caitlyn's fear dissipated and she was suddenly engulfed with awe and, somewhat even more surprising, attraction to this goddess-like woman.
Vera bent over and grabbed Jason by the scruff of his jacket and pulled him to his feet. His hands still clutched to his nose and crotch, he struggled to stand and fell back against the wall. Vera took a step towards him and he noticeably recoiled. She spoke again in that sinister tone, "I believe, this woman told you to leave." Now slightly more upright Jason's gaze shot between the two women in the hallway for a moment as a scarred little boy would. He started to stumble down the hall towards the elevator meanwhile whimpering, "Fuck dis shite! You bitches aint fucken werf it!" And with that he disappeared around the corner leaving no sign he had even been there beside a slight trail of his blood which had dripped from his nose, and a rather nasty wound on Vera's cheek bone.
Vera turned sharply back towards Caitlyn, who was now staring uncontrollably at Vera, her mouth open and eyes glazed over. Caitlyn tried to speak, but no words emanated from her slightly moving lips. Vera hurried over and knelt next to her and placed her hands softly on each of Caitlyn's shoulders.
"Are you OK? Did he hurt you? I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you had to see this. I, I did not wish for you to see this. I am sorry. Are you OK? Are you hurt?"
"I... I..." Caitlyn still struggled in her speech. Even to simply say the words 'I'm OK.' "I... I... ... Your cheek!" Is all Caitlyn could manage having somehow drawn her gaze away from Vera's eyes and down to the cut on her cheek and the blood now dripping down her face and onto her pink sports sweater.
Without even acknowledging her injury, Vera spoke soothingly as if to a child who had lost its parents, "Come, let's get you inside." She placed her arms under Caitlyn's, and started to lift her off her knees, with a surprising amount of ease.
Caitlyn's eyes were now back on Vera's. This feeling inside her was not subsiding, if anything it was growing. Once Caitlyn was on her feet, she leapt into Vera, wrapped her arms around her and embraced her harder than she had embraced anyone before.
Vera, a little surprised at the sudden movement, quickly softened and returned the embrace, placing one hand between Caitlyn's shoulder blades and the other on the back of her head which started to softly stroke her hair.
"Hey, it's OK, darling. It's OK. Come. Let's leave the hallway." With that, Vera opened the door to Caitlyn's apartment and without breaking the hug (not that Caitlyn was in anyway going to let her), edged them both through the door and closed it behind.
The embrace lasted for another minute or two. Minutes of absolute bliss to Caitlyn, who, while breathing in the smell of Vera's hair and gripping her sides, was letting out a slight stream of joyous tears. She did not want it to end. However, she'd had a small moment of clarity through the balloon of awe and attraction and realised it was time to detach. She showed Vera in, removed her coat then followed.
Vera led Caitlyn over to her sofa and sat her down. She knelt in front of her and looked deep into her eyes with her own. Full of kindness and warmth that filled Caitlyn.
"Are you sure you are OK, Caitlyn?"
This time Caitlyn managed to respond, "Y, Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Vera. Thank you so very much." And with that she embraced her again, this time for a somewhat shorter period. "I think I know what your classes are for now." Caitlyn said with a slight grin in one corner of her mouth.
Vera giggled, "Yes. They do help with bad men."
Vera stood back up now seeing the blood on her own sweater from her cheek. "I will return very quickly OK? I'll just go to clean this up."
"No! Don't go!" Caitlyn pleaded, sitting forward extending her arm and taking Vera's hand in hers. "Please stay. I need you...I, I mean, I'll help you."
She pulled on Vera's hand, and directed her down onto the sofa next to her. Vera obliged, noticing the eagerness in Caitlyn's tone. "Please. Here, let me help you."
Caitlyn left the sofa and hurried over to the kitchen where took a clean cloth from the drawer and wet it. She returned to the sofa with the cloth, disinfectant, a large Band-Aid and a bowl of ice. She found Vera where she had left her lightly touching her cheek investigating the damage for herself. Vera noticed the cloth and extended out her hand with a "Thank you, Caitlyn."
Caitlyn refused to give Vera the cloth saying, "Please, Vera, it's the very least I could do to thank you."
She sat next to her and very gently cleaned Vera's face. Caitlyn did it with such carefulness that Vera barely felt anything; until the cloth passed over the actual split in her cheek where she felt a sharp sting. Vera hardly winced, just simply closed her eyes with a slight force. However, it was enough for Caitlyn to notice, "Oh, I'm sorry. " Almost instinctively, without even a moment of contemplation, Caitlyn leaned over and placed her lips on Vera's cheek, as a mother would their child. Caitlyn kissed Vera's cut with such softness that it sent a shiver down Vera's spine. Vera shuddered and let out a deep breath. Caitlyn kept her lips on Vera's cheek and lightly kissed the cut a few more times, each more tender then the last, before another moment of clarity crept into her mind. As she realised what she was doing, she sprung back a little on the sofa and looked at Vera with a combination of shock and embarrassment.
"I, I'm sorry... I'm not entirely sure why I did that." But Caitlyn knew exactly why she had.
Her attraction to Vera was obviously out of her control now, and she was starting to act on instinct. This was a totally foreign area for her. Not only had she never lost this much control of her actions before, she also had never felt an attraction like this to anyone before, let alone a woman; an incredibly sexy, brave, intoxicating goddess of a woman. Who she'd do anything to make love to right there and then in a frenzy of passion and... "Oh god woman! Get a bloody grip on yourself!" Caitlyn sternly told herself in her mind. But it was of little use. Wild scenes of erotic pleasure with Vera were now playing out through Caitlyn's mind. She found herself drifting her gaze down Vera's neck to her torso, admiring her perfectly shaped breasts. Even through her blood stained sweater she could make out the lace outlines of Vera's bra. The sight of this amazing woman who had just battled for her protection and the thoughts running through her head together made Caitlyn's breath stagger and sent a wave of wetness into her vagina which was now starting to pulsate quite strongly.