Page 151 of Nothing to Fear

After another few jabs at his shoulder with the heel of her hand, he acquiesced and backed away enough for her to slither off the table onto her feet.

“Cherry—”

“Please don’t call me that,” she said, shimmying down her skirt and righting her shirt as he put himself back together too.

Kinda.

No amount of smoothing clothes would hide the creases of what they’d done.

When she tried to walk away, he grabbed her arm to pull her back. Rather than say anything, his eyes stayed matched to hers as he touched the gem in the nook of her throat.

“Astrid told me to wear it.”

“It’s your security pass, I know. I didn’t just give it to you because it was pretty.” Wait, what did that…? “Your safety, and your ability to access safety have always been my primary concern.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

So why couldn’t she look away? He might have her arm, but that didn’t explain why she couldn’t tear her eyes from his.

“I know what safety means to you. You’ve never had security or someone to look after you, to put you first. And what you went through that night at the store—”

“Stop it,” she said, yanking on her arm without freeing it. “Darroch!”

“I am that person, Savanna Mayden. And I will always be that person whether you want me to be or not.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t give you.” His fingers bit deeper and he stooped lower. “Nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.”

And suddenly the walls felt less than luxury. No one could get in without clearance. Did that count for out too?

A knock on the door didn’t break their stare. Neither did it opening.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she said, recognizing Caber’s voice though it was behind her. On the next jerk, her arm was liberated. “We’re finished.”

“Yeah, looks that way.”

It wasn’t her job to address the brother’s concern, so she went back to work.

“Coming next door for the—”

“Yeah,” Darroch said, cutting Caber off. “Sav, if you—”

“Go, play with your brothers.” She didn’t even look up. “Why would I care?”

He muttered something and a few seconds later, the door closed.

On an exhale, her head fell into her hands. What the hell was she doing?

FIFTY-TWO

DINNER WAS A different affair that night. On purpose or not, the call came to say room service was on its way up. At the sound of the main suite door opening, she went out to find only Darroch waiting with the guy unloading his cart.

As soon as that guy was gone, she snagged her plate from the table and ignored her roommate calling her back, choosing to eat in her room.

The next morning, she lingered in the shower. Usually she found peace there. With water cascading through her hair, somehow her thoughts would order, she’d emerge refreshed.

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