Page 34 of The Gilded Lady
She crossed her arms over her chest and then stomped over to the window.
“Charlotte, can you leave us?” he asked.
Still on her knees, she looked at him and then over at Glory, clearly uncertain if she should leave him alone with her. “Glory?”
“’S fine, Charlotte. Thank you.”
Glory didn’t turn from the window, even after Charlotte shut the door behind her. Zane slowly walked over to her, giving her time to move away or to turn around and confront him. Finally, when he was close enough to reach out and touch her, he asked, “Why are you really so upset with me?”
Her shoulders lifted as she took a deep breath, but she let it out on a ragged sigh that was suspiciously like a sob. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He was helpless against the warmth that seeped into his chest. It tugged him forward, and he was resistant to stop himself until he could feel the heat from her body against his front. He brought his hands up but stopped himself just short of pulling her back against him. Instead, he rested a cautious hand on her shoulder. She didn’t pull away, so he left it there, letting his fingers gently squeeze her arm, absorbing her warmth through the silk of her dress.
“I’ll be fine, Glory. I know what I’m doing.”
She shook her head and her shoulders straightened as if she’d passed through the momentary weakness. “You men. You all think you know everything.” The moment of tenderness was over when she swung around, dislodging his hand as she marched to the other side of the sofa. “But you don’t know anything.”
Apparently belligerent could be added to adorable to describe Glory drunk. He’d never seen this side of her. She was always so controlled and reserved. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
“Are you…are you smiling?”
“Definitely not.” Zane wiped away whatever smirk had been lurking around the vicinity of his mouth.
She glared at him suspiciously before uncrossing her arms to wave a hand at him. “You men with your knives, and your guns, and your…” Her gaze traveled down his body to narrow in on the general vicinity of his crotch. “Your male appendages.” The word appendages was exaggerated and said very slowly so that she wouldn’t stumble over it in her inebriated state.
He wisely brought his hand up to cover any smirk that was stupid enough to show on his face. He rather appreciated his male appendage and hoped to keep it intact.
“You all think you always know everything. This time you don’t.”
“I know that I want to keep you safe.”
This only made her shake her head again. “But you don’t know him. You don’t know what he is, what he can do. What do you think? You can just walk up to him and it’ll be over.”
Ah! He hadn’t included her. That’s what had her hackles up. He’d been so anxious to have Justin Dubose investigated that he’d hurried over to Hunter’s without talking to her about it first. “You’re right,” he said. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I don’t know him like you do. I should’ve had you come with me. We could’ve talked to Hunter together and come up with a plan.”
Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed as she thought over what he’d said. She seemed suspicious of his intentions, so he took a cautious step forward, wary of making her feel cornered. “I’ve asked Able to meet us in the morning and we can talk more about a plan then. Forgive me?”
She hesitated, but eventually gave him a jerky nod. When she did it was as if the air went out of her. Her shoulders slumped forward and she let out a ragged breath. She’d been using her anger as a buffer so that she wouldn’t feel the fear and pain that was shining out from her eyes.
“You don’t know him.” She said it again but this time she stated it quietly.
He wasn’t one to brag, but he’d been in plenty of tough situations before. There was the time they’d had a two-day shoot-out in that abandoned canyon outside of Denver with men intent on turning Castillo in for the reward money. There was the man who Bennett Derringer had paid to kill him. That son of a bitch had been ruthless, tracking the gang for weeks and nearly getting the better of Zane outside a saloon in Texas. Then just last week he, Castillo, and Hunter had had the pleasure of facing Bennett down again. Zane’s scar throbbed from the memory of staring him down for the last time. There’d been satisfaction in seeing the man who’d given the scar to him get his comeuppance. Just as there’d been satisfaction in killingBuck Derringer, the man responsible for the murder of Castillo’s grandfather. A little bit of justice had been restored to his world.
He closed the distance between them, coming to a stop directly in front of her. Maybe he was too close, but he couldn’t stop this need to feel her, to reassure them both that she was safe. He wanted to help restore justice to her world, too. “I’ve faced down my own ghosts. I can damn well destroy yours, too.”
“He’s not like other men…he’s a monster.” She didn’t seem to mind the proximity. Her hazel eyes were wide and fearful as she stared up at him, but she didn’t move away.
Zane frowned. Her expression was so vulnerable, he knew that she meant what she said. She was terrified, but he loved how she tilted her chin up and her eyes were fierce. There was strength and determination beneath all that fear. The backs of his fingers touched her jaw, and his thumb settled on her soft cheek to gently stroke over it. Her skin felt like satin. She didn’t pull away. In fact, she subtly turned into his touch. Desire tightened in his belly, urging him to kiss her, needing to feel her against him, to reassure them both that they were safe. That they were together.
“He’s flesh and blood. He can be stopped just like any other man.” His voice held a rough edge.
The sudden weight of the conversation seemed to have sobered her a bit. Her eyes were clear, and though it was soft, her voice came out strong and distinct. “He’s capable of so much worse than any other man. You can’t even imagine. I saw it with my own eyes.”
What had she seen? He wanted to ask, to try to see it for himself, but he couldn’t ask her to dredge up those memories for him. It would be unfair.
“I’m sorry you saw that. I’m sorry you knew him.”
Closing the distance between them, her palms came to rest on his chest. Could she feel how hard his heart pounded? She turned into his palm and placed a soft kiss there. The contactsent heat lancing up his arm to settle low in his belly where it burned bright and hot.
