Page 60 of Fractured
A man in a dark pair of jeans, a fitted black t-shirt, and tattoos on his left arm.
I narrowed my gaze.
And when the man who was flirting with death placed his hand on her lower back, almost touching the waistband of her jeans, I had to forcibly keep my ass planted in my chair.
But... well... that lasted for all about two-point-five seconds, because Talia had looked over her shoulder at the man, and then stepped away from his touch.
Another reason he was flirting with death, the reason I stood up, and stalked around the table and made my way to the bar... the fucker moved even closer to her.
My vision narrowed.
I didn’t know how, but Talia must have sensed me coming, because she looked over her shoulder at me and visibly sighed.
Relief swam in her cyan-colored eyes.
I made it to her, wrapped my arm around her waist, and pulled her body into my chest. Then, I glared at the prick.
He caught my glare, and then he nodded and moved away.
I watched him go, and for a few moments, I left my hand where it was, feeling her body pressed into mine, couldn’t help but for a brief moment to take into consideration how fucking right she felt there.
I released Talia, and for a split second, I caught it.
She had stayed pressed against my body too.
But... one of us had to be the one to ruin it.
This time... that had been me.
“Shouldn’t wear such revealing clothes, you don’t want the attention,” I said.
And then cursed my moronic, stupid fucking self.
Because her body had gone tight.
I caught it.
I saw it.
And on the way back to the table, I kept picturing the look of hurt in those eyes of hers.
Eyes that were so much like her siblings, but eyes nonetheless, that seemed otherworldly to me.
What I didn’t know... was that my careless words were going to have an impact on her.
A colossal impact.
One that I would’ve traded my left nut to have stopped.
***
Because if there was one person on this planet, I never wanted to look at me with fear in her eyes... it was Talia Vienne Griggs.
***
And that fear made itself apparent when I got a text message.
Garrick – Get to Talia’s now.
