Page 79 of King of Malice
And then soldier boy kicks dirt over the other man before he turns back to me.
I raise my brows, my eyes wide with my surprise. I’ve pictured this kind of moment. One where instead of just blowing up my life, I actually teach another person a lesson about respect.
Mostly, I just get smacked back when I try.
And if I’m honest, no one has ever fought like that for me before. Never.
My bestie, Ava, picks me up when I fall. She’s amazing like that. But she’s not a fighter. Never has been.
Soldier boy walks back toward me, but his eyes aren’t on me, they’re behind me. I turn to find three other men standing where the path winds into the forest.
Two are men I knocked down myself, the other stares at me with a raw hunger that makes me shiver.
Behind them, several more men stand in a neat line. They are all in black with their faces covered. A shiver of dread creeps down my spine.
“Guards. They won’t hurt us.” Soldier boy wraps his arms around my upper legs, lifting me in the air.
“Where were they when that shitbag was attacking me?” I glare at them as I hold onto soldier boy’s shoulders.
“They were there,” he answers. “They would have intervened if I hadn’t.” And then he starts walking toward the guards.
My head whips back to him as I suck in a breath. “What are you doing?” I hiss. I’m not the girl who gets carried, and with men all around us, it feels like he should be free to fight.
“Proving a point,” he answers, my stomach coming to his chest as I place my hands on his bare shoulders. “You’re mine.”
His muscles ripple under my hands, the breadth of his shoulders and muscled biceps easily carrying my weight. While part of me would like to argue, his skin against mine makes me feel way safer. But I still hate that he’s carrying me closer to a hostile looking group of men. Some of my worst fears have been pricked tonight and I’m completely raw.
“Don’t be scared, sweetheart,” he murmurs as he walks. “I won’t let any of them hurt you.”
“I’m not scared,” I lie, which is another pattern I like to repeat. When in doubt, bluff.
His arms tighten around my thighs. “I’m glad you’re not, but either way, none of them are touching you. You can bet on that.”
“You’re going to fight all of them off?”
He smiles up at me. “I’d have some help, wouldn’t I, little lioness?”
Heat fills my cheeks. “How do you know that?”
“I saw you, from across the field, take out two fighters. Impressive.”
I dip my head lower, curling around him as we pass by the very men he’s discussing. “Thank you.”
“You could have been in the military.”
“Maybe.” I’m not sure an organization like that would have me, it requires a stability I lack, but I keep that to myself. No need to ruin his idea of me in the first five minutes.
“What’s your name?” We enter the woods following a path that I can barely see as he moves with complete ease.
I’m aware of some of the guards moving through the woods too. I catch the snapping of branches, but in the darkness, I can’t see them.
“Cadence, but everyone who really knows me calls me Cade,” I say, my arms relaxing enough that I slide one hand from his shoulder, up his neck and into his dark hair. Who knew I’d like being carried?
“Cadence. Nice. I like it. I’m Zane.”
I’d like to say it’s the first time that I’ve let a man inside me when I didn’t know his name. But I will never forget Zane. Not his name, not the way his broad chest feels, or the way he carries me.
I don’t normally like macho displays, but this feels different. It doesn’t feel like posturing, its more…protection. It’s a completely foreign feeling and I tuck it away, to think about later.
