Page 123 of The Firebrand
“Don’t play dumb. I heard you. So did everyone.” Braelyn, in clean panties and a fresh bra, elbowed Rein’s ribs.
“I slipped. You may be my female, but there’s no long term for us.” He examined an arm.
“Wow! Way to shoot a girl down. I was building white picket fences again, hard ass. Don’t tear them down.”
“Be serious.” Rein studied a bruised elbow.
“I am serious. I’m going to live in the moment.”
“Okay. If you agree to return to Earth once we find out what the fuck’s going on and you’re safe.”
She flinched when he touched her jaw.
“Let’s see your back.” He spun her around. “More cuts.”
She peeked over her shoulder. Rein’s eyes were dark blue swirls, his arm muscles tight rubber bands. “Silas.”
He jerked up, fingers combing through his hair. “It’s my fault the vampire got to you.”
“How?” Braelyn pivoted to face him.
“I should have beelined for the condo after the berserker raid, but I stalled.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a fucking monster who drinks battle blood.”
“Isn’t that what vampires do?”
Rein, all six-foot-six of his towering frame, loomed over Braelyn as he scrutinized her. “I held a berserker’s head in my fist while his blood rocketed through my veins, and I loved it. Get that, Brae? I loved it.”
“Okay, ratchet down the Freddy Krueger shit, but I don’t blame you for Silas’s actions. That’s on him.” She tugged on Rein’s clenched fists until he squatted in front of her again.
“I don’t trust myself around you.”
“I trust you.”
“Don’t.”
Rein’s heart was bound in jagged stone. To protect it, he tried to scare her away. But he failed. She saw beneath the cold granite to his loneliness, to his lack of trust.
She fingered the slices on her chest, above the swell of her breasts. “I’ll have scars.”
“Scars are sexy.” Rein gave Braelyn his back as he turned on the bathwater. He stripped off his clothes.
She wasn’t so injured she didn’t ogle his long, athletic legs and the bunched muscles across his broad shoulders. For the moment, they and his perfect tight ass belonged to her.
Pivoting, he said, “You’re too exhausted to stand in the shower. I’ll join you in the tub.”
“The tub’s great.” Braelyn openly gawked at the thick, erect cock between his thighs.
When Rein stepped in, water splashed over the side, and he motioned for Braelyn to join him.
She licked her lower lip, watching his shaft bob beneath the surface.
“Wipe that look off your face and put your sexy little tongue back in your mouth. No fucking until you’re better.”
She pulled down her panties, unsnapped her bra, slid off the straps, and lifted a leg over the edge with barely a wince. Rein splayed two hands on her hips to lower her with ease. She sank into his chest, his protective arms wrapping around her, pulling her into his body. Without warning, her chin dropped, her shoulders quaking as she wept softly.
