Page 16 of No Fear
“You are mine.” Remy groaned, “But not like this.”
“But…” She started to pull away, her hands dropping as wariness returned to her face and he couldn’t stand it. He reached out and cupped her cheek again softly. Confusion flickered through her gaze as she looked up at him and he sighed, knowing that he was doing the right thing no matter how much it sucked.
“But you’re scared.” He met her gaze and when she started to shake her head he nodded, “Yes, you are. You’re scared of something and until I can be sure it’s not me. I’m not going to touch you, Rach.”
Her tiny pink tongue darted out to wet her lips again and her voice was breathy when she spoke, “You’re touching me now, aren’t you?”
“Not like I want to.” He managed a small smile even though that innocence was exactly why he couldn’t have her right now, “Trust me. When you’re ready, when I really touch you, you’ll know the difference.”
Rachel stared up at him for a long moment and for once, he couldn’t read her expression. Usually, whatever she was feeling was right there on her face. He had weeks of experience watching her, studying her, and he didn’t like not knowing what she was thinking.
It was part of his growing obsession with this girl that he wanted to know everything about her. That he felt he should know her every secret. That he wanted to be the one person that knew her better than anyone.
Finally she sighed and surprised him by cuddling her cheek into his palm, “That’s why I came to you.”
“Why?” He asked again.
“Because I knew I could trust you.”
“Of course you can trust me.” He stroked his thumb over her cheek, “Tell me what’s going on and I’ll do my damndest to fix it for you babe. I know you’re scared but whatever it is, I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of you. I promise.”
“I do want you Remy.” Her eyes shuttered, her long, dark lashes covering those expressive eyes from him, “I just… I need you too. I need help and I didn’t know where else to go.”
“You were right to come to me. You can always come to me.”
A knot formed in his stomach as she shivered in his arms. He’d known something was wrong the minute he saw her. He’d known something had happened to send her down here looking for him, but whatever it was, he would take care of it. He hated that anything had scared her but he was happy that whatever it was, she’d come to him.
She trusted him and that was a gift he didn’t ever intend to take for granted.
“Tell me what happened.” He prompted when she was quiet.
Her eyes fluttered up, meeting his, and his gut clenched at the fear and pain she didn’t try to hide, “Something happened tonight and I…”
“Hey!” A loud voice shouted from somewhere far too close, interrupting Rachel and making her jump nearly a foot off the ground. Remy whirled around in time to see an angry looking man stomping towards them down the row of cars, “What the fuck is goin’ on here?”
“Go back inside.” Remy glared at intruder, “This is none of your business.”
“The fuck it ain’t!” The dark-haired man snarled, “That’s my sister!”
That pulled Remy up short and he glanced at Rachel in surprise. She’d never said a word to him about having a brother. Nobody had. But from the way her face had paled, her eyes had gone round and the way she’d begun to shake like a leaf again, he had a pretty good idea why that was.
She was terrified of this man.
A dozen thoughts ran through his head and none of them were good. Rachel had a brother that she didn’t talk about. An older brother from the looks of it, that scared the hell out of her. A brother that was here, at a Bomar fight night, which meant he had some sort of tie to Remy’s family. A brother that, based on everything that meant, was probably dangerous.
His decision was made instantly and Remy stepped in front of Rachel, effectively blocking the other man’s path to her. Even in the dark, it was clear to him as the man moved closer that he was related to the woman cowering behind him. His dark hair was the same color. He had the same plump mouth that gave his sharp features a decidedly pretty tint that was only lessened by the sneer he was leveling at them. But it was the eyes that were most telling. The same blue that was so pale it glinted silver in the moonlight. Big, round eyes framed with dark lashes. He didn’t doubt for a second that they were related just as he didn’t doubt that this man wasn’t getting anywhere near Rachel if he had any say about it.
“Back off.” He held out a hand when the guy tried to step around him.
“Play hell. Keep your fuckin’ hands off me and off my sister.” The guy glared over Remy’s shoulder, “Let’s go Ray-Ray. You shouldn’t be here and ya damn well know it.”
“I-I-I…”
“She’s not going anywhere.” Remy spoke up when Rachel stuttered behind him and even as the other man cursed at him he knew that it was the right move, the only move, because Rachel inched closer to him, pressing her front to his back, using him as a shield but reaching forward to squeeze his hand. He laced their fingers together, hating that he could feel her shaking with fear, and squeezed back reassuringly.
The man looked at their laced hands and snarled, “It’s like that?”
“Yeah. It’s like that.”
