Page 24 of Discovery of the Vampire
"And what are we going to do about Esme?" Lizzy asked finally, breaking the stillness and bringing us back around to where this conversation started.
I considered the question. The girl was an enigma, showing up out of nowhere with a story that seemed too convenient to be true. But, perhaps, she was telling the truth. She'd offered to let me into her head. Maybe I should take her up on that offer.
However, if I found she was lying, there would be no place on this earth she could hide from me. I would do whatever was necessary to protect my family, and I didn't give a shite who got hurt in the process.
As though she could read my mind, Lizzy said, "Something has happened between her and Brogan. You'll have to be careful."
"I noticed."
Aye. I'd seen the way Brogan looked at that female, like a male dying of thirst. It was obvious there was an attraction there. He watched her like a hawk, his gaze following her every move. And when she spoke, he hung on her every word like it was gospel.
And, he'd nearly challenged me when I'd questioned her.
I didn't trust it. And I didn't trusther. If Esme proved to be a threat, I wouldn't hesitate to eliminate her, no matter how Brogan felt about her. Fucked up as it may be, my family's safety came first, always. And he would find another woman to lust after eventually.
Lizzy snuggled closer to me, drawing my attention back to her. I tightened my arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"We'll figure it out," she murmured, her breath warm against my neck. "And in the meantime, she'll be working for me at my shop, and I'll be able to get to know her better."
I pulled back. "No. Absolutely not."
She stiffened in my arms. "No?"
Shite. I probably should've gone about that a different way. "We don't know this woman,acushla. That sob story she gave us could be just that. A story."
"I can take care of myself, Killian. I'm a witch, too. In case you've forgotten."
I hadn't forgotten. But she was a witch who was newly into her powers and lacking control.
Again, she seemed to read my mind. "She's just a human. I can handle her."
And yet, my instincts told me there was something much more to that woman than she was telling us. "I don't trust her, Lizzy."
She took a step back so she could look up at me. "But…you said you believed her."
"I know what I said. But that doesn't mean I trust her around the woman who is the most precious thing in this world to me." Taking her face between my palms, I told her what was in my heart. "I can't lose you,acushla."
She gave me a sad smile. "I know."
But she didn't. She had no fucking idea of the intensity of my feelings for her. It was all I could do not to be buried inside of her every second of every day, both my fangs and my cock. And the only reason I could control myself at all was because I couldn't live without seeing the way she looked at me, the smiles she gave me, hearing her laugh, and listening to how her mind worked.
I didn't deserve her and her kind heart.
However, LizzywasMINE. The devil himself wouldn't be able to take her from me. And I was not about to let her endanger herself over some silly human and her tales of woe.
"Did anything about Esme tell you she was a threat to me?"
I stared at her long and hard, then I shook my head. "No, but that doesn't mean?—"
"It means she won't hurt me, my love. You're worrying over nothing."
I wasn't so sure about that.
"Besides," she gazed at the old black dog who'd followed us in here with her full heart in her eyes, "Wiggles will protect me."
As if he knew we were talking about him, his mouth opened in a doggy smile, his tongue hanging out one side as his cloudy eyes looked back at his human with all the love in his little heart.
"Aye," I admitted. "I have no doubt about it."
