Page 44 of Dark Knight

The idea of somebody trying to get into Dylan's room was so foreign to me that it was almost like the first time I saw somebody dip fries in a milkshake. At first, it made no sense. The more you thought about it, and maybe even tried it, the clearer the reasoning behind it. I couldn't seem to figure out the reasoning behind somebody trying to get into Dylan's room if it didn't have to do with Evie.

"The door handle kept shaking, like somebody was trying to get the lock loose." She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, balling herself up as much as she could. I wasn't sure what kind of pajamas she had on, so I was grateful for the sheet that covered her, preventing me from being a complete perv. The spaghetti straps on the top were tantalizing enough–not that I should be thinking about any of that right now.

I forced my mind to the situation at hand. "Did you hear anybody trying to press the code into the pad? Like beeps or anything?"

She shook her head no, her blonde locks tumbling over her shoulders as she dropped her head to her knees in what looked a lot like defeat. "I don't know what's going on. I don't know who’s in the house, but somebody is trying to get to me."

I finally sat down on the bed and placed my hands on the top of her knees, sliding them until I could get them under her head and lift her face to look at me. "Evie, nobody here is going to hurt you."

"But somebody is here, somebody that wants to hurt me!" She stressed, pleading with me to believe her. I did believe her, even if I couldn’t say that just yet. "There were things drawn on my mirror. Somebody tried to break into Dylan's room. Someone went through my things, moving them around. You can't tell me that I'm imagining all of this."

The idea that somebody was in Dylan's house, wandering around and trying to get to Evie to scare her into running away would seem preposterous to most people. I wouldn’t take the threat lightly, though. Evie felt sure that somebody was watching her and trying to get to her. As much as Dylan wanted to keep her in the dark, I didn't agree. I wouldn't go against Dylan and tell her that we completely believed her, I couldn’t sit here and make her feel like she was going crazy either.

The fact that I even felt the urge to protect this woman was beyond strange. The idea of somebody actually getting to her and hurting her made fury rise in me faster than anything I'd experienced in years. It was the kind of emotion that, if I unleashed it, I would leave a bloody path in my wake until I was able to lay the corpse of whoever hurt her at her feet.

I didn't usually feel connections to people. The only person that I'd ever felt any kind of connection to was Dylan, and to a much lesser extent, Theo. He was the newest member of our little trio, which up until the point that he joined us, had been a duo. Even Ty, who had been part of the family for a long time now didn’t feel as connected to me as Evie did. He was our third when we were out and about since Theo didn’t like leaving the house, so I knew I should feel some kind of connection to Ty and yet I didn’t, which was why this feeling I had toward Evie was so strange.

If Theo hadn't proved himself to be both absolutely trustworthy and talented, I never would have given in to letting him stay in the house. Being a member of the family was one thing but living with us was a whole different ball game.

All I wanted to do was make sure Evie was safe, but having her around like this…going shopping with her, touching her, tasting her…It all created a craving in me, one that I knew I wouldn't be able to satisfy anytime soon.

She was still too traumatized for what I wanted to do to her. I wanted that pretty pale skin of hers marred with my handprints, flushed red from our activities as I buried myself deep inside of her.

Now was not the time to think of those things, though. I reined in my thoughts, which was a battle in itself. "Did you find anything else you're not supposed to have?"

She pulled a knife out from under her pillow. My eyebrows raised.

"What a good girl you are," I murmured as I gently took the knife from her. The fact that she'd been resourceful enough to find two weapons made me want to reward her.

A blush stained her cheeks. It wasn't the first time she reacted this way to the praise. She enjoyed being called a good girl, which was information that I would most definitely make use of later.

"I'm not a dog," she snapped, denying the fact that she enjoyed the term.

"Believe me, I know exactly what you are." I let my gaze travel down her body. Still, consent was important. "Do you not want me to call you that?" I asked, letting my voice drop to a low, husky tone, showing her the desire that I felt for her.

"It's fine," she said with a slight pout to her lips, one that made me want to bite her.

"I already know you like it, and I know how to make your body sing, Evie. Don’t test me, or I'll tie you up and make you mine in ways that you can't even imagine."

Judging from the blush that I saw staining her cheeks in the low light, I knew she was trying to imagine all the ways I could make her mine. Her face looked as red as a tomato.

"You better not be getting handsy on my bed." Dylan's voice came from the hallway.

"No, sir," I said as I pushed to my feet. "Just trying to talk your panicked little sunflower down." I flashed him the knife that was in my palm and pulled the gun from my waistband.

"Talk her down?" Concern laced his tone. "Is that my gun?"

"Yep." He strode over and took it from me.

"What were you doing with my gun, Evie?" He asked as he sat in one of the bucket chairs. He rested his elbows on his thighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and letting the gun hang from the hand between his knees.

"And your knife," I added as I strode toward him, handing it over to him.

"Somebody tried to get into the room," I answered for her. “Obviously they didn’t know the code, but it’s odd for someone to try to get into your room, right?” I was trying to make sure that Dylan at least appeared to give it some serious thought by forcing him to answer the question.

The idea that somebody could get this close to him was more than a little uncomfortable, especially after all the security measures we had in place. He ignored my question, probably understanding what I was trying to do but having none of it. He was as stubborn as they came so if he’d made his mind up to not tell Evie that we believed her then he wouldn’t let a simple question derail that plan.

"Have you ever used a gun before, sunshine?"

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