Page 105 of Burn for Her

She eyed the blade strapped to Dorian’s hip and wished she had one too.

Maybe she should say something?

Nope. They were both wiped out and shit kept getting worse. Dorian could likely die if they went hunting for a vanishing hoodie guy she may or may not have hallucinated because she was up to her neck with stress too.

Her priority was Dorian right now. Saving him was all that mattered to her.

“Anyway,” she said, picking up where she left off. “Mick died of a heart attack before I made a real name for myself with the guys in that fight club. I met Bane a couple years ago and he started giving me pointers.”

She flicked her gaze towards him and frowned. “Are you okay? Should I stop talking?”

Dorian’s nostrils flared. He didn’t say a word.

Lena drove the rest of the way home—her home—in complete silence. Then she began questioning everything.

Was this the right thing to do? Should she force herself on Dorian and make him turn her? Was he second guessing being tied to someone like her?

The instant she saw her house come into view Lena nearly burst into tears. The relief of being home, in her familiar space, was overwhelming. She pulled into her driveway, numb and blurry-eyed. It hadn’t occurred to her how much she needed to be home until she was on her soil.

Hopping out, she silently helped Dorian out of the car. He looked like he was knocking on death’s door even though he tried to say he would be fine. As he followed her up the steps, a flurry of emotions whirled around her at once. Resentment, fury, sadness, loneliness, fear, worry.

How much happened in the past twenty-four hours?

Too much. Looking over at Dorian, she realized also not enough.

Pulling her attention off the swaying vampire at her side, Lena stared at her front door for a minute and panicked. She didn’t have her keys. They were… hell, they were all the way back in New Orleans in her hotel room! Pressing her hand to the door, she almost started to cry. Okay, she really needed to get it together. Now wasn’t the time for tears. Bristling, she remembered her spare key under the flowerpot.

So cliché, but this neighborhood and her life were safe and quiet.

Until now.

The realization of her current situation hadn’t really settled in until just this moment. No number of locks could keep this new danger out. Planting petunias and hanging ferns off the porch wouldn’t ward away enemies. Philanthropy wasn’t going to buy her a damned thing in this new life.

She was no safer here than at The Wicked Garden, the mansion, or on pack land.

Safety was an illusion.

Chapter 33

Dorian had spent the entire ride focusing on the sound of Lena’s voice. The more she talked, the easier it was for him to breathe past the ache in his chest. He clutched every word, every syllable, that flowed from her sweet lips. And her scent. As bad as he’d wanted to roll the windows down and get fresh air, there was no goddamn way he was willing to trade a whiff of her for anything so meaningless as air.

Incapable of driving and unwilling to risk getting into an accident and Lena getting hurt just so he could have control behind the wheel he’d sat in the passenger seat and focused on not dying.

He begged her to talk. Her voice the balm to soothe his burn. Not once did he imagine she’d confess those horror stories. Each bit of her past fueled his ass to live long enough to destroy the bastards who hurt her.

Hey, everyone has goals in life, right?

Damn, his woman was fearsome. To know how terrified she must have been back then and how bold she was now? It was mind-blowing and humbling to have Lena in his life.

Once Dorian stepped foot on her porch, deja vu ran his ass over. The last time he stood in this very spot, he’d been willing to give her up and die without ever having seen her face or touched her body. Now? He was a very different creature.

Jamming her key in, Lena unlocked and opened things up. He was blasted in the face with the heady scent of his mate and his body responded… intensely.

“Do you need to be invited in since you’re a v—”

He crushed his mouth to hers and gobbled up her moans. Fuck, she felt good. It was as if just touching her surged power into him. For Lena to have such an affect on him was incredible. Undeniable. He pulled back and inhaled her sweet cherry scent again.

Lena looked flushed. “Are you going to stand outside all night, or come in?”