Page 78 of Burn for Her

Music blasted from the kitchen and Alistair was the first to go in, followed by everyone else. “Look what Emerick found lurking at the bottom of the road.”

“It better not be another baby skunk. I’m not taking care of anymore of those damned—”

She spun around with a spatula in her hand and dropped it the second she saw Dorian. Pure elation swarmed her features and she rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him in a huge hug. “Oh! I was beginning to think I’d never see you again! You’ve stayed away so long.” She clasped his cheeks. “Let me look at you.”

Her face fell immediately. The joy died and was replaced with something else. Then her gaze sailed over to Lena.

Let’s face it, Lena was practically shrinking back at this point. Everyone kept having the same reaction. Happiness then dread.

It was directed at Dorian but meant for Lena. She could feel it. Read it in their body language. It made her feel like an asshole and this wasn’t her fault.

Instead of Marie holding her hand out, she swept Lena into a crushing embrace. “I can’t believe this.” When she pulled back, tears were already spilling. “Oh.” She wiped them away, “Where are my manners? I’m Marie, Alistair’s better half. Alpha female.”

“Lena.” She grinned. “Dorian’s most likely crazier half. Human.”

Several booming laughs rocked the kitchen. Dorian, however, didn’t find it as funny as they did. He looked like he was about to keel over.

“Holy fuckballs,” said a raspy deep voice. “I knew tonight was gonna be lit, never thought we’d have this much action during the pregame though.”

Lena’s mouth dropped when she saw who strolled into the kitchen wearing a pair of tight jeans and a Henley. Her heart literally leapt out of her. “Bane!” Without thinking, she ran at him and jumped into his arms.

She never felt so shocked or relieved to see that sonofabitch. “I can’t believe this!” Several emotions swarmed her at once. The aftershocks of the past couple of days, the fear, elation, exhaustion, and tension… it poured out of her in tears. Seeing Bane, a familiar face in a sea of total strangers, made this more bearable.

More believable.

“Uhhhh.” Bane continued holding her but pulled his head back to frown at her. “I’m not Bane. I’m Bowen.”

Lena stiffened immediately and pushed away. “What?”

“Lena?” Another voice interrupted from the back door in the kitchen.

She looked over her shoulder and it was like having double vision. “Bane?”

Bane looked at Dorian, then Lena, then Dorian, then Lena. His hand went up to his mouth as if stifling a sound rising from his throat. His eyes widened. The backdoor slammed shut on his ass. Then he came at her, nearly taking two kitchen chairs out when he stormed across the kitchen and lifted her into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re actually standing in my mother’s kitchen.”

Lena clung to Bane and cried even harder because this guy was definitely the right one. He smelled like Bane. Hugged like Bane. Felt like Bane.

She started rambling incoherent words against his shoulder and he rocked her saying, “Shhhhh, it’s gonna be fine. Damn, girl, don’t do this. It’s gonna be fine. You’re safe.”

“How do you two know each other?” Dorian’s voice was laced with aggression.

Bane peeled Lena off of him on that note. “We fight in a club together.”

Dorian’s jaw clenched. His eyes sailed over her face again. “That’s how you got all those bruises?”

She didn’t know what to say. Was he going to laugh at her for fighting? Be angry? Want to know more? The only way to belong to that fight ring was to never breathe a word about it. But if Bane admitted this much, maybe she could too?

“I told you I earned and asked for them.” Did they think she was crazy for fighting all the time? Well, tough shit. She liked it and had no plans of getting a different hobby. Still, their unwavering gazes were a little heavy on her confidence and she dropped her gaze to the floor.

Dorian placed his finger under her chin and tipped her head back up. “Never drop your gaze, Lena. Not with me. Not with any of us.”

She rounded her shoulders, figuring she might as well confess more about herself. “I’m one of the reigning champions in an underground fight club and the only female. I’ve been in it for close to three years now.”

She could have heard a pin drop. Even the music stopped playing.

Dorian’s eyes darkened. “And you fight with Bane?”

“Had my ass kicked by her twice.”