Page 43 of Blade

Love.

It bloomed in my chest and unfurled through every inch of my body. I’d developed a massive crush on this man after arriving in Iowa. Anytime he was in the room, it was like a magnetic pull on me. I wanted to be in his orbit like a moon.He was the only man that hadn’t terrified me for months after my rescue. He was why I chose to stay there instead of going anywhere in the world I wanted.

“When you left Iowa, I was broken hearted. Did you know that?”

He reached his callused hands up and brushed my hair off my face to cup my cheeks. “I did it for your own good.”

My forehead tightened and pinched between my eyebrows. “What?”

“I could feel that the attraction was mutual. Each day that I was around you, it got harder and harder to stay away from you. Venom told me you were off limits, but I didn’t need him to tell me that. I already knew. But that didn’t make it easy to stay away.”

“Then why did you?”

He dropped his head briefly before looking at me again. The pain I saw there was almost tangible. “Eliska, I’m not a good man. I’ve done things that would have you running for the hills if you knew. But worse is that I revel in those things. I shouldn’t like what I do, but I still do. It’s like there is a beast or a demon within me that craves it.”

“D-D-Do you do things like what was done to me?” My breath held, I waited for what he had to say.

“No! Never,” he insisted, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I mean I have some uh, kinks but it was only with willing partners. I promise.”

Though I nodded, a little green-eyed monster awoke within in my chest. Of course, the man had women before me. I’d be an utter idiot to think otherwise, but that didn’t mean I liked to think about it.

“Will I always be safe with you?” I rested my palms on his bare chest. The warmth of his skin made me want to curl up into him.

His hands pressed tighter as he brushed the tip of his nose to mine. “Always.”

“Will you still be… doing those things… with other women, I mean?” I dropped my gaze to stare at my pale hands where they were in such vivid contrast to the inked designs on his skin.

“No. Now that I’ve had you, I don’t think any other woman could compare.”

I looked up and made eye contact with him.

“Then I don’t care what you do behind closed doors or in the dark of night. Just be mine and we can deal with the rest.”

Disbelief had his mouth falling open as he tried to figure out what to say. “Deal.”

“Now do you have something I can put on your back? That has to be hurting you.”

He blinked and swallowed. “Yeah. There’s some gel in the bathroom cupboard. I’ll go get it.”

I got to my feet. “No, I’ll get it. You lay face down on the bed.”

Where he said it would be, I found some arnica gel. That must be what he was talking about because the only other tube in there was toothpaste. I grabbed it and went back out to the bed.

Though I’d already observed it up close and personal, seeing his back again was a shock and I sucked in a sharp breath.

He lifted his head and met my gaze over his shoulder.

Giving him a smile, I held up the gel. “This one?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” He dropped his cheek back to the bed.

Slowly, I climbed up next to him and sat on my heels. While I unscrewed the cap, I traced the scars with my eyes. I squeezed some of the gel into my palm and set the tube to the side. Gently, I began to smooth it over the raised welts and redness.

He sucked in a gasp, and I froze. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you, it was just cold.”

“Oh. Okay.” After a few moments, I cleared my throat. “What are these from?”