Page 33 of Knot a Bad Idea

“I don’t think I will.”

She stares at me, her lips slightly parted. “What the fu?—”

With a quick movement, I scoop her into my arms despite her protests. She wraps her arms around my neck out of instinct, and my inner Alpha rumbles at the contact.

“Put me down,” she hisses. “I’m not a child.”

I don’t listen to her. “Then stop acting like one.”

“You…” she huffs but doesn’t fight me anymore. She relaxes in my arms, and I take my time carrying her through the house.

“You don’t have to carry me all the way up the stairs,” she grumbles, but her eyes close and she hums contentedly.

“I don’t trust you to not fall down them and break your neck,” I reply easily. “It’s easier to get you to your room this way.”

The urge toprotectandcarefor her has never gone away since I met her in her café for the first time.

She’s had my interest since the moment she rang me up at the register.

And since our first dinner, she’s permanently occupied a place in my mind.

It’s fuckingtorture,made worse by the knowledge that the contract expires soon, and she’ll be out of our lives.

I take my time carrying her up the stairs to her room. I savor her scent and the way she feels in my arms.

I commit it to memory, knowing this will be the last time I hold her.

There’s something better out there for her.

You will fail her.

But I’ll protect her from afar.

I’ll keep tabs on her with private investigators. I’ll make sure she never needs anything again, but none of us will be in her life.

“I wish you would talk to me,” she whispers. “That’s all you have to do.”

I stiffen. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

I take the steps slower, because holding her feelsright,and I want my scent on her.

“I do,” she murmurs. Then she closes her eyes and rests her head on my chest, her body growing slack in my arms.

I carry her the rest of the way to her bedroom, taking more time than necessary. When I open her door, I take in the sight of her nest, and something tugs at my chest.

I should be in there with her.

I should be fucking her, knotting her, and keeping safe her in the pile of blankets and pillows.

I spot Liam’s and Hunter’s jackets in there, and one of mine, sitting near on top of her pillows.

Fuck.

I place her carefully on the blankets, and she frowns as I back away from her.

“Don’t—” she mumbles, her eyes still closed. “Donovan?—”

I steel myself and take another step back.