Page 43 of Ruthless Salvation
Torin Byrne didn’t just light a fire inside me, he brought me into the light after years of darkness. I was starting to believe he wouldn’t physically harm me, but he still posed a threat. My heart couldn’t stand another stint in the shadows. If I allowed myself to let him in, he’d have the power to steal every bit of sunshine I’d fought so hard to hold on to. All the hope and joy I’d rekindled. That was an enormous risk to take. Was I willing to take the leap?
* * *
Torin really did makeme work the following night. I wasn’t upset about working per se, but I didn’t feel like allowing his possessive behavior to go unchecked was a good idea. If I was going to work on trusting him, he would have to do the same for me.
“You have plans for Thanksgiving?” he asked while I was getting the bar set up for the night.
“I’ll be staying home. Why? Were you hoping to have me work Thanksgiving as well?” I lifted a brow, making sure he knew I disapproved of his behavior the day before.
“You know the club is closed that day,” he grumbled with a touch of contrition.
“Do I? I figure I never really know where you’re concerned.” I finished scooping cherries into a container and dropped the empty jar in a trash bin.
“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”
“I would if I knew you wouldn’t go all caveman on me again.”
His eyes dropped to his hands in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty. “What if I backed off the Oran thing?”
“What exactly do you mean by back off?” I asked, my voice softening.
“If there’s someplace you need to show him, I don’t need to act as a chaperone. You two can go see whatever it is he needs to see.” He flitted his fingers in the air dismissively.
A part of me wanted to shoot back a patronizing thank you for his generosity, but despite the absurdity, he was trying. I needed to acknowledge and encourage this unexpected concession rather than mock it.
“I’d appreciate that show of trust,” I offered in a sincere, sober tone.
He casually leaned forward, reaching across the bar to extract a single cherry from the container and raised it to my mouth. I had to fight back a grin. Parting my lips, I took the sweet fruit on my tongue. His tropical eyes darkened with a raging storm of desire as he plucked the stem from the cherry. I took my time savoring the sugary treat and lavishing in the feel of knowing I affected him so profoundly.
For the rest of the night, we performed a seductive dance from a distance. Furtive glances. The accidental brush of a hand. A tease of skin on display. By the time I got home, every nerve ending in my body tingled with the need for release. Even more so when I opened the drawer to my nightstand and saw the note next to my vibrator.
Think of me when you’re using this.
I couldn’t help but grin as I shook my head. That man had no freaking boundaries, and that should have been a problem. What did it say about me that I didn’t seem to care?
* * *
Torin kepthis promise and bowed out of my excursion with Oran. As expected, the outing was brief and purely informational. Torin’s cousin was entirely too fixated on uncovering information about Darina to even think of hitting on me. I was glad he was so focused on finding her. It was far too easy to make a woman disappear. If anyone knew that, it was me.
A few days later, I was on a second outing with yet another Byrne family member. Rowan was a vivacious breath of fresh air that I took to instantly. She’d come by the bar a few times—even danced on stage once to piss off Keir before they ended up married.
The girl had balls, and I was there for it.
She might even have become my hero. I got the sense she blazed her path in the world on her terms, and I loved that. When I was given the opportunity to go shopping with her one day, I jumped on the invite.
“You know I’m dying to ask you about Torin,” Rowan said as we strolled by racks of clothes at H&M. I was pretty sure she could afford way nicer stuff, but she didn’t push to go anywhere fancier. Another point in her favor.
“Torin? What about him?” I didn’t know where to begin, so I played dumb instead.
“I’ve seen the way you two are around each other. Your sexual tension is off the charts! You can’t tell me nothing’s happened between you.”
Heat crept up my neck and blossomed on my cheeks. “I suppose I won’t deny it, but that still doesn’t mean I know what to tell you. Torin is … complicated. Things between us are beyond confusing.”
“Say no more.” She lifted her hand and dipped her chin as though singing praise in a small country church. “If there’s anyone who understands, it’s me. Keir acted like he was equally likely to kiss me as he was to kill me. Hell, he married me without my permission after drugging and kidnapping me. That’snotnormal. None of them are, if you ask me.”
I froze, my mouth gaping wide. Rowan took a second to realize I’d stopped before grinning on her way back to me.
“Are you freakin’ kidding me? He really did all that? And you’re still with him?”