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“Okay,” I agreed, and he led me to the kitchen so I could sit on a stool. It was the same stool where I’d eaten his pasta only a few nights ago, and the thought made my stomach flip.
There was already a first aid kit waiting on the counter, and as he reached inside of it, I noticed his knuckles.
“What happened to you?” I asked, my gaze stuck on the splotchy red skin that looked like new bruises around the knuckles of his right hand. I hadn’t noticed it before, hadn’t seen it in the car or when he brought me up to his apartment.
“What do you mean?”
“Your . . . your hand.” My eyes shot back up to his. “He hurt you, too?”
He looked at me. “No, Mara.” He paused, his gaze flooding with severity. “When I went into that bathroom and saw you on the floor, I . . . I lost it. He was holding his own face, bleeding from his nose, but I didn’t care.” He didn’t say more, but I didn’t need him to.
“Oh,” I whispered. It suddenly felt like the kitchen was on fire.
“This might sting a little,” he murmured, squeezing out a bit of ointment on the pad of his finger before reaching again to push back my hair. I closed my eyes as I felt his finger brush softly against my temple and, despite the sting, I found myself leaning into his touch. His fingers lingered before his hand slid down my face toward my jaw.
When I fluttered my lashes open again, I found his blue eyes sparking with emotion, and I almost couldn’t bear it—couldn’t bear for him to be so affected by this. “I’m okay, Leo. And I’m sorry you had to take me in tonight.”
He shook his head firmly. “There’s no reason for you to be sorry, Mara. Trust me, I wouldn’t want you anywhere else.”
That same ache rose up in my chest at his kindness, and it was too much. “I’m not your responsibility. Contract or not, I don’t need you to take care of me.”
His eyes flashed, and the corner of his mouth tugged up for only a second before his lips pressed firmly together. “You beautiful, vicious dragon,” he said, his hand stroking against my cheek. “There is nothing wrong with you showing your teeth, but I’m worried about the things you keep inside this mind of yours. If you need someone to bite, I can take it. Whatever you need so that the fire doesn’t eat you alive—let it out with me, sweetheart. I want to burn with you.”
A flood of tears sprang forward and I couldn’t stop them from leaking out. Leo tenderly wiped them away before pulling me in and tucking me into his chest. This time, I wrapped my own arms around him tightly. “Thank you,” I whispered into his shirt.
After a moment, we pulled away from each other, and Leo gave me his best reassuring smile. “Let’s get you into bed—you need to rest.”
Chapter Fifteen
I endured a fitful night of sleep, visions of murky brown eyes and a vile silver skull ring haunting my every dream. Leo woke me up each hour with a soft nudge to the shoulder, asking me simple questions to ensure my brain hadn’t turned to mush—apparently on Beatrice’s strict orders as part of the deal to keep me out of the hospital. Though, I didn’t mind replacing the brown eyes of my nightmares with Leo’s crisp, misty blues in the shadows of his bedroom. It was a deep relief, each time.
As promised, he yielded his entire bed for me to sleep in. But he didn’t quite let me loose from his watchful eye, choosing to sleep on the large chaise lounge that was tucked in the corner of his bedroom against the wall of windows that looked down upon the twinkling city. A twinge of guilt brewed within me when I saw him fold his large body into the chair, his bare feet hanging off the end under a throw blanket. But I also didn’t harness the bravery to offer up the other side of the bed. I knew my limits.
My eyes resentfully opened in response to Leo’s latest attempt to rouse me. He was whispering my name, skating his finger along my arm. My skin exploded in goosebumps from his touch, and I rolled beneath the heavy comforter to face him, noticing the amber light that danced along his face from the window next to the bed.
I’d made it through the darkness.
“Good morning,” he said in a raspy morning voice. He was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses that made him look less like a wealthy business investor and more . . . human. “Just checking on you. How do you feel?”
I pressed a palm to my forehead, fighting through the fog of fatigue to take inventory of my body. My head still pulsed uncomfortably, but nothing like the pain from last night. My wrist was sore from the hit I’d gotten in, but all things considered, I felt lucky. “I’m okay,” I responded honestly through my own sleepy grit. “Much better.”
Leo’s mouth curved in a pleased smile. “There’s breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen whenever you’re ready. No rush . . . if you want to sleep a little longer.”
“No,” I said, pushing up onto my elbows. “I’m actually starving.” The corners of his mouth rose a bit higher, though his eyes kept watch over my face.
“Okay.” He stood to his full height and held out a hand to help me out of bed. “Let’s go get you something to eat.”
Leo let me lead the way toward the kitchen, his long sweatpants pooling around my feet as I walked. I’d rolled the waistband as many times as I could, but I still practically swam in his clothes. The gray sweater he’d lent me fell down to my knees.
I could feel his eyes on me from where he followed closely behind, and I turned around halfway down the hall only to find that scrutinizing look blazing in them. It seemed he took his instructions from Beatrice very seriously. “I’m fine,” I asserted. All things considered, I knew I would be fine. I just needed to deal with a little salt in some old wounds.
My eyes widened in surprise as soon as we rounded into the kitchen to find the island covered in various food items. I spotted pastry boxes, plastic to-go containers, and even a couple of rolled burritos tucked in parchment paper. Eyes on Leo again, I asked, “What is all this?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know what kind of breakfast you’d like, so I had the concierge run out and grab a bit of everything.”
My chest fluttered, and I tried my best to stamp the feeling down. “It’s incredibly wasteful.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. Here was this man, going above and beyond to provide me with some much-needed sustenance after practically babysitting me all night, and I was complaining.
But Leo grinned as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his plain white T-shirt. He looked like a dream in his casual clothes, slim fitting black joggers hugging his strong thighs. “I’ll ensure that whatever you don’t touch is provided to the staff downstairs. They can take their pick so nothing goes to waste.”
