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It made no sense for her to drag the shorts over bandaged knees, but my inner perv didn’t give a shit. I enjoyed seeing her in nothing but a towel. Thankfully, Emma didn’t argue. She simply nodded shyly before I handed her the clothes and helped her to the bed. As she eased onto the mattress, images of her naked and writhing beneath me before shattering all over my cock crowded my brain.
Inwardly shaking the visions away, I strode to the bathroom and gathered up the medical supplies. When I returned, I knelt in front of her, then gently cupped her heel to get a good look at her ankle. It was swollen and had already started bruising. It had to be painful as fuck.
“You really should let me take you to the ER and get this x-rayed.”
“No,” she blurted as a flicker of fear darted across her eyes. “It’ll be fine. I just need to get home, get an ice pack on it, and keep it elevated.”
My inner beast—the one who vowed to protect all women the night I’d identified Aubrey’s mutilated body—ripped off its chain and roared to life.
Who…or what has you so spooked, little one?The question burned the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it down and nodded.
“If it doesn’t get better in the next couple of days, have it looked at,” I said, re-wrapping the elastic bandage around her ankle while breathing in her clean, soapy scent.
“I will.”
Would she? Or was it another lie, one she thought I wanted to hear?
Adding those two questions to the other million circling my brain, I tried to ignore how close her pussy was to my face. The fact she’d been fantasizing about me when she’d shattered still pinged through my system. If she’d been anyone else, I would have pulled the towel apart, pressed her back on the bed, and slid my tongue up her pretty folds to make all her dreams a reality. But Emma was a liar, and an identity thief.
Mentally reminding myself of those two important details, I gripped my resolve firmly and finished wrapping her wounds.
“Thank you, again…for everything.” She softly smiled as I stood and helped her off the bed.
“No problem,” I replied, handing her the clothes. “Holler when you’re dressed, and I’ll take you home.”
Another flicker of fear skipped across her eyes as she nodded before hobbling to the bathroom.
ChapterSix
Emma
The litany of lies spilling from my lips ate a hole of guilt through me.
Blade had been nothing short of a saint. He deserved more than my deception. But I couldn’t risk telling him the truth. We were from opposite worlds. He’d never understand why I ran away or why I could never go back. Aside from our mutual fondness of old Twilight Zone episodes, we had nothing in common.
“You can stop lying soon…at least to Blade,” I whispered to my reflection in the mirror while combing out my hair.
After dragging a scrunchie from my purse, I piled the wet strands into a messy bun, then carefully drew the shorts over my knees. Cinching the drawstring tightly, I tugged on his T-shirt. His masculine scent surrounded me like a blanket of serenity. It was sadly ironic that in the few hours I’d spent with a total stranger, I had felt safer and more protected than the past twenty-eight years with my parents.
Pressing Blade’s shirt to my face, I closed my eyes and deeply inhaled his scent…branding it to memory. It was going to suck to tell him goodbye, but I couldn’t stay here forever. I had a new life to start living.
Plucking up my purse, I limped out of the bathroom. Like a sentinel, Blade stood waiting for me right outside the door.
“Ready to go?”
“Yes,” I lied.
After scooping me into his arms, he carried me down the hall before descending the stairs. Well aware this was the last time I’d ever be in his arms again, I looped my hands around his wide shoulders and drank in his strength and warmth.
As he strode out the front door, I spied a big red pickup parked in front of the porch.
“Where’d that come from?”
“Mack brought it up for me,” he replied.
After opening the passenger door, Blade eased me on to the buttery leather. As I reached for the seat belt, he gently pulled my hand away. Gripping the strap, he gazed into my eyes and bent over my body. As he snicked the buckle in place, his stare stalled on my lips. The temptation to lean in and kiss his tempting mouth clawed through me. But before I found my courage to taste him, he eased back and stood, then cleared his throat.
“You good?”
