Page 2 of Tango

He’d promised me a quick death if I spilled everything he wanted to know, so I did. Because I knew from the moment my eyes met his that he was a man of his word.

But I hadn’t been expecting rage—rage on my behalf—to darken his blue eyes as he listened to everything I had to say. And when his president ordered him to get me out of the cellar they had been holding me in, telling Tango I was his responsibility, I hadn’t expected the man to scoop me up and carry me out of there much the same way he was carrying me now. Like I was something precious. Something to cherish and protect.

He’d been taking care of me ever since. And I’d been falling more and more in love with him with each day that passed.

Tango stepped into our room and kicked the door shut behind him before settling in the recliner so he could rock me—a recliner he’d bought only because the rocking soothed me. I kept deeply inhaling the scent of him, letting his scent and his strength soothe me and calm my heart rate. He wrapped one of my throw blankets around me—this one deep purple and fuzzy—and bundled us up together, making me feel even more secure.

“Better?” he gently asked a few minutes later, his low voice gruff. Tingles shot through my body at the sound of it.

He always sounded like pure sex when he talked.

I nodded and leaned back to look down at him. He lifted one of his hands, wiping the tears off my cheeks. “Don’t like it when your tears hide these freckles,” he gruffly told me, making a blush stain my cheeks.

He always said little things like that, leaving me to wonder if he felt the same way that I did. But he was always strictly platonic otherwise. It left me confused more often than not, wondering if I was misreading all the signals he was sending me. Still, it didn’t stop me from hopelessly loving him.

“I’m sorry I panicked,” I croaked, my throat hurting from screaming earlier.

He sighed, his hands resting on my waist as he looked up at me. His blue eyes were normally so guarded, but with me, they were always open and warm—like now. He let me see everything. And right now, I knew he was concerned about me—so deeply worried, it made my chest ache.

“What triggered you, baby?”

God, the names. “I swear I did my research before buying the book,” I rushed out, suddenly fearful I was in trouble. Tango frowned. “I looked everywhere. I looked on the author’s social media and her website and even used the look inside?—”

“Stop,” Tango commanded. My jaw snapped shut, my teeth clacking together. Obeying him was instinct. I wanted to always please him, and I was terrified I’d upset him by having a panic attack and by buying a book that I couldn’t finish. “First, breathe. In.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Out. Slow.” His thumbs stroked over my side. I slowly released the breath I’d been holding, counting to ten in my head. “Good boy. Now, let me ask again. What triggered you?”

I sank my teeth into my bottom lip for a moment before releasing it, tears beginning to swim in my eyes once again. “The main character was being raped,” I croaked.

Tango sighed, but he didn’t look angry. Just even more concerned for me. He knew what I’d gone through. Knew the horror I’d suffered. “From now on, you don’t get to read any books until I’ve personally vetted them, understand? I won’t stop you from reading; reading makes you happy, and I just want you to be happy, baby boy.” My heart swelled to damn near bursting in my chest, his words making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My tears slowly began to vanish again. “But I don’t want you getting triggered again because an author didn’t include proper trigger warnings, okay? My job is to take care of you, and I failed you.”

Immediately, I shook my head, my smaller hands clasping his face. His stubble pricked along my palm, and I resisted the urge to rub my hands along his jaw so I could feel his beard scrape along my skin. “No. You didn’t fail me. Please don’t believe that,” I begged.

He drew me closer until he could rest his forehead on mine. His breath—minty with a hint of cigarettes—washed over my skin, soothing me. “Alright, baby boy,” he conceded, giving in to me. I suddenly yawned, my cheeks flushing. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose, making me shiver and blush. “Go get me the next book you planned on reading. You’re going to take a nap, and I’m going to make sure this book is okay for you.”

I scrambled off his lap, eager to please even if I was loath to leave him, and rushed over to my bookshelf. He and Reese had built it for me, and I’d been so happy afterward that I could’ve cried. Because Sophia brought me a lot of damaged books she normally sold at a discounted rate, filling my bookshelf up with all the gay romance novels I could ever want has been extremely easy. Now, I had books stacked on top of books.

I had only dreamed of ever owning this many books as a teen.

I grabbed the next book I wanted to read off the shelf and walked back over to Tango. Once I was sitting across his lap, my head resting on his shoulder, he draped the blanket back around me and pressed a kiss to my forehead, taking the thick book from my hands. “Go to sleep, boy. Panic attacks wear you out.”

I snuggled closer to him. “Thank you for always taking care of me.”

He hummed in response. I knew he didn’t want the thanks, but I gave it anyway.

Tango was the best man in the entire fucking world.

He resumed his rocking as he opened the book so he could begin reading. I was almost asleep when a light knock sounded on the door. I squinted one eye open to see Halo poke his head around the door.

“I brought your boy snacks,” Halo quietly announced.

“He’s sleeping,” Tango said quietly as I shut my eye again. Tango was only partially wrong. Sleep was clinging to my brain now, on the verge of dragging me under. I clenched Tango’s cut in my fist, my other hand resting on my lap. “Just set it on the table right here.”

“He okay?” Halo asked, his voice low. He was near us—I could sense him. I turned more into Tango on instinct, and Tango tightened his arms around me in response.

“He’s fine,” Tango answered. “Just tired. Tell Sophia I said sorry about the mess. And also ask her if she can do something with that book. He can’t have it.”

“I will. And if you need help with him?—”

“I won’t,” Tango said, cutting him off, his arm tightening around me even more, damn near crushing my ribs, like he was afraid Halo might try to snatch me right off his lap. “I can take care of him just fuckin’ fine, Halo.” Tango’s voice was a low growl. A warning lingered in his words.

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