Eventually, the shaking eased. My hands still hurt, and my wrist throbbed where the man had grabbed me, but the panic loosened its teeth.
I was in Kazan's arms. And I wasn't afraid.
That should have scared me too, probably.
It didn't.
I tilted my head back.
Kazan went very still.
Of course he did. Careful Kazan. Patient Kazan. Monster Kazan, who had locked my nightmare in a cooler and then asked for nothing.
My heart made another decision without asking me.
Stupid heart.
I kissed him.
It was soft. Just my mouth against his. No frantic heat, no tree at my back, no desperate need trying to swallow us both. My fingers rested against his jaw, near the thin line of blood on his cheek.
He didn't move until I did.
When I pulled back, his eyes were on mine, and the look in them made my chest ache.
"Thank you for protecting me," I said.
His hand tightened slightly against my back. Not trapping. Just there.
"You never have to ask," he said.
And damn me, it sounded like a vow.
6
KAZAN
The bastard would payfor touching my mate.
Maisie was safe back at the house. Two of my most trusted farmhands guarded the door, and I’d given them orders not to let anyone through unless I came with them.
Then I went back to the cidery. The bounty hunter was still in the refrigeration unit.
Good.
Cold air rolled out when I hauled the heavy door open. Fog curled along the floor and around my boots. The hunter had wedged himself into the far corner between two racks of fermenting cider, arms wrapped around his knees, lips blue from the cold.
He looked up at me and started shaking harder.
The cold barely touched me. The smell did. Sweet star-figs, fermenting cider, metal, fear. He’d been in there long enough to piss himself.
I couldn’t find it in me to care.
I unwrapped the rope from around my forearm and stepped inside.
He flinched at the sound of it dragging over my palm. “Wait. Please. This was just a job.”
I grabbed his wrists and dragged them out from where he’d tucked them against his chest. “No,” I said, binding them tight. “Your first mistake was coming here.”
