Page 8 of Blade’s Protection

One kiss. That's all it would take to destroy my control. One taste of her mouth and I'd forget every reason this was wrong. Forget that she deserved better than a broken soldier playing at protection.

A car backfired outside, breaking the spell. I stepped back, releasing her.

"Bed. Now. Alone."

Disappointment and hurt flickered across her features before she nodded, retreating to my bedroom. This time, she closed the door despite my earlier order to keep it open. A barrier between us that needed to exist even if it compromised her safety.

I returned to the couch, body aching with denied need. Tomorrow I'd move her to the clubhouse. Let my brothers take shifts protecting her. Remove myself from temptation before I did something unforgivable.

But even as I made the plan, I knew I wouldn't follow through. She was mine to protect. Mine to watch over.

Just never mine to keep.

CHAPTER 3

TIFFANY

Six-thirty PM at the clinic, and everyone had already gone home except me. Dr. Tad left at five with reminders to lock the medication properly. Grace Henry headed out right after, mentioning something about dinner with her sister.

Just me, inventory sheets, and Blade leaning against the wall near the entrance like a guardian statue.

"Almost done," I called out, securing the last of the controlled substances in the safe. My fingers moved through the familiar routine—document, lock, double-check—but tonight each click of the lock felt heavier. Knowing someone wanted me to steal these exact medications made the simple task feel like betrayal.

"Take your time." Blade's voice carried across the empty clinic, rough and reassuring. "No rush."

Except there was. The sooner we left, the sooner we'd be back at his apartment where the air grew thick with everything we weren't saying. Where I'd spend another night in his bed while he took the couch, both of us pretending the arrangement didn't affect us.

My phone rang, the sound sharp in the quiet clinic. Unknown number.

My hand froze halfway to my pocket. Another unknown number. Just like all the others over the past two weeks. But this time Blade stood ten feet away instead of me being alone in my apartment.

"Answer it," he said, already moving closer. "Put it on speaker."

I did, my thumb trembling slightly as I hit the button.

"Working late, nurse?" The voice came through distorted, mechanical. "All alone in that big clinic. All those drugs just sitting there."

"She's not alone." Blade's voice cut through like a blade—no pun intended. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees from his tone alone.

Silence on the other end, then: "Doesn't matter. She knows what we want. She's got twenty-four hours to start delivering, or things get messy. We know where she sleeps now. Nice apartment you got there, biker."

The line went dead.

"They know about your place," I whispered, the phone shaking in my grip.

"Let them come." The casual violence in his tone should have frightened me. Instead, warmth spread through my chest. This man would destroy anyone who tried to hurt me, and the primitive part of my brain found that incredibly attractive.

Movement outside the window caught his attention. His entire body went from relaxed to combat-ready in a heartbeat, muscles coiling under his thermal shirt.

"Stay here."

"Blade—"

But he'd already moved, swift and silent for such a large man. Through the window, I watched a sedan idling across the street, engine running. The driver seemed to be taking photos of the clinic entrance.

Blade didn't hesitate. He crossed the street in long strides, and before the driver could react, his fist went through the driver's side window.

The crack of breaking glass made me jump even from inside. The car lurched forward, tires squealing, but not before Blade got another hit in. Blood scattered across the pavement as the sedan peeled away, Blade standing in the middle of the street like an avenging angel.