Page 74 of The Silversmith

“It—it shouldn’t be.”

He sighed. “Ella, there are people in this world who want what you have, who want to hurt you. I will gladly get rid of them, every single one of them, until they’re all gone.”

“You can’t just go around killing people, even the ones that hurt me—”

“I can, and I will. The world is better off without people like him.”

“That’s not your decision to make.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

His lethal resoluteness made me shudder. “You should,” I breathed.

He held my face with both hands, his burning brown gaze fierce and true as he said, “But I don’t.”

I leaned into his touch, wanting only his safety, knowing this was a battle for another day. “I’m sorry for making you kill a man.” I took his hands and lowered them from my face.

“You didn’t make me do anything.” He enveloped my hands in his like he didn’t want to let go. “I have no problem killing a man for simply looking at you the wrong way. Enjoy it, even.”

I gulped.

He noticed. “I’m not a good man.”

I opened my mouth to object, but before I could—

“And I’ll never claim to be one. I will never be worthy of you. No one will.” He lifted my chin with his careful touch. He could say he wasn’t a good man—and after what I’d just seen, maybe he wasn’t—but to wield such wrath yet take such care spoke to his intentions.

With me, at least.

“I’ve seen things, horrors you cannot imagine, terror I will not be able to protect you from. I would give my life if it meant I could shield you from the darkness in this world, but I can’t. I can only teach you everything I know. I can show you how to fight and live. And Ella,” he breathed, stumbling over the emotion in his voice when he spoke my name, “I need you to live.”

I nodded, breathing in his fire, cedar, and leather. My favorite scents. “I want to train more. Tomorrow. I don’t want to be a victim to men like him. Because,” I croaked, afraid to admit the truth of that final moment. That fight had fled when I knew what was about to happen. “I’m not strong enough. Right now, I’m not. I think I would have given up, and I thought he was going to— If you hadn’t shown up, Gavin—”

“But he did not. I am here, and you are safe.” He stroked the tears from my cheek. “Please don’t cry, Ella.” He winced, his warm breath caressing my forehead. “You are strong, and…” He stopped himself and swallowed.

“And?”

He sighed. “And it fucking guts me when you cry.”

I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the backs of my hands and reached for his face. For the scar on his right eye and cheek, the rugged beard I longed to touch. “Well,” I breathed, touching him like he touched me. With gentleness and care. “I certainly don’t want that.”

His eyes shuttered at my touch, his breath became low and ragged. And with a shallow rasp, he removed my fingers from his cheek, squeezed, and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Um.” I pulled the edges of my nightgown tight around my knees and pointed to the floor, where my panties, now filthy and ripped in half, lay crumpled before the stove.

I looked up to see Gavin’s face, hard and otherwise unreadable.

“He managed to grab them and rip them off but didn’t get any further.” I leaned my shoulder into his chest, suddenly self-conscious of the fact that I was completely bare under my nightgown and concerned someone else might walk into the kitchen and catch a glimpse. “Thanks to you.”

“Leave them. They’re done for.” His voice was strained.

“Yes, but I… I’m out.” I’d packed a few days’ worth of clothing, but we hadn’t washed since that day beneath the rocky overhang in western Wymara. “We need clean laundry.”

He released a long, heavy sigh. “I’ll find you something.”

I gasped when he bent down, tucked his arms beneath my knees, and lifted me up. In one swift movement, he managed to position me in his arms so that I was completely covered by my nightgown and he wasn’t risking his hand coming remotely close to the part of me that was bare. It was these small but intentional gestures that made me crave his closeness. He was aggressive when he needed to be, which was most of the time. But when I needed care, he showered me with gentleness and respect. It felt like he saved that part of himself for me.

“Wait, what about the body?” I pointed behind him.