Page 79 of The Incendiary

Her smile was too hopeful and bright to exist anywhere near this place, oblivious to the stares that made me feel like someone had gripped my heart. All I could think was mine, mine, mine, she’s mine as shadows crowded my vision. I barreled through the crowd and only let myself breathe when I got to her before someone else could.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I grabbed her shoulders, shielding her from greedy eyes. The moment she walked through those doors, she’d become their prey. As if I could expect any man to look at her and not want her.

“I was looking for you.” Her smile disappeared at the sight of my panic and rage. “Should I not have? I’m sorry.”

“You did nothing wrong.” I cupped her face, forcing my rage away. It was my fault that this was where she found me. “This just isn’t the place for you.”

“Why?” She peeked around me. “Aren’t these your friends?”

“Not friends,” I sighed. When I laced my fingers with hers, my grip nearly swallowed hers whole. There could be no question she was off-limits. “Just stay close to me. Understood?”

She grinned and nudged me playfully. She had come a long way from the shy, timid young woman who’d shown up in my shop two months before. “Gavin Smyth, are you giving orders to a princess?”

I leaned down, tracing the shell of her ear with my lips, reveling in how her body shivered under my touch, then hovered over the pulse point in her neck. “Yes, and I’ll bend you over my knee if you don’t follow those orders.”

Pink splotches scattered across her cheeks and down her neck. I longed to take my damn time kissing each spot.

“New friend of yours, Smyth?” asked a voice behind me.

I stiffened and pulled her into my chest. Duncan Hayes was another acquaintance I’d tolerated but never really liked. Now, I sorted everything and everyone through a filter that detected threats to my Ella, and Hayes was a fucking threat.

He peered at her closely with light gray eyes that had most women swooning. She’d barely left that castle, and there were a lot of men in this city. I swallowed down my fear that she might want him. Fuck, would she?

“Smyth,” Hayes said my name again. “I didn’t know you had a second job as a guard dog.”

“Happily,” I growled. “Best job I’ve ever had.”

I’d always had a violent streak. But murder? I’d never felt the urge to take it that far until Hayes devoured Aryella’s body with his licentious gaze.

But to kill him, I’d have to let go of her, and that wasn’t an option.

She rubbed soothing circles over my heart, dulling my aggression. Her eyes were like a beacon in a storm, calling me in from the raging sea of bloodlust.

I remembered that I was in a tavern, and she was safe in my arms. Hayes needed to be dealt with in a civilized way. I was bigger. Angrier. If he tried anything, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

“What’s your name?” Hayes asked.

“Ella.” Her too-kind voice was like the chirp of a happy little bird oblivious to the wolf about to devour her. I needed to teach her how to deliver a vicious throat punch and run. For now, I tucked her into my side. She clasped the back of my shirt.

“Ella,” Hayes repeated. “A beautiful name to fit a beautiful girl.”

“Thank you,” she answered shyly.

Hayes held out his hand. “Care to walk with me, Ella?”

“No.” I used my arm to block him.

Aryella, painstakingly polite as she was, lowered my arm and shot me a look telling me to calm down. “That’s generous, but I’ll be staying with Smyth.”

Hayes stared down at her chest. “I’m sure I could give you better company.”

Motherfucker.

“Are you deaf?” I lowered my voice in a way I hoped made him realize I would rip off his limbs and enjoy it. “She said no. Fuck off!” I stepped forward, placing her out of his sight, now and forever, but held her hand behind my back so no one could snatch her away. “Now.”

“Since when have you been averse to sharing?”

“Last warning before I rip your throat out!” I snarled.