Page 34 of Branded Betrayal

“Wanna try again?” I ask.

He yelps in pain as I bend it farther back. “Fuck, fine. I’ll leave her. Plenty more interesting pussy in this place.”

I bend it a tiny bit more for good measure before letting go.

Glenn’s eyes narrow, malice swirling deep. “Don’t think I forgot about you, Hartman. And don’t fool yourself into thinkin’ I won’t be back for ya.”

I give him a good shove and grab Savannah’s hand to pull her behind me and away from the group of drunk ranch hands.

“Blaze,” she hisses, trying to pull her hand free as I march her out of the place. I let go and stare down at her, the flickering neon sign casting a glow on her fury.

“I was on a date. And your brother was there. I didn’t need a savior.”

“That’s right. You keep telling me that you can handle yourself just fine.” I lean close, dipping my head down low. “But you don’t know what those guys are capable of. And they don’t take kindly to the word ‘no.’”

“Stop treating me like a child. I’m a grown woman, and I can handle a handsy asshole in a bar, thank you very much. It’s not like I went to Denver to enter the convent.”

Shit, that stung. And I don’t like hearing that there have been other guys who’ve dared put hands on her. If I ever catch anyone near her again—

“Blaze,” she says. “You don’t own me. And I’m trying to make a life for myself here, for as long as I stay. So leave me alone. It’s been years. We both shoulda moved on by now.” Her eyes flash, and she twists on her boot heel, stomping toward her car a few feet away. She clicks the alarm and then turns toward me one last time.

“Stay away from me, Blaze. We are finished.” She gets in and slams the door shut, and the car shoots out of the lot, spraying up gravel in my direction.

My shoulders slump, fists clenched tight because I know I just fucked everything up by letting every last sliver of self-control slip. I only wanted to protect her.

And if she didn’t hate me before, she sure as hell does now that I cockblocked her. The thought of Tyler making his way over to Red Rock to check on her has my pulse punching a hole through my throat.

I walk over to my truck and give the back tire a hard kick. The light overhead catches on something attached to the windshield. I grab the piece of paper stuck under the wiper blade and unfold it, my lungs tightening like all the air has been sucked out of them.

My blood ices. It’s a photo of Savannah walking down Main Street.

Only one word is written on the paper.

Mine.

Chapter Thirteen

Savannah

How ironic that Blaze spent the past years of his life protecting the freedoms of all Americans and yet he’s looped an invisible noose around my neck that he can just yank whenever he damn well pleases to pull me in with zero chance of escape.

Once upon a time, I’d have loved that. Being the center of his world, the one he can’t bear to have too far away, the one he’d do anything to keep close.

But this version . . . this angry, brooding bastard of a man doesn’t cherish me. He just wants to control me.

And even though I keep pushing him away, my body is alert and alive in a way it hasn’t been for six years. I glance over at the vibrator on my nightstand and roll my eyes. Seriously, what kind of head case am I, hauling out the Pink Panther because the man can still make me wet with nothing other than those turbulent whiskey eyes?

It’s like I’m a teenager again, aching and desperate and so turned on I can barely think straight. Except I’m not a teenager. And the man who’s got me wound so tight I could scream isn’t the boy I fell in love with.

This Blaze is harder. Dangerous in a way that should terrify me but instead makes my pulse spike every time he gets close.

I remember the boy from six years ago . . . teasing and reckless, with that sexy, crooked smile that promised trouble and made me want it anyway. His kisses were hungry but sweet. His hands were rough from ranch work but gentle whenever he touched me.

But this man? There’s nothing sweet or gentle about him.

And my God, his eyes . . .

They used to look at me with desire and heat and an edge of wildness that made my stomach flip.