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The gun shook as he came closer. His breaths changed with the movement. I tracked every step as he slowly reached out.
“Don’t.” My voice trembled. “Don’t come closer.”
His voice was quiet, controlled. “You’re safer pointing that at me than anyone else in this house.”
Still those pale eyes never wavered.
Warmth closed around my hand. His finger slowly eased mine away from the trigger. Then the steel was gone, sliding from my grip.
Hard breaths left me. He stayed. Watching. Waiting. Shudders coursed through my body. Wracking things that took more than they gave, until slowly they eased. The hard rise in my chest settled.
He never left me.
“That’s it.” He murmured. “You’re safe. No one touches you here.”
16
ALARIC
Teeth ground together somewhere between her breaths. The frantic sound cut through the silence, my entire focus fixed on her.
I closed my hand slowly around the gun.
A small sound escaped her then.
Barely there.
Terrified.
Something savage inside me answered immediately.
“That’s it,” I said quietly. “You’re safe.”
My thumb slid carefully beneath her shaking fingers, easing them fully away from the trigger.
“No one touches you here.”
Her energy trembled. Breath caught like some instinct inside her surrendered first. I gripped the Sig, knowing instantly which weapon it was. I didn’t look at the cupboard, or the magazine I knew was missing from the table. The ribbon. It was still there, right where I kept it. Had she touched it?
“Why this?” I asked carefully knowing there were other guns in the room.
A hard flinch was followed by a heavy breath. Movement flickered briefly at the edge of my vision as she glanced at the doorway behind me.
Don’t…
Don’t go.
“I… I was scared.”
I held my ground. My movements slow and steady. My voice calm.
Scared? Not too scared that she didn’t know how to handle herself. She checked the chamber. Knew how to load a fresh magazine. That wasn’t just fear. That was something else.
“No.” I answered. “You were preparing.”
I took a slow step forward. Close enough to feel her heat and lowered my gaze. “Preparing for what, Nyssa?”
She stepped back fast, hitting the damn wall with a thud.
