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I narrowed my eyes on them.
“You said the other day, that when a woman doesn’t want to talk, you wait until she’s ready,” I reminded him.
“I meant Danny and Portia. Not you and me.”
Ugh!
“You’re infuriating.”
“I’ve seen my marks on you,” he whispered. “I like them. I’m proud of them. I love leaving them because I love fucking you. Hard. You’ve made no attempt to hide you love it too. What bruises will I find on you tonight, love? Hmm?”
Okay, maybe it was a little foolish I went racing through the dark corridors with nothing but a phone flashlight and adrenalin to aid my pursuit.
And yes, if I’d fallen all the way down those stairs, shit could have been real.
And finally, yes, I’d likely have been powerless to do anything if I caught him (or her). And in order not to get caught, who knew what they might have done with me? What was known was that they effectively shoved me down some stairs.
But I wasn’t ready to admit to any of that out loud.
Ian, in my fucking brain, read my thoughts and tugged on me to pull me into the curve of his arm, murmuring, “Come here.”
“I’m mad at you,” I said, even as I slouched into him.
He curled me closer. “You’re mad at what’s happening. And you’re scared. You aren’t mad at me, outside of knowing I’m right, and that wounds your pride.”
Argh!
“So do I have your promise?” he pushed. “You’ll let me figure out what’s going on?”
“It’s not right that Dorothy’s shoe was up there, Ian.”
“No, it isn’t. But it’s another clue, and we’ll use it to figure out who’s doing this.”
I grew silent.
“You haven’t promised,” he prompted quietly.
“Okay. Okay. I promise not to go chasing bad guys in scary-as-shit, dark walls.”
He gave me a squeeze, let me get over it then said, “Mum’s right. It was brave.”
“Whatever,” I muttered mutinously.
“Though also right it wasn’t commendable.”
I tipped my head to glare at him again. “You’ve made your point.”
“Good,” he murmured, his eyes moving over my face like he was belatedly trying to figure out if I was unscathed, though, when he’d gotten to me earlier, he’d done an all-over body scan with eyes and hands.
Or he was memorizing it should I do something idiotic again and break my neck.
“Was she right about you using anger to cover you being frightened?” I asked snottily.
“When Mum and Portia told us you took off after a noise in the wall, I was terrified out of my brain.”
I sat motionless, staring at him.
“Whoever is doing this isn’t right in the head, and you were chasing after them.”
