AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just like when I was sent away from the only family who ever loved me.
Just like every night I’ve tucked myself into a cold bed, alone.
CHAPTERELEVEN
Marcus
Shh,” I murmur into the sweat-dampened crook of Heather’s neck. There’s a ceaseless protective urge to place a kiss beneath her ear as I continue to coax her from whatever dark ledge she’s found herself on. “I’ve got you, okay? I’m right here.”
Body flush with her spine and hips, I cocoon her on top of Sparrow while carefully stroking her bleach-white knuckles.
“Listen to my voice, Heather.”
She gives an almost imperceptible nod, and a sense of victory battles the remorse coating my insides black. I hate to see her like this, terrified and shaking.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re safe.”
I won’t listen to the thoughts which remind me that I’d told my sister the exact same thing, only to have failed her in the end.
Instead, I draw my legs tighter, molding them against hers to help keep us steady, but her trembling lips threaten to cleave my heart in two.
“I’m sorry,” Heather whispers, gradually unfurling her fingers from Sparrow’s coarse mane. She releases several shallow, unsteady breaths before she’s able to regulate again.
“Don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”
When I sit back, her hand snaps around my wrist conveying a silent request for me to stay.
Untapped masculine pride unravels inside me to be the one she needs. It’s omnipresent and consuming as it scoffs,Yeah, you’ll be going fucking nowhere, bud.
Her leggings are warm beneath my hand when I settle it on top of her thigh, which rises gently with Sparrow’s expanding lungs. The horse dances to be cut loose in the river, but I give her a stern command to wait.
She catches her breath for a few more minutes, staring at the river as if it may jump up and snatch her from my grasp. Eventually, she murmurs, “I have panic attacks when I’m around large bodies of water.”
I admire her vulnerability nearly as much as I admire her allowing me to protect her.
Turning my face into her neck, I draw a greedy breath, filling my lungs with her unique brand, only to hesitate when she tips her head to the side invitingly.
My lips burn to kiss the spot, my tongue eager to taste the salt on her soft skin.
I chuckle lightly, feeling the heat of my breath reflecting across my mouth. “Maybe you should lead with that next time.”
Sparrow’s hooves make asquelchingnoise in the mud as she steps sideways, impatient.
“Was ‘don’t you dare touch me’ not clear enough?” Heather murmurs.
My shoulders relax with more humming laughter. “Guess I’m not good at following directions.”
“Throwing my words at me,” she says, turning those soft brown eyes on mine, and I’m relieved at the life sparking in them again. “Cute.”
“Do you trust me?” I ask, knowing I’m keeping secrets from her, but seeking validation, anyway.
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“I figured as much,” I tease.
“It’s nothing personal,” she’s quick to say. “But most people have agendas, you know?”
“Finally, something we can agree on.”
