Page 131 of Bad Enough

“I’d like to stay if that’s okay. If you’d prefer I go?—”

“No!” She put a hand to his chest as if that would somehow stop him. “I want you to stay.” Her eyes stared at his chest. “But how long will you stay?”

Her heart hammered in her chest. She both needed an answer and didn’t want to hear it.

“I’ve been ordered to stay away from Tribe for forty-eight hours. Then I go back to work.”

She sighed and nodded. “Where are you going?”

“Going? I just said. To work.”

“I meant, where are they sending you for work?”

Curled fingers reached under her chin and tipped her eyes up to his. “Tribe, princess. I’m not going overseas. At least, not that I know of. I suppose anything could happen, but there’s no plan to be anywhere but in L.A. for right now.”

“So you’ll stay with me?” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as needy to him as it did to her.

“I’ll stay with you as long as you want me.” A kiss to the forehead sealed the promise. “I’m not going anywhere, princess. I’m in this all the way.”

Sylvan slid her arms up around TB’s neck and squeezed tight, her face buried under his chin. “Thank you.”

“For what, little Flame?”

“For talking to me about my research. For the night at the club. For rescuing me. For everything.”

“No need to thank me, sweetheart. I wanted to do it all and more. I still do. And I’ll tell you a secret.” A kiss to the shell of her ear, his warm breath followed. “I don’t want to stop.”

They sat on the porch swing long into the evening, wrapped around each other, not talking. Just being.

51

JULY 15TH

TB

Until recently, it had been a long time since he had felt fear. The night Flame had been taken had been the first day since the death of his parents that he’d allowed that emotion any power over him. Tonight, however, he was petrified. How was it possible for one tiny little woman, one who was scared of her own shadow at times, one who trusted no one, to trust him? A man who had nothing to offer her but off-the-charts sex and a surly temper. He doubted the former could even begin to make up for the latter.

He had always believed that nothing could make him run. Oh, what a lie that was. He had always been running. Running from his grief over his parents. Running from the restraint of the army. Running from the law. Running from his team. Running from himself.

There would be no more running. Not anymore. And definitely not from her.

The past few weeks had been eye-opening ones for him.

He’d never lived with anyone before. Not like this. The overcrowded rooms of the orphanage, the tents and barracks of the army, were not like this. In those places, there had been no privacy. Not even enough to sit and think quietly. Here? He was with her whenever he wasn’t at Tribe, but he didn’t feel crowded. Even if he sat with her all night in her sanctuary, he never felt like his privacy was invaded.

He had tried to stay at Tribe one night the first week. He spent a long time explaining to her why he was leaving. Giving her space. Not wanting to invade. Taking things slow. He should have saved himself the hours of time he used to plot and plan the delivery of his reasoning because it didn’t work. He got to the apartment, wandered around for a while, then got back in his truck, went to her house, and slid into bed beside her. She hadn’t said a word.

The next night, he tried again. He didn’t even make it six blocks before he turned around to get back to her.

He hadn’t gone back to his apartment since, except to pick up his few belongings, which now hung in a closet in “his” room from when he was protecting her. They kept their things in their individual rooms but ate together when he got home, they sat together while she worked, and they slept together in the window bed every night.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Two weeks ago, Nemo had advised him to make a grand gesture that would show Flame he meant to stay. A gesture that would be the ultimate gift so that she would want to bind herself to him permanently. He’d known since that day what he needed to do, but emotionally, she had been nowhere near ready for it. Today, she was.

The stair creaked behind him, and his hand reflexively went to rub at his chest as he turned.

Is it going to be like this every time she walks down those fucking stairs?

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