Page 32 of The Darkest Knight

Within seconds, they were heading down the hill with Gage taking every precaution to miss the potholes. Seth still held Reese in his arms.

“This is ridiculous,” she whimpered.

“Again, let me be the judge of that.”

She must have given up arguing because her shoulders slumped and she laid her head on his chest. The ride wasn’t nearly as long as he’d hoped because he could have enjoyed cradling her soft curves longer. Once they were to his cabin, he easily carried her inside, into his bedroom and laid her in the middle of the bed.

Abby jumped up on the bed and nestled herself next to Reese’s legs. Seth patted her head and she gave him a wag of her tail. “Good girl.” She blinked her chocolate eyes and he swore she understood how important her job was to her master. Suddenly he was overcome with gratefulness for the Step for Light project. He couldn’t imagine how many people were inflicted with seizures and were left alone, getting hurt because they didn’t have any warning. What bothered him most was thinking about Reese falling during a seizure, with the risk of breaking an arm, leg, or hitting her head. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially a woman who had been busy working his invisible chains since she meandered into his life.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked Reese who was looking up at him.

“I’m just tired. Nothing unusual, but if I could take a nap that would help.” She was already closing her eyes.

“Sleep as long as you’d like. I’ll stay here.”

He guessed she’d been asleep before his last word left his mouth. With Abby lowering her head and staying close, Seth settled into the overstuffed chair and stretched his legs onto the stool. Guilt slithered through him, remembering how he’d treated her earlier just because he’d been caught off guard by the sudden rush of emotions. He was a dumbass. A stubborn dumbass. He’d gotten too used to being stuck out here alone and he’d lost the basics of communication and compassion.

Laying his head back, he blew out a long breath. He’d never been the best at communication, but he was lousy these days. He hadn’t dealt with his loss very well. For so long he couldn’t get the sight of the bomb explosion out of his mind. Every time he’d closed his eyes, he’d see his men crouched down behind an abandoned car, focused on their target, and then a bright light unlike anything he could imagine sending him backward, unconscious. When he awoke, only minutes later, he was surrounded by the devastation. He would have been dead too if he hadn’t been lured away by the fake baby the woman had been carrying. Yeah, a plastic doll had saved him. Pfft. No one would know where the woman came from, what her intention were, but he still remembered how she’d walked upon the scene like a messenger. Hell, these days his mind twisted and turned the events.

He remembered how smoke clouded the area, the heat from the fire making the air stifling and thick. Moans and painful despair sounded from Torsev’s men through the fog of pandemonium. Seth’s men had been killed instantly and he was grateful that his brothers didn’t suffer.

They had been close. Life had been different. He’d been different. Could he find that man again? The one who could trust easily and bond with someone…bond with a woman that triggered more in him than anyone ever had.

His gaze lingered on Reese. Her dark hair was scattered across his pillow. She looked peaceful with her cheek resting on her hand and her lips slightly parted. Her breathing was rhythmic and calm, and he wondered what it would feel like to have the privilege of joining her, cuddling her near him.

An ache throbbed at his temples.

Rubbing his forehead, he pushed off the chair and strolled out of the room and into his office. The envelope with his name scrawled on the front drew his attention. Sitting down in the swivel chair, he took the letter from the envelope and opened it, seeing his sister’s neat handwriting.

“Seth,

The toughest man with the most loving heart. I think of you as a child…”

He heard Abby whimper. Seth dropped the letter unread onto the desk.

Going back into the bedroom, he checked Reese and she was breathing softly and still resting. Abby looked at him as if to reprimand him for leaving. Back in the comfortable chair, he leaned back and allowed sleep to overtake him.

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