Page 27 of Marked By Blaze

That wipes the smirk off their faces, and one of them lunges at me, but I sidestep quickly, feeling the rush of air as the metal rod swishes past me. I throw a punch that connects with the first guy’s jaw, and I read surprise in his expression as he stumbles back.

“You don’t expect me to thank you for stalking me, do you? For breaking into my house and violating my trust in this way? How am I supposed to trust you now, knowing what I do?”

Another guy swings at me, and I let the rod connect with my shoulder. I welcome the sting that shoots through me. It’s what I deserve for hurting her. It’s my penance. But it’s the onlyhit I am going to allow from these fuckers. I pivot, using the momentum to drive my elbow into the man’s gut, and when he doubles over, I kick him aside.

“Leave, please. Just go.”

The third guy comes at me swinging wildly. I duck under his strike before grabbing his arm and twisting it hard enough to hear a bone crack. He hollers as I send him crashing to the ground. I glance back at the first guy trying to regain his footing, so I charge at him and with a final swing that connects with his face, he collapses to the ground.

The men are groaning on the ground when I walk back to my bike. I don’t need to tell them to clear out. I know they’ll be gone before I get to the next block. I’m about to ride out and go after Ingrid when my phone vibrates in my jacket.

“Fuck, what now?” I hiss, grabbing the annoying device from my jacket, ready to chuck it against the concrete wall, when I see her number flash on the screen. Ingrid and I have never exchanged contact info, but I had her number; she could only have gotten mine from Jade.

Can you stop by and grab your jacket from my place?

I stare at the text for a long minute. I could have sworn she left for work from the café. Does she want me to break in and grab my jacket? I’m about to send a response to the text when another comes in.

I’ll be home.

It seems she didn’t head to work after all. Something tells me that this might be the only chance I get to fix things with Ingrid. If this is her trying to cut ties, then she should know that it’s not going to work. I start the engine, revving it at the men still groaning on the ground.

I park my bike across the street walk into her building. I run into the loud neighbor in the elevator, and he immediately cowers in the corner, whimpering when I step inside.

I’m not in the mood to deal with him. I’ve already expelled some rage on those cocky fuckers, and I feel more at ease as we ride up to the fifth floor. The guy barely utters a word as I walk out and down the hall to Ingrid’s apartment. She opens the door before I can knock, shoving the jacket into my chest. “Thanks for this,” she says, looking anywhere but my eyes. “I don’t need it anymore.”

“Ingrid—”

I see it the second her eyes lock on the dusty imprint left earlier by the metal pipe. She reaches forward and touches my shoulder, and I wince. It’s just my luck that those fuckers hit the same injured shoulder that had barely started to heal. “You’re hurt,” she says accusingly, grabbing my arm and pulling me into her apartment before I can say another word. “Are you doing this on purpose?” she rages, tugging the jacket I have on off my shoulders and letting it drop to the floor. Her fingers start unbuttoning my shirt, and my cock stiffens in seconds.

God, I haven’t been this close to her in what feels like forever, when in actuality it’s only been two days. Two torturous days.

Fuck, I missed everything about this girl. Her scent and touch…those beautiful eyes that always steal my breath.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” I rasp, my voice heavy with desire.

“Don’t talk; I still haven’t forgiven you,” she demands, tugging my shirt off and gasping when she spots the blood on my shoulder. “How did this happen? You told me you’re always careful!”

I wait until she’s lifted those pretty mismatched eyes to mine before responding. “I let it happen.”

“Why?” Her voice sounds broken, and I watch with alarm as her eyes well up with tears.

“I deserved it. For hurting you.”

“Blaze,” she scolds, slapping my shoulder—the uninjured one. “It’s not enough that you ruined my favorite café for me. I can’t even enjoy an avocado toast without thinking about you.” Her voice breaks and she takes a breath before continuing. “Or missing you and…wanting you.” Her teary eyes blink back to mine. “Now you’re letting yourself get hurt. How am I supposed to live with that?”

I brush her hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear, and this time she doesn’t evade my touch. “You missed me?” It’s the only thing that matters at this moment.

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m still mad at you, but first, let’s get this shoulder cleaned up and bandaged—”

As much as I would love to feel her hands on my skin, we need to clear this up. “I missed you too, angel.”

“Your shoulder—”

“Can wait,” I say, palming her cheek. My stiff cock pulses when she chews on her bottom lip. It shouldn’t drive me so insane, but Christ, I can’t help myself when she does that. “Fuck, I missed you, baby. Staying away has been killing me.”

She blinks up at me. “Did you? Stay away?” she asks.

This is my chance to prove that I did as she asked and gave her the space she wanted, but I don’t want to lie to her anymore. “No.”

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