Page 40 of Ronan

He purses his lips as a muscle in his jaw ticks, and I can’t help it when my smile spreads. “And now you want to blame yourself for putting me—a man who has lived his entire life in the wilds—in danger. You guessed it…”

“You can stop,” he snaps.

I look him dead in the eye as I slowly raise a third finger. “Drama… queen.”

He glares at me, smacking my hand away from his face. “Are you finished yet?”

“I mean, I could keep going.”

Ronan sighs, staring off into the distance for a long second as though he’s reevaluating his life choices. Heglances at me with a quick side-eye, deciding I’m done being a jackass… which, might I add, is a universally terrible assumption.

He stands, wearing only his pants and a single glove, and raises a brow as I climb to my feet. “If you wanted me to get naked, you only had to ask,” he says, and I pretend I don’t hear him as I step closer, trying to ignore how the proximity of all that bare skin affects me.

“I, um… I sewed you up, but it’s not pretty.” My fingers skim over the bandage as I make sure it isn’t bleeding through, and I glance up to find him staring at me with his head tilted, much like Boomerang does when she’s confused. “It’ll scar, but it was the best I could do.” He places his hand over mine, the touch gentle.

“It’s perfect,” he insists, and I avert my gaze from the intensity in his eyes, the memory of his kiss overwhelming. The taste of his lips and heat of his body… teeth scraping on my lip and growls climbing from his throat. I sneak another glance up at him, and he’s soft in the flickering light.

Dangerously so.

Our eyes stay locked for a moment before he snaps into action. “We have to go,” he announces, taking a step back from me so fast it gives me whiplash.

“Go?”

“They’ll notice Commander Bravis’s absence soon, and there’s a tracker on the car I drove here. In a few hours’ time, this place will be swarming with military.”

“Your armor is disgusting.” He glances at the blood-soaked, dirt-caked leather chest piece beside him, then at his equally filthy pants, nostrils flaring as he catches the scent. Nodding, he grabs a bag of supplies.

Was it really just earlier today he showed up with those? Hell, it couldn’t have been more than five or six hours ago, and there’s been enough excitement to last several weeks.

Stunned, I watch as he pulls out a few items of clothing that are far too large for me, sliding a short-sleeved cotton shirt over his head. It’s casual in a way that’s foreign on him, a stark contrast to the armor he’s always wearing. As he sits to pull on his socks and boots, my brain catches up and the impact of this realization hits me hard.

“You…” An irritated scoff leaves me as Ronan freezes halfway through tying his boots, glancing up at me in question. “Are youseriousright now?”

Brows drawn, he glances at the laces in his hands, then back at me. “What—”

“You broughtclothes. Clothes for yourself and not just for me.” My voice is completely flat, devoid of any emotion as his confusion deepens.

“Yes?”

Lip pinched between my teeth, my arms cross as my foot taps a slow cadence on the floor. “Why?”

“Why?” he repeats, brows drawing further until they almost touch.

“Yes, why? If you came here to send me on my way, why did you bother packing things for yourself? Why are there shirts and pants and fucking… fuckingunderwearin there that are obviously yours when you weren’t planning on leaving with me?”

“When did I ever say I wasn’t leaving with you?”

“When you refused toanswerme, Ronan! When I sat on that counter and asked you point-blank if you were coming with me, and you couldn’t say yes.” Heat pricklesbehind my eyes as I stare into his brown ones. “Whycouldn’t you just…” I force myself to stop, swallowing past the emotions. “Never mind.”

“No.” He grabs my wrist, forcing me closer. “Not never mind. Finish your thoughts, Cameron.”

“Why? So you can stare at me in silence again? Gods, I justkeepmaking a fool of myself when it comes to you, don’t I? I must be a glutton for punishment, because I can’t seem tostop.” A bitter laugh forces its way from my lips. “Even now, I can’t fucking stop, because I’m sitting here, waiting for you to come up with an excuse. So, go ahead—spit it out. Why couldn’t you justsay yes?”

“Of course I was going to say yes,” he argues, “but you didn’t give me a chance.”

“You’ve had plenty of chances, and you haven’t taken a single one.”

Needing a moment to collect myself, I turn to walk away, but he growls and tugs my arm, forcing me to drop very ungracefully onto the couch cushions. He sits beside me as he lifts his lip, flashing the edges of his fangs. “Infuriating human! Nothing you do makes any sense! You stab a man through the heart to save me, then you kiss me and bandage my wounds instead of leaving, and now? Now you’re shutting me out.”

---