Page 10 of Feral Heart
“Jamie!”
His eyes darted around like ping-pong balls, but Cesar could see them slowing down.
“Focus on me,” he encouraged, feeling like his fucking heart was breaking. Jamie curled his fingers around Cesar’s wrists, gripping them until his knuckles turned white.
“I’m right here, cariño. Listen to my voice. Let it fill you the same way the music did. No one is going to hurt you, Jamie. I just need you to come back to me.”
Cesar wasn’t gonna stop talking until he had Jamie’s attention. Screw the food, the customers, and everything else. Right in that moment, Jamie was all that mattered. “Just a little more,” Cesar crooned when Jamie’s eyes started flicking to him before darting away.
He was fighting to come back, listening to Cesar tell him about how he’d met Noel, how the little pistola had kicked Tomas’s ass, and how they now called Noel baby seal, though not to his face.
Everyone was afraid to get their asses kicked next.
Gradually, Jamie’s breathing slowed, his eyes starting to lose that wild edge, and his grip on Cesar’s wrists loosened.
“You with me, sweetheart?” He brushed his thumbs across Jamie’s soft skin. His features were more feminine than masculine—sharp cheekbones, pert nose, and a soft jawline that curved with soft angles.
“I think—” Jamie focused on Cesar’s chest, his breathing steady but shallow. “Jellybean—” He drew in a breath. “I’m sorry.”
Cesar folded Jamie into his arms, wondering just how deep his trauma was. He’d suffered from multiple head trauma, emotional distress, and panic attacks, this one much worse than in the bar.
What else did Janie suffer from, and how much of his trauma had his brother caused? A wolf shifter’s life was harsh. The only light in Cesar’s darkness had been his abuela. She’d protected him as best she could, keeping him in her kitchen and out of trouble.
But who did Jamie have? Who fought to keep him safe when the monsters attacked? Cesar had stood in that checkout line, watching the exchange between Jamie and his brother. The guy had gotten off on terrorizing Jamie.
The other human though? The one Jamie had warned Cesar about? He was the true threat. Soulless eyes and a malicious smile that would make even the devil think twice.
Cesar held Jamie more firmly, probably giving him a sense of safety he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“Are we still friends?” Jamie murmured against Cesar’s chest.
“Why would you ask me that?” He’d never felt such an overwhelming need to protect someone the way he did the human. Jamie had no one fighting for him, no one he could call at three in the morning just because he didn’t want to feel so alone.
“I’m a wreck,” Jamie said with sarcasm. “Apparently I love falling apart in front of you. Not exactly endearing qualities, huh?”
“I don’t know, cariño.” Cesar squeezed his arms just a little. “Gives me an excuse to hold you.”
Tilting his head back, Jamie frowned at him. “You don’t need an excuse, honey bunny. You can hug me anytime you want.”
He did not just say that. “Careful, colibrí. Tell me I can hold you and I might not let go. Ever.”
A soft, sweet grin lit up his breathtaking gray eyes. He bit his bottom lip as a flush swept through his cheeks. “It’ll make doing my job a lot harder but worth it.”
Cesar threw his head back and laughed. “You’d lug my big ass around, colibrí?”
“Are you kidding?” Jamie bounced in Cesar’s arm, smiling so wildly a set of dimples showed. Damn he was beautiful. “I would carry you everywhere.” He squeezed Cesar’s sides as his face turned a deeper shade of red.
“Are you seriously trying to lift me?” he asked in astonishment. The guy couldn’t weigh more than a hundred five, maybe ten pounds. “Babe, I’m two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle. The only thing you’re gonna lift is your back off the ground.”
“You could at least pretend,” Jamie whispered.
“Oh, sorry,” Cesar whispered back. “Try again.”
When he did, Cesar pushed to his toes. “Ah! Put me down!”
Those slim arms shook, as if Jamie were really trying to lift him. He’d lost his goddamn mind if he thought he could pick up a muscled wolf shifter.
“What’re you guys doing out here?” Chopper called out from the kitchen doorway. “We got another one who likes to kick ass?”
