My throat closed. I couldn’t swallow past the ache, couldn’t breathe past the effect she had on me. My fists curled against my thighs, nails biting into the calluses of my palms.
I didn’t deserve that kind of faith. That kind of softness, but I was going to earn it anyway.
Starting tonight.
Starting with blood if it came to it.
I leaned back in the chair, bones aching from tension that never left. My gaze stayed locked on her, on the gentle rise and fall of her chest, on the shadows playing across her skin, on the loose strands of hair curling over her cheek.
She slept.
I stayed awake.
Just like it was supposed to be, and if anyone came for her tonight…I’d make damn sure they never walked away from here.
The first raysof morning light filtered through the curtains, painting soft gold across the walls. I hadn’t slept. Couldn’t. Not when every creak in the house had me ready to put my fist through someone’s face. It would be dumb for someone to try to abduct her with a house full of notorious bad boys with reputations for revenge, but I refused to let my guard down. The second I did was the moment when they would strike.
It was what I would do.
Kaylor stirred, legs tangled in the sheets, mumbling something under her breath. Her brows twitched, lips parting, dry and sleep swollen. Slowly, like she was surfacing from somewhere deep, her lashes fluttered, and her eyes cracked open.
She blinked at me, eyes still hazy and unfocused. The light caught the silver strands of her hair, fanning across her cheek, catching on the slope of her collarbone like sunlight had chosen her and her alone to land on.
“Kreed?” she rasped.
I sat forward, elbows on my knees. “Morning, little raven.”
Her gaze darted from me to the clothes I still wore, to the seat I hadn’t moved from all night, and then back again. Her brows pinched together. “Why are you in the chair?”
I gave a half shrug. “Didn’t want to wake you.”
“How very un-Kreed-like of you,” she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. A soft flush crawled up her cheeks when she caught how close I still was.
I couldn’t help it. A crooked grin tugged at my mouth. “What? You expected me to curl up next to you and spoon?”
She glared at me through sleep-heavy lids. “I expected you to take over the bed like you own the place.”
“I do,” I said, deadpan.
She snorted into her pillow. “And creepy. Sitting there all night. Watching me sleep.”
Fucking adorable.
“Protective,” I corrected. “Big difference.” I leaned in, just enough to feel her breath against my skin. “Besides, you’re the one who kept whispering my name all night. Figured I better stick around in case you needed me.”
That got her.
Frowning, her lashes dipped low as she muttered, “You’re lying. Unless I was cursing your name. That would make more sense.”
I chuckled low, the sound rumbling from my chest. “You want me to tell you what else you said?”
She shot me a look. “Don’t push your luck.”
I grinned. “So you admit it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re insufferable.”
“Maybe,” I said, resting my chin in my hand, elbow on my knee. “But you’re stuck with me anyway.”