Page 3 of King's Claim
His men dragged the Serpents toward the door.One spat blood on the floor, but none dared meet King’s eyes.They were carried out like garbage, their earlier swagger reduced to limp weight.
The Pit Stop fell quiet again, silence thick and uneasy.King turned back to the bar.Back to her and for the first time, Lena had his full attention.
It was worse than she’d imagined.His presence pressed against her, filling every inch of air.His eyes were dark, cutting, assessing her as though she were another problem to solve, another battle to win.
“You all right?”King asked.
The words were simple, but the tone wasn’t a question.It was a demand, rough-edged and expectant.
Lena’s spine stiffened.Her pulse was still erratic, palms damp, but she forced her chin up.“I didn’t ask for your help.”
Something flickered in his expression, a shift, subtle but there.His brow ticked up, the faintest crack in that stone façade.
“Could’ve fooled me,” King said.“Looked like you were about two seconds from getting stripped on that counter.”
Heat flushed her cheeks.Anger flared, mixing with the humiliation burning her throat.“I can handle myself,” Lena said.
“Not against men like that,” King pointed out.
“Not against men like you either,” she snapped.
He curved the corner of his mouth, though it wasn’t a smile.It was darker, something that carried weight, a predator humored by prey baring its teeth.
Most people, she realized, probably begged when he looked at them like that, or ran.She didn’t.Couldn’t.
There was something humming between them, low and dangerous, like a storm building pressure.The heat in his gaze slid over her, heavy, deliberate.It made her skin prickle with awareness she didn’t want to feel.
Lena’s chest rose and fell too quickly.She hated the way her body responded, hated the coil of tension pooling low in her belly.King Maddox was danger incarnate, the kind of man who could end her life or consume it.
Yet she noticed the thick veins running across his forearms, the flex of muscle when he folded his arms, the way his eyes didn’t stray anywhere else in the room.Only her.
Her voice was tight when she finally spoke, “Men like you don’t save girls like me without wanting something.”
King didn’t deny it.
“You’re right,” King said, his tone like a growl.“I don’t save anyone.But you...”His gaze narrowed, pinning her where she stood.“...you don’t scare easy.That’s worth something.”
She forced herself to look away, to grab the rag she’d been using earlier, wiping the counter though it no longer needed cleaning.Her movements were sharp, almost desperate, as if the ordinary act could erase the wild energy still sparking in the air.
Her mother’s tired face flashed in her mind, her weak smile from the hospital bed.The stack of bills waiting at home.The promises Lena had made to keep them safe.
King Maddox was a man who burned down worlds.If she let him in, hers would be ashes before she even realized she’d struck the match.
So she kept her voice steady, even when her insides shook.“I don’t need your protection.”
When she glanced up again, that dangerous curve still lingered at the corner of his mouth.A spark of amusement.A hint of interest.A promise of more and, God help her, Lena’s pulse leapt anyway.
