Page 123 of Bloodstained Wings

I lean back and stare at Carter incredulously. “What? Why?”

“Because I have a war to win, and I can’t do that if I know you’re not safe.”

“I can stay at Anita’s,” I offer, my mind racing to come up with possibilities. “Or I can stay in a hotel or something. I don’t want to go to the mansion alone.”

Especially because the last time we were there, we were attacked. An image of the man’s inert body springs to mind, and I shudder.

“I don’t want to go there, Carter. Please.”

“It’s the only place safe enough and remote enough, dove,” Carter replies with a little more force than necessary. “Tristan is going to be with you, and I’ll see if we can spare anyone else.”

With the war, I know that leaving Tristan with me is difficult enough. I don’t want them to be stretched thin.

Not on my account.

“I don’t need anyone else,” I tell him in a small voice. “I just want to stay here and wait for you.”

“It’s not possible, dove. Everyone who isn’t in the war is going into hiding, including you. Anita is going to be in a safe house not too far from where you are.”

“Can’t she come with me?”

Carter shakes his head. “It’s not safe to have the two of you in the same place in case security is breached. But I’ve made sure you’re as safe as can be.”

My stomach fills with knots, and unease races up my spine. “What if they break in again? Tristan can’t save me by himself.”

Carter stares at me for the longest time.

Wordlessly, he gets up and rummages through a drawer. When he swings his gaze back to mine, he’s holding a small gun in his hand. He takes both of my hands and closes them around the sleek and cold metal. Ice settles in my veins.

“I don’t want this.” I try to give it back to him, but Carter moves out of reach. “Carter, seriously. Just take this back. I’m not going to use it.”

“You shouldn’t have any reason to use it. This is for my own peace of mind, dove,” Carter responds before taking a few more steps away. “Tristan will show you how to use it. You need to make sure you keep it on you at all times, put it under your pillow or something. But always make sure you have the safety on.”

My hands begin to tremble, and tears pour out of my eyes. “Carter, please. I don’t like this. I don’t want the gun, and I don’t want to go to a safe house. There’s got to be something else I can do, somewhere else I can go.”

Carter remains unmoved. “I need to keep you safe, dove. This is the only way to do that. You trust me, don’t you?”

I nod through my tears. “I do, but this has nothing to do with trusting you.”

It has everything to do with the outside world coming for me. Again.

Whenever Carter and I are apart, bad things happen, and I’m not looking to test my luck. Not now, of all times.

Carter kneels in front of me, and his eyes move over my face. “You have to trust me, dove. When this war is over, I will come for you. In the meantime, Tristan is going to keep you safe.”

I stare at Carter until the tears stop. Until some of the knots in my stomach unfurl, and some of the ice in my veins melts.

When he takes the gun out of my hands and places it on the dresser, I’m only too relieved to hand it over. Then he pulls me to my feet, and I let him. His hands drop to my waist, and Carter kisses me like he’s been starving or I’m the air he needs to breathe.

Like he’s been wandering the desert for a thousand days.

I kiss him back like he’s the only thing keeping me tethered to the ground, and I need him to keep from disappearing. Carter makes a low growling sound in the back of his throat, and I tilt my head to the side. He nips on my lower lip, and my mouth parts, allowing him access. His tongue darts in and begins a sensual battle for dominance.

His fingers dig into my back, and wave after wave of pleasure rises within me.

I moan when Carter keeps a hand on my waist as the other darts up to cup my breast. He flicks one nipple and then the other until they’re both as hard as pebbles. With a growling sound that sends shivers breaking out across my skin, he pushes them together.

Molten-hot desire continues to build within me.

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