Chapter 13 #2
And damn him for knowing exactly how to stand in front of her without making her feel small. Katrina swallowed hard, her eyes on his broad back.
She had always thought being rescued meant being weak. With Blaze, it didn’t feel that way. It felt like being loved.
“Did you question them?” Blaze asked, then glanced down at Katrina when she didn’t answer.
“I didn’t have a chance.” Katrina frowned, because no, she hadn’t questioned them. She also hadn’t identified herself as a Warrior like she was supposed to do, mostly because her mind had been full of other shit, but she kept that little piece of information to herself.
“You got this?” Blaze glanced at Jared, who nodded.
“Yeah, if I can’t handle these three idiots, then I need to kick my own ass and retire.” Jared snorted, then looked back at Blaze. “Duncan’s on his way.”
“We’re going to finish clearing inside.” Blaze gave the man who had held Katrina one last glare before taking her arm and leading her back into the warehouse.
He didn’t drag her, didn’t treat her like she was breakable, but his hand stayed firm around her arm as if he needed the contact as much as she hated admitting she did.
Once they were deep inside the warehouse and away from Jared and the men outside, he stopped and turned her toward him. “What’s going on, Katrina?”
She started to open her mouth, but Blaze’s eyes narrowed before she could even get the lie out.
“What?” she said instead, because damn him, sometimes she hated how well he knew her.
“Do not say ‘nothing’,” Blaze warned, his voice low. “Because I know something is bothering you.”
It still surprised her how well Blaze knew her.
No one in her life, not even her mother, had known her so well.
He saw things she didn’t want seen, heard things she didn’t say, and somehow knew when her smart mouth was hiding something ugly.
Now wasn’t the time for her to break down everything.
Craig had definitely stirred something inside her, but they had a job to do, and she already let her head get too crowded once tonight.
“I’m fine,” she lied, then glanced away before his eyes could call her on it. “Let’s just finish here so we can get something to eat. I’m getting hangry.”
Blaze stared at her for a long minute before cocking his eyebrow. “Hangry?”
“Yeah, so hungry I’m starting to get angry.” She nodded like that explained everything. “Hangry.”
His mouth curved, but his eyes stayed on hers, searching, waiting, not buying one damn word of it. He reached out and cupped her chin, forcing her gaze back to his without being rough. “Fine, but don’t think this conversation is over. After I feed you, we are going to have a long talk.”
Katrina rolled her eyes, but the move didn’t have much heat behind it. “Can’t wait.”
Blaze’s smile faded, and the look that replaced it made her chest tighten. “I mean it, Katrina. Not being mentally prepared out here can get you killed, and I know you’ve been struggling.”
Her first instinct was to snap back. Tell him she wasn’t struggling. Tell him to stop looking at her like he could see every broken piece she had shoved down and tried to forget. But the words stuck in her throat because he wasn’t wrong, and that pissed her off almost as much as it scared her.
“I said I’m fine,” she said, softer this time, which made the lie sound even worse.
Blaze’s thumb brushed once along her jaw. “And I said we’ll talk after I feed you.”
“Bossy much,” she muttered.
“Only with you.” His eyes moved over her face, lingering just long enough to make her feel the worry he wasn’t saying out loud. “Because you matter more to me than anything else.”
Katrina swallowed, hating those words could hit harder than three men jumping her outside. She wanted to joke it away. Wanted to shove him, roll her eyes, and move on like her chest hadn’t just cracked open a little. Instead, she nodded because it was all she could manage.
“Fine,” she whispered. “After food.”
Blaze leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before releasing her chin. “After food.”
Katrina watched him turn toward the dark stretch of warehouse ahead of them, all Warrior again, and a slow smile tugged at her lips.
Fine. He could have his long talk after they ate.
Or at least he could try. If she happened to lose a few pieces of clothing once they got home, Blaze would forget all about talking. It had worked before.
More than once.
“You can wipe that look off your face,” Blaze said without even turning around.
Katrina’s smile fell, her steps faltered. “What look?”
“The one that says you’re already planning to distract me naked.”
Her mouth opened, then snapped shut because, well, damn.
Blaze glanced over his shoulder, one brow raised. “It won’t work.”
Katrina snorted, following him deeper into the warehouse. “That is the biggest lie you’ve ever told.”
His mouth twitched, but his eyes stayed sharp as he scanned the shadows ahead. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t enjoy it. I said it won’t get you out of the talk.”
“You’re impossible,” she muttered, but there was no heat behind it.
“I know,” he shot back.
Dammit, the way Blaze could make her want to argue with him and, in the same breath, crawl up his body drove her insane. With a sigh, Katrina rolled her sore shoulder and forced herself to focus on the job.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to confide in Blaze.
She did. More than she wanted to admit. But how could she explain something she hadn’t fully wrapped her own head around yet?
Craig showing back up, calling himself Asher, warning her about the Iron Drakes, had ripped open doors she had nailed shut a long time ago.
And now she couldn’t stop hearing them creak back open. “Fucking doors,” She mumbled to herself.
The feeling of doom kept growing, heavy and ugly in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to ignore it. Wanted to blame it on seeing her brother, but Katrina knew better.
Something was coming.
She felt it.
The Iron Drakes weren’t just part of her past anymore. They were coming for her future.