Chapter Nine #2
The fire in his eyes vanished, coated in a layer of frost, and Eli carefully lowered her to the floor. He spun around to leave. She couldn’t let him go, not like this. She grabbed the back of his shirt. “Wait.”
****
Eli stopped in his tracks. Escape was only steps away, but he was frozen in place. As much as he wanted to run from the volatile emotions beating at him, he couldn’t abandon her, not if she needed him.
After his big talk of not wanting to pressure her, he’d turned around and tried to do just that. Way to go, Sin. Show her you’re a man of your word.
“Eli?” He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. Her uncertainty shredded him.
“It’s not safe to be around me right now.
” His biggest fear was that he’d hurt her somehow.
She’d had enough abuse poured on her. If there’d been a way to get through the phone line, he would have ripped out her uncle’s throat.
That he’d suggested such a vile thing made Eli sick to his stomach and left him in a murderous mood.
“Please look at me.”
His wolf was agitated inside him, torn between wanting to hunt down his enemies and needing to comfort her. He opened and closed his hands several times. Finding calm had never been a problem before. It wasn’t fair for him to take his bad mood out on her.
“Please,” she repeated.
His brothers were watching him. It was easy enough to guess what they were thinking.
Cyrus would likely be cursing him for getting them into this mess, even as he worked on a plan to protect them all.
Levi would tell him to shut up and kiss the girl.
And Noah’s solution would be to feed her, as food was the currency of comfort to his brother.
Other than his family, Eli had never cared about anyone before. He worked, he came home, and he helped take care of his family. That was the extent of his life. It had been enough, even though there’d always been something missing. Now he knew what that something was—Kinley.
The tension on his shirt lessened. She was letting him go. He swallowed heavily. It was what he’d wanted, but he couldn’t make himself take that first step away from her.
He slowly turned around. Arms wrapped around herself, wearing one of his shirts that fell almost to her knees, she appeared fragile.
He knew better. This woman’s strength awed him.
Her face was pale but composed. The dark circles under her eyes were still prominent, and there was a gauntness to her that was disturbing.
“I keep saying everything wrong.” She rocked back on her heels and then forward.
“I’m trying to do the right thing, but I have no idea what that is.
I don’t want you or your brothers to get hurt, but I don’t want to go back to my uncle.
” Her blue eyes were haunted. “No matter what I do, someone gets hurt, one of us loses.”
“There’s a way. You just don’t see it.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t believe in you and your brothers.”
“Yes, it is.” She’d wanted him to stay, she’d damn well listen to what he had to say. “You see your uncle and his pack as mythical monsters that can’t be beaten.”
“And you think because you’re the famed seven deadly Sin brothers you’re invincible,” she shot back.
He wished his brothers had the decency to leave them alone, but they were watching the disagreement as though it was a sporting event, their gazes going back and forth between them.
If it lasted much longer, Noah would probably make popcorn to hand out to the others.
“Not invincible, but extremely hard to kill and damn good at what we do. What are you so afraid of?”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you serious?” She opened her arms wide. “I’m afraid they’ll destroy your home and all of you.”
“I don’t think so. Yes, it’s a concern, but it’s deeper than that.” He knew because he had similar fears. “You’re afraid of getting close to me, of allowing me to get close to you. You’re afraid to let yourself care.”
She opened her mouth. He braced for an immediate denial.
But then she shut it and hugged herself tighter.
“You’re right.” It was barely a whisper, but he heard it plain as day.
“I’m terrified of getting in deeper than I already am.
Everything is all mixed up. Whether you admit it or not, there’s part of you that sees me as a damsel in distress, and your sense of honor demands you defend me. ”
His chest squeezed at her blunt honesty.
“You’re not wrong.” He’d give her that. “But you’re not totally right, either.
You think I haven’t come across other women in precarious positions?
I help them out as best I can, then move on.
I damn well don’t bring them home to the mountain.
” He’d never wanted to. Not until Kinley.
He’d never pictured a woman here with him before.
Cyrus wasn’t overly fond of her, but that wasn’t personal.
It had more to do with the trouble she brought with her and the change she represented rather than who she was.
“I want to believe you.”
He huffed out a breath. “Trust me. Trust us.” There wasn’t one of his brothers who’d let her leave after that phone call.
Not even Cyrus. “I may be many things, but I’m no knight in shining armor.
I’m wrath, the third deadly sin.” His entire life had been spent embodying justice and punishment.
For the first time, he couldn’t separate himself from the situation, was unable to step back and view it dispassionately.
Wrath was fitting for what he was experiencing.
He’d like to sweep down on her pack with the fury of a whirlwind.
He struggled to pull his emotions under control.
Discipline and focus would serve him better than the rage pulsing through him.
Kinley shook her head. “I don’t want you to become something you aren’t, not for me.”
He rubbed his thumb over the curve of her jaw.
Her skin was soft and delicate. “I’m not perfect, not by a long shot.
” He ignored Cyrus’s snort of agreement, all his attention on Kinley.
“Good and bad exist inside all of us. It’s what we choose to do with it that matters.
It’s what makes us who we are. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves.
I’ve done some things in my life others might view as breaking the law, but I see them as justice.
And I sleep damn well at night. Protecting you is what I was born to do.
” He knew that as well as he knew his own name.
She wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “I’m afraid.” She licked her lips. “For you. For me.” She glanced at his brothers. “For them.”
“I know you are. But leaving won’t change the outcome. They’ll still come and I’ll still kill them.” It might be better to soften his words, but he needed her to understand who and what he was. He couldn’t hide it, not if he wanted her to accept him as he truly was.
Every one of their phones chimed an alert. Zach jogged down the stairs, expression grim, laptop balanced in his hands. “We’ve got company.”