Chapter 14 #2
I didn’t know if it was the man calling her a whore that made me snap, or the casual assumption he’d share her.
The growl that erupted out of my chest was something that I hadn’t heard in years, since I was feral and uncontrollable, and here it was again, just the same as it was all those years ago.
‘What the fuck did you just say?’ I snarled.
He coughed again, rubbing his throat as he sat up. ‘She’s a fucking whore, man. Get over yourself.’
Stupid. Humans were stupid, and had no sense of danger; there was no other reason for this jackass to be this dumb. I didn’t understand how he couldn’t sense who I was, somewhat. Cats always managed to figure out who I was without much difficulty, but this idiot?
I yanked him up, hauling his sorry ass to his feet once more. I held his collar tight in my hands, letting his feet barely scrape the ground. ‘You really should learn to watch your mouth. One day, you’re going to run your mouth to the wrong person. Unfortunately for you, that day is today.’
Finally, his eyes widened, and he started to choke out an excuse, a reason for being so disrespectful to a woman who deserved far more than this world had to offer.
I didn’t want to hear his half-assed excuses, and I had far outstayed my time here.
I slammed my fist into his nose, the bone immediately shattering beneath my hand.
Blood spurted everywhere, spraying against the walls, dripping down his shirt, and surely staining me in the process.
He moaned, reaching out for his face, but I punched him again, this time in the stomach.
He cried out, trying to keel over, but I kept a tight grip on him while I threw punch after punch. I knew it wasn’t exactly a fair fight, but neither was what he was trying to do to Stella. The demon inside me thrived, thrilled to be let loose once more. I let it take control freely.
It felt good to fight again. To hurt. But this time, it was to protect.
Because if Stella was safe, then all of this was worth it.
It would all be worth it in the end: the loss of my soul, the darkness that threatened to take over me at every turn, the empty nights and joyless days.
Every last moment of misery and anguish would mean something if it meant I gave her a chance at true joy.
I was hungry and thirsted for blood, and this jackass was only too eager to provide the opportunity for both.
The man’s head flew back as my fist connected with his face again, purple bruises marrying with the rich blood, and he went limp in my hands.
I dropped him to the floor, sighing as I wiped what I assumed to be blood from my face.
I hadn’t wanted to knock the guy out, but I’d gotten lost in the instinct and needed to save Stella, and now I had a bit of a mess on my hands.
I wasn’t sure if I could get away with a bar fight as an excuse.
I was sure I had enough blood on me to make it look somewhat believable, but looking at the man’s swollen face, nearly unrecognizable, it didn’t exactly look two-sided.
‘Is he dead?’
I swung around to see Stella, staring down at the man with shock. I shook my head, holding up my hands as I walked closer to her.
‘I’m so sorry you had to see that. Fuck, I’m sorry.’ I wanted to save her, not terrify her.
Stella’s face didn’t change. ‘Is he dead?’
I looked back at the guy, unconscious on the floor. ‘No.’
For the briefest moment, her sobriety slipped into something else, something darker, more akin to what I recognized in myself.
She toed the man in the ribs, giving him a dispassionate look. ‘Too bad.’
If I had a heart, that would’ve been the point it shattered. Watching her lose her hope, her joy, the wondrous way she looked at the world, that was too much for me to handle.
I hesitated to reach out, but when she looked up at me, those bold brown eyes that had seen far too much, I couldn’t stop myself from resting a hand on her cheek, pulling her face to mine.
I was all too aware of every millimeter of space between our bodies, the way her chest was almost touching mine.
‘Don’t. Don’t go down this path,’ I whispered, and the words started pouring out of me. ‘I see you. You’re not that person you think you need to be, do you hear me? You don’t need to be hard. You have a pure heart. You see the good in the world, even when there’s none.’
A dark brow raised. She gave a pointed stare to the man on the floor in front of us. ‘Because that trait gets me so far.’
‘It was one man, and I was here to deal with him. So let me deal with him.’ I stroked her jaw with my thumb, never wanting to take my hands away from her.
A streak of blood smeared across her face, and selfishly I wanted it to linger, a reminder of a memory she would forget.
Eventually, she’d jump away from my touch, run away from me, and this moment would be over.
But for now, I wanted to take advantage of the closest I’d ever been to her.
And fuck her, she leaned her face into my hand, pressing her weight against me with a sigh. This was dangerous. She should recognize me as a threat, not treat me like a friend. My defenses weren’t strong enough for this. Maybe they’d never been strong enough for her.
‘You knew my name,’ she murmured, running her tongue across her teeth. ‘How did you know my name?’
I wanted to run my own tongue across her lips, bite the sweet flesh. I wanted nothing more than to close the distance between us, but she was right. I’d said her name. And she remembered.
Just for a second, I let myself believe it was okay that I knew her name, and that she’d heard me.
That I could kiss her now, let her fall into my arms, in front of the man who didn’t deserve to lay a single finger on her.
I could slide my hands down her waist, letting them slip beneath her skirt, until she cried out my name.
But all that would do would put a target on her back, and I had nothing to protect her with.
But I could chance another moment, if none of this would matter by the time I left. Dangerous, but not as much as it could be.
‘Stella,’ I repeated, leaning forward until my lips ghosted across hers. A breath, and I’d be kissing her. ‘Some things in the world can’t be explained. But I know you don’t want to be like me. You deserve better than that.’
‘Seems like it might be easier, though.’ The vulnerability in her face made me want to steal her away from this world, away from it all, until I could take care of her. ‘Who are you?’
I smiled for the first time that evening. ‘No one important. But you are. And you can’t forget that, ever.’
‘I…’ Stella looked up at me through her lashes, and I had the innate sense of being seen through, like she knew exactly who I was and what I’d done and didn’t care. ‘I don’t know who you are, but I think I want to kiss you.’
Fuck. Me. If she had any idea of how much I wanted to do just that, and then some, she would’ve never said it.
But I knew if I kissed her, even once, that would be it for me.
I would take her back with me, fuck all the rules.
If I pressed my lips to hers, there would be no one else in this lifetime or the next, and I couldn’t damn her to that life – not while she still had a chance of something good.
Stella was heartbreakingly beautiful, sharp edges and vulnerability and all, and her lips were slowly intoxicating me.
Her siren call was strong, and I wanted to touch every inch of her skin with my hands.
If I stayed any longer, I’d do something we’d both regret, something I had no hope of ever making real.
Breathing her in for as long as I could, making a memory I’d bottle forever, I snapped my fingers.
Everything went to black.