Chapter Twenty-Six
SHE WAS GONE before I could even stand.
The door swinging wide when she rushed away, and for a second, I just sat there. Frozen. Breath locked in my chest. Then the chair scraped back hard against the floor, and I shoved Leena off my lap with hard push.
“What the hell, Thunder?” she snapped, stumbling on her heels.
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My boots were already movin’, my chest already burnin’.
I hit the hallway, eyes cuttin’, ears straining, but she was gone. Fast. Too fast. The door at the top of the stairs was shut tight. I could feel it. Like a wall slammin’ down between us, sealin’ me out.
“Shit,” I muttered, my palm hittin’ the cold concrete as I stared up at that stairwell like maybe it’d give her back if I just willed it hard enough.
She thought I wanted Leena. Thought I’d been sittin’ down here lettin’ some bitch drape herself all over me like I didn’t give a damn. Like I was just another bastard in a cut, takin’ what he wanted, leavin’ a woman emptier than when he found her.
But she didn’t see the truth.
Leena had slinked in a minute earlier, hips swingin’, perfume thick enough to choke on. Dropped herself into my lap like she had a right to be there, mouth runnin’ all soft and dirty.
I didn’t kiss her.
Didn’t touch her.
Hell, I barely breathed.
But that didn’t matter, because what Sable saw was enough, I turned into every nightmare she’s ever lived through. Every man who ever touched her without askin’. Every bastard who ever made her feel like she was nothin’ but a body to use.
She didn’t deserve that. Not from me.
I turned and stormed back to the office, slammed the door behind me. Leena was still standin’ there, arms crossed, smug plastered all over her face.
“What the fuck was that?” I barked, my voice sharp enough to cut.
Her smirk twitched, but she played dumb. “What?”
“You think this is a goddamn game? She saw that.”
“She?” Leena scoffed, tilting her head. “You mean that little mouse you’ve been hidin’ upstairs? Thunder, please. You really think she’s your type?”
I stepped in close, low and mean. “She ain’t a type, Leena. She’s mine.”
The words left me raw. Honest. Final.
Her smirk vanished.
“Get the fuck out,” I said, quieter now but deadlier for it. “And don’t come near me again.”
She opened her mouth, shut it again, and finally left, her heels clackin’ too loud on the tile as she disappeared.
I dropped into my chair, raked a hand through my hair, and let my head fall back.
Sable was upstairs. Probably shovin’ her things back in that bag. Probably thinkin’ she’d been stupid to trust me. Hurting, and it was my goddamn fault.
The only woman I’d ever wanted—really wanted—and I let her walk in on a scene that looked just like every horror she’s survived.
She didn’t know I’d been dreamin’ about her since the night I found her on that dark road. She didn’t know that kiss wasn’t lust, it was need, the kind that sinks its claws in and won’t let go. The kind that makes a man feel alive for the first time in years.
She didn’t know.
And now?
Now she might never believe it.
***
I HIT THE stairs two at a time, heart poundin’ hard enough I swore she could hear it from upstairs. My boots slammed the old wood steps louder than I wanted, but I didn’t give a damn. I stopped at the door, hand hoverin’ over the knob like hesitatin’ might change what was waitin’ on the other side.
I turned it slow.
She hadn’t locked it.
That cut deeper than if she had. If she’d locked me out, at least I’d know she was angry. But leavin’ it open? That meant she was already closin’ the door inside herself.
Sable stood in the middle of the livin’ room, arms crossed tight like she was holdin’ her whole world together with nothin’ but bone and will. She didn’t turn when I stepped in. Didn’t flinch. But I saw the tension in every line of her back, like she was bracin’ for impact.
Maybe a fight.
Maybe goodbye.
“I wasn’t with her,” I said. “Not the way you think.”
She turned slow, eyes shadowed, her face too calm. Too practiced. Like she’d already decided what version of me she was gonna believe.
“I’m not upset,” she said softly. Too softly.
That stopped me cold. “You… aren’t?”
She gave a small shrug, like she was shrinkin’ smaller right there in front of me. “It was just bad timing on my part. I shouldn’t have come in without knocking. I overreacted.”
“Sable—”
“I’m sorry,” she cut in, that soft tone diggin’ under my ribs worse than if she’d screamed. “You don’t owe me a thing. You’ve done more for me and the kids than I could ever ask for. I won’t make this uncomfortable.”
Her words were polite as poison. Gentle as bruises. Like she’d already decided she wasn’t worth fightin’ for.
I stepped in, closin’ the space until I was right in front of her. “You’re not hearin’ me.”
She kept her gaze down. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have let myself think there was more between us. I misunderstood that kiss.”
She was foldin’ up tight, lockin’ down what little we’d started, and I’ll be damned if that didn’t break me clean in two.
“Really?” My voice came out tight, and a little angry. “You really think I kissed you ’cause I felt sorry for you?”
“I think you’re a good man,” she said, face still unreadable. “And maybe that kiss was just… one of those kind things you do for someone when you pity them. Maybe that’s all it was. A moment.”
My hands curled into fists. Rage burned deep, not at her, but at every bastard who made her think kindness was pity, that want could only ever be sin.
“No.”
She finally looked up, brows pulling. “Zeke—”
“No,” I snapped again, heat climbin’ my ribs. “You don’t get to look at me the way you did, kiss me like that, stir up every damn thing inside me, and then walk away like it was nothin’.”
Her eyes shined wet, but she held the tears back with that stubborn strength of hers.
“Men have vices,” she whispered. “Lust is in their nature. And not even the greatest love can stop a man when temptation’s put in front of him.”
“That’s bullshit,” I growled. “And you damn well know it.”
“Do I?” she bit out, brittle. “Because from where I stood, she looked plenty comfortable sitting on your lap.”
I held her stare, unblinkin’. Let the accusation hang heavy in the air.
“I didn’t want her,” I said. “Didn’t touch her. She came in, dropped herself on me, and yeah, I froze. Should’ve thrown her off faster. Should’ve been clearer. You walked in before I did. That’s on me. But don’t you dare think for one second she meant a damn thing.”
She went quiet. Shoulders still tight like she was carryin’ the weight of both our pasts.
“I wish I could believe that,” she whispered finally. “But you have to understand… I can’t.”
I stepped in close, droppin’ my voice. “Then believe this, don’t let one mistake erase everythin’ else. Don’t walk away from what we’ve already started just ’cause you’re scared I’m like the rest.”
Her lips parted, no words.
I reached for her hand, slow, careful, like she was glass already cracked. Gave her room to pull away. She didn’t. Our fingers met, and she trembled, like her body knew before her mind did.
“I only want you, Sable,” I murmured, my voice rough. “I ain’t sorry for it, either.”
Her eyes shimmered, tears holdin’ the line. “You scare me,” she breathed.
I swallowed hard, every muscle pulled taut. “You scare the hell outta me, too.”