“Come on, Elias is smarter than that,” I said. “How did you explain it to him?”
He didn’t answer, just drummed his fingers as he watched me, those handsome features staring down at me with an intensity that normally filled me with a pleasant, prickling heat. This time, however, it did none of those things.
“Look, I need you to please tone it down,” I said, trying to keep my voice gentle and reasonable. I was trying to see it from his perspective, but he wasn’t making it easy. “It’s getting out of hand. I’m starting to feel like I can barely breathe. Hell, I can barely go to the bathroom without feeling like someone is watching me.”
While I wanted to find a happy medium and meet him halfway, it seemed he didn’t feel the same way. He shook his head.
“Not going to happen,” Sam said. “Not until we find out how much the wraith knows.”
I frowned, brow creasing as I tried to make sense of the words. What did the wraith have to do with any of this?
As if reading my thoughts, Sam came to stand in front of me, lowering his voice as he glanced around as if expecting someone to be listening in.
“In case you’ve forgotten, you have magic,” he whispered. “And you used magic in front of the wraith.”
“He thinks it’s Emma—” I argued, but Sam shook his head.
“We don’t know that for certain,” he countered. “For all we know, he’s figured it out and is plotting on coming after youas well as Emma. I’m not going to risk you wandering around without a guard. I don’t care if it’s drawing attention to you if it means keeping you safe.”
I gritted my teeth, trying desperately to find a way to explain how I felt, what was going on inside me. “You’re smothering me,” I accused.
He stood, moving slowly as he walked around the desk until he loomed over me, standing inches away. “I’m not going to let you or our cub go waltzing into danger without some sort of protection,” he said. “And I’m not going to apologize for it. I will move heaven and earth to make sure that you are always safe. You’re just going to have to deal with it.”
My mouth dropped open as anger continued to simmer inside me. “You can’t be serious,” I said.
He grabbed my arm, and his free hand moved to my chin, turning my head until I was staring into his face. I could trace every inch of it, could count every eyelash. For a moment, despite my rage, some primal need burst to the surface. Part of me wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me as he looked at me with a dark intensity that warmed me all over.
“You and that baby are the most important things to me,” he said, holding me tight. He bent to make sure I had to stare right at him. Even through my anger, part of me still wanted him, still relished the feel of his arms on me, still wanted him to hold me tighter. “And if that means I have to piss you off by being a bit overprotective, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Do you understand?”
“You aren’t being a ‘bit overprotective,’” I argued, glaring at him, refusing to let go of that anger. “You’re smothering me, Sam. I need to be able to breathe.”
“So do I,” he snarled. “And right now, the only way I’m able to breathe is if I know you’re safe.”
“That’s bullshit,” I growled as I stared up at him. “That’s a terrible excuse, and you know it. What about me? Do you not care about how this is making me feel?”
He frowned, taking a step back as he folded his arms. “Not when your safety is on the line,” he snarled. “I have a job to do here, and I have to figure out how to protect the entire town and you. I can’t have half my mind fixated on you and still do my job.”
“Then how about you trust me?” I growled. “That would definitely alleviate some of your fear.”
To his credit, he did give a short wince, though his back remained straight and his shoulders upright as he stared down at me. After a moment, he relented, and his body uncoiled, sympathy flickering in his eyes.
“I trust you in a lot of ways,” he said. “But keeping yourself out of harm’s way isn’t necessarily one of them.”
At first, I didn’t think I heard the words properly. Frowning, I stepped out of his grasp, and they fell to his sides.
“So, what, all the lessons with Amelia, everything you said the other night after I saved your life…those were platitudes? A way to keep me quiet?”
“No,” Sam said. “Amelia was because you wanted to learn to fight and use self-defense.”
“But now that it’s even more important, you’ve decided I just can’t handle it.”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. I scoffed as I took a step back.
“I saved your life, if you don’t remember,” I said. “And after, you told me I wasn’t weak, that I could hold my own. So what the hell changed since then?”
He shook his head in frustration as he glared at me. “What’s changed? You’re pregnant. Everything’s changed. It’s not just you now, Rachel.”
Shaking my head, I gave a half-laugh of disbelief. “Right. There it is. You don’t care about me, and you never did. It’s only now that I’m carrying your baby that you do.”
