That wasn’t true. The thought was in the back of my mind. We could feel each other. He always had been able to, but it felt more now.
Why?
Why now?
I tore my gaze away, my thoughts getting cloudy. I needed to think clearly again. What had he been saying? “This is your place?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
I was nodding to myself, putting together the pieces.
It was a new club. Not far from campus.
My gut sank.
It made perfect sense, a new club that college students would want to check out. That Palma would want to check out.
“You set a trap for me. You renovated this nightclub into a place that you knew college students would want to hang out in. You knew it would eventually bring me here.”
He drew closer. “I don’t see the problem here. I don’t have stipulations about where you can go, remember? I want to see you.”
A shiver went down my spine.
I could feel his heat. He touched underneath my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his own. And as it did, he moved in. His hand fell away as his head inclined over me. “What’s the problem here, Blake?”
I ignored the tingle where he’d touched me. “The problem is you.” I placed my hand to his chest and shoved him back. “You don’t want me to run again?” I moved to him. “Stop. Fucking. Killing. People.”
A storm brewed in his gaze. Those dead eyes that looked anything but right now. They were ominous. Lethal. “I will always protect you—”
“No!” I shoved him again, my control snapping. “I told you—I told you—no one innocent. No one good.” I shoved at him again, moving with him. My body was heated. “I’m sick of worrying about guys who simply talk to me, if you’re going to have them killed. I’m sick of being responsible for your lunacy.”
He was done being pushed.
I started to shove him once more, my hands rising, but I saw the flash of death and stopped. My hands fell back to my side as his words cut into me. “Youinsultme. You think I kill senselessly? That I have no boundaries?” He moved into me, his chest grazing against mine. His breath was hot on my neck, and I couldn’t suppress the tremor that passed through my body. “You are my boundary, Blake. You. I don’t kill anyone good, anyone innocent. Only bad. Your words, your rules. I adhere to only you, and you accuse me otherwise.”
I angled my head back to see him again. “But the two guys three years ago—”
“One tried to drug you. The second was making plans to fuck you with his friends.”
God. His eyes pierced me.
He gave an inch, moving back from me. “I have never broken your rules.”
I trembled slightly, feeling as if we’d gone a thousand rounds instead of just one, but this was how it was with Creighton.
I whispered, “Eight.” I broke first.
He softened. His hand lifted to cup the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my cheek before he let me go once again. “You can date, Blake. But if he or she is going to hurt you, then ...”
Right.Then.
He’d do what he did.
My throat swelled. A lump formed there. “Promise me.”
He frowned. “Promise.”
His eyes were fierce again. I knew he’d follow his promise.
