There was no fear in Rose’s eyes as she looked up at him. Just curiosity and pain he wished he could eradicate as easily as he had picked up that concrete and tossed it aside.
Answering her question wasn't possible, though.
Rose was alive and relatively in one piece, thanks to Voodoo and his almost magical ability to heal, but that didn't mean she was safe. Not only did Dragon want to kill her so she couldn’t go back and tell anyone about them, but they’d planted cameras in Rose’s home in case her brother went there, and someone had broken in last night and trashed the place. What they were looking for, he didn't know and didn't care, but their pulling Rose into their game of revenge had placed a target on her back from her brother as well.
No one was laying a hand on his little ladybug. Dragon knew what would happen if he went rogue, and if Steel truly believed the man was a threat to Rose, then Dragon would already be dead.
But for now, the man was banned from Rose’s room. Dragon needed to find another way to work through his anger at losing Cassandra, taking it out on the little ladybug was not an option.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said evenly, keeping his expression neutral.
Rose rolled her eyes at him and then winced as it obviously caused her pain, making him want to break something.
Knowing she was hurting and being unable to fix it left him feeling like a nest of wasps had made their home under his skin. The fiery burn wasn't something he was used to. Worrying about someone who wasn't a member of his team wasn't anything he’d thought he would ever do again.
But there he was.
Worrying about the little ladybug.
“Liar,” she muttered, shifting and wincing again.
“Stop doing that,” he snarled.
“Doing what?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“Moving.”
Her look conveyed more than any words could. It was clear she thought he was being weird, which he was, no arguments there.
“I’m uncomfortable,” she said slowly as though she were talking to an idiot. And the thing was, when he was around her, that was exactly what Steel felt like he was.
“What are you doing to me?” he murmured, more to himself than the woman looking at him like he’d grown two heads.
“Umm … nothing?”
“Stay still,” he ordered, when she continued to shift in the bed.
“Ugh, I wish I’d stayed unconscious,” she grumbled, but thankfully, she stilled so he didn't have to watch her cause herself more pain.
Steel was glad she’d woken up, even if Rose wasn't.
It had been a hellish thirty-two hours with her hovering in and out of consciousness, not having the tools they needed to treat her, relying only on Voodoo, who had somehow managed to do what he always did and deal with the worst of Rose’s wounds. There were cracked ribs, the broken arm, a concussion, but thankfully no internal bleeding. How the hell she’d survived with relatively minor injuries, Steel had no idea, but he did know that without Voodoo, there would have been no way to tell if she had internal bleeding or not, and if she did no way to treat it.
“Is our little patient awake?” Voodoo asked as he came strolling into the room.
“Why do you have a black eye?” Rose asked, her brow scrunching adorably before she lifted a hand and rubbed at her temple.
“What did I say about staying still?” he growled, reaching out a hand and banding it around her wrist. Beneath his fingers, her bones were so delicate, so easily snapped, it had been a long time since he’d been so very aware of his enhanced strength and how different it made him from everybody else.
“Relax,” she told him, like she had no awareness of how easily he could break her. Maybe she didn't. She’d seen what he could do, but she was weak and woozy from her injuries, and he doubted it had fully sunk in yet.
“I would if you would stop causing yourself undue pain. Do I need to tie you to the bed, little ladybug?”
Although he’d meant the words as a threat, arousal flared in Rose’s forest green eyes, and she squirmed on the bed. Huh. Seemed the little ladybug had a kinky side, although by the confusion warring with desire in her gaze, he assumed it might be one she was unaware of.
“No tying up my patient,” Voodoo said, watching their exchange with amusement.
“Thank you, Doctor Man,” Rose said, her gaze locked on where his hand still circled her wrist.
