In fact, it had only lit a match to his unresolved desire for her.
He cleared his throat. “I should let you sleep. I brought you up here because it was obvious you were exhausted. Tomorrow’s going to come early.”
“Yeah.”
She parted her lips as if she wanted to say something more, but then thought better of it. She glanced down. The move sent a tendril of her dark hair swinging into her face.
Knox should have let go. He should have let her keep whatever she was reluctant to say. Instead, he reached out, swept the stray lock out of her eyes and lifted her chin on the edge of his finger.
“You all right?”
She nodded, but her gaze told him something different. “The day I’ve been dreading since Travis Parrish was sent away is finally here. It’s only hours away now.” She swallowed. “I’m scared, Knox.”
He knew how much that quiet admission cost her. He understood her apprehension about her sister’s assailant coming home. He’d seen the fear in Leni over the thought of losing Riley to his father and the rest of the Parrishes. He had recognized Leni’s worry the night she asked for his help. But this was the first time she’d said it out loud.
He exhaled a low sigh, sliding his hand from her chin to her nape. He cupped his fingers around the back of her neck, drawing her toward him. “There’s no reason to be afraid. I’m here. I’m not going to let anything happen. Not to you. Not to Riley.”
“What can you do if they try to take him from me? What can anyone do about that, Knox?” Emotion choked her voice. She slowly shook her head in resignation. “Half of him is Parrish. He belongs to them, more than he belongs to me.”
“Bullshit. That’s not even close to true. Blood has nothing to do with where someone belongs. It has nothing to do with the lengths someone will go to protect what matters.”
As he said the words, he realized just how profoundly he meant them. Not only when it came to Leni and her sister’s child, but how Knox felt about the woman he was looking at now.
Leni wasn’t his. As a Breedmate, he fully expected that one day, the gift of her eternal blood bond would belong to another male, one who deserved her. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t protect her to his last breath.
Even without the mark on her belly, her life had become precious to him. It was worth fighting for. Worth dying for.
He was starting to believe she might even be worth living for, something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“I’m not going to let anything happen,” he said, the promise rough for the presence of his fangs. “I’m going to keep both of you safe and together. No matter what it takes.”
She leaned against him and he brought his arm around her, holding her close in spite of every warning that thundered through his blood and body. He was treading into dangerous waters with her tonight. His need for her intensified now that she was cuddled into his chest, her sweet scent filling his senses.
He tipped his head back, searching for the strength to get up off her bed and leave the room. Leni’s palm rested over his heart. She had to feel the savage drumming beneath her hand. She had to know just how close he was to breaking.
“Knox.” His whispered name sounded like a plea.
She reached up to him, cupping the side of his face. His jaw was clenched so tightly, it was a wonder his molars didn’t shatter. She coaxed him to look at her.
When the glowing coals of his irises met the unflinching desire in her gaze, he couldn’t contain the growl that boiled up the back of his throat.
Leni pulled his head down to hers. She said his name again, then her mouth was on his.
That spark was all it took.
He had been holding on to his control by a thread. Now it went up like tinder, exploding out of his grasp. Leni’s kiss seared him. She may have been out of practice, but there was nothing untried or uncertain in the feel of her lips on his.
Her fingers tangled in his hair, dragging him closer. He moved his hand at her back under the loose hem of her sweater, craving the heat of her skin. Christ, she was so soft. He couldn’t get enough.
Their mouths joined and urgent, he reached around to the front of her and pushed up the edge of the thin lace bralette she wore. Her breast filled his hand, the nipple as taut as a pearl against his palm as he caressed her.
“I want to see you,” he uttered against her parted lips.
Her moan was all the permission he needed. He bared her from the waist up, the hot amber light of his fevered gaze licking over every perfect inch of her.
The Breedmate mark on her abdomen should have cooled him. It should have slowed him down, at least. But seeing that delicate scarlet symbol on the creaminess of her skin only made his need to possess her burn brighter, hotter.
Dangerously so.
