“She’s going to regret talking to him,” I muttered, my tone sharper than I intended.
“She’s not talking to him to talk to him,” Merrik said, his grin widening. “She’s talking to him to get a rise out of you.”
The bastard wasn’t wrong.
I hated how easily she got under my skin.Hated more that she knew it.
When she turned toward the man at the bar, I felt my patience snap.
It was one thing to let her needle me with her sharp tongue and defiance. It was another to watch her give someone else that fiery attention, even if I knew it wasn’t genuine. He was smiling too much, leaning too close. His gaze lingered in ways that made my blood simmer, and Elyssara... she let him.
The air in the room shifted, the hum of the tavern fading beneath the steady thrum of my pulse.
It wasn’t just the way she let him lean too close or the way hissmile lingered—it was the flicker of her gaze, daring me, challenging me to act. Before I could stop myself, I was on my feet, crossing the room in long, deliberate strides. I didn’t think. I didn’t plan. I justmoved.And when I stopped behind her, close enough to feel the heat radiating from her, my voice was low, a growl edged with something I didn’t want to name.
“You’ve had enough fun for tonight.”
She tensed before she turned to face me, her gaze sharp enough to cut. I saw the flash of surprise in her eyes, quickly buried beneath a mask of irritation. Her retort was quick, biting, and full of the fire I’d come to expect from her. But beneath it, I caught a flicker of something else. Uncertainty, maybe. Or something deeper.
The man at the bar—fool that he was—decided to speak. His words were a mistake, his tone dripping with false bravado, and I shifted closer to Elyssara without thinking, my body a wall between her and whatever threat he posed. I glanced down at her fierce green eyes full of defiance, her slender neck, and her collarbones that promised a path straight to sin and seduction.That’s when I knew I was gone for her.
When she fired back at me, her voice laced with jealousy, it took everything in me not to smile. She could deny it all she wanted, but the way her gaze flicked to Jax, the way her tone sharpened, told me everything I needed to know. She didn’t like it. Didn’t likeher.
The man’s laugh grated against my nerves, and I turned to him, my voice colder now. “Her drink’s done.”
The look in his eyes shifted, unease replacing his earlier confidence. He muttered something under his breath before stepping back, his retreat doing nothing to cool the fire simmering in my chest.
I turned back to Elyssara, leaning close enough that my voice was for her ears alone. “I am the only man that will solve the problem of where you are sleeping tonight and any night. Do you understand?”
Her response was defiant, of course. Her clipped tone and furrowed brow only made me want to pull her closer, to shake her until she admitted what we both knew—that she wanted this asmuch as I did. But instead, I brushed my hand against her arm, guiding her away from the bar.
As we left the tavern, I felt the weight of their gazes lingering too long. The scrape of boots behind us was quiet but deliberate, setting my nerves on edge before the first words were spoken, and I knew the night wasn’t over.
The alley fight didn’t happen all at once. It built, like the tension in the tavern. The man from the bar and his companions followed us outside, their laughter low and mocking.
“Leaving so soon?” the leader sneered, stepping into our path.
Elyssara stiffened beside me, her hand instinctively brushing the hilt of her blade. I moved first, stepping in front of her, my stance broadening as I faced the man.
“You’re making a mistake,” I said, my voice low and steady.
The man didn’t back down. His grin widened, and when he called her a whore, every muscle in my body coiled tight. The words weren’t just an insult—they were a challenge, a provocation—and I answered without hesitation. My hand shot out, gripping his collar as I slammed him against the nearest wall.
The fight that followed was chaos.
Elyssara moved like a storm, her blade flashing in the dim light. She didn’t just wield that blade—she danced with it, her movements fluid and unrelenting. Watching her was like watching a storm: breathtaking, wild, and impossible to control. And I didn’t want to.
Every movement was deliberate, every strike calculated. She wasn’t just defending—she was dominating. And it was the most mesmerizing thing I’d ever seen.
When it was over, and the bodies were groaning at our feet, I turned to her. The fire in her eyes hadn’t dimmed, and the sight of her, bloodied and unyielding, hit me like a blow.
“You shouldn’t have to fight like that,” I said, my voice quieter now, though the edge hadn’t entirely left.
Her retort was as sharp as I expected, but even as she snapped at me, I saw the way her breath hitched, the faint tremor in her hands.
I stepped closer, brushing a streak of blood from her jaw. “I told you—I don’t share.”
The air between us crackled, heavy with tension and something darker, something I didn’t dare name.
