Shadow rose and walked to where Isaac stood, but his gaze never went to the woman but instead locked on to Isaac. “It doesn’t look serious. Just looks like she was knocked around. She has some bruises on her abdomen and one hip in addition to the ones on her face, but the bleeding stopped a long time ago. Most of the fresh blood was ... yours.”
“Christ,” Isaac muttered. “Who the fuck would rough up such a tiny angel?”
“Good question, but you aren’t going to get your answers until she wakes up, and here’s some advice, man. If you don’t want to scare the fuck out of her, get rid of the scowl. She’s going to be terrified enough when she wakes up in a stranger’s bed after all she’s gone through. You’re going to need to be easy with her if you want her to trust you.”
Isaac expelled a long breath and rubbed his neck wearily. “Yeah, I get it. And thanks, man. I appreciate the help. Dex and Zeke are waiting for you outside. They’ll fill you in with what’s going on or what will go on.”
Shadow took it for the dismissal it was and with a nod, he exited the room, leaving Isaac alone with the woman who’d saved him. He moved quietly to the bed and slid into it beside her, staring down at her delicate, ravaged features. Rage consumed him all over again. Was this the price she’d paid for her miraculous gift? Were people hunting her so they could control her and her gift?
He knew the answer. Of course they were. He’d witnessed the hell that the other women of DSS had endured, each of them possessing an amazing psychic or supernatural talent. Even now, they were vulnerable. Targets. But they had the best protection possible. They had husbands who adored them and who would die for them. They had the rest of DSS, who’d die for them just as their husbands would.
But this angel had nothing. No one. Until now.
Unable to resist, Isaac gently traced his finger down the unbruised side of her cheek and then tenderly tucked a wayward lock of her hair behind her ear. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Never again will anyone hurt you,” he whispered, a vow. “Never will you have to face the world alone. I will protect you with my life. A life you saved even though I was nothing to you.”
She stirred restlessly and he froze, afraid he’d awakened her, and it was obvious she needed sleep. Healing sleep. Apart from whatever hell she’d endured before the parking lot incident, healing him had sapped her of any remaining energy. Thank God he’d found her before someone else did.
But she merely snuggled deeper into the covers, burrowing her head into the mound of pillows in his bed. Unable to resist the urge, he slid closer to her and carefully wrapped an arm around her slight body, pulling her into his much larger frame. She sighed as his body heat enveloped her, and she wiggled closer to him as if wanting or at least needing his warmth and the security and safety he’d promised her.
She moved her head from the pillow and nestled it against his chest, her hair tickling his nose as her scent washed over him. It was a gesture of trust even if she wasn’t cognizant of it. Or maybe she’d just been devoid of any kind of human touch, tenderness and gentleness for so long that she was drawn to it.
He settled in, pulling her closer until they were skin to skin, and he closed his eyes thinking he was fucked. Well and truly fucked. He should be putting distance between them. There was too much he didn’t know and he couldn’t afford to make assumptions. That wasn’t the man he was. He was a man who dealt with cold, hard facts. The truth. Not supposition or maybes. Assuming anything in his line of work could get him killed.
She felt right against him. So small and fragile, and it riled his protective instincts like nothing ever had. He couldn’t resist touching and caressing her baby-fine skin even as he felt like an asshole for taking advantage of her when she was sleeping.
His fingers ran lightly up and down her arm and then up to stroke her long, curly hair. She brought him contentment, which was ridiculous considering the very real danger they were all in and the fact that he knew nothing about her. She could belong to someone else.
His mood immediately blackened. If she belonged to someone else, then they didn’t deserve her and they damn sure weren’t protecting her and taking care of her like they should. No matter what used to be, she was his now and even as he knew that was an arrogant, presumptuous statement, he also knew it was true.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by a light knock on his door.
“Eliza and Wade are here,” Zeke called in a low tone.
Reluctantly, Isaac extricated himself, already missing her warmth and softness. Oh yeah, he was fucked in a big way. But his first priority was keeping her safe. Anything else was secondary to that. Even the way he felt about her.
Hopefully she’d remain asleep until he could hammer out a plan with Eliza and Sterling. Then and only then would he awaken her and lay it out. And hope to hell she wouldn’t resist him becoming a very permanent fixture in her life.
He was a man who knew what he wanted and never hesitated to go after it, and he wasn’t about to change the way he lived his life now. This woman was his and her future was linked with his. It wouldn’t be easy. He didn’t expect it to be, but nothing good ever came easy and he wasn’t about to let her go without one hell of a fight, and he never lost.
SIX
ISAACreturned quietly into the bedroom to see that his girl was still asleep. Except she wasn’t as deeply under as he’d left her. She was restless, tossing and turning, and when he saw the silent streams of tears sliding down her pale, bruised cheeks, his chest tightened to the point of pain.
With no hesitation and giving no thought as to whether he should, he pulled back the covers and slid into bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head beneath his chin. She trembled even in sleep, and he’d give anything in the world to be able to prevent the fear he knew she felt every hour of every day.
It was instinctual. He didn’t even consider what he was doing when he pressed his lips to her soft curls. He wanted to stay this way and simply enjoy holding her in his arms, but they didn’t have time. She didn’t have time.
Reluctantly he pulled away, putting distance between them. He slid his hand over her shoulder, gently shaking her.
“Baby, I need you to wake up. Can you do that for me?”
Her brow furrowed and her eyelids fluttered as though they were too heavy to open. Her mouth pursed and then fear chased across her features as she tensed beneath his touch.
“Hey,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I need you to believe that. Now can you open your eyes so we can talk?”
She went rigid and pulled away, her eyes slowly opening, but it gutted him when her gaze settled on him and panic swamped her entire face. She immediately began scrambling backward on the bed.
