I inched closer, shortening the space between us. The droplets of snow melting against her cheeks looked like tears. I wasn’t sure whether that made me angry, or sad. Probably a bit of both.
“That man touched you,” I said with a growl. “He wanted to drag you back to Donovan. He wanted to hurt you…”
Rage welled up in my throat, like acid bile. Somehow I forced it back.
“I’ll die before that ever happens,” I seethed.
Peyton’s eyes crawled over me admiringly, for a moment. The look caused my body to go warm all over.
“But you can’t always be there,” she muttered, at last. “Your protection can only go so far.”
“True. Which is why I’m going to show you how tofight, and fight hard,” I told her. “For those times when I can’t be there.”
I saw the moment where her heart actually melted a little. She stood on her toes, leaned in, and planted a warm, wonderful kiss on my cold lips.
Then she stepped back into a fighting stance, her eyes gleaming with a warrior’s ferocity.
“Then show me,” she purred, through clenched teeth. “And don’t hold back.”
