“My... reaction to that man’s knife.” Her jaw tightened and her eyes went blank, hollow. “Don’t bother denying you didn’t notice.”
Of course he’d noticed. Percy still couldn’t quell his surging hatred for the man who’d elicited such a perfect sound from her mouth. “What of it?”
Her mouth gaped. Closed. Opened. “You’re repulsed by it.” She frowned. “Aren’t you?”
“I told you days ago I wasn’t.” How many times must he repeat himself?
Danny stared up at him.
Apparently once more.
Percy tipped up her chin and enunciated his words. “You. Are. Perfect.”
She sniffed and wiped her cheek.
And now she was bloody crying.
Heaving, really. Good God, how much water could pour from a woman’s face?
Percy patted his shirt and trousers helplessly in search of a scrap of fabric to offer her.
“You—” Her voice broke. “You don’t know what that means to me. I feel...”
Percy offered his sleeve, willing her to finish her thought before he went mad.
When she’d delicately dabbed at her wet cheeks, she smiled up at him, eyes bright. “I feel better, thank you.”
Percy knew that wasn’t what she’d set out to say, but he wouldn’t press her now that she’d found her composure. Since this seemed as good a time as any, he offered his own damning statement. “I thought you’d never wish to see me again after what I did to those men.” Remembering, Percy gritted his teeth. How easy it was to shut off his mind and let his body do the work even now, like a devil pulling his willing strings.
Danny cocked a brow. “You disarmed them expertly and with little bloodshed. What on Earth would I find disagreeable about that?”
Percy rubbed his neck. Surely, he didn’t need to explain this to a proper lady? “Because I hurt them without thought or remorse. I may have finished the job if you hadn’t been there.”
“The men were going tokillus,” Danny said.
How was she not understanding? “But my past—”
“We all have a past. Pasts we must face and accept. There are things in mine that are abhorrent, things I would never wish to share with another living soul.”
Percy shook his head. Even now, she downplayed his demons and willed him to condemn her for having her own. “Nothing you could say would change how I see you. Nothing.”
“Percy, you can’t say that until you know the truth.”
“Enough!” How could she not see how perfect she was? “I don’t bloody care about your past.”
She threw her hands in the air. “I don’t care about yours, either!”
“Good!”
“We’ll never speak of this again, then.”
“Great!”Thank God. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“You should.”
“Fine!”
Their mouths came together, more teeth than lips, and their bodies seemed to mutually sigh at the contact.
