"I told you not to follow me."
"I don't take orders well." Sarah stops beside me, close enough that her shoulder brushes my arm. "Bad habit from my previous life."
I should send her back inside, tell her to leave me alone, let the cold air do its job. But she's here and I can smell her and the violence drains out of me like someone pulled a plug for the first time since I saw Vince's hand on her arm.
"You didn't have to do that." Her voice comes soft against the water sounds. "I could have handled him."
"I know."
"Then why—"
"Because I couldn't watch him touch you." The truth scrapes out before I can stop it. "Couldn't stand there while another man put his hands on you, even if you could handle it. Even if it's not my place."
Sarah goes quiet. The waves lap against the pilings and somewhere in the distance a night bird calls.
"Why isn't it, Knox?"
The question hangs between us. I turn to face her.
The starlight catches her face, her eyes huge and dark, and her scent wraps around me. The dock smells like salt and pine but all I catch is her. A note I can't name yet, darker than before. Want. Need. The same pull I've fought since the first moment I saw her.
"You know why."
"I want to hear you say it."
My hand lifts and my fingers hover an inch from her cheek, close enough to feel the heat radiating from her skin. She doesn't step back.
"I'm forty-two years old." My voice comes out rough. "Orc. Monster. President of an MC with more enemies than allies. You've been through hell and you deserve better than—"
"What if I don't want better?" Her chin lifts. "What if I just wantthis? I know you feel it."
My thumb brushes her cheekbone and she leans into the touch. My heart slams against my ribs.
"Sarah—"
The door bangs open behind us.
"Knox!" Diesel's voice cuts through the night. "Emergency call—Garrison from the Iron Hammers says Humans First just torched his garage. They need backup."
The moment shatters. I drop my hand, step back. Sarah blinks, startled, then pulls herself together.
"I have to go."
"It's okay, I know."
I pull out my keys and toss them to Diesel. "Get Sarah home safe. We'll handle the Hammers."
Diesel catches them and nods. Sarah opens her mouth to say something but I'm already turning away, heading for Garrett's bike.
I don't watch them pull out. Don't watch her arms wrap around another man's waist, her cheek press against another man's back.
Garrett's bike idles at the curb. I swing on behind him and we tear off into the night, toward the glow of distant flames.
I should drive away and never come back, should let her find someone better, someone human, someone without the monster blood and the old wars and the darkness I've never shaken.
