Page 48 of Protect Me

I scowl.

He grins.

It’s an innocent smile, but it makes me ache all over again.

“Bracken...”

His smile disappears. He cups my cheek with a calloused hand and peers at me intently, his concern touching me in a way nothing has in so long. Beneath the gentleness is a fierce aura of outright violence; a willingness to kill if needed. “Please tell me who hurt you.”

I hesitate, fully planning to dodge the question. Ignore it. Lie. Pretend. Anything but the truth. But something about Bracken’s vulnerability changes my mind.

“Is it too dramatic if I say everyone I’ve ever known?” I whisper.

“Not dramatic,” he says. “But that’s a long list of people I’m going to have to kill.”

“Not my parents. Nature already did it for you.”

“Shit, Sway. I’m sorry. Is that why you don’t talk about them? They hurt you?”

“No. My parents were pretty great. But they were from two different houses whose families never stopped feuding. I was nine when they died in a car accident. After that, no one ever fully agreed on who should get custody of me, so no one really did. I stayed with aunts and my grandmother for a few years, but because of their custody battle, I was never allowed to join either House.”

“That’s why you have no House.”

I shrug. “I don’t care about that, but that means no protection either.”

He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Who do you need protection from, gorgeous?”

I hesitate, already shocked at how much I’ve just told him. It’s more than I’ve shared with anyone. But instead of feeling exposed, one look at Bracken’s face, and I feel safer than I ever have.

“I met him at a party. He was older than me. Successful. Important to his House. He bought me gifts, made me feel special. I didn’t see the red flags for what they were.” I take a deep breath and press on. “Six months later, my apartment was broken into, so he convinced me to move in with him. He said if I married him, I would get to remain House of Earth and Emerald forever. I would be protected. I needed to feel safe, so I agreed. But the moment I moved into his place, things changed. I began to see the real him. His temper grew worse and worse. His requests became orders. I wasn’t allowed to leave the house alone. My refusals didn’t matter anymore. I—” I blow out a breath and meet Bracken’s eyes. “If he finds me...”

I don’t finish, but Bracken’s gaze has gone dark and feral. The beast inside him is closer to the surface than I’ve ever seen on any of them. But there’s nothing scary about it—not for me.

“I’m going to kill him, Sway. Rip him limb from limb. It won’t be quick. And even then, it won’t satisfy me because you deserve more than that. I can’t go back and stop it, but I can give you this. I can swear to protect you from him, whatever it takes.”

“Bracken.”

He cups my cheek again, the gentle yet murderous look he wears cutting straight to my core. It’s a turn-on, which probably says something about me, but I have to squeeze my thighs together to meet his eyes without giving in to the urge to strip and give myself over to him right here and now. If the sex didn’t mean anything else, maybe I would. But he and the others have made it clear this is not that simple.

“Gorgeous,” he murmurs.

I pull away from his touch. “I can’t ask you to protect me when I’m not able to give you what you want in return.”

“Is that how you think this works?”

“Isn’t it?”

He looks at me intently, the distance between us so close I can feel his breath. “You’ve been hurt by too many people to know this yet, but things are different for you now. We’re different. Me and my brothers. We swear to protect you, so that’s what we’ll do. That protection is separate from our desire to have you in our beds. One doesn’t determine the other. Do you believe me?”

I bite my lip, hesitating. Not because I don’t believe him. But because I do.

He leans closer as if testing me. When I don’t pull away, he kisses my jaw then my cheek then my temple.

“I don’t want a transaction. I want to worship you like you deserve to be worshipped.”

Using the hand he's hooked around my neck, he tips my head down to kiss my forehead then back up again to kiss the corner of my mouth.

“When you come to my bed, Sway, it will be because you want me as much as I want you.”