Page 57 of Protect Me

But it’s too late. Sway’s glaring at him then Bracken then me.

We’re so busted.

“What the hell is going on?” she demands. “And don’t say nothing. Duncan’s been acting weird all night, and you all look guilty of something.”

I hesitate, debating how to handle this and mostly urging Duncan to answer for us since he’s the dumbass who let her know there was something else going on. But Dunc remains quiet as a mouse. Fucking coward. He’ll kill a man while looking him right in the eye, but admitting to Sway there’s something wrong has already broken him.

“We’ll tell you inside,” Bracken says, earning a dirty look from Duncan.

These two assholes are hopeless.

“Fine,” she says stiffly, pushing her way out from between Bracken and Duncan.

She takes a second to straighten her clothing. In the moonlight, I glimpse the smooth, toned sight of her stomach before she pulls her sweatshirt into place. Just a quick flash of skin and then it’s gone, but it’s enough to harden my cock all over again. Fuck. This woman is going to be the death of me.

“Well,” she says pointedly when none of us moves. Mostly because we’re all staring at her like fucking idiots. “Let’s go.”

Sway heads out from behind the stall and emerges into the wide aisle still crowded with people.

“You’ve done it now,” I say to Bracken as we all fall into step behind her.

“I heard that,” she calls back.

Of course she did.

The three of us trail after her through the carnival aisles, and I can’t help but feel like we’re doing some sort of walk of shame. Not about the kiss. That was fucking epic, and I know none of us regret it for a single second. But Bracken’s just promised her an explanation that we all promised each othernotto offer her just yet.

And now we’re stuck.

Because my brothers and I are willing to do a lot of bad shit—especially for good reasons—but we’re not going to lie to her.

One kiss and my lion is already as loyal to her as he would be to his—

Shit.

I stop walking so abruptly that Duncan bumps into me.

“The fuck,” he grumbles, stepping out from around me. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” I manage, slightly dazed as the shock washes over me.

We fall into step together. I can feel him studying me, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

“Did you sense something out there?” he asks, suddenly on high alert as he scans our surroundings.

“No, nothing like that.” But now that I’ve stopped putting all my energy into sensing threats lurking, I notice the strange tug inside me. Like an invisible rope with one end attached to my chest and the other end firmly planted in Sway’s heart.

Like a mate bond.

It’s the last thing I ever expected to feel. With a past like mine, landing here at the circus, meeting my brothers, and D… It was enough. It always would have been enough. But now, I’m not sure it’ll ever be enough again.

Not unless I can have her too.

I can’t quite wrap my head around it, so I focus on putting one foot in front of the other and getting my ass back inside. There will be time to figure this shit out later. Right now, we have an explanation to give as to why we’re all acting like paranoid pricks tonight and, undoubtedly, an earful to get for our trouble.

Chapter15

Sway