Page 75 of Protect Me
Duncan knows.
The Ringmaster knows.
Fuck, nearly everyone here heard his name. They heardmyname.
Which means they’re going to go after him, and he will kill them. Not only is Robert embedded deep in the House of Earth and Emerald, but he’s a fucking monster. A killer who hides behind the smile of a gentleman. And even though he doesn’t have the brute strength of a lion, he’s powerful enough in his own right as a warlock.
I finish the water, and when my stomach begins to settle, I turn just in time to see a freshly showered and partially clothed Duncan coming out of his room.
Where Bracken is scarred and Killian is pierced, Duncan is all hard muscle and smooth skin. He’s built much in the same way they are—a force to be reckoned with. But Duncan’s weapon isn’t his muscle; it’s his mind. My mouth goes dry at how much I want him.
“Are you okay?”
“Do you really care?” I snap without thinking, so I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry. That was unfair. Even if you were—” I open my eyes, shocked to find Duncan standing mere inches from me.
“I am so fucking sorry,” Duncan grinds out. “You have to understand—I never wanted this.”
“What? Me to be attacked?”
“I could smell his desire for you,” Duncan growls. “Just as easily as I could sense your fear.”
“That was my magic,” I say quickly. “I needed to distract him before he did what he threatened and knocked me out. I knew that if he managed to get me away, I’d end up back with—”
“Robert?” he finishes.
I nod.
“Why the fuck didn’t you give us his name?”
“It won’t do you any good. He’s with the House of Earth and Emerald, and he’s embedded like a vein in the highest levels of their leadership.”
“Veins can be cut.”
“Not this one,” I tell him as I reach out and press a hand to his chest. “Please. Don’t die for me.”
“Who said anything about dying?”
“You have no idea what you’re up against.”
“I’m hard to kill,” he retorts.
“Stubborn, too,” I shoot back.
Duncan reaches out and traces a finger along my jaw. “You haveno ideawhat went through my mind when I couldn’t get to you.”
A throbbing ache forms between my legs as my blood heats.
“I was prepared to tear the entire fucking circus apart. As long as I’ve lived, I’ve never felt that kind of bloodlust.”
There’s a haunted look in his eye, and it makes me want to chase it away. But I also need him to know I accept him for who he is—who he was. “You killed him quickly, but you haven’t always,” I say, and his gaze snaps to mine.
“No,” he agrees, “I haven’t.”
“Tell me about your past, Duncan.”
“It’s ugly,” he says.
“Nothing about you is ugly.”