I whispered, “I’ll never stop blaming myself.”
Liam gathered me to him and stroked my hair. His minty musk scent swirled around me, soothing my fried nerves.
“What are you thinking, Liam?” Lucas asked after a beat of silence.
“I’m thinking I should pay Aidan Michaels a little visit like he asked.”
I pressed away. “No. The man’s a psychopath! You can’t go back there.”
Liam shot me a smile that was all at once rueful and dangerous. “Ness, he won’t shoot me again.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because one, we’ll show up prepared; and two, he’s at the hospital.”
“Liam-no.”
“What would you have me do? Sit back and wait for him to reach out to you again?” Liam stroked the edge of my quivering jaw. His touch just made me shiver harder. “No one threatens one of my wolves. No one.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” I said.
“Absolutely not.”
“Liam-”
“Out of the question, Ness.”
“But-”
Liam shot Lucas a loaded look, probably gave him a silent order, too, because Lucas said, “On her like spandex.”
Gross, and so not fair. I told them so. Not the gross part, but the not-fair one. I even squared my shoulders and gave both men my fiercest look, or what I hoped was a fierce look.
“What’s not fair?” Liam asked. “Trying to keep you away from danger?”
“Isn’t the pack motto to protect the Alpha at all costs?” I asked.
Liam narrowed his dark eyes. “You would be protecting my sanity by staying safe. If anything happened to you, I’d go feral, Ness. I’d go feral and maul whoever got in my way. Preserve my sanity, please.” He scraped a knuckle against my cheek.
I pouted, angry to be benched. “I hope it’s not because I’m a girl and you think I’m too delicate, because I’m n-”
“It’s because you’re my girl,” he said.
“I’ll just wait outside,” Lucas mumbled.
A second later, the door snicked shut.
“Mine, Ness.”
“And how do you think I’ll deal if anything happened to you?”
“The pack will protect you.”
My eyes heated up.
A deep emotion rushed over his face, and he pressed his mouth against my forehead, then against each one of my eyelids, my nose, my jaw, my scar. He didn’t leave a single millimeter on my face untouched. No, that wasn’t true. He hadn’t kissed my mouth yet. But his kiss came, and along with it, waves of intense sensations. They pummeled and filled me like the Pacific Ocean had pounded and foamed against the sandy shores of Venice Beach.
Our kiss tasted of thunder and lightning and need.
So much need.
A need to keep each other safe, but also a need to hold each other, to fill each other.
As he deepened the kiss, as his hands coasted down my spine, cupped my ass, my stomach hardened like a fist. I reeled back as though someone had punched me.
Swollen lips parted and panting, Liam cast me an apologetic look. Did he think I’d detached myself from him because he was going too fast? I forced my fingers into fists to stop them from clutching my still knotted abdomen. I blamed the stupid mating link for the sudden pain. It wasn’t fair.
So much wasn’t fair.
Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Ness. I didn’t mean to rush you-”
“You didn’t.”
“Then why’d you pull away from me?”
I couldn’t keep this a secret from him. Not if the knee-jerk reaction happened each time Liam and I made out. I touched two fingers to my stomach. He frowned, and then he didn’t. Then he understood. And the understanding steeped his face in shadows.
“But he’s gone,” Liam said.
“No. He’s not.”
The look that stained his eyes scared me. Liam backed away and exited the room. A moment later, Lucas came back inside.
I sank onto my bed and hung my head in my hands.
I hadn’t thought this day could get any worse, but apparently it could.
“He’s going to force him to leave, isn’t he?” I asked Lucas.
“Hopefully he’ll concentrate on Everest and Aidan and deal with your bond later.” His cheek dimpled. Unlike me, he didn’t have dimples, so I guessed he was worrying the inside of his mouth. “This makes me glad Taryn and I aren’t together. You girls screw with our focus.”
“You and Taryn broke up? When did that happen?”
“A couple days ago.”
I didn’t like Taryn, but I didn’t like Lucas much either, so I’d found them well-suited. “Were you together a long time?”
A fly buzzed around my desk before landing on the landscape painting behind Lucas’s head.