Page 22 of Devil Within

She knew what he meant. That she was safe with him. That he would never treat the woman in his life the way the man in the bar, the one she followed to the alley, treated his. The air between them changed. Shifted into something more. Something she wasn’t willing to define at that moment.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he murmured. “From the moment I saw you in that bar, I knew it was kismet because I hate the Tipsy Bison. I wasn’t even supposed to be there, but I lost a bet.”

“I also didn’t want to be there,” she told him. “I’d just arrived in town that day, but my friend Vette wanted to go out and celebrate. I don’t like crowds like that much, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. She opened her home to me when I needed her most.”

“Well, I’m glad she wanted to celebrate, and I’m glad I lost that bet. Otherwise, I might not have found you.”

“Did you want to find me?” she asked. Meaning, did he want to be a one-woman man?

“I did,” he murmured. He ran his knuckles lightly down her cheek. “If you spend more than a minute around Saint, Sinn, and Queen, you’ll see how devoted they are to one another. How happy they are. I guess you can call me a romantic, because I wanted that connection. The Sons are my brothers. My family, but happiness? Devotion? Yeah, I want a partner in life.”

“Do you, maybe, mean me?”

“Yes, Shiloh.”

She dipped her head, suddenly a little shy. “There are things that you might, um, not like about me.”

“Ditto. But I’d like the chance to figure that out. Same?”

Did she want the chance? What if he found out where she came from and didn’t want to be with her anymore? What if he thought she was disgusting? Dirty?

What if she couldn’t ... perform?

A man like Jade would expect sex. Probably lots of sex.

She used to love sex.

Now, it sent a shiver down her back.

“Jade,” she said quietly, looking at her feet. “There was an incident where I was...um, I was attacked.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Inside, I’m not as pretty as you think I am,” she whispered brokenly.

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face up. “Please look at me.”

She did as he requested, and he wiped away a lone tear. She didn’t even know she’d been crying.

“Shiloh—”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she rushed to say, cutting him off. “I’ve dealt with it. It’s all in the past, and I only told you about it because I thought it might be relevant to this discussion.”

He studied her. “If you give me a name, I’ll kill him.”

The cold-blooded words should have scared the crap out of her. To talk so casually about murder. This was the dangerous man he warned her about. Instead, however, she understood the emotion behind them. He was ready to eliminate the person who had hurt her. To destroy and kill. For her. Men in the past always took and took. They stripped everything from her: her dignity, her sense of self, even the dream of a future. So, yes, his words should’ve frightened her, but instead, they wrapped around her like an addictive hug.

“One day,” she whispered.

Slowly, he nodded. A promise.

“You know, there are a lot more women out there without hang-ups like mine.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want an empty shell,” he said. “I want you because you’re not interchangeable with anyone. Full disclosure, though. I’ve gone through my share of club pussy, and the one thing I’ve come to know is that meaningless sex is, well, meaningless. I like you, Shiloh. I like you as a person, and I’m okay waiting for you to like me back. We’ll take this at your pace. If you want to, that is.”

He wouldn’t force her.

He understood.