Page 39 of Knight’s Salvation

Chapter 10

Zenon staggered back. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”His repeated curses were punctuated by the smack of his cut, bleeding fist against the side of his head.

He deserved far worse. His stomach tightened. The look on her face. Jesus. She thought he was going to hit her.

He’d lost his goddamned mind.

An alarm started up, and the sound rang out, echoing around the empty street.

Unfurling his wings, he lifted off the ground but didn’t go far, taking his spot opposite Mia’s apartment. He couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. Christ, he was fucked in the head. He’d lost his temper. Had frightened her again. Now that window was shrapnel, and he’d managed to make her more vulnerable than ever.

Laz or Kryos would sooner cut off a limb than hurt or frighten their mate, would never put them in a position where their safety was compromised. He was so screwed up he couldn’t even protect her from himself, let alone anything else that might harm her.

Explaining what just went down was not something he wanted to do right then, but the knights owned that building and the sooner someone came to replace the window the better. Grabbing his phone, he keyed a quick text to Chaos, cluing him in on the damage to the building without specifics.

Mia should have been in her apartment by now, but the place was still dark. He needed to know she was all right. With two strong strokes of his wings, he glided across the street and landed on what he knew to be the living room balcony. Yeah, Mia had made it to her apartment all right. Why the hell had he left his position across the street?

She was curled up in a tight ball, fragile and alone, so small on the overstuffed couch in the middle of that huge room. But what tore him up—made him fucking ill—was the way her body shook with the force of her sobs. The sight of those giant tears streaking down her beautiful face, like liquid diamonds, killed him.

He’d done that. He’d caused that pain.

Zenon stood there unmoving for a long time, not able to unglue his boots from the tile, wishing he was a different male, a male who could walk into that room and ease her pain. But he wasn’t that male, never would be. Eventually the sobs didn’t look like they were being ripped from her chest and became more shuddery hiccups.

Seeing Mia like that did something to him, something that terrified him, made him feel more out of control than ever before, and brought his demon to the surface with a possessive roar.

The sound of a vehicle pulling to a stop traveled up from the street below, followed by the sounds of clean-up getting started, and gave him a small sense of relief. At least Chaos didn’t mess around with shit like this, not when more than one demi lived in that building.

Movement from inside the apartment caught his eye. Mia sat up, wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands, and stood, shrugging off her coat.

A low growl shot up his throat. What the hell was she wearing?

The tight black jeans painted onto her round ass and hips were bad enough, but that shirt—no fucking way. The white fabric was thin and clung to her large breasts. It was so damn low cut it revealed a lot of creamy, soft cleavage. Was that her—goddammit, he could see her nipples as clear as if she were standing there naked. The word Jackson’s was emblazoned across the front, stretched to the limit. That was her uniform?

Brushing her hair back from her face, she walked to her bedroom, and he flew to the next balcony in time to see her go into the en suite bathroom. When she emerged, she was wrapped in a pink fluffy robe. She went to her dresser and brushed her hair before reaching back and pulling the glossy red locks into some kind of knot at the back of her head. She was so beautiful and, with her hair off her face, somehow even more vulnerable all at the same time.

He would love to have pulled her into his lap while she did that—better yet, brush her hair for her. He shook his head. He had to stop thinking like this.

Even though he’d proven himself inept at all things when it came to that female—like keeping away from her—he’d convinced himself she needed him to watch over her while she was in Roxburgh, while they waited for her to gain her full power, and as it turned out, he equally sucked at that as well. But in the end he didn’t have a choice. Every instinct he possessed screamed for him to be near her, to ensure her safety. God, he’d screwed everything up.

The fight at the cemetery had held him up.

Kryos had been injured, and Zenon had to help him back to the compound. So he hadn’t been here to make sure she got home safely. He’d arrived in time to see Mia running for her apartment, looking scared as hell. And instead of soothing her fears, like he’d have the first clue how to do that, he’d added to them.

The last few months had been crazy. Demons crawling out of the woodwork, doing shit they didn’t usually do. Something or someone had stirred them up, causing them to risk their necks and raise hell all over the city. And until they found out who or what was causing it, he got the feeling things would get a whole lot worse.

Another reason he needed to stick close to Mia.

Mia let her robe slip from her shoulders and all the breath shot from his lungs on a hiss. Yeah, he turned the corner into Sleazeville at that moment, but he couldn’t turn away from the sight in front of him no matter how hard he tried. No way.

The flimsy thing she wore underneath was yellow, shimmery, and short. The skinny little straps were the only thing holding it onto her lush body, making sure all those curves were covered. The scrap of fabric clung to her hips and thighs, outlined that sweet place between her thighs, and strained over her generous breasts, highlighting peaked nipples.

He’d never felt so out of control in his life, so conflicted. He licked his lips, the taste of her branded into his senses. Looking down he almost expected to find a hard-on.

Of course there wasn’t. Still, it didn’t mean he wasn’t desperate for her, hungering for another taste. She slipped between the sheets and tucked her legs up, resting her hands under her cheek. She looked so alone—lonely in that big bed.

What he wouldn’t give to be able to go in there, climb in beside her, and soothe her. To be a real male for her. Have the freedom to claim her as his mate.

But as long as he needed Helena to survive here on Earth that would never happen. And he sure as fuck wasn’t returning to Hell—not now he knew Mia existed in this world.