Page 40 of Knight’s Dominion

“What?” he whispered back.

“Big. It’s really fucking big, Chaos.”

He quickly pulled her hand away before he disgraced himself. He stood, taking her with him. “Okay, time for sleep.”

Grace shook her head. “No, I’m not tired. I need to go home.”

He threw a towel over her and carried her from the bathroom.

She was out cold before he reached the bed.

Laying her down, he quickly dried her and tugged one of his shirts over her head, covering her naked body.

She wasn't going anywhere, not while she was so vulnerable, not until she’d fully recovered.

Maybe not even then.

CHAPTER 12

Chaos couldn’t make himself move, hadn’t left her side in three hours. He wanted to dress her wounds, but he also didn’t want to disturb her. Grace needed her sleep. So he’d sat frozen beside her, his mind in turmoil, not sure what to do. Wanting desperately to look after her, yet knowing that whatever he did would cause her some kind of pain or discomfort.

He’d lost his fucking mind. Obviously.

He should be demanding answers from her. For instance, what the fuck had happened back in that alley? And he didn’t mean the simple answers, like why she engaged a demon with no backup, or even the fact that she was his mate and she chose to keep that from him. What he really wanted to know was what the fuck that power was she’d used on him before throwing him clean across the alley.

Grace was full of secrets, and he wanted to know them all. Every last one.

She stirred and he was drawn closer, watching…fascinated by every subtle movement, the way her breathing had quickened, lips parting slightly. Her lashes were thick half-moons on her smooth cheeks, and they trembled before her eyes finally opened.

Rich brown irises locked on him and knocked the wind from his lungs.

She sat bolt upright and they narrowly avoided cracking skulls. He reached out to steady her and she brushed his hand away, her eyes on him but unseeing for several seconds.

“Grace?”

He saw the moment it all snapped back into place, what happened, where she was, why she was with him?

She shoved her hair back. “What time is it?”

“Four in the morning.”

Grace looked down at herself and frowned at his shirt that she was wearing, then looked back at him. “Have you been sitting there the whole time?”

“Yes.”

Her chin jerked back. “Why?”

Because I couldn’t make myself leave your side. Because all I wanted to do was climb in bed with you and feel you against me. He shrugged, then stood. “Waiting for you to wake so I could dress your wounds.”

He forced himself to leave her and grabbed the first-aid kit from the bathroom.

She eyed him warily when he walked back in, which pissed him off. No, he had no right to feel that way. He hadn’t exactly worked to build her trust, had undermined and berated her every chance he got. Public relations weren’t his strong suit. As far as he’d been concerned, Grace was getting in the way of him doing his job and putting herself at risk every time she went out in the field.

He’d been wrong, of course. She was a skilled fighter, determined, relentless. He’d just been too stubborn to see it.

Her eyes narrowed and hardened at his scrutiny. “I got injured, it happens. I’m sure you’ve been injured a million times, so don’t you even think about telling me not to fight.”

He shook his head and dropped to his knees on the floor beside the bed, flicking back the covers to get to her injured leg. “I won’t get in your way, not anymore,” he said, even as his instincts screamed at him to keep her locked safely in his room and never let her out of his sight. But Grace was a warrior. Who was he to stop her if she wanted to fight? “You have every right to defend the demi in this city. I’m sorry I didn’t see your side of things sooner.”