Page 30 of Knight’s Seduction

He slid his hand up her spine and cupped the back of her neck, massaging lightly. “You don’t know that.”

She leaned into it. “I do. You can’t live with people for twenty-three years and not know how they truly feel. They banished me to that room above the garage. I spent all my time there alone. I guess they tried, but they didn’t love me. I think most of the time they tried to pretend I didn’t exist. All you have to do is look at them now to know I’m right.”

“Then that’s their loss. And they sure as hell don’t deserve any more of your tears.”

She stared up at him, eyes glistening, and it was breaking his damn heart.

“Can you please take me home?”

He scooped her back up, cradling her close.

Home.

It was selfish, but he liked the sound of that far more than he should.

Lifting off, he headed back to the warehouse.

He took her home.

Chapter 8

Meredith knew who was knocking on her door before she opened it.

Kryos hadn’t said it, but he’d been worried about her since they visited her parents’ home a few nights ago. Showing up at her door every single morning to check on her made it kind of obvious.

She pulled the door open, and like always, it was as if the wind had been knocked from her lungs the moment she laid eyes on him. He was just so…beautiful.

His hair was still damp this morning, and she had to put her hands behind her back so she didn’t reach out and touch one of those golden curls. “Hey,” she forced out past her suddenly dry lips.

He looked her up and down, and a muscle jumped in his jaw.

Meredith glanced down at herself. She was wearing Kryos’s shirt. It was so big, it was like a dress on her, hitting the top of her knees. He’d bought her a few things since she’d come here, since she’d arrived with only the clothes on her back, but she liked this shirt.

“You need me to get you some more clothes, sweets?”

She fisted her fingers tighter. It was getting harder and harder to resist touching him. “No, I’m fine. I like to sleep in this…” She blushed. “I mean, if you want it back—”

“No,” he said roughly. “You keep it.”

He’d given her the shirt the first night they arrived. Wearing it made her feel closer to him, and she needed that for some reason.

She needed it badly.

“Thanks.” She pushed the door wider. “Come in.”

He watched her from under his thick, dark lashes as he walked into her small room, and there was something glittering in his gaze that made her heart race faster.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice gentle and incredibly low.

She didn’t want him to worry anymore, or feel guilty. But he did, it was there in his eyes. “I’m okay, really I am. Or at least I will be.” She lifted a shoulder and dropped it. “Who knew it was possible for every single aspect of a person’s life to change in such a short time? And as much as it hurt, I’m glad you took me to see my parents. They’re moving on without me and they’re not suffering. I don’t want them to be in pain.”

“You don’t need to be brave in front of me, Merri. I know it’s gonna take time.”

She moved toward him, her willpower shattering, and rested her hands on his chest. “Yes, it will, but now I can move on as well. I can embrace this new life. I can’t hang on to the past the rest of my life; it will destroy me if I do. I know it sounds weird, but I’m not the same person I was two weeks ago, not inside. Not anymore.”

He smiled down at her. “You know why that is, sweets?”

She shook her head.