Page 42 of Robb

“For as long as it takes for me to think it’s safe for you to leave,” Robb said, knowing the moment the words came out of his mouth – and the moment he saw the raise of Tahnee’s eyebrows – that he’d said exactly the wrong thing.

Taking a step back toward her and trying to lighten his tone, he went on, “Don’t you want to find out who lured us here? This affects the safety of your sanctuary as well, you know.”

“No shit,” Tahnee said, staying right where she was and not taking her own step to finish closing the distance between them. “But you don’t get to tell me what to do or order me around like I’m one of your subordinates. I have a mind of my own, you know – and, I don’t know if you remember, a life of my own too. Don’t you think I might like a little bit of a say about when I can go back to, you know, the sanctuary I’ve spent my life building? The people I love and care about, who might also be in danger?”

Robb forced himself not to grimace.

Of course he knew the sanctuary was important to Tahnee – to put it mildly.

It was her life’s work, something she’d poured everything she had into, and which he appreciated very much, given that it seemed to have fulfilled Tahnee’s need to help people, without giving wanted criminals money to go… do whatever they did next, good or bad.

But can’t she see her safety is the only thing I care about?

“I’m not trying to –” Robb cut himself off and took a deep breath, before trying again. “What I’m trying to do,” he said in a slightly strained tone, “is to keep you safe. To keep both of us safe. Do you think I’m doing this for fun? Do you think I want you to be stuck in a safehouse somewhere?”

We have to get going, his dingo urged. Make her understand.

Shut the fuck up! he yelled back. Do you want to ruin everything?!

He’d never yelled at his dingo before… but he didn’t really care. Everything was on the verge of coming undone, and for what? A misunderstanding? Her refusal to accept the fact that his work was dangerous, and he only wanted to keep her safe?

“Do you think I want you telling me what to do, whether it’s for my safety or not?” she hissed. “I’m a big girl, Robb. I can make my own decisions. I kept myself safe all this time, after all, despite your attempts to arrest me for daring to help people. Do you really think I need your help staying safe?”

“I’m not saying – oh, for crying out loud.”

Robb rubbed at his eyes for a moment, trying to regain some semblance of calm. Why was Tahnee the only person who could make him lose control like this? Wasn’t your mate supposed to be the person who helped you keep things together, rather than tearing them apart?

“You can say that again,” Tahnee snapped. “I don’t think I’m asking for the world here – just not to be ordered around. And that I can go home so I can check that the place I love more than anything is safe, and talk to my people about what’s been happening and make sure they’re safe as well. You really think you have the right to tell me I can’t do that?”

Robb stared at her.

Maybe this had all been an enormous mistake after all, a small, horrifying voice in his mind said. Maybe he’d had the right of it back on that yacht at New Year’s, when he’d chosen to walk away. Maybe they really were incompatible.

No, he thought vehemently. I refuse to believe it. We can make this work. We have to.

Of course, he could understand where she was coming from. And he knew that she was fiercely independent. It was one of the things that he liked most about her, even as it made him want to tear his hair out.

But their worldviews and personalities were just so diametrically opposed that he wasn’t sure if they could make it work. If they were butting heads at the first slight disagreement, then what hope did they have? Was this going to happen every time his work brought about some new threat?

Because whoever these shifters were, they were dangerous. And he didn’t want to lose Tahnee just as he’d finally found her.

“I’m not saying that,” he said, trying to sound reasonable. But he knew, essentially, that he was saying that, and that he didn’t know when he’d think it was safe for her to go. For now, the main thing he wanted was to know where she was so he could personally make sure she wasn’t in any danger. And he didn’t think he was being unreasonable either. “Hargreaves are dangerous, Tahnee. I don’t think you understand –”

“I don’t understand?” She stood there proudly, her eyes flashing with defiance, but there was the slightest hitch in her voice that Robb couldn’t help but pick up on. Hurt thrummed through the mate bond, and Robb tried to counter it with calm – but, he suspected, he probably wasn’t doing a great job of it.

His own frustration was overwhelming him and probably bleeding back through the bond, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was creating a negative feedback loop between them. He’d spent so long repressing the bond – and, he suspected, so had Tahnee – that he wasn’t doing a great job of keeping it under control.

He had hardly any experience with relationships in general, and even less with his mate. This was all uncharted territory for him.

The dingo snarled. It was obviously scared at the thought of losing its mate, but it would never, ever in a million years admit it, and was turning to aggression to express feelings that it couldn’t explain.

I need some space, Robb thought suddenly, desperately. At least until I can get myself under control again. I can’t just stay here and say something stupid and fuck it all up.

It seemed almost unthinkable that he wanted to get away from Tahnee… but he did. Only because he wanted to take the time to get his head in order and not say anything stupid – but how could he possibly explain that to her?

Tahnee, however, appeared to be one step ahead of him.

“You know what?” she said, squaring her shoulders. “I’m going to go back home for a bit, think things through. Home home, not some shitty safehouse.”