Page 17 of Legacy

“Thank you for coming for me,” she said, nestling her head underneath my neck.

“I’ll always be there for you, Felicity. Always.”

And as I got her into my truck, and headed back to Ashford Creek, I had to wonder to myself why exactly she had called me instead of her brothers, instead of anyone else. But I didn’t want to think about that, nor did I didn’t want to focus on the fact that I was damn glad she had.

* * *

The next morning, jaw tight after a sleepless night, I answered the door.

Felicity stood there, face clear of makeup, her hair flowing around her shoulders. She had on an old sweatshirt of one of her brothers and jeans with a hole in the knee. She wore tennis shoes and a cross-body bag, looking so different than she had the night before.

There was a slight bruise on her chin, and I wanted to go back and find that little asshole to teach him another lesson he’d probably forget.

“Rune said you slept well. That’s good,” I said before she could speak.

I’d called her brother as soon as I dropped her off, and the man had run back home, letting his team take care of the bar. Rune had given me one questioning glance before focusing on his baby sister.

“Thank you for taking care of my sister,” he’d whispered to me, and I nodded tightly, not knowing what to say. Because I was a fucking bastard when it came to Felicity Carter. And no one else needed to know that.

“I’m okay. The girls all called to apologize, and I will have to go back and talk to them since I still have a couple more weeks as their roommate, but I’m okay.”

I wasn’t about to touch that since I didn’t understand why she hung out with them to begin with. “You’re not going to press charges?”

She shook her head, hands in front of her. “I just don’t want to think about it. Okay? Nothing happened.”

I raised a brow but took a step back. “It’s getting colder out there. You shouldn’t be standing on the porch.”

And I shouldn’t be letting her inside.

Her shoulders sagged in relief as she stepped forward.

I closed the door behind her and raised a brow. “You should be at home resting. Or going back to school.”

“I will. I promise. I just wanted to say thank you. For being there. For dropping everything and coming to me. I don’t know why I called you first… I just knew you would be there.”

She shrugged as if it meant nothing, and I couldn’t let it mean anything. Because if I let her call me again, to reach out, it would be too much. She would see too much. I needed to nip this in the bud right then and there.

“Don’t think of me as a white knight,” I snapped, and her eyes widened.

“Callum.”

“No. I’ll break you just like I nearly broke him. You get that, don’t you? Don’t be careless with your life. Because I’m not always going to be there to save you.” I knew the words were cruel, but I needed to push her away. Needed to get that look out of her eyes. Because I recognized that look. It was the same look I wanted to feel. And damn that. Damn whatever the hell mounted between us.

“I don’t need you to save me.”

I raised a brow. “You called me. And yes, you do need me to save you, little flower. You’re a kid. You’re fucking Bambi.” Cruel words, and yet she didn’t back down.

Instead, she did the worst thing possible. She stepped forward, put her hand on my chest, went to her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to mine.

I cursed and knew I should push her away.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I broke.

I wrapped my hand around the side of her neck, my thumb below her chin, my fingers digging into her flesh, as I crushed my mouth to hers, kissing her harder. She moaned, a little gasp of surprise, as my tongue flicked along hers. The kiss went on and on, exploring, deepening, and it took all within me not to lift her up by those hips of hers, press her against the back of the door, pull down those jeans, and slide my cock right into that tight pussy.

But she was already bruised, already hurting, and already scared.