Page 42 of Vexatious Queen

“Why…why is there always something or someone out to screw with us?”

Gripping her wrists, I gently tugged her hands away from her face, and even though I wanted to tear the head off whoever this was, I smiled. Right now, she needed me to be calm. I’d never seen her this rattled and didn’t want to add to her fear.

“Hey, you’re probably on the right track. It’s definitely not me, but it’s probably some jerk here at school trying to freak you out. It’s going to be okay,” I said, pulling Ren forward until she wrapped her arms around my waist and nuzzled my chest.

“I said the same thing to Ivy tonight. I didn’t know if it was true then, and I don’t think you can say it now and mean it,” she whispered, and my heart crumbled. “I keep telling myself that I’m done with being scared. Then something else happens and I feel it creeping in all over again. The dread it sits in the middle of my chest.”

“There is no reason to be scared. No one will get near you without going through me, and I won’t let anyone hurt you. The same goes for Myles, Liam, Theo, and Blake. We will make sure you’re safe.”

Ren stepped back and looked up at me.

“You don’t understand. I’m not scared for me. I’m scared what someone is going to do to those I love to get to me. I hate feeling like this, Nash. I don’t want all of you rescuing me like I’m some damsel in distress. And I certainly don’t want any of you putting your lives in danger for me. I just wish people would leave us alone.”

Fuck, my mind raced with options for keeping Ren safe. But she also needed to regain some sense of control.

“I know that you still can’t do any impact training, but why don’t we go shooting? Liam and Myles are both great with knives. They can teach you some techniques. What do you think?”

Her lips twitched with a hint of a smile.

“You’d do that?”

“Why not, Princess? You’re my wife, the person I love most in this world. I will do fucking anything to keep you safe. Teaching you weapons skills seems like the least we can all do. And it doesn’t matter who sent the text. We will protect each other.”

Cupping her cheeks, I dropped my lips to hers and breathed in the fresh scent of her clean skin.

“As I said…it’s going to be okay.”

Her hands were still trembling as she let go of me. I was proud when she looked up, and the fear was gone, replaced by something harder—something born from sheer determination.

Ren’s fingers tangled in my shirt as she reached for me with an intensity that said she wasn’t taking any shit tonight. Fuck, I loved this side of her. I loved everything about her, but when she was angry…feisty…it was like catnip to a lion.

She kissed me, and every cell in my body answered to her desires.

“Take off your shirt,” she ordered.

I hesitated a second too long, and my beautiful wife got impatient.

“That’s not a request.”

“What if I just wanted to go to sleep,” I asked with a smirk.

Devious eyes met mine as Ren ran her hand down my chest. I never had a chance against her. How I hadn’t succumbed sooner was a mystery.

“Is that really what you want to do,” she asked seductively.

She gripped my belt, and I bit my lip to stifle a groan. I wasn’t just aroused…that description paled in comparison to how much I wanted her. Ren pulled the leather free, and the metal jingled as the ends fell loose.

“Is it?”

Ren’s voice was softer than a whisper and yet powerful enough to pull me under her spell. Her fingers slipped beneath the top of my jeans as she tugged on the button.

“Not in the fucking slightest,” I growled.

“Good, because I don’t want to sleep either.”

Her silvery eyes practically glowed as she spoke. She might not be a witch, but she had cast a spell on me like one. I peeled my shirt off over my head and threw it across the room.

“I don’t want to be scared anymore.”