Page 45 of A Trial By Blood

“Oh.” Oh. I quickly got in. Ronan had held my hand the entire time, refusing to let me go for even a moment.

My belly grew warm, and I bit my lip to hide my smile as he climbed in beside me and started the car.

CHAPTER 15

Ronan

The car was engulfed in silence when I pulled up outside Rose’s house and turned off the engine. She turned to me, cheeks pink, eyes bright. She looked so different, but she was still the same female, and looking at her now, every instinct inside me roared for me to get closer to her.

I’d been fighting myself since I walked into the house earlier, and it hadn’t gotten any easier. No, the gnawing, gripping pull toward her had only increased. I’d almost succumbed in that house. The scent of her blood had pushed me closer to the edge.

“So…here we are,” she said.

I could hear her heart beating faster, her blood rushing through her veins, and her breath bursting past her lips as she looked over at me.

“Yes,” I said. “We are.”

Her hands were twisted together in her lap. “Thanks for tonight, Ronan. For coming with me to that house.”

For some reason, when she said my name now, my gut clenched, and my skin heated all over. “You don’t need to thank me. I wanted to.” She licked her lips, and my groin grew heavy.

“You did?”

“If anyone else had gone with you, I would have hurt them,” I said, the truth falling from my mouth. My gaze dropped to hers. “Why are your lips so shiny?” I couldn’t stop looking at them.

She blinked, then again. “I’m wearing lip gloss.” She licked them again, and I got another wash of heat across my skin. “Are you telling me you would’ve tried to hurt Relic?”

“Yes.” Lip gloss. I liked the way it looked. I also liked her lips without it.

Her eyes widened. Was that the wrong thing to say? I had all these conflicting thoughts and emotions inside me, but I didn’t know which I should allow to take the lead, which I should resist, and which ones I should allow to guide my actions and the things I said.

“But it’s Relic.”

“Yes,” I said, dragging my gaze back to hers, not sure why she was telling me something I already knew.

Concern transformed her features; I was more than familiar with that emotion. I’d seen it in my sister’s eyes many times over the last couple of weeks. “He’s our friend, Ronan. I’d hate if you two fought, or if you got hurt.”

She was worried for me, and she also thought I was too weak to fight the hound. I didn’t like the feeling that accompanied that thought, not at all. “You don’t think I’m strong enough to protect you?” I asked, and my voice had changed, a grittiness to it now.

“Yes, of course I do. I just, I don’t like the thought of you getting hurt—”

“I have bested him in the pit, Rose, more than once.” The need to tell her of my conquests in the clubhouse’s fighting pit seemed extremely important. I had to make her understand how strong I was. That Relic wasn’t a better choice. A growl tried to crawl up my throat. “We are evenly matched. I assure you, I wouldn’t let him hurt me. I’ve been in many battles, Rose. I’ve killed a lot of demons, and I’ve fought and bested other creatures. I’m strong and muscled. I’m a skilled fighter…” I stopped, my words trailing off at the look on Rose’s face. I couldn’t decipher it.

“I believe you, Ronan. I do.”

I realized I sounded like one of the hounds at the bar when they were working at charming females into their beds. My face heated and I was having trouble meeting her eyes. “I’m…I’m not sure why I said that.”

Her hand covered mine and tiny zaps fired through my veins. My gaze sliced to hers.

“You want to protect me,” she said softly, and the feeling she’d described as goose bumps, I felt them. At the back of my neck, over my scalp.

“Yes, I do. And I will.” The blue of her eyes had me transfixed. She licked her lips for the third time, and every muscle in my body tightened.

“I know how strong you are, Ronan. I promise you that.” She shifted in her seat. “And I think it bears repeating, but I want you with me during this task. I don’t want anyone else.”

The heavy weight between my legs throbbed, now painfully tight against the zipper of my trousers. Her lips were so dark and plump and shiny. Kissing, when I thought about doing it with Rose, didn’t make me want to recoil. No, it made my mouth water and my palms itch to reach for her. What would her lip gloss taste like?

The car was silent again as we stared at each other. My skin prickled again. “Do you feel that?” I asked.