He settled in, pulling her closer until they were skin to skin, and he closed his eyes thinking he was fucked. Well and truly fucked. He should be putting distance between them. There was too much he didn't know and he couldn't afford to make assumptions. That wasn't the man he was. He was a man who dealt with cold, hard facts. The truth. Not supposition or maybes. Assuming anything in his line of work could get him killed.
She felt right against him. So small and fragile, and it riled his protective instincts like nothing ever had. He couldn't resist touching and caressing her baby-fine skin even as he felt like an asshole for taking advantage of her when she was sleeping.
His fingers ran lightly up and down her arm and then up to stroke her long, curly hair. She brought him contentment, which was ridiculous considering the very real danger they were all in and the fact that he knew nothing about her. She could belong to someone else.
His mood immediately blackened. If she belonged to someone else, then they didn't deserve her and they damn sure weren't protecting her and taking care of her like they should. No matter what used to be, she was his now and even as he knew that was an arrogant, presumptuous statement, he also knew it was true.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by a light knock on his door.
"Eliza and Wade are here," Zeke called in a low tone.
Reluctantly, Isaac extricated himself, already missing her warmth and softness. Oh yeah, he was fucked in a big way. But his first priority was keeping her safe. Anything else was secondary to that. Even the way he felt about her.
Hopefully she'd remain asleep until he could hammer out a plan with Eliza and Sterling. Then and only then would he awaken her and lay it out. And hope to hell she wouldn't resist him becoming a very permanent fixture in her life.
He was a man who knew what he wanted and never hesitated to go after it, and he wasn't about to change the way he lived his life now. This woman was his and her future was linked with his. It wouldn't be easy. He didn't expect it to be, but nothing good ever came easy and he wasn't about to let her go without one hell of a fight, and he never lost.
SIX
ISAAC returned quietly into the bedroom to see that his girl was still asleep. Except she wasn't as deeply under as he'd left her. She was restless, tossing and turning, and when he saw the silent streams of tears sliding down her pale, bruised cheeks, his chest tightened to the point of pain.
With no hesitation and giving no thought as to whether he should, he pulled back the covers and slid into bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head beneath his chin. She trembled even in sleep, and he'd give anything in the world to be able to prevent the fear he knew she felt every hour of every day.
It was instinctual. He didn't even consider what he was doing when he pressed his lips to her soft curls. He wanted to stay this way and simply enjoy holding her in his arms, but they didn't have time. She didn't have time.
Reluctantly he pulled away, putting distance between them. He slid his hand over her shoulder, gently shaking her.
"Baby, I need you to wake up. Can you do that for me?"
Her brow furrowed and her eyelids fluttered as though they were too heavy to open. Her mouth pursed and then fear chased across her features as she tensed beneath his touch.
"Hey," he said softly. "I won't hurt you. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I need you to believe that. Now can you open your eyes so we can talk?"
She went rigid and pulled away, her eyes slowly opening, but it gutted him when her gaze settled on him and panic swamped her entire face. She immediately began scrambling backward on the bed.
He shackled her wrist to prevent her from falling off the other side of the bed and swore when his action only seemed to alarm her more.
"Honey, listen to me. I'm never going to hurt you, and if you keep moving away you're going to wind up on the floor on the other side of the bed. We need to talk. Nothing more. Can you trust me enough to do that?"
She nibbled nervously on her bottom lip, and he'd never been more tempted to suck that lip between his and soothe the damage she was currently doing to it. And he still didn't even know her name, much less her story.
Patience was not one of his stronger virtues. Hell, it wasn't even in his vocabulary, but he knew he'd have to go slow and pull on every reserve he possessed not to overwhelm her and start demanding the answers he needed.
To his satisfaction, she scooted over a few inches so she wasn't about to take a fall, and she sat up against the pillows behind her. She looked nervously at him and he released her wrist. Not because he wanted to, but because he needed her to know she could trust him and that he wouldn't do a damn thing she was uncomfortable with.