UP IN FLAMES

Spinning around, he stalked out of the bedroom and started toward the stairs, when he stopped. It was barely audible, the soft sound, but he heard it coming from the extra bedroom he’d put Vanessa in. A huge knot formed in his stomach as he stepped forward, pushing the bedroom door open.

Vanessa was unaware of him. That much was certain. She was wearing pink lacy panties, and her hair fell forward in soft, dark waves as she got one arm through her white blouse. Did she think she was really going to work?

“What are you doing?”

Her chin rose as she turned to the door. A faint flush stained her cheeks, her eyes wide without the glasses. “Don’t you know how to knock on a door?”

“It’s my house.”

Her lips turned down at the corners. “You still should knock!”

Walking into the room, he stopped a few feet from her and folded his arms. “Vanessa, you cannot be getting ready for work.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, turning around and giving him an eyeful of that perfect ass. His sex responded, swelling painfully. He tried to ignore it, because seriously, the hardness was fucking inappropriate at the moment.

He took a deep breath and inconspicuously adjusted his erection. “Don’t you think you should rest…Especially after everything you found out yesterday about Chris-”

“I feel okay,” she answered, turning slightly. Her brow pinched, and there was a wrenching sensation in his chest as he watched her struggle to get her arm into her blouse.

She might feel alright, but this was ridiculous. She couldn’t just push everything out of her mind and go on with everything bottled up inside. She needed some time. He stepped toward her, but she backpedaled.

“There’s nothing wrong with taking a few days off and relaxing,” he reasoned in a patient tone that even surprised him. “We can chill at the house, watch some bad movies, and-”

“No!” Her voice cracked on the word. “I need to go to work. I need to be there and I have important things to do.”

“You do not need to be there.” As she started to button her blouse, covering the sweet swells lifted by the pink bra, he inched closer to her. “You need to be here.”

Her fingers stopped and she lifted her gaze. “Here?”

The way she said that one word, like it was the most horrifying idea, was confusing and fucking irritating. Opening his mouth to point that out, he stopped when he watched her gaze dart from him to the door and back again, as if she were judging the distance. But to do what?

It hit him then with the force of a Mack truck. Vanessa was running.

Running from him, and the reason why seemed ridiculous, but this woman had more commitment issues than his two brothers combined. She had slept beside him all night and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was a big deal. Something like that shouldn’t be such a big deal, but it was to her.

He wasn’t going to let her run. That shit stopped now. “You’re staying here.”

Anger flashed in her eyes, turning them nearly black. “Are you telling me what to do?”

“Yes.” He flashed a quick grin. “Someone has to.”

“No one needs to.” Her hands dropped to her sides, balling into fists.

“I disagree. See, that’s your problem. You’ve spent your whole life bossing people around and taking care of other people’s lives.” Pointing out that she also spent her life running from intimacy was so not a good idea right now. “That changes today. I’m telling you what to do and I’m going to take care of you.”

Her mouth dropped open as she stared at him. Then she swallowed. “I don’t know if I should be pissed off or flattered by that statement.”

“I say we go with flattered.”

Turning away, she lifted her arm and pressed her palm to her forehead. “I…I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I need to go to work.”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“That’s the last thing you need to do.” He took another step, catching the scent of lilacs and vanilla. “Come on, don’t fight me on this. Anything but this. For crying out loud, just let me take care of you.”

Her chest rose swiftly. “Why…why would you want to?”

Had she really just asked that? “Why wouldn’t I want to?”

As she watched him wryly, her lower lip trembled. It was the only real emotion she showed and for a moment, he thought she was going to cave, that the woman would finally listen to him, but then she shook her head and started reworking the buttons.

Reaching deep inside for a patience he didn’t really have but seemed to grasp whenever he was around Vanessa, he crossed the distance between them, then stopped short when he saw the tiny drop glistening on her face.

Like someone had reached in and squeezed his heart, he closed his hands around empty air. “Vanessa, baby…”

She blinked rapidly as she backed away, hitting the edge of the bed. “No. I’m fine. I can go to work.”

He was at a loss as to what to do, so all he could do was try to understand. “Why? Why do you have to do this?”

Her fingers shook as she lowered her hands. “Because it’s my job.”

“That’s not a good enough reason.”

Her throat worked and when she blinked again, her lashes were damp. “It’s the only thing I have. Is that a good enough reason for you, Alaric? My job is it. There’s nothing else and focusing on my job, well, that allows me not to really dwell on the fact that I have no one. I’m not like you. I don’t have brothers and I don’t have a surrogate family. I…” She broke off, the tears welling and spilling over her cheeks. Frustration pulled at her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know what else to say, and I don’t want to think about this. I don’t want to think about anything.”

Alaric did the only thing he could think of in that moment, because all he wanted was for her to stop crying. Cupping her cheeks, he smoothed away the tears. Their eyes locked, and the flicker of arousal in her stare was greater than the distrust he also saw.

“You have me,” he said, meaning it.