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"Baby, you’re breaking ainst her skin
And she was His heart felt as though it were about to burst out of his chest He felt every single sob to the depths of his soul Each tiut
He tensed when she lifted her head, fearing she’d try to bolt, but she slowly leaned back so her troubled gaze rief reflected in her eyes Jesus What the hell had she been living with and for how long? Did this have anything to do with her abduction and torture? No, his gut told him this went much deeper, went much further back, whichAnd that er
She closed her eyes and a fresh trail of tears slipped down her cheeks that cut him to the bone He maneuvered his body so that she was still in his ar over wet skin
"Eliza, talk to me It’s obvious you won’t talk to the people you love and trust, so talk to someone who doesn’t o of whatever poison is festering inside you or it’s going to consuood"
"It already has," she whispered
He alistered, his pulse stuttered Sweat broke out on his forehead at the finality and defeat in her words Eliza wasn’t prone to dramatics or overreactions She called it like she saw it and she wasn’t a whiner or a complainer Hell, he’d never met a woman in his life as as determined as she was to demonstrate no weakness whatsoever, which is why this outburst was scaring the shit out of hi that whispered adnation in her voice when she’d finally spoken?
A chill snaked down his spine, an odd contrast to the sweat on his brow Because Eliza’s subdued, dull tone was the sound of soiven up Had accepted the inevitable--whatever that was for her And he’d already figured out that she’d run like hell from Houston, not because she didn’t trust her partners, but because she was protecting the people she loved, whichon was serious trouble The kind of trouble she illing to sacrifice herself for to protect the people who mattered to her
DSS had dise to so ed to DSS And Wade, da his claim--had already staked it Eliza was his and he’d take on the devil hiain So if the bastards who’d tortured and then nearly killed her in the raid had been taken down and no longer posed a threat, then who the fuck was threatening her now? And if those twisted, sadistic motherfuckers hadn’t scared her and ood It was the absolute worst kind of bad Because this ay back if his instincts were right, and his gut never led hiood, and nothing scared or intied to intiuard dog after being tortured and fucking waterboarded, then what the hell could be worse that terrified her to this degree?
Eliza sagged and she was still tre him to wonder if she’d even slept since the last time he’d seen her For that matter it was likely she hadn’t slept before the last tiile in his arile woman He doubted she’d even eaten because he could feel the weight she’d lost Her fatigue beat at him It was evident in her eyes, her face, her body
This worried hi and had long ago accepted that ill be will be, but the cold hand of terror gripped him by the throat and he realized he wasn’t just afraid He was fucking terrified He couldn’t fight what he couldn’t see, touch or know and, by God, he was going to find out what the fuck had Eliza scared out of herthe hell out of here," Wade said firet the fuck out of this shithole where I can be assured you’re safe, you’re going to tell , Eliza And during this conversation, you’re going to eat even if I have to hold you down and force it down your throat Then you’re going to get some rest because it’s obvious you haven’t slept in weeks"
Her chin went up but the gesture lacked its usual tenacity
"You’re leaving, Wade," she said dully "Not ain I have so much blood on my hands that they’ll never come clean and I’ll be daet I even exist You don’t knowabout me"
His temper flared and he was furious that she was so damned determined to protect him What the hell? There were so many what-the-fuck parts of her impassioned statement, he didn’t even knohere to start Blood on her hands? Only because he feared pushing her coue and not tear into her right then and there and de in histo ith her That was obvious even before her falling apart o He’d seen her lack of rationale when she’d sped away fro him sprawled on her concrete drive
He didn’t have time to take it slow and treat her with the soft touch he wanted so badly, and after hearing the fucked-up shit she’d just spouted, he had a lot of fucking questions he wanted answers to, but his first and only priority at theher safety So he did what it was he did best He took matters into his own hands
Before she could say or do anything further, he tightened his arms around her and abruptly stood and strode toward the front door
"What the hell!" she yelled, sla her fist into his chest
Thank God This was the Eliza he recognized She wasn’t too far gone Yet And he had to bear that inher no choice in anything
"Shut up," he clipped out "You’re going with me and if I have to handcuff your wrist to mine, swear to God, I’ll do it"