Steal Her Heart (Kaid Ranch Shifters #1)(15)

He grunted an animalistic sound and gestured to the couch. “Sit.”

“Excuse me?”

His lips peeled back and his eyes flashed that strange color. “Please. Sit.”

“Your jeans aren’t ripped, but you’re bleeding. How—”

“Are you bit?” he barked out.

“Bit?” Her brain was all foggy and muddy. “I thought you were dead.”

“Goddammit, Maris,” he snarled, lifting her up like she didn’t weight anything at all.

“Hey!” she exclaimed as he carried her to the couch. He dumped her unceremoniously onto the cushions and yanked up the pant leg of her sweats. “Ow!” she yelled, and on instinct, she slapped him in the arm. It hurt her hand, but he didn’t even flinch, and there was something unacceptable about that. Tonight had been too much.

But when she parted her lips to tell him where he could shove his demands, his hands turned to velvet as he felt along the swelling of her ankle. “Not bitten.” He inhaled deeply and relaxed back. “Fuck.” There was so much relief in that curse.

“Nothing bit me,” she murmured, not understanding. “A motherfreaking bear landed on my leg.”

His gaze dropped to her definitely see-through V-neck white T-shirt, and his eyes lingered there.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you hear me? A bear. A real bear. One the size of a small house. There was a bear and wolf fight out there.” She frowned. “Where were you?”

“I heard you scream my name—”

“Okay, well you seem to be walking just fine. Did you run away?” That thought made her sick to her stomach. She sat ramrod straight. “Bryson answer me! Did you run away? Did you leave me there alone? To die?”

“Of course not.”

“Then where were you?”

“I was…” When he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple dipped into his thick, tattooed throat. “I was…”

“Where?” she demanded.

His gaze trained on her ankle, and he shook his head.

“Typical,” she uttered.

“What does that mean?” he asked low.

“Men are built to let women down.”

His eyes locked on hers. Such a strange color of brown. His nostrils flared, and red tinted his neck and cheeks. “You honestly think that?”

She crossed her arms over her chest tighter, like a shield. “I was scared, and you weren’t there.”

Gently, he settled her ankle onto a decorative pillow and stood, made his way to the fridge. “You’ve been hurt,” he murmured, “so I’ll forgive that assumption.”

“Yeah, by a freaking bear, and you don’t seem to think it’s a big deal—”

“I’m not talking about the bear, Maris,” he barked out.

“Fuck you—”

“You’ve been hurt by a man! Maybe lots of men, I don’t fuckin’ know. I ain’t them, and I won’t be paying for their mistakes.” He yanked an ice pack out of the fridge and opened the cabinets until he found her medicine cabinet. He poured a few Advils into the palm of his hand and pulled a bottled water from the fridge. And then he set them all on the table beside her and made his way to the door.

He was barefoot, and when he looked down, he hesitated, staring at one of her bloody footprints. “Shit,” he whispered so quietly she almost missed it. He turned slowly and slid a softer glance to her feet.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she gritted out. “My legs work just fine. If my cuts need cleaning, I’ll clean them.”

“Your cuts ain’t the only thing that needs cleaning.”

She lifted her chin primly. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“That smart mouth of yours could use it, too.”

For a split second, she was sorely tempted to chuck the ice pack at his face, but she was a lady, and ladies didn’t do such atrocious things. So she threw the Advil instead. One pinged off his stony chest.

The giant of a man hooked his hands on his hips and blinked slowly. Okay, really, was it necessary for his abs to flex that much when he breathed? Come on.

His lip ticked up just a smidge. “I should go before I get tempted to toss you back out there to the wolves.”

“Go on run, then.” Coward. “Let me down some more.”

“Run?” he asked, his eyebrows lifting high. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“I don’t even know you.”

“Awesome. Well here’s a good way to get to know me a little better. I’m not a fuckin’ runner, Maris. Never was and never will be. You think what you like, but the longer you’re around me, I think you’re going to figure me out better than that.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“This second? I’m about to go clean up the carcasses on your lawn and catch my horse. He was so fucking terrified he threw me bad. If he ain’t caught up in a barbed wire fence, I’ll be lucky—”

“If your horse was in danger, why did you barge in here?”

“Because I needed to see if you were okay!” The last few words echoed through the house and made her shut her pie hole real quick. Oh.

He did an about-face and walked right out of the house, slamming the door behind him.