“Kat, I’m sorry, I did it again—”
“No, you didn’t.” The muscles in his jaw ticked and he looked away as though disgusted with himself. Placing a hand on his stubbled cheek, she brought his eyes back to hers. The last thing she wanted was for him to take blame for something others had caused. “Irish, you didn’t, I promise. I’m just a little tender on my hips right now from Mullineaux the other night, that’s all.”
Within seconds he grew in mass and size. His muscles grew bigger, his frame inches taller, and as he looked down at her, shadows fell over his face, making the angles sharper. Kat’s stomach dropped and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
His words scratched the silence like diamonds on glass. “Did that bastard leave marks on you?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said with what she hoped was a convincing smile.
“Like hell you are.” Kneeling in front of her, he tucked his fingers into the waist of her yoga pants. She instinctively grabbed his wrists, but she couldn’t form the words to protest when he gazed up at her with those sapphire eyes brimming with concern…for her. “Let me see, kkitten. Please.”
It was the please that did it. That simple word said in his butter-melting voice undid her. If he ever figured out the sort of power he could wield with that one word, she’d be in trouble.
She released him and forced her hands to her sides as he gently pulled the waistband down just enough to expose the finger marks in front of her hip bones. His breath hissed out from a clenched jaw, then he laid his forehead on her belly. It was too quiet to tell, but she thought she could hear him counting to himself. At a loss of what to do, Kat wove her fingers into the back of his hair, cradling him to her and pretending she had the right to want him for her own.
After several minutes, he got up without saying a word and crossed the gym to rifle around in a metal cabinet. He returned with a small jar and once again knelt in front of her.
“This will help with the bruising. I’ll be as careful as I can, but it might hurt a little as I put it on.”
She nodded her assent and held still while he spread the balm where the purple marred her pale skin. When he finished, he slowly lifted her stretchy pants out and over the bruised areas before letting them shrink back to her waist.
Rising, he said, “Why don’t you go back in the house? I’ll be up in a little bit.”
“Okay. You want me to heat up those eggs Xander made you?”
He gave her a strained smile. “That’d be great. I’m starved.”
He might be talking food, but the look in his eyes revealed his thoughts were much darker. And it worried her. “Irish?”
He placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “Go on up to the house, sweetheart.” Damn him, using that accented endearment against her. “Please.”
Double damn. There was no use fighting him. Either he’d already discovered the secrets to manipulating her, or the affection and respect came naturally to him. Either way she was screwed for as long as he kept it up. Until then, she’d be waiting for the other shoe to drop, because no way in hell he’d stay like that for long. Eventually he’d lose the polite affection and start barking out orders instead of bothering to ask, much less use the word “please.”
Just like every other man she’d known. And that might just kill a part of her she didn’t think she could afford to lose.
“Hey, no frowns,” he said, tilting her head up. “No being sad or scared. Not here.”
She drew up the corners of her mouth. “I’m not.”
His exaggerated exhale clearly said, What am I going to do with you? Nessie had done the same thing with her countless times when they were young. “And I want you to stop lying. There’s no reason to lie to me. I’m never gonna judge, blame, or think less of you as long as you’re honest with me. Deal?”
“Honesty for honesty?”
He hesitated for half a second, but then answered. “Honesty for honesty. Now go on. I’ll be up soon.”
Though his tone sounded relaxed, the tightness in his jaw claimed otherwise. Kat opened her mouth to question him, but the darkness had returned to his eyes and the words got stuck in her throat. She swallowed them back and turned to leave. When she reached the door, she peered over her shoulder one last time. He stood tall with his legs braced apart, his upper body marked with tattoos and sweat, his wrapped hands fisted at his sides. A modern-day warrior if she’d ever seen one. He took her breath away, but somehow she managed one more request.
“Hurry in, okay?”
Irish offered a stiff nod, and she let herself out of the makeshift gym, sliding the door closed behind her. She quickly made her way up to the house, but then stopped on the steps when she heard muted thumping and growling filtering through the wooden slats of the barn. The noises brought up the images of Irish beating on that hanging bag again, and from the sound of things, there wouldn’t be much left of it when he was through.
Chapter Eleven
Late that night, Aiden and Kat pulled into the small parking space she had behind her apartment. He’d taken her to her car still at Lou’s and then followed her home. Cutting his engine, he swung off the bike and waited for her to get out of the car. She’d tried convincing him he didn’t need to see her home, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. It was bad enough he couldn’t give her a good enough reason to stay at his place without raising suspicion. He wasn’t taking any chances he didn’t have to with her safety.
When he’d seen Mullineaux’s marks on her earlier, he’d almost lost it. After she’d gone back to the house, he’d had to count to more than a hundred before he trusted himself to not get on his bike and hunt the prick down like the cur he was. Aiden’s mom had raised him to know that a man’s place was to protect and cherish the women in his life. He couldn’t fathom consciously choosing to harm a woman in any way. It was not only despicable, but inexcusable.
Unfortunately, Aiden’s actions, though not a conscious choice, had results that were just as devastating. When he reacted to situations without thinking, those around him got hurt.
Or worse.
And there was that harsh reminder of why he couldn’t let himself get too close to Kat. He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to her while he was trying to protect her. He couldn’t handle another situation like the one with Janey. Not again. Not fucking ever.
The sobriety and complete lack of fighting had helped keep him in check the last several years, but the biggest reason he hadn’t had a meltdown was because he held people at arm’s length. If he didn’t care about them, he wouldn’t snap. Simple as that.
The night before, he’d convinced himself that he could pretend for one night with Kat. Allow himself to believe that none of that stuff in the past existed. But as soon as he glimpsed the skeletons of her past, putting his aside was no longer an option. Comforting her was all that mattered.
When they saw each other that morning, it was obvious the sexual tension hadn’t dissipated overnight. Still, he hadn’t meant to act on it. Had even warned himself off several times during their self-defense lessons when it would have been so easy to pull her in and kiss her until neither of them could breathe. As long as he’d focused on the lessons—and the reason she needed them—he’d been strong enough to keep things platonic.
But he’d proved too weak when her body signals went from learning to arousal as he stood pressed against her from behind. And he’d tapped out the moment she leaned her head back, inviting him to sample the smooth length of her throat, to feel her pulse jump beneath his lips. In seconds he’d been drunk on the taste of her and lost in the moment.
Until he’d accidentally hurt her.
The last thing Aiden wanted was for Kat to be harmed, mentally or physically, by anybody, least of all him. However, a small part of him had been thankful for the bruises that jerked him back to reality before he took her against the barn wall like a fucking animal. If the night before was anything to go on, that for sure would have set her o
ff. She didn’t deserve that type of careless treatment. He’d never been the romantic type, but something about Kat inspired him to want to care for her, be tender with her. Make love to her.
Make love. He’d never used that term before, much less done anything close to it. There’d been women he cared about before, but he’d been careful not to throw the L-word around. Now, two days in with this girl and he already had the word in his head, regardless of why.
“You don’t have to come up, Irish.”
“It’s no trouble,” he said. “Besides, if I didn’t make sure you got in safely, my mother would box my ears.”
A grin hitched up the corner of her mouth. “Your mother isn’t here.”
“You don’t know my mother. She has a sixth sense for when her children aren’t acting the way she raised us. I’d get a phone call, believe me. Now scoot.”
Chuckling, she walked ahead of him toward the door in the alley that led to the inside stairs. Aiden’s senses were on high alert, making sure nothing and no one was lurking in the shadows with bad intentions. She unlocked the door and swung it open, but just as they were stepping through, he heard something so quiet he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t his imagination.
“Wait a minute.”
“What—”
“Shh,” he said, holding up two fingers and turning his head toward where he thought the sound had come from. Several long moments went by with nothing. He was about to give up when he heard it again, more distinctly this time: a tiny mewl coming from a dark corner.
Aiden crossed the alley and reached down to pick up the scrawny gray tiger kitten. He only got it a few inches off the ground when he was pulled up short. The kitten hissed and clawed at his arm until he set him back down.
Using the light from his phone, he took a better look. Seemed the frayed ends of the rug the kitten had been laying on had tangled around his back leg. Probably hurt like a bitch, or might even be tight enough to cut off circulation.
Aiden stepped over to his bike and retrieved the pocketknife from under the seat. A single slice and he had the kitten free. He squirmed and hissed some more, but settled down as soon as Aiden cradled him against his chest.
Kat poked her head around from behind him. “Awww. Is it okay?”
“He’s purring now, but he’s got some threads wrapped around his leg.”
“Oh, you poor little thing,” she crooned, scratching him under the jaw and between the ears. “Do you think his mom left him because he was caught?”
“Yeah, most likely.”
“Well, let’s get him upstairs,” she said, leading the way again. “We can get a better look at him up there.”
“There’s gotta be a Humane Society around here somewhere. I’ll take him there tomorrow.”
Kat stopped short. “What? No! I’m keeping him.”
Aiden had a hard time fighting a smile. She reminded him of Mary Catherine again, minus the foot stomp and pouting lip. Something told him if he argued with her, he’d see those, too. “Okay, then.” He bent down and placated her with a kiss on the forehead. “A kitten for my kitten.”
She scrunched up her nose. “That’s a little cheesy, even for you, big boy.”
“Big boy,” he said as they walked up to her apartment. “That a fat joke?”
The tinkling sound of her laughter echoed in the narrow stairwell. “That comment Xander made this morning really bothered you, didn’t it?”
“What, are you kidding? That chucklehead couldn’t bother me if he tried.”
Unlocking her door and letting them in, she said, “If you say so.”
Aiden looked around discreetly, trying to determine if anything had been disturbed since the night before. He wasn’t even sure how the creeps had gotten in, but it didn’t appear as though they’d returned. Kat bent down and shoved a towel under the door. “What’s that for?”
“The door has a huge gap under it. If I don’t stuff it with a towel, the A/C ends up cooling the stairwell.” Crossing the small room, she flipped the dial on the window unit, bringing it to life with a rattle and hum.
He hated that she’d been living in this dump for so long. He tried to find solace in the fact that in a couple of weeks, he could give her enough money to get a decent place wherever she decided to head after all this was over. But the idea of her being anywhere other than with him wasn’t very conducive for solace-finding.
Mentally swearing at himself for the momentary departure from reality, he turned his focus on the kitten. “I’ll see what I can do about getting the rest of this string off.”
He sat on the futon while she riffled through her dresser. The kitten hunkered down in his lap, apparently deciding that was the safest place to be in this strange environment.
“Poor thing is probably starving and I don’t— Oh! I think I have some tuna.”
While she went hunting for that, Aiden used his knife and cut through the remaining strands as gently as he could. The kitten made some low growls, warning his rescuer that he wasn’t completely onboard with the plan. But as soon as he was free, the little thing started to purr again.
“There,” he whispered to him. “You’ll be good as new soon, and then you get to spend the rest of your days in that pretty girl’s lap.” He scratched between his ears and the kitten closed his eyes and leaned into it. “Lucky bastard.”
“Okay,” Kat said, hurrying to him. “I put some tuna on a plate and a bowl of water in the corner. Then I bunched my Snuggie up on the floor, thinking he might like that to sleep on. I don’t know, though, what do you think?”
He smiled as he stood with the kitten. “I think that sounds good. Come on, we’ll see if he’s hungry.” They took him to the food and barely set him down before his nose was in the plate. “I guess that answers that question.”
She laughed and sat on the floor facing the kitten, her right shoulder and head leaning against the wall. He did the same on the other side and propped his arm up on a bent knee. With her focus on the little chow-hound, he took advantage of the rare opportunity to simply watch her.
She’d pulled her hair to the left side and braided it that morning. The thick rope of hair lay against her neck with the ends reaching the top swell of her left breast. Since she was looking down, her auburn lashes hid most of her light blue eyes from his gaze, but he knew they’d be alight with a stolen moment of happiness in watching something thrive under her care. There was a peacefulness in the slight smile on her face and the relaxed set of her shoulders.
Then something broke the spell. Her brows knitted together and she frowned. “I still can’t believe it’s over so easily.” She raised her eyes to his. “What did you say to them to make them back off?”
Shit. He fought the urge to look away from her. “What difference does it make what was said or done? I told you I’d take care of it and I did. You’re no longer responsible for getting them Sicoli’s money.”
Kat lifted her head from the wall and stared him down. “Irish, tell me you didn’t pay them off with your own money.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had twenty grand just lyin’ around.”
Kat’s eyebrows rose. “Did you used to have that much money lying around?”
He shrugged and said, “I did all right for myself when I was fighting. You can make a lot of money if you get good fights that people want to see, and you get bonus purses for things like fight of the night, submission of the night, etcetera. But that was a long time ago.”
Not nearly long enough to burn through the kind of money he’d had in his bank account from fighting, and yet in less than a week after Janey’s death, he’d left himself with only a fraction of what he’d had. The rest he’d anonymously split up between Janey’s mother and a donation to the hospital for a new drug outreach program in her name.
But barely existing didn’t cost much. All he needed was food, water, and a roof over his head. Kind of like the fur ball there.
Aiden watched the kitten lick his chop
s from the first meal he’d had in who knew how long. Kat moved the tiny animal to the bowl of water and made light splashes with her finger to get his attention. After he’d lapped his fill, she placed him lovingly on the blanket. He kneaded it until it suited him, then he curled up and promptly fell asleep. Funny, Aiden thought. Tiger stripes on leopard print.
“Have you thought of a name yet?” He kept his voice soft. Probably so he wouldn’t disturb the fur ball’s dreams. Maybe so he wouldn’t disturb the moment with a kitten of a more feminine sort.
She looked thoughtful for a minute then whispered, “What’s your middle name?”
“I’m not gonna tell you my middle name. No guy ever tells a girl his middle name.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause they use it against us when they’re mad, that’s why not.” Kat whisper-laughed, if there was such a thing, behind her hand. Seeing the light in her eyes egged him on. “We could be watching the game with our pals and they’ll holler across the house, ‘Anthony Michael Hall, you’re in a lotta fucking trouble!’”
Still laughing, she asked, “Did you just use the dorky guy’s name from Sixteen Candles?”
Aiden couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so big, much less laughed. But it turned out she was more than a little infectious. “He was in a lot more movies than that, but yeah. He was the first guy I could think of with three names.”
“Okay, then I’ll tell you my middle name and we’ll have equal advantage.”
He’d love to know her middle name. He’d love to know everything about her. “All right, but you first.”
“Terese,” she said. “It’s a family name. My mother’s aunt, I think. Okay, now spill it.”
He let out a resigned breath. “Murphy. Family name on my father’s side. Happy now?”