Page 20 of Broken Warrior
She never dresses like that, never wears makeup or heels. While Tate’s here at the house she mostly wears yoga pants or leggings with those flannel shirts and only puts on jeans if she’s going to see Theo. And while it took everything in me to keep my dick under control, it also proved she was doing more than visiting her sister. Thosegrown up thingsshe needed to do made my blood fucking boil and I don’t even know what the fuck they were yet.
And what did I do when Tate not only initiated conversation with me but looked me in the eye the entire time? I fucking yelled at her then I kissed her. Both of which guarantee my place in hell.
But fuck, at least I’ll burn knowing what she tastes like.
“Where were you,m’eudail?” I ask against her lips, a grin tugging at mine as Tate sways toward me.
“I...” Her eyes flutter open slowly and goddamn, they are blown the fuck out and nearly pitch black. “I, uhm...”
Because I’m a greedy, selfish prick, I lean in and press my lips to hers again. Softer, gentler. I slip my hands from her hair and slide my thumbs back and forth over the creamy skin of her throat, the erratic pulse I can feel thrumming wildly beneath her flesh.
Tate is perfection.
And so goddamn responsive to me I could weep.
“Where, Tate?”
Her knees buckle when I kiss her a third time, giving in to a new addiction that will never be sated, and when she fists the sides of my cut in order to keep her balance, it’s everything I can do to refrain from taking her right here in the kitchen.
“We... I... I had...” Another caress of our lips. “I had an interview.”
Her words are like a bucket of ice water over my scorching skin.
I rear back and look at her; dazed, lust and confusion swirling in those black eyes. “A fucking interview?”
She nods, let’s go of my cut, and immediately starts wringing her hands. “I had an interview for a job just outside of town. An-an all night diner.”
“A job interview?” I drop my hands and take a step back. “You want to get a fucking job?”
“I have to,” Tate whispers. “I can’t stay here forever, and if I want a permanent place to live then I need to work.”
She has a permanent place to live.
She can stay here.
They can stay with me forever.
I push aside the voice inside my head, the one screaming at me to beg her stay, the one dying to be heard, pleading for Tate to let me keep them. I push it aside because it’s being drowned out by another voice that’s louder.
The one telling me I’m unwanted, ruined, unworthy. One reminding me that I’ve been marred by demons, their claws so deep the scars will never heal. I’m an addict, a felon, a broken monster among men that will lie, steal, and kill for the right price and the very epitome of everything Tate is trying to escape from.
That voice wins.
“Great,” I growl as I back away from my dark angel. “Hope it pans out.”
Tate takes a step toward me but drops her eyes the minute I narrow mine. “I just… it’s time for me to take matters into my own hands. I can’t keep taking advantage of everyone just because I’m...”
She doesn’t finish and I don’t care, not right now.
Right now all I care about is getting the fuck out of this house and getting so high I can’t remember my own name.
“I’ll still take care of Nadine,” she says, swallowing thickly. “If I get the job I’ll be working nights, because of James, so I’ll still take care of her whether... whether we live here or not. I know it’s hard to find someone else— “
“Don’t bother.” I search for my keys and my smokes. “I’ll handle finding someone to look after her if I need to, but I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my own fucking mother.”
Tate flinches. “That’s not what I was saying. I just—I know you’re busy and— “
“I’ve fucking got it, ok? Don’t want to give you a reason to stick around since you’re obviously dying to get the hell out of this house.” I’m spiraling, and fast. “In the meantime I’ll pay you for the trouble. Same rate as the other nurse. That way you can get out sooner. Let me know when you start working, I’ll make sure I’m gone until you have to leave that way my mother and James have— “
