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“How you doing, Sutton?”he asked, taking in my face, before his gaze slid over my hair.He breathed in deeply through his nose before his gaze carried on down my body.His jaw tightened, as if he were seeing each wound under my cardigan, each slice carved into my body by a madman, all over again.

“Um…yeah, okay, I guess.”I could pretend I was tough, but he’d see right through it, and I’d never been the type of person who felt the need to pretend I was okay when I clearly wasn’t, and besides, he deserved the truth from me.“Nights are the hardest.”

He did that jaw-tightening thing again.“Yeah?”

I nodded, chewing my lip.Yep, this was totally awkward.I didn’t want to talk about that night, but I needed to say this.“I want to…to thank you, Jagger, for what you did for me that day and…and now.When I know you’re out here, I can actually sleep.”

His eyes, that had returned to moss green, reignited like a fire had been lit behind them.“You don’t need to thank me,” he said, then looked away for a moment, his chest expanding on a rough breath before he looked back.

The silence stretched out between us.I wrapped my cardigan around me tighter.“Was there, um…something you wanted to tell me?”

A muscle at the side of his jaw twitched.“I’m needed in Hell.You won’t see me out here anymore.I leave in the morning.Didn’t want you to think…” He looked lost for words.“I wanted to reassure you that you’ll still be safe, that my brothers will be here as long as you need them,” he said gruffly.

Alarm raced through me, hard and fast, like ice water had been pumped into my veins and was overflowing through all the wounds covering my body, spilling at his feet.

The level of dismay I felt was irrational, but there was no stopping it, and because of what he was, he had to feel it.No, he didn’t have much of an emotional range, but a hound understood fear when he sensed it, and the way his head jerked back, I knew I was right.

“What’s going on, Sutton?”He was frowning deeply.

“Nothing.”

“You’re afraid.”He looked around us, as if there was an enemy closing in and he was ready to tear their head off.He turned back to me when he realized there was no threat, and his brows shot up.“Are you afraid of me?”

My face burned with embarrassment, but I sure as heck wouldn’t let him believe I was scared of him.“I’m not afraid of you, the opposite in fact.”

That glowing gaze bored into me.“Spell it out,” he demanded.

As annoying and blunt as he could be, it didn’t change the fact that he deserved the truth.This male had literally saved my life.“You…you, ah…”

“I what?”he said impatiently.

My irritation flared.“You…specifically, make me feel safe, okay?”I huffed out a breath.“I have no idea why, it’s not like you’re all charm, right, Charming?”I said and rolled my eyes.“But that’s the truth of it, and I don’t… I don’t want you to go, all right?”

He stilled, and his shoulders seemed to grow wider under his jacket while he studied me some more.Finally, he grunted, the growly sound lifting goose bumps all over my skin.“I have to go.Lucifer’s orders.”

I nodded and bit down on my lips when stupid, humiliating tears sprung to my eyes.What the hell was wrong with me?

Jagger didn’t miss those either.His eyes actually widened, and he looked ready to run for the hills.“Don’t you fucking cry,” he growled out.

“I’m not going to cry,” I fired back as tears spilled over and slid down my cheeks.“Why would I cry over you leaving?That’s ridiculous.”More tears fell as a horrified Jagger watched on.“And you can’t order me not to cry, Charming.It doesn’t work that way.”

“I don’t do tears, female.”

“Well, I don’t cry.It’s just a…a psychological response to you saving my life.My brain obviously associates you with safety, that’s all.Your voice and your…your scent was the first thing I became aware of after it happened.”Oh gods, did I just say hisscent!“Don’t look at me like that?—”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to throw up.”

“Hounds don’t throw up.”

“Well, lucky you.”I kind of thought I might throw up myself.Another round of tears slid down my cheeks.There was no stopping them now.

Jagger jerked back again.“What thefuck,Sutton.”

I tried to mop them up with the sleeve of my cardigan.“Just ignore it.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?”