Page 130 of Velvet Corruption

I slid my hand along the edge of the door, slow and deliberate, until my fingers were right beside hers on the handle. So close we were touching.

She flinched.

Good.

“Look at me, Rubes.”

She did.

Blood had dried at her temple, matted in her hair. Her pupils were blown wide, hands trembling from the crash of adrenaline. She was still in shock. She shouldn’t have been upright.

But she was Ruby fucking Marquez.

“You’re in no condition to drive,” I said, low. “You’re covered in blood. You’re barefoot. You’re not thinking straight.”

“I have to—I have to get out of here. This is—this is—”

“Handled,” I said.

She blinked. “You can’t just decide that.”

“I already did.”

I watched her throat work. She was trembling so hard now her teeth chattered, and I knew it wasn’t just the cold. It was everything. The fear. The aftermath.

Me.

“Kieran—”

“You want the truth?” I asked, my voice cutting through the dark. “You weren’t walking away. I was going to stop you no matter what.”

Her breath caught.

I stepped closer, chest brushing her back now. “If I had to throw you over my shoulder and drag you inside, I would have. You don’t get to run from this. From me. Not tonight.”

“I never asked you to do this.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I murmured. “You needed me to.”

Silence stretched long and hot between us.

Then she whispered, “I don’t want to need you.”

I sucked in a breath…my hand found her hip. Her gasp got stuck in her throat and her eyes fluttered shut, and she was so fucking sexy covered in blood andneeding methat I—

Headlights flashed once across her face.

A dark SUV, parked halfway down the block, idling. No movement inside. No doors opening. Just watching.

My stomach tightened.

Ruby turned, following my gaze, her body locking up the second she spotted it.

"Who is that?" she whispered.

I didn’t have an answer.

I watched the SUV, waiting for something—for a window to roll down, for a gun barrel to peek out, for anything that would tell me if we were dealing with another gang, a loose end, a new problem.