Page 17 of Bound By Blood
But she alsodidn’t want to die.
Her hand twistedback and forth on the hilt of her sword as she tried to figure outwhat to do. If he was the monster who murdered her parents, shecouldn’t involve the police. He would only slaughter them too.
Shewouldbe the one to take him down.
He was bigger andstronger than her, but she had fury and training on her side.Though, as she studied his powerful frame again, she saw he lookedlike a warrior too.
It didn’t matter.No matter what, he was coming in here; she might as well still havea back door after he did. And she couldn’t risk Clarice or one ofthe other store owners calling the police if they heard acommotion.
One way oranother, she would get answers… or revenge.
Caro turned offthe alarm. “Step away from the door.”
CHAPTER 13
The metal barinside the door clicked when she pushed it in. The man steppedclear of the door as it swung toward him. Prepared to have to pullit closed again, Caro sniffed the air; instead of smelling garbageor rot, the man smelled like peppermint, which meant he couldn’t beone of those Savages her dad told her about. That didn’t mean shetrusted him.
When he steppedinto the doorway, Caro gulped and immediately regretted herdecision. He was about five inches taller than her five-eightheight, but it felt like he towered over her as he movedcloser.
The heat of himwas like a furnace against her skin. She hadn’t intended to giveany ground to him, but she edged away as a shiver ran through herand the hair on her arms rose.
Despite herdislike of this man, her mouth went dry, her skin tingled, and herheart raced. He was an asshole, but he was a gorgeous asshole, andher stupid fingers itched to touch him as he stepped closer.
Stupid,sleep-deprived brain.She blamed it for her sudden insanity,but she couldn’t help noticing how his jacket and jeans hugged hispowerful, well-built frame. Judging by the size of his hands, shewas certain one of them could crush her skull.
You know whatthey say about a man with big hands….Her gaze dropped to hiscrotch, and her eyebrow quirked a little as, in his case, the “bighands, big dick” thing seemed true.
Then she realizedwhat she was doing andwhereshe was doing it. Feeling likethe worst form of life to ever walk the planet, her gaze went tothe door as it clicked shut. Her parentsdiedhere, and shewas checking out some jerk of a stranger.
Feeling likesomeone punched him in the gut, Saber lowered his knife as he drankin the beauty of the woman standing across from him. She kept hersword raised between them and her determined chin up as her gazereluctantly returned to him, her weapon resting against hischest.
Normally, he’dkill anyone who dared to point their weapon at him, but he didn’tsay a word. She scowled at him, but the woman was obviously scaredand seeking some way to feel in control of this situation.
She wasn’t. Hecould disarm her in less than a second, but he would give her thismeasure of false comfort.
Besides, he wasmore interested in studying her than frightening her as she staredat him with striking, turquoise-colored eyes. Those large,almond-shaped eyes narrowed on him, and her thick eyebrows drewtogether over the bridge of her slender nose; it had a slightupturn at the end.
Her square facewas strong yet delicate, and her full, pouty lips pursed tight indispleasure. Tall and slender with curves in all the right places,he imagined stripping off those formfitting jeans and black shirtto exploreallof those curves.
When he realizedthe possibility aroused him, he shifted his attention to her faceagain and frowned at the faint tear streaks on her cheeks. Secondsago, he was infuriated with her for not letting him in. Now, hewould kill whoever made her cry.
“What happened?”he demanded. “Why were you crying?”
Caro gaped at himbefore rolling her eyes. “My parents are dead.”
“Yes… and?”
She blinked at himin disbelief. “And?” When the idiotic man continued to stareat her, Caro demanded, “And isn’t that enough?”
Was it enough? Henever cried for his parents or Brie, but he’d buried his grief inkilling, so he didn’t have time or the ability to weep when he wasglutting himself on blood. And once he stopped being a Savage, helocked away his emotions to keep others safe and himself incheck.
He grieved hisfamily, but not as he should have. For vampires who had normalreactions to the death of their parents, he supposed their dyingwas enough. “I guess.”
Caro continued togawk at him in disbelief.He guessed?Whowasthisclueless jerk?
Saber tilted hishead as he took in more details about her. She had the same faceshape and hair color as Charles. She was definitely his friend’sdaughter.
“I’m sorry aboutyour parents,” he said.
