Page 57 of Bound By Blood
Unable to take thesilence anymore, Caro set her mug down. “Why not have a sabertattooed on your back instead of a sword? It’s your name, afterall.”
“Because myfavorite weapon is a sword.”
“I’m guessingSaber wasn’t your birth name.”
“It wasn’t.”
Caro staredexpectantly at him, but he didn’t continue. She almost rolled hereyes; the man was as impenetrable as a safe. “So… whatwasyour birth name?”
“Gabriel.”
“That’s a nicename,” she whispered.
Saber shrugged.“It’s one I’ll never use again.”
She understoodwhy; it was a nice name, but it didn’t suit him. It was the name ofan angel, something he was as far from as she was from the sun.Gabriel probably fit the man who rescued a baby mouse, but itdidn’t belong to the ruthless killer sitting across from her.
“How did you getthe name Saber?” she prodded.
“Are you sure youwant to know?”
Caro had come thisfar; she might as well keep going. She probably wouldn’t like theanswer, but she’d never been one for avoiding things she didn’tlike. “Yes.”
“When I firstbecame a Savage, one of my favorite ways to kill, ortorture, was with a saber. Over time, my preferred useevolved into a sword, but I’d already been dubbed Saber by theother Savages and demons. The name stuck, and I was happy to shedany reminder of the man I used to be, including his name.”
She was right, shedidn’t like his answer, but she admired how he held her gaze whilehe gave it. He had no shame in himself; it was disconcerting, butthere was also something admirable about it.
“Why did youchange to a sword if you enjoyed using sabers so much?” sheasked.
“I got bored.”
The small smiletugging at his lips finally kicked her brain into thinkingcorrectly as unease crept like a spider down her spine. The hair onher nape rose, and her hands clenched on the mug. She tried to keepher reaction from him, but when his smile widened, she realizedshe’d failed.
“That bothersyou.”
He hadn’t asked itas a question. It was a statement and one he knew the answerto.
“I don’t like it,”she admitted.
Saber’s gazeroamed over Caro as he drank in the beauty of her features. Dirtstill streaked her cheeks, but instead of turning him off, like itwould have with any other woman, he found it charming on her.
He fisted hishands against his urge to rise, go to her, and wipe the dirt fromher face. Nothing should mark her perfect skin or hide thosebeautiful features.
Then, he realizedwhat he was thinking and cursed himself. He should be driving heraway, not trying to get closer to her. There could never beanything between them other than sex, and tender thoughts orgestures had no place when it came to fucking.
“There were manywho didn’t like it,” he said with more vehemence than he normallywould. “And many who suffered before finally dying on myblade.”
They stared ateach other while he waited for her to say something more or to walkaway from him in disgust. She didn’t do either of those things asshe studied him like she was trying to figure him out.Good luckwith that.
“I enjoyed it,” hesaid.
“I have nodoubt.”
He said thesethings, and she was sure hehadenjoyed it; he was once aSavage, after all. He’d also chosen to remain that way for sometime, but he was trying to hammer the point home a little toohard.
“If you enjoyed itso much, then why did you leave? And I know it was more than adream of a mouse,” she said. “You once said it was a combination ofthings. What were the other things?”
CHAPTER 43
