Page 177 of Seasons of War
“He'll complain.”
“What's new? Go. Seriously. I can handle him.”
Adelle studied her for several seconds. “Not many people take him on.”
“If they did, they'd realize he's not as scary as they think.”
They both smiled. Maybe because Zayne did actually scare her that much. She just refused to back down.
“I'll sleep,” Adelle said. “But don't let him chase you off. The PXI was hard on him. I need to know he's safe.”
Damn it. What did he just go through?
Kira nodded and climbed the stairs to the guest room he stayed in.
Preparing herself for his stubbornness, she held her hand over his door for several seconds before knocking.
“I told you to sleep,” he said. “Come in.”
She chewed the inside of her cheek, stomach twisting in knots at the coming wrath. “She's going to bed,” she said while opening the door.
The shock that piqued Zayne's brows and froze him at seeing her instead of his mom hit her too. He held a roll of gauze and a pair of scissors. And his shirt lay on the bed, leaving him all skin and muscle and a flimsy, bloody bandage around his midsection.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.
“Your mom,” Kira said, cheeks warming like she'd never seen a shirtless man in her life. Focusing intently on his face, she willed any redness away. “Sleeping. She's sleeping.”
“As I told her to.”
“Well, she only agreed to it because I said I wouldn't let you out of my sight.”
His hand curled around the gauze. A sheen of sweat covered him like back at Dr. Cooper's, and he looked so rigid, probably from annoyance as much as the muscle contractions from the medicinal Pixi.
“You agreed to stay away,” he said.
“Apparently, I'm a liar.”
“I don't want you here.” His lips curled, baring his teeth. “Leave.”
“I don't care. Give me those bandages, you stubborn man.”
“I've got it handled.”
Her brows twisted, and she raised a hand at the blood stain. “It's on your back.”
“I have a mirror. Bye.”
“You're being such a jerk. I care about you. Let me help.”
Zayne leaned in with a smoldering glare. “I told you not to care about me.”
“Well, sir, yes sir.” Kira pressed her fists against her hips to keep from hitting him.
Fire rushed through every vein. The fire of his stubbornness. Of her anger. Of learning how the body that plastered her against the edges of buildings looked. As hard as she tried not to notice, even looking into his eyes, she still saw the rest of him.
Kira turned away. “Stupid, stubborn, ridiculous idiot.” She muttered it to herself, but she didn't care if he heard.
Meanwhile, he cut away his own bandage. When Kira pivoted to check on him, he growled at her. Actually growled.
