A rush of useless adrenaline pumped through his veins, as searing as acid.
It was a distraction,he realized.
Malachi hadn’t been trying to kill him. That wasn’t his main goal, anyway. The whole spectacle had been a distraction fromhis real aim: snatching Francesca from right under all their noses.
Trying to find some way to speak around the rage, he rasped, “You broke his finger, huh?”
“It was less effective than kicking him in the balls,” she admitted.
A startled laugh burst out of him. Tightening his arms around her, he praised, “Good girl.Verygood. That was exactly the right thing to do. Fight dirty until you can escape or help comes. Fuck fighting fair. Go for the balls.”
Despite the way he could feel her sitting up a little straighter under the glow of his praise, she argued, “Your brother did the real work. He had a bat with him and— Luis, have you ever seen one of those videos where people tie a bunch of rubber bands around a watermelon? It was like that.”
He winced. Pushing her head into the crook of his neck like he could retroactively protect her from the horror of what she’d witnessed, he grated, “I wish you hadn’t seen that.”
“I wish I hadn’t agreed to do the Games. None of this would’ve happened if I listened to Max when she told me to say no.”
“We can’t live in regret,” he warned her. “It’s done. You’re safe. That’s all I care about.”
In a muffled voice she confessed, “I was worried you might die.”
His chest constricted sharply enough that for a second he wondered if he was actually dying. It would be fucking embarrassing to meet Grim because of a heart attack, of all things, after the night he’d had.
Luis wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the crown of her head. The tightness in his chest loosened a little, allowing him to breathe in the scent and warmth of her. Shesmelled a lot like way too many other vampires for his liking, but a shower would have to wait until their business was done.
“You think I’d let anyone kill me when I had you rooting for me?” Hetsked.“Nah. I always find a way to win.”
Soft fingers curled into the short hair at the base of his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. Holding her like this felt a lot like trust — the most intoxicating gift one could give a man like him.
“I’m glad you won,” she whispered.
Luis found it hard to breathe again. He was beginning to suspect he’d broken a rib.
“Thank you, kitten,” he murmured, rubbing the underside of his bearded chin against her hair. She’d let it down from its elegant updo, allowing the strands to curl around her shoulders. Not caring about the fact that they were a little starchy with hairspray, he ran his fingers through the locks with great relish.
Finally,he thought.
She rubbed the back of his neck in a way that felt a lot like she was trying to comfort herself. “So, what now?”
“Now, we finish what you started.”
Francesca pulled back a little to give him a quizzical look. “What?—”
Raising his eyebrows — and ignoring the way one of them definitely needed a stitch or two — he reminded her, “We have a contract to sign, remember?”
She blinked owlishly up at him. “But…”
Hooking his arm under her bare legs, he stood up from the bed. She yelped, contracting a little in his arms, and demanded, “Are you serious?”
“As a vampire bite,” he answered grimly. “I fought and nearly died for that damn thing. I’m not letting you wiggle out of it.”
Her lithe legs kicked as she squirmed to be free. “I thought you didn’t care about my blood!”
“I never said that. Of course I want to taste you, kitten. I want to taste every little bit of you.” He looked down at her with a hungry expression. “But that’s not the part of the contract I care about.”
Her dusty, make-up smudged face had grown rosy with her useless attempt to wiggle out of his hold. Thrusting her lower lip out in an adorable pout, she growled, “Then what is?”
“Thirty days,” he calmly informed her. “I want thirty days of you with me.” He nodded toward the door knob. “Unlock that for me, will you?”