Christian
The pretty doctor was staring at him, like he was the lowest slime on the ocean bottom. And she wasn’t wrong. That’s what he was.
Wanting to save Molly wasn’t an excuse. He had been ready to form an intimate bond with a woman who didn’t want him—who wanted someone else. Stupid as she was to want Ryan Stinking Travis, she still didn’t want Christian Kyle.
But it didn’t matter. He’d heard the voice on the message. Ryan’s brand new mate, Kate Quade. It was officially too late.
If only he hadn’t said the words wrong outside that diner. He could be mated to Kate and on his way back to El Paso, to Molly. His sister’s life was worth any price to him. And he hated to admit he would’ve sacrificed Kate’s happiness to save Molly.
The Quades would never give his sister back to him now. Plan B—fighting or sneaking her out.
Kate had been the Cinderella to his Prince Charming, according to the old Quade asshole who had been there when Christian was turned. They’d chosen him for her. They wanted the children.
Which still made his damn skin crawl.
But it didn’t matter. It was the only way to get Molly back.
And he’d failed at it.
“Christian,” Ellie said, drawing his attention up to her damn perfect pink lips. She was irritated. He was used to it.
“What?”
“I said un-complicate it.” She was edging away from him, even as he decided what to tell her.
“I can’t, Ellie.” He raked a hand through his hair, frustration edging into every pore in his body.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell me exactly what is going on.” She pointed back at the answering machine, and her breasts did this bouncy thing. He couldn’t take his damn eyes off them.
Fucking eyes.
“You heard her,” he growled, lowering his gaze. “I’m dangerous.”
“You’re about as dangerous as a three-legged kitten.”
When he looked up at her, she was practically smirking, but she didn’t understand. He had to make her understand.
Christian crossed the room, limping toward her, backing her until he pinned her against the laminate counter. His hip hurt like hell, but he kept pressing against her. She turned her head, and he pushed his nose into her cheek. “You don’t know how dangerous I am.”
And something inside him could feel it. This thing she called Fate. Like as soon as he got his body in contact with hers, there was some little voice inside him saying yes, yes and urging him forward.
“Okay, okay,” she whispered, sounding more aroused than afraid. “You’re dangerous.”
“Damn right I am.” He wanted to snarl. To bite. To claim. Instead, he reached for the counter and leaned against it, pulling his body away from hers. His traitorous body, that was already showing just how much he wanted her.
“Why is Rosalee warning me about you?” she asked, her chest heaving like she’d just done laps around a track. She was affected by him, just like he was by her.
A little part of him loved that. So much.
Fucking little part.
“Because I tried to kidnap Kate.”
“I heard that much. But I want to know why.”
He shrugged, moving back across the room and away from her. “Don’t we all.”
“Why would you try to mate with someone who already had a mate?”
The words stung him, hard. He saw his sister’s face, clear in his mind’s eye, with the old Quade asshole’s hand around her chin, and swallowed his anger. It wasn’t Ellie’s fault. He wouldn’t take it out on her. “She didn’t have a mate,” he ground out.
“What?”
“When I tried to mate her. She didn’t have one yet.”
“When did Ryan mate her, then?”
Christian remembered the noises against the truck while he was tied up inside. Ryan and Kate. Probably right after he fucked her. “You’d have to ask your aunt. It was news to me just now.”
“Then as of right now, you’re not looking for Kate anymore?” Ellie’s deep, ocean-blue eyes bored into him, and it pierced his heart. Such a hopeful woman.
Want her. A voice whispered from deep inside.
He shook his head. He couldn’t have Ellie. He had to get back to El Paso. Figure out some way to find another rodeo princess among the Quades. Give them what they wanted so he could get Molly back.
Christian sucked a breath in. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Ellie. Just… you have to give me a second to think.”
“So, you didn’t know that Ryan and Kate were mated?”
“No.”
“You found out on the message, just like I did?”
“I just said that.”
“But they think you’re still dangerous.” An edge of caution rose in her voice, and Christian didn’t like how that played with his insides. Made him want to fight things for her.
“I told you. I am dangerous.”
“Christian,” she said, with a drop, like she was scolding him. But she didn’t understand. She hadn’t known him long enough yet. She’d learn.
“I could give a shit about Ryan’s pack.” He sank back against the other counter, his hip throbbing. “Your pack. I just… I was supposed to mate Kate. It didn’t work out. I’ll figure something else out.”
“Why do you need to get to your truck?” she asked, taking a step toward him.
“I have to get back to El Paso.”
“I thought you were from New Mexico.”
“I am. But my…” He trailed off, letting her take another step forward. She was coming to comfort him. A part of him wanted to sink his face into her shoulder and wrap his arms around her and lose himself in that comfort. Or team up against the world. But deep down, he knew he couldn’t let himself keep feeling things for her.
Ultimately, he was going to get bred to another Quade girl. No matter what happened to Kate. The old Quade man had been insistent. Even Daniel Quade, who seemed like the favored son, had assured him he would get Molly back as soon as he did what they asked of him. That meant no Ellie. Not for him. Not ever.
“You need to find Molly,” she said, suddenly behind him as she slipped a hand onto his shoulder. She was going to start the boner up again if she wasn’t careful.
He glanced over his shoulder, looking at each feature on her face. Those big, innocent eyes. Those gorgeous, pinked lips.
Off limits to him. Molly had to come first.
But he needed Ellie’s help. She was right. He couldn’t drive. Not with his hip the way it was. He could barely stand on it without wanting to press his fingernails through his palms to distract himself from the pain.
“Yes. I need to find Molly.” Best not tell her the whole story.
“Then I’ll help you.”
Shit. She looked so beautiful, offering to help him like that. What a woman.
“You can’t drive, though.” Her voice was firm, and the words sure. She not only meant them, she believed them.
“Then you’re going to have to drive me,” he said. “Because I clearly can’t stay here with your family after me.” He pointed to the door of the little office.
“I’m not just going to drop you at your truck, Christian. No way. Who knows how long it’ll be before you can really drive.”
“You’re going to drive me to the bus station.”
“What about your truck?”
“I’ll come back for my truck later.” He nodded at the exit. “I can’t stay here with your family around.”
“Durant doesn’t have a bus station.”
“Well, I can’t stay here. So, what do you propose I do, Miss Ellie Culver?”
She crossed her arms and stuck out one hip like he was the stupidest thing ever to walk on two legs. “I’m going to drive you to El Paso.”
He snorted. Maybe he was the stupidest thing on two legs, because a part of him just echoed inside. Yes, you are.