ear that if she just saw him alive and well, everything would be fine. She could leave as long as she knew he was whole.
Hailey stopped her before she touched the handle. “Keep him in bed. It’s probably impossible, but at least try.”
Lilah nodded, then stepped through and let the door close behind her with a quiet click. Her breath caught in her chest as her eyes found Seth. She didn’t know what she’d expected. Pale and sweaty, maybe. His muscles wasted away and a frail form left behind.
He rested on top of the comforter, pillows propping him up, one arm slung behind his head. If not for the bandage poking out of his jeans, he’d have been fit for the cover of a magazine. And not the innocent, family-friendly ones, either. The ones with centerfolds she and her friends cracked open and giggled over when they found a parent’s stash during the summer between middle and high school.
All the accidental touches and forced contact due to her own lack of cooperation didn’t hold a candle to the sight of him stretched out before her. She trailed her eyes up his body, taking in the dips between the planes of muscles above the bandage. Power was packed into every coiled inch of him. Her mouth dried and her stomach dropped to her toes. She’d watched it in action while he defended her, but it was hard to not imagine it being used elsewhere.
A slow, delicious smirk hitched up one corner of his mouth. “Lilah.”
Never had her name sounded so... so... sinful. His tongue stroked the syllables into a dirty promise. Heat washed down her spine. The chill left behind raised goose bumps up and down her arms.
Lilah inhaled sharply and shook herself back to reality. Her cheeks heated; she had no right to ogle the man who’d been sliced to ribbons because of her.
“Are you okay?” She crossed the room, then stopped at the foot of the bed. Her hands fluttered in front of her before she forced them to her sides.
“I’ll be fine.” He unhooked his arm and sat up more. “Sit. You don’t need to hover. I’m not on my deathbed.”
“Says the man who did a face plant due to blood loss.” She cracked a smile and took a seat on the bed, studiously ignoring the light dip that rocked his burning hot body against her. At least he was awake and speaking. She didn’t put as much faith in his denial of deathbed status. The strong, silent types did the fussing, but never accepted being fussed over. “I guess that’ll net you another hazard bonus.”
“You’ll make me a millionaire if I can keep you alive.” Seth huffed a laugh, then cut the noise short with a wince. Serious eyes focused on her again. “What were you doing there, Lilah?”
“Celebrating. We thought it was over, right? They wanted to show me a good time before I left.” She shrugged, ducking her eyes to hide her pained look. “And now there’s a bounty on me? Talk about making a girl feel important.”
Even trying, she couldn’t put anything but despair into her sarcasm.
Fuck. That was the word that perfectly summed up the day. The high of relief plunged just as low with utter defeat. How did she come back from this? How did one really ever solve a price on their head?
Seth nudged her with his knee. “We need to talk next steps—”
“Don’t worry about that.” She snapped her eyes to his face. The slick, oily feeling in her stomach returned. “I’ll leave in the morning. Jaime probably knows who to call. I don’t want you to keep suffering for me.”
“Absolutely not,” he growled.
The denial was so intense it shook her to her core and forced her attention back on the injured man.
“Who do you think she’ll call? You need someone who knows this crowd. Unless I’m sorely mistaken, there’s a pride of lions on the other side of that door ready to defend you until I’m back on my feet. You’re not going to find better protection than that.”
He met her look with a dark one of his own. His features didn’t change, but she was certain something lurked behind his inky eyes. Watching. Waiting. For what, she didn’t know. Chills ran up her arms, but he wasn’t done.
“I promised to keep you safe,” he continued fiercely. “I’m not turning my back on that because of a little scratch.”
Her heart tripped over the words and the determined glint in