Nobody's Hero Read Free

porch.”
    He relaxed and she grinned.
    “What is it, hon?” Don’t call her
“hon.” She may get the wrong idea—again. Why didn’t she do as
he’d told her and get out of this tiny fucking bed? Don’t
mention fucking and bed while you’re holding Karla in your
arms.
    Her hand stroked his chest, almost absently,
although she certainly had his undivided attention. Her touch was
tentative, gentle. He hadn’t let a woman get this close since Joni.
Even with Grant, his friend-with-benefits partner at the Masters at
Arms Club he co-owned, sex had been rough, hard, sometimes even
brutal. A physical release for them both, nothing more. Neither had
ever wanted anything more.
    But Karla was more fragile both physically
and emotionally. She’d just lost her brother, who had meant the
world to her. That grief was what had brought her to his club in
the first place. Adam had cared about her since he’d rescued her
nine years earlier in the Chicago bus station, not that he’d shown
her much support these past few months. Hell, no. He’d been too
busy running in the opposite direction. Adam didn’t know what it
was that scared him the most—their age difference of twenty-five
years, the thought of his corrupting her any more than he’d already
done by bringing her onto the payroll at his kink club last July,
or that she might get under his skin and expect more from him than
he could give.
    Hell, he’d lay odds she was still a virgin,
or damned close to being one. She didn’t have any interest in BDSM
and had no place in a club where she had to witness so many things
that obviously freaked her out. He’d seen her cringe as she watched
Damián wield the whip or heard one of Grant’s subs screaming at the
center post as the female Marine delivered a public and painful
punishment.
    “When I saw you lying there on the ground…”
Karla cleared her throat. “The cougar was so big. You were
bleeding. So much blood. I thought you’d been killed.”
    He pulled her close to him. Just this
once . He needed to reassure her that he was going to be fine.
“I’m pretty ornery. No cat is going to get the best of me.”
    “Well, I’ll give you ornery.”
    He chuckled. “Ah, glad my secret’s out.
Keeping up appearances can be exhausting.” She felt so good lying
in his arms, even though he was too weak to keep his arms around
her much longer. His biceps were feeling the strain. Damn, he was
getting old.
    “Worst-kept secret around. You’ve been very ornery lately.” She paused, stroking his chest. He
wished she’d get the fuck out of this bed. His dick was throbbing
to the point of pain. Having her in his arms was totally wrong.
    “I’m sorry about whatever I did to upset
you…” Her voice broke, along with his resolve.
    Oh, shit . He'd made her cry. “Hon, you
didn’t do anything.” Except look so fucking sexy you drive me
insane . “I just have some shit going on in my head. I never
meant to make you feel bad.” So why are you about to make her
feel worse? “But I think it might be good for you to think
about moving back to Chicago. You don’t belong in a kink club.”
    She pushed herself up and looked him in the
face, her blue eyes steely as she glared at him.
    “Adam, you will not send me away—not until
you’re better, at least. I know you’re too stubborn to see it, but
you need me. I’m going to take care of you, just like you took care
of me when I first got here. This is all my fault. If you hadn’t
distracted that cougar…”
    He pressed a finger over her lips, then
pulled back, her sexy pink lips not being something he needed to be
touching at the moment. The dark circles under her eyes and her
thin, pale face worried him. But if she’d been attacked… “If I
hadn’t distracted that cougar, you’d be the one hooked to the IV.
Or worse.” He stroked her cheek, unable to help himself. The
thought of that cougar marring any part of her beautiful body tore
at his gut worse than the cat’s