Free Night Blade by J. C. Daniels Page B

favor.”
    “I only asked one fucking question.”
    I grinned at him. “Maybe I’ll work out naked next time.”
    “Shit.” He turned around. “What the hell.”
    “You need to quit worrying about me so much. I saw you looking at Chang last night and I already know what you were thinking. You wanted to know why in the hell he hadn’t been the one to handle the rats,” I said.
    “He was the strongest one in there. It was his responsibility,” Damon argued.
    “But I was the one they decided to take exception with.” I shoved a hand through my hair, staring at the weapons that decorated my walls. Because I felt better when I was touching something, I moved to the wall and took down one of the knives. I started to toss it, up and down, watching until it was a blur above my hand. “If it had been anybody else in there, would you have cared ?”
    The silence was enough of an answer.
    “And you knew, from the second you walked in, that I had it handled, right?”
    “I think I made it clear that I knew you did.”
    “Then why was it a problem that I did handle it?”
    As he turned to look at me, I caught the blade by the handle and met his gaze.
    “It’s not your problem,” he said quietly. “It’s mine. And we both know that.”
    “I’m just asking you to let me be who I am. What I am…without worrying so much.”
    My heart raced so hard, so fast.
    He stared at me.
    Finally, he looked away. “I can’t stop worrying. But I won’t change who you are, either, baby girl. I’ll work on it. Like I said…it’s my problem.”
    It might not sound like a lot, but I knew Damon. He didn’t make concessions easily. If he said he’d work on it, then that was exactly what he’d do.
    “Your kid has a fascination with sharp, shiny objects,” I said, returning the knife to the wall. “It almost seems to match mine. I suffered a temporary break from sanity and asked him if he wanted to spar.”
    Damon turned around, storms gathering in those amazing eyes of his. “You what ?”
    “Watch the tone, cat,” I warned him. “I can take that kid, blindfolded.”
    “Not if he loses it.”
    “Yes. I can…and this isn’t working on it. Remember that?”
    He stared at me, the heat of his anger pounding against my skin.
    But he said nothing.
    Ahhh…maybe this was the start of a change? I could hope. “The kid is good for somebody who’s never been trained at all. Natural talent. If he didn’t hate my guts…”
    I finished with a shrug.
    “Anyway, he asked if he could come by again, but I told him no. Contrary to what so many think, I’m not a fool. He learns fast and I’m not going to give him the training to learn something he could maybe use against me.”
    “I thought you said he’d control that,” Damon said, his voice flat.
    “And I think he will…but even I know when to exercise caution.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    I know when to exercise caution.
    That was why I went straight to the office. I hadn’t forgotten about yesterday and Justin’s message and his promise to track me down. My lip curled as I thought about it. Track me down, huh? Did he really think it’d be that easy?
    Still, I wasn’t going to jerk him around. As much fun as that could be, I’d be better off to see what he wanted during business hours, so I could just shut him up and move him along while I could.
    Somehow, I didn’t think it would go over well with Damon if I took a job with Justin. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t worry about it, but having a boyfriend who happened to be a shifter…well, those weren’t normal circumstances. Actually, nothing in my life is normal so this isn’t much of an issue, really.
    Damon isn’t human. I wasn’t going to expect him to have human reactions.
    And hell, even though I am mostly human, I know I wouldn’t react well if I found out Damon was hanging out with one of his former lovers. I’d react badly. Probably with bloodshed. Grimacing to myself, I figured it would be best if