Free Tempted by Darkness by Avery Gale

her. You are too angry and none of us wanted
this sort of end to our evening. Remember, she is still coming down
from the scene and we don’t want to take this too
seriously—yet.’
    ‘ Fine, but handle it. I am tired of always
worrying that she is going to decide we are more trouble than we’re
worth.’ Trev knew the core of Jameson’s anger was his fear of
losing Kit, but he also knew she’d never leave them or their
children. ‘ Remember, there is more than one way to leave.’ When Trev didn’t respond, Jameson continued. ‘ She could lock
away her heart and I think that might actually be worse. If she
regrets being mated, eventually she’ll grow bitter and resent us.
There are a lot of ways to lose her, brother.’
    Both he and Jameson had wasted far too much
time drifting after their parents had been killed. Trev had often
thought back on that time and wondered how they’d managed to
finally emerge from the fog of grief that had surrounded them.
They’d lost months that should have been devoted to building the
pack rather than mentally reviewing every move they’d made that
night and endlessly sorting through “what ifs”. But as much as they
wanted to spare Kit from making the same mistakes they’d made, the
bottom line was she was an intelligent woman who was more than
capable of making her own decisions. ‘ Well, good fucking luck. I
didn’t miss that look. When she raises her chin like that there is
a battle ahead. I’m going upstairs to the office and vent some of
my frustration on the list of slackers I got from the manager at
the club.’
    When Jameson turned on his heel and stomped
out of the dungeon, Trev tried to hold back his chuckle. Kit’s
expression softened and he saw some of the starch leave her spine.
They could easily block their conversation from her, and she didn’t
know several of the new-hires at their downtown club were not
working out well. What on earth was wrong with people these days?
They wanted the income, but didn’t want to do any more than the
barest minimum? Trev didn’t doubt for a minute that the upcoming
phone conference with their operations manager was going to leave
the man with little doubt about how Jameson felt on the
subject.
    Trev let several seconds of silence pass
before speaking, “Want to explain or would you rather I just
started?” He saw Kit wince at his harsh words, but he wasn’t going
to coddle her this time. She needed to get past this and he was
determined to help her even if it meant a departure from the way he
usually dealt with her. He hated seeing a cloud of self-doubt pass
through her eyes, he didn’t want her to doubt herself; he just
wanted her to know that her destiny was about her choices, not
about circumstances beyond her control.
    “I’m sorry. I know my mind wanders and I wish
I was better at shielding you from that. I don’t want to hurt you…”
Trev could hear the sorrow in her voice and nearly folded, but
instead he just pulled up a chair and sat down alongside the bed.
Folding his arms over his chest he sat back, watching her
thoughtfully and simply waited. She’d scooted up so her back was
against the carved headboard and he knew it wasn’t comfortable, but
he planned to leave it alone for the moment. When she started to
pull the sheet up to cover herself from his view, Trev simply shook
his head. She didn’t argue, but since he knew she wasn’t cold
covering her body from his view was her way of putting distance
between them, and that was something he wasn’t going to allow.
    “I’m just worried…”
    When she didn’t continue, he inquired,
“About?” Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and he could feel
how unsettled her emotions were. “Talk to me, Kit. I can’t help if
I don’t understand the problem.” His words must have struck some
cord because he was shocked when she launched herself into his
arms. Trev wasn’t entirely sure how she had managed to move so
effortlessly, hell, it had been