Jozef held her tight, pressing her hard against his chest as the vehicle pulled into traffic. He tipped her chin, forcing her to look up at him. He breathed deeply, taking several breaths through his nose and then releasing with his mouth. He tapped her mouth, indicating she should do the same.
Shaun automatically complied, taking long shuddering breaths into her lungs and then releasing the air. Each deep breath released some of the panic threatening to choke her, until she found herself relaxing against Jozef, listening to his heartbeats and following his lead, breathing in and out in unison.
She was still terrified, yes, and sick to her stomach from what she'd seen, but Jozef had saved her. He hadn't hesitated. He'd simply killed the men accosting her, for no other reason that she could see except that they were attacking her. It'd been automatic, as though he’d been doing it forever.
The tears started to fall, but she ignored them. She dug her fists into his leather jacket, clinging to the only anchor she had in the choppy seas of the new life she was being forced into. Jozef wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, telling her without words that he would be her anchor.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Once again, Jozef carried Shaun through the house to his suite. This time Shaun didn’t care who saw them. She was traumatized by what she’d experienced in the alley and Jozef was her only source of comfort. It didn’t matter to her that he was largely responsible for the trauma. She clung to him as though she’d die if he let go.
He strode through the mansion, ignoring his aunt’s exclamation as she came hurrying down the stairs toward them.
“What happened?” Dasha asked sharply.
Jozef let out a ferocious growl and continued through the house to his apartment, ignoring Dasha, who rushed after them. Jozef set Shaun down long enough to unlock the door to his suite and then pushed her inside, slamming the door shut behind them and locking it. He ignored his aunt’s frustrated exclamation from the other side, took Shaun’s hand and pulled her through the sitting room into the bedroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it.
Shaun backed away from him, her previous desire for his comfort quickly evaporating into fear. She’d run away from him again, and as a result he’d killed three men. He was going to be furious. What if he decided to really punish her this time? Maybe he thought she hadn’t learned her lesson in the shed.
But when he turned to look at her, his expression was one she hadn’t seen before. He looked… contrite.
I’m sorry, this shouldn’t have happened. His hand movements were angry and jerky. I shouldn’t have scared you. I allowed my anger with Giselle to eclipse my better judgment.
She shook her head. “It was my fault,” she said dismally, her eyes on his hands because they were easier to look at than his frightening granite expression. “I shouldn’t have run like that without thinking about where I was going. I should have realized you might have enemies.”
Indeed, I do have enemies, but it’s my job to protect you from them. We should have been prepared. You should not have been able to leave the club.
Shaun suspected as much. She’d taken them all by surprise when she bolted out the back door of the club. It was probably sheer luck and adrenalin that carried her as far away from Jozef and his men as she’d managed to get.
She stared at him in despair. This was yet another reminder of how much she didn’t fit into Jozef’s world. She couldn’t go more than a few hours without getting herself into trouble.
“Do you… do you know those men?”
He frowned and shook his head. I didn’t recognize them, but it was dark in the alley. Havel will get back to me with identifications.
She glanced down at her arms and saw the little flecks of rust red blood drops staining her skin. She automatically began scrubbing at it with her nails. It was a weird sensation being so freaked out by blood. She’d seen plenty of blood, probably far more than the average human, yet she’d never seen it spilled in violence until she met Jozef.
“I need to take a shower.” She tried to keep the edge of panic from her tone.
Jozef nodded. I will have some tea sent up. It will warm you.
She realized that she was shivering. The shock of the past hour was rushing through her veins and giving her the shakes.
“Can you have them send up something a little stronger?” she asked.
A small smile stretched Jozef’s lips and he nodded. Of course.
Shaun turned away and headed toward the bathroom, reaching behind her to unzip the dress as she walked. She jumped when Jozef’s fingers brushed hers aside. He placed one hand on her hip while drawing the zipper down to the small of her back with the other. His fingers lingered against her skin, warming her and sending tiny sparks through her body. He gently pushed her away, encouraging her to step into the bathroom.
Shaun closed the door and allowed the dress to fall down her arms, pooling on her hips before it dropped to the floor in a beautiful, bloody silver waterfall. She bent in half, reaching down to unbuckle each sandal before stepping out of the mess of dress and shoes. She groaned out loud in relief as she stepped onto the cool bathroom tiles. She slipped her thong off and tossed it on the pile. She was going to burn every item once she figured out how to work Jozef’s fireplace.
She turned the taps on in the shower and waited for the water to heat before stepping under the spray. The shower was one of the things she appreciated most in her bizarre situation with Jozef. It was a huge earth tiled monstrosity with four heads; one that sprayed directly over her head in a rainfall, another that hit her body at an angle and two more on the other side of the shower for someone else to wash at the same time.
The glass door quickly steamed up, which meant Shaun didn’t initially see Jozef through the clouds of steam as he opened the door and stepped into the bathroom with her. She lifted her face into the spray and allowed the soothing feeling of hot water to drain some of the gut-wrenching fear from her. During a normal week she would be careful not to get her hair wet unless she had time to deal with the chaos that would ensue. Today, she didn’t care. She just wanted to feel clean.
She felt a rush of cool air skitter over her body, raising goosebumps all up and down her legs. She pulled her face out of the stream and blinked the water from her eyes. When she turned her head, she saw Jozef standing on the other side of the glass door, his frowning gaze on her naked body.
“Jozef!” Shaun gasped and took a step back, out of the spray. She wrapped her arms around herself. “What do you want?”
He opened the door and stepped into the shower with her. He’d taken his leather jacket, shoes and socks off, but otherwise he was still fully clothed. He didn’t seem to notice as he stood on the other side of the water from her, watching her through the clouds of steam.
Shaun stood frozen, unsure what to do. Her heart was pounding in both anticipation and fear. Was he here because he wanted her, or was something else going on? She couldn’t think of a reason for him being in the shower with her.
He reached up to touch her face and she flinched away. He stood patiently with his hand out, the sleeve of his shirt getting soaked as he reached through the water. Shaun stood completely still as he closed the last few inches between them, brushing his fingers over her cheek. A sharp pain radiated through her face and she realized he was touching the bruise the guys in the alley had given her.