We were in the infirmary, waiting to see when we could leave, and though the doctor had already seen her, I could barely control my temper. Me. The guy who never blew up. I usually acted out… in other ways. And yet, every time I was around Sparrow, I couldn’t help it. She did things to me I didn’t like.
Oh, pretty sure you do like them.
Sparrow stared at me, and I shrugged. “I didn’t have a concussion the last time, therefore, I can’t have another concussion if I didn’t have the first one. And, as you heard, the doctor just left after saying I don’t have a concussion. I’m fine. And I have work to do, so if you could just get out of my way, I can get it done.”
“You’re not working tonight,” I growled.
She let out a breath, her shoulders tightening ever so slightly. She masked the movement before I could comment on it. She was so good at hiding her emotions from everyone and yet… Sometimes I felt like I could see beneath the surface.
“And we’ve already discussed the fact that you’re not my prince, not my king, and not my boss.”
“And your boss isn’t here,” I growled.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “No, he’s not. That means I’m in charge here. And now that I’ve passed my evaluation, I need to get back to work. I have a job to do, Breck.”
“Really?” I raised my chin in disbelief. “Because you were clinging to me out there, and it scared the hell out of me, Sparrow. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
She tilted her head again, studying my face, her own expression cool and calm. “I’m sorry, when did we decide you were allowed to tell me what to do?”
“When I thought you were going to die and ran to save you. That’s when.”
She shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. “Not even then, Breck. You don’t get to be my keeper.”
“Well, maybe somebody should. Hell, Sparrow. Those men could’ve killed you.”
“But they didn’t. I’m trained. I know what I’m doing.” She paused. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Breck. I can handle myself.”
“You can, but you should still rest for the night,” Niko said, barreling past me into the room. I glared at the other man, but he ignored me. “We’re on it tonight, you get some rest.”
Sparrow’s shoulders once again tensed, but she relaxed them quickly, looking like the icy, unruffled woman I had come to know… and wanted to know more. “You too? You’re going to play the big, bad dude card right now? If I was a man, would you be telling me to rest?”
Niko snarled, and I was kind of upset that I hadn’t been the one to do it first. “Excuse me? Last time I got hurt on the job, and I didn’t even require stitches, you made me sit out for a whole day before I was allowed to come back. You need to sit out for at least six hours and try to get some sleep. And then we’re going to come back, and we’re going to kick someone’s ass in the morning. That’s all we’re asking. You know the rules. You get hurt, and if we’re able, you take a break. We need to make sure you’re okay.”
She looked between us. “I’m fine, and since you added ‘if we’re able,’ are we? Kannon’s not here. Olly’s not here. I’m here. You’re here. We need to take care of this.”
“And nothing is going to get done at this exact moment. So you are going to get rest, and you’re going to let Breck here take care of you.”
I blinked, shocked, and looked over at Niko. “That’s what I was going to say, but I didn’t think you’d actually agreed with me.”
Niko raised a lip and bared his teeth. He looked like a damn werewolf just then. I was surprised he didn’t bare a fang. “We figured somebody is going to need to sit on her and make sure she doesn’t have a concussion. Therefore, since it doesn’t seem like you have much to do, you’re up.”
I ignored the tone because I was getting exactly what I wanted. If you could call this what I wanted. “Come on. I’ll take care of you, Feisty.”
Sparrow shook her head and let out another calming breath. “I don’t need anybody protecting me.”
“Okay, then I will make sure you have a nice fluffy pillow, and you can get some rest. And then you can take over the world and kick ass tomorrow. Deal?” I asked as Niko and I both glared at Sparrow.
She looked between us, and her shoulders sunk ever so slightly.
I wanted to count that as a win, but I didn’t like seeing her so defeated. She was either going to lash out, and Niko and I would end up bloody, or she’d sink into herself, and I’d hate that even more.
Since when had I figured out how she would react so quickly? I knew she intrigued me, but apparently, I had been studying her more than I knew.
“If it will make you both leave me alone for a few hours, then I will take the break. I understand what my duties are, however, and I would appreciate if you’d remember that as well.”
“Of course, darling,” I sneered. Niko gave me a look, but I ignored it. I was skating on thin ice, but I needed Sparrow to act normal. I didn’t like to see her wounded—not that she had appeared that way for longer than a brief moment.
Sparrow rolled her shoulders back, winced, and I nearly growled. She gathered her things calmly then made her way toward the door, looking as if she hadn’t been hurt less than an hour before.
“Coming, prince? I’m pretty sure you need to lead the way.”
“I’ve been waiting forever for you to say those exact words. Come on now, Feisty, let me show you my lair.”
“Dear God,” Niko muttered under his breath, but I ignored the man.
I was getting what I wanted, even if I hadn’t realized this was what I needed.
We made our way to my wing in silence, and I took the back way so there were fewer people to accidentally bump into. Roman was out of the castle for the evening at a function, though he had been made aware of what had happened. And I knew Wilder was working on a thousand different things at once and that I should probably get to work as well. But right then, there was nowhere else I needed to be. Not really. I needed to make sure Sparrow was okay, and I didn’t like the fact that it was the first thing I thought of.
Why did I feel like I was losing my mind?
“Well, here it is,” I said, entering my first set of rooms.
Her eyes widened, and as she looked at the place, I knew she was studying every inch of it. We were in the formal sitting room, where I did most of my entertaining, though not the same entertaining she was probably thinking of. I had meetings here, and this was where I brought my family. I had one more sitting room, but that one had become my home office, and it was mostly for my use, though Jaye and some of my other staff members came in if we needed extra time and wanted to be a little more comfortable. Nothing playboy happened there.
I had two guest rooms, though I didn’t use them because the only people I needed for guests were family. Some of my staff members had slept there before, especially if we had an ice storm or just a late night of working and nobody wanted to drive home.
And then there was my bedroom. My oasis.