But he didn’t, said a voice in her head. He gave injuries that heal. Shallow cuts. Broken bones. Eva winced as the sound of that man’s arm cracking days before echoed in her mind. Up until that moment, he has gone out of his way not to kill anybody.

Will, the enigma. The warrior poet. Eva felt her heart twisting and breaking, trying to wind around the reality of him. Underneath her confusion was a sincere relief that she hadn’t had to watch anyone die today—not just her brother, or Will, but anyone. She wasn’t fierce like the heroines in her books, or like Will himself was. She didn’t want to watch someone die. And she didn’t want to watch someone kill.

Suddenly the forest wind was chilly rather than comforting on her skin. Eva picked herself up from the meadow and brushed off her dress, and then wandered back toward the house, away from the bar. She scuffled inside slowly and into her room, dropping down heavy on the edge of the mattress.

A few minutes must have gone by as she sat there, lost in the quiet, staring at the curtains in the breeze, because she went from hearing nothing but the leaves rustling in the trees to hearing the sharp rap of knuckles on the half-open door of her bedroom.

It startled her to find Will standing in the doorway. She swallowed and gave him a deep once-over, uninterested in interacting with the growling animal that had pushed her out of the bar. But something was soft and numb about him. Which Will is this?

“May I come in?” he said.

Eva didn’t answer. She lowered her head and stared at the hands fidgeting in her lap. Will waited a few polite seconds before he stepped inside anyway and sat on the bed next to her.

When his voice came out, it was that same honey-sweet quiet baritone she loved. “Are you all right?”

Eva rubbed her eyes. “Yes. I’m not hurt.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She let out an exasperated huff, a nervous half-laugh. “Well, then no, I’m not all right. I just watched you kick the shit out of men and almost kill one of them, so…”

“I didn’t want you to see that, Eva. I asked you—”

“I know, I know. ‘Stay in the office. Eva, just do what you’re told and everything will work out fine,’ ” she said, the words spilling out of her mouth before she could stop them. “I’m sick of hearing that. I’m sick of being a bystander in my own life. And if I had stayed in the office, you would have blown that guy away, right? So if you ask me, Will, it’s a damn good thing I didn’t listen to you.”

When she finished, she instantly felt lighter at getting those words out, yet still nervous as she waited for a reaction. Will fell quiet for a moment, and the room filled with the sound of her own nervous breathing and tears. When did I start crying?

Will reached over and wrapped one of his hands around both of hers. He squeezed them tightly until her anxious fidgeting stopped. The warmth of his hands against her skin was so enveloping that Eva let out a tired little groan under her breath at the sensation. Angry as she was, she couldn’t stop herself from clinging back, twisting her fingers in his.

“Why did you do that?” she asked in a teary whisper.

Will leaned until his head rested on top of hers. He said, “I have to protect you.”

Eva turned and made him look into her eyes. “You did protect me. You have every step. And you haven’t had to kill anybody yet to do it. There’s no reason to start now.”

“They’ll keep coming, Eva,” he said, his voice breaking. “They’ll keep coming, and I can’t let you die.” He dropped his forehead onto hers.

They grasped each other’s hands as if some unseen force would otherwise pull them apart. Eva felt an inexplicable and overwhelming rush of emotion crash into her as the sensation of Will’s touch pulsed against her stimulated skin.

“I don’t want you to die,” she said. “You’re running headfirst into battle with no armor, Will, don’t you see that? I know we just met, but I know this isn’t you. I know you’re a smarter warrior than this… this suicidal berserker that you are now.”

Will surprised her by giving her an enormous grin. “Of course you know what a berserker is.” He pulled one of his hands up to run through her hair and caress the side of her face. His touch made her feel electric, alive, and Eva nuzzled the side of her face into his palm. “Because you’re an incredible fucking woman that has no business understanding my world.”

Eva met his eyes, firm and sure. “If I haven’t shown you this already, Will, let me tell you again: you don’t get to control me. Not what I know, not what I understand, and not what I do.”

The tension between them quickly shifted to the most heated, sexual charge Eva had ever experienced. Will stared at her face, at her lips, hands clutching the side of her head as if he was trying to stop himself. But the fire built in his eyes and in a heartbeat his lips were against hers, devouring them hungrily.

Eva threw herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and pulling him as close as she could get him. She moaned into his mouth as Will put his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer, lifting her up off the bed and into his arms. He held her hard against his lap for a few seconds as their tongues continued to wage their own battle for dominance, but then he threw her back onto the bed and crawled on top, both their legs dangling off the short end of the mattress.

Eva melted under the feel of his soft lips and the scratch of the scruff on his chin as he ran his mouth up and down her neck, across her collarbone, and down the small part of her chest that was exposed by the square-cut dress she wore. Her fingers slid through his hair, tightening their grip as one of his own grasped at her breast. His name escaped her lips softly and repeatedly as she felt his other one slide along her body until it passed the edge of her dress to land on the bare skin of her thigh. It didn’t pause for a moment before it dove right under the soft fabric until his palm landed straight against her panty covered pussy. His name turned into a moan of pleasure as his hand began to rub against her intensely.

Twisting under his expert touch, her mouth opened happily to suck in a finger he pressed against her lips. She smiled at the sound of his own groan when he felt her tongue swirl around his finger. As last time, nothing she did could take his focus away from what he was doing between his legs, though. He kept up his pressure with the other hand until she came, hard and screaming, wetness soaking the panties under his hand. Only once she came down from her bliss did Will gently strip the damp fabric from her legs, bending to take a few laps with his tongue before standing to undress himself.

Will pulled her to her feet with courtesy and told her to hold still while he ran a soft hand up her back, feeling for the zipper on her dress. He drew it down slowly, letting the fabric fall around her arms and off her like melted frosting. She stood before him fully exposed, and Will let out a soft sound of appreciation at the sight.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said in a throaty whisper. He kissed her, lips swollen and red, just like her own. His strong hand held her jaw as they made out like teenagers, pressing his warm, naked flesh against hers. His pulsing erection slid between them and made her ache to be filled.

“I want you,” she whispered as he bit at the skin on her neck.

Will bit harder. “Tell me again.”

“I want you inside me now,” she said. “Please.”

Will covered her mouth with his own in a firm kiss, and then dipped her back down on the bed with careful arms, sliding her up and against him until she lay comfortably across the mattress. He bucked his hips against her as his legs slid between hers, positioning himself at her hot entrance. She knew he didn’t slip a condom on this time, but she didn’t care. The thought of feeling the bare skin of his cock slide into her, and the eruption of heat that would fill her at the end, only added to her excitement.