She was different tonight. More fragile. He hadn’t realized how much he took her confidence and control for granted. They were a part of her and without them, she seemed almost broken. She sat at the far end of the sofa, her bare feet tucked under her legs. Her hair was long and loose, her skin pale. She was beautiful simply because she was breathing, but his need to be close to her had a whole lot less to do with sexual desire and was a whole lot more about protecting. He wanted to find and slay whatever dragons taunted her. Only it wasn’t that simple. She’d been shattered by something he couldn’t attack or defeat. She’d been undone by her own heart. He reached across the couple of feet separating them and touched her hand. She shifted her arm so their fingers could entwine and gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks for coming by,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I’m not better company.” “I’m not here to be entertained. I wanted to check on you.”
