Of course she did.Virgins weren’t familiar with the feel of a man’s hand on their backside.
Bloody fucking virgins.
“W-where are you taking me?”It was the fear in his voice that had him slowing his pace, stopping when they reached a hidden sitting room he used to meet with local law enforcement.They came to the brothel and then slipped in here when they were done fucking their girl so they could whore themselves out to him—metaphorically speaking.
He set her down gently and promptly took three steps back putting as much distance between them as he was able in such a small room.Lighting a candle, he set it in the sconce.Even in this dim lighting he could see that rouge that made her look so different.
And yet, her eyes were still the same.Big, wide, sparkling…
And filled with fear.
He fished a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and tossed it to her.“Wipe it off.”
She hesitated for only a moment before pressing it to her lips.
“What were you thinking?”His voice was a snarl and as he fisted his hands at his sides he was horrified to feel them shaking with adrenaline.His every muscle bunched and tensed with it.With this need to destroy every man who’d leered at her, to hide her away where she couldn’t be seen or touched.
Except by him.
He exhaled harshly and turned his gaze away.
No, not by him.Not by anyone.He’d done what he’d had to do to save this girl from a life of ruin and misery, but that didn’t mean he’d break his rules…
Any more than he’d already done by involving himself in the matter.
He ran a hand through his hair.“Christ.”
Kitty flinched, her fingers gripping the handkerchief in front of her face like she could use it to hide.
“What were you thinking?”he asked again.
The answer came from behind him.“She was thinking men might pay good money to get their hands on her,” Loula’s sultry drawl made him tense.
He didn’t turn, but waited for her to step into the room, going to stand beside Kitty.Tracker, not surprisingly, followed in her wake.
Kitty was shaking.Her whole body quivered with fear, and his stomach churned at the realization that she looked more scared now, here with him, than she had in that crowd of savages who’d been bidding for a chance to break her.
He couldn’t bring himself to take his rage out on her any more than he already had, so he turned his glare on Loula.“Fine, then what wereyouthinking?”
Loula shrugged, unapologetic and unafraid, as always.It was typically one of the things he liked most about her…but not today.Today he wanted to see her tremble like his Kitty.
“I was thinking the girl needed money, and it was better she came to me than old Bernadette or one of the others.”
Spoken so matter of factly, and rightfully so.He couldn’t argue that point.They all knew what would have become of a girl like Kitty if she’d gone to one of the unscrupulous whorehouses near here.
They’d likely never see her again.They’d sense her innocence and her desperation and would take every advantage.
He turned to Tracker who met his gaze evenly.“No one liked it any more than you, boss,” he said.
Again, matter of fact.He and Loula were a pair like that.
“They…” Kitty started and stopped the moment King swung his gaze in her direction.
“They what?”he demanded.
Her throat worked as she swallowed and his hand twitched with the need to reach out and touch it.He wanted to wrap his fingers around that delicate neck and feel her heart hammer wildly as he touched her, kissed her….
He tore his gaze away.Bloody hell.Now was not the time for fantasies.