Samantha James by Outlaw Heart

Author:Outlaw Heart
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Kane felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Not once. But over, and over, and over.

It seemed odd to see this strong, fiery woman in tears. She’d turned away from him, but beneath the blanket, her shoulders were shaking. The sight completely unnerved him.

Never had she been more vulnerable.

Never had he resented her more.

Because tears were the one thing he hadn’t expected from her … the one thing he couldn’t deal with.

A voice like a cattle prod reared inside him. Don’t just stand there, you fool Comfort her.

His insides wound into a knot, coiled tight and hard. I can’t, he thought. She thinks I’m a coldhearted bastard.

She’s right, too, jeered the first nagging voice. But she needs someone, Kane. She needs someone now.

Not me. Christ, I’m the one person she doesn’t need.

Look around, you horse’s ass. Do you see anyone else? She’s alone, Kane, alone just like you’ve always been. Her pa’s gone, remember? You’re the only one here, Kane, the only one who can help her.

Panic surged within him, panic and some nameless emotion as violent as the storm that raged earlier. He felt like shoving his hand through the wall. He felt like running out into the night, until he could run no further. He clenched his fists, over and over, unable to go to her, unable to leave.

“Abby.” Uncertainty made his voice harsher than he realized. “Abby, stop it.”

Seized by a bone-deep despair, Abby merely wept harder. Utter helplessness welled up in her, a flow she couldn’t stem.

The sound of her weeping tore at Kane’s heart, even as it tore at his sanity. He ground out her name, the sound as raw as her sobs. He wondered furiously if this wasn’t just another ploy—a woman’s trick to get him to knuckle under and do her bidding.

“Abby … Jesus … Don’t cry. For heaven’s sake, please don’t cry.”

Bracing himself inwardly, he knelt down beside her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he tipped her chin to his. She made no effort to fight him. Tears slid unheeded down her cheeks, pale and glistening. She looked utterly defeated, too beaten to even wipe them away.

Something caught at his heart. Slowly, as if the movement caused him great pain, he closed his arms around her. She gave a dry, heartbreaking sob and clung; the sound pierced his chest like a rusty blade. All at once Kane found himself struggling with the unlikely position of having to be strong for both of them.

He didn’t want to be. God, but he didn’t! He’d been on his own for too many years. He’d lived his life for too long without ties. He didn’t want Abby leaning on him for comfort or support—he didn’t want the responsibility and he sure as hell didn’t need it!

But her body nestled against his aroused a flood of sensations he didn’t want to feel—a feeling of protectiveness, of possessiveness as foreign to him as he suspected tears were to her.

Scalding tears seeped into the hollow of his throat.

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