Portia
"Portia!" Nathan appears at the bottom of the stairs, and it takes all I have not to charge down toward him. Well, all I have and Callahan's hand around my wrist.
"Easy, she's hurt," Callahan tells him once we're downstairs and I go in for a hug.
Nathan nods and tries to hug, but not hug me, all at once.
"You can hug me. I want you to hug me," I tell him.
"You hurt her, and we have a problem," Callahan growls beside me.
"Don't listen to him," I say, but this other side of Callahan, this predator turned protector is strange. Unexpected. He's a beast but he's got a soft side. I like when it comes through.
Nathan squeezes me hard and it does hurt but I don't care. In his hug I feel how young he is, how much he's lost and how much he needs me, even if he tries to act like a man.
