Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Until the last couple of years, most everyone had lived in the big clubhouse. Any property everyone else had owned, or if someone wanted to live in a house outside the clubhouse, it had been outside the protection of the club. Bones wasn’t that big, and we enjoyed each other’s company. But with the addition of so many kids and the growing families, Cain had decided it was time to expand the grounds. The club had over five hundred acres with the option to buy out a couple of our neighbors if we wanted to. So we’d fenced in the place and started building our own private neighborhood.
The houses were spaced out so there was plenty of privacy while still being within walking distance of anywhere within the compound. Our house was near the center of the current neighborhood. It was close enough for us to be near everyone, but far enough away I could make her scream my name during sex with the windows open and we wouldn’t get too much attention.
Just the thought of how responsive Cotton was to me lifted my spirits a little. She had so many reasons to keep her distance, yet she’d given me a chance with her fragile heart. I vowed I’d always protect her, no matter the cost to myself. Which meant I’d need to go back and throw Tool a beating. But not now. I’d wait until I’d fucked Cotton again. Which would happen the second I walked in the door. I needed her body around mine so I could fuckin’ think clearly, knowing she was good and unharmed. When I thought about what had happened too much, when I got so anxious I could barely breathe for worrying about her, fucking her until I lost my self in her body and gentle spirit was the only way I could pull myself together. If making love to her didn’t mellow me out, I’d see how badly I needed to beat Tool before I felt better.
I arrived at home to the smell of something burning. I hurried to the kitchen and smoke was rolling from the oven door. Opening it only made it billow out in great black rolls.
“Cotton?” I yelled her name as I pulled out the pan filled with what had probably been cookies but now resembled burnt cow patties. “Cotton!”
I opened a window just as the smoke detector started blaring. I swore as I tossed the pan and all out the back door before unhooking the screeching alarm.
“Cotton!” I was starting to get worried now. Sure, it was possible she’d forgotten the cookies in the oven and left, but I didn’t think so. She was always hyper aware of what she was baking simply because she was always so excited to see how her creations turned out.
As I stepped down the hall, I glanced in the open bathroom door before I passed it and did a double take. Cotton lay on the floor, her head against the bathtub. Water was on the floor in front of the sink. Was there a leak coming from the cabinet under it? She was unconscious.
“Cotton! Cotton!” I roared her name, gripping her shoulders and shaking her slightly before pulling her into my arms. I felt for a pulse and nearly pissed myself in relief when I found one. I pulled out my cell and called the clubhouse.
“I need Mama and Pops,” I said without preamble to whomever answered. “Cotton’s hurt.”
There was a curt reply, but I knew the older couple would be ready when I got Cotton there. I managed to get her in my truck and sped all the way to the clubhouse. I think I talked to her the entire way, though I have no idea what I actually said. It was more to comfort myself, trying to convince myself she was going to be all right.
“Fuck, Cotton! Please! Fuckin’ wake up! Put me out of my misery, baby.”
I skidded the truck to a stop in front of the clubhouse. Three of my brothers rushed out to meet us. Pops had the passenger door open the second it was unlocked. He pulled Cotton into his arms and hurried into the house with her, me close on his heels.
“What happened?” Mama was all business as she started examining Cotton.
“She fell,” I said, assuming that was what had happened. “Found her on the floor. Looked like she hit her head on the bathtub.
“And you moved her?” Mama’s head snapped up, her gaze alarmed.
“Yes, I moved her! I had to get her here for help!”
“If she’s broken her neck, Chase, she could be paralyzed. Or worse.”
I hadn’t thought of that. I felt like I’d been sucker punched and my knees gave way. I collapsed in a chair behind me, my whole world crashing down around me. “Fuck.”