Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Baby, if you think we're done protecting you, you haven't been paying fucking attention.” The way he says it sends a wave of hope flowing through me. “Do you want out? I get it. It's dangerous here. Not exactly homey. Would you rather go home?”
I shake my head. “No, but how do I explain to my parents that I'm together with not just one biker, but three of them? I mean, if they want me.”
“They do, and very carefully,” he says as he runs his clever fingers up and down my arm. “And ideally without a shotgun nearby.”
I can't help laughing. “Luckily, that’s not an issue in my parents’ house. Can we go see how Wraith is doing?”
“Sure.” Tank refuses to take his hands off me, keeping the physical contact all the way back to Wraith's quarters. It feels nice.
The biker with the short white hair and beard is coming out as we get there. “He's fine,” he says. “It's a deep graze, but it's just a graze. There's no bullet in there, and the bleeding stopped. I bet it hurt like a fucking bitch, but I've put a bandage on it and he should be back to his normal asshole self if he takes it easy for a week or two.” He flashes a little grin at that.
Tank laughs. “Thanks, Doc. We'll make sure he stays in place and doesn't do anything dumb.”
“I find that hard to believe, but that's your problem, not mine.” And then he's off.
“Wraith!” I go in ahead of Tank. Nitro has thrown himself onto one of the chairs, and Wraith is on his bed, with his pants off and a big bandage around his injured thigh. “How are you feeling?”
Wraith huffs. “Takes more than that to put me out of action. Doc just likes to make a big deal out of it.”
“He said a week or two. I'm not letting you do anything too strenuous until then.”
He grins. “You gonna make me?”
“If I have to!”
“Guess you'll have to ride on top, then.”
The guys laugh as I blush. You wouldn't think after everything we’ve done they could still do that to me.
“No, at least not until I've showered. I'm dirty and gross, and I'm just trying to forget everything that happened tonight.” I swallow as it flashes back—right up to watching Harris go under. Maybe I am getting tougher, because I have no sympathy for him, not after everything he did, but that doesn't make the memory any less creepy and unsettling.
And then Tank's back around me, holding me close. “She's had a rough night. Go easy on her.”
Nitro nods. “Yeah. Listen, your shower isn't big enough for three. I'll stay here and keep Wraith from stabbing his eyes out from boredom, and you get her cleaned up. We can all get caught up in the morning.” The way he says caught up hints at more than just a little talking, and I like it.
Tank nods. “My pleasure. Need anything before I go?” He looks at Wraith.
“Wait!” I hold my hands up. “I know this is a lot, but I really thought you guys were dead for a while, and I hated knowing that you died before I got to talk to you about how I feel.”
They eye me curiously. Guess the stage is mine.
“When I saw that explosion and the building collapse. It nearly killed me.”
“Trigger—”
“I know now that things will go back to normal, you’ll want to get back to your lives. I’m just some girl, and you have plenty of girls around here, so…”
It's Nitro's turn to interrupt me. “Princess—”
“No, let me—”
“Stop,” Wraith orders.
I stop, blinking at him, not sure if I'm being rejected or what.
Nitro chuckles. “Do you remember when we explained what being claimed meant? About how that meant absolute fucking loyalty? We've fucking claimed you, sweetheart. All you have to do is say yes.”
“Oh.”
Tank pulls me right back into his embrace.
“No. I stink and—”
“I don't fucking care. Nitro speaks truth. Truth for all three of us. When I told we weren't done protecting you, I wasn't fucking kidding. We're not gonna let you go, unless you tell us to fuck off. If you really don't want us claiming you, then we're not gonna force you. We don't want a woman who doesn't want us. But until I hear otherwise, I'm gonna keep holding you, watching for you, drag you off to the fucking shower and scrub every last remnant of those assholes that fucked around with you until you skin's fucking red and glowing, and I'm gonna pull you into my bed and fucking hold you the whole damn night.” He squeezes me for emphasis. “Was that fucking clear enough?”
I nod against his broad chest. “Yeah. I—God, and here I thought I talked a lot. But I—”
Tank stops me with a finger on my lips. “No. No answers right now. No decisions. You're worn out and you've been through a lot. Come, we get you clean and a good night's rest. And that's all you have to think about right now.”