Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
“Yeah, Brinley. It is.”
Boundaries.
Boundaries.
Boundaries.
I silently chanted it like I could erect them between us.
But did I want them?
Did I want him to stop touching me?
I shouldn’t feel like this—especially with a man like him—but part of me liked it.
Wanted it.
The buzz and the burn that lit every time he came into my space.
Apparently, I was becoming as reckless as Dereck.
The woods finally broke open to a two-story house nestled in the trees. A second, smaller one sat to the left, the two buildings separated by a few hundred yards.
The larger one was painted powder blue with white trim.
A quaint porch sat out front, decorated with four rocking chairs and a mishmash of potted flowers.
It looked like a granny’s old house rather than a biker’s lair.
But I supposed that lair was hidden at the end of the hall I’d gone running from last night.
Mind-jarring since that felt like a lifetime ago.
Going from the terror that Silas was set on butchering me into pieces to him bringing me to his house after he’d implied that in some way I was important to him.
As a job, I was sure.
I bet I was nothing more than a bargaining chip.
Insurance promising Dereck would fulfill whatever oath he had made to Silas.
I wouldn’t be of any value to him if I were dead, and I wasn’t ignorant enough not to know something else was definitely going on here.
Silas pulled the truck to a stop up near the front and one second later, the screen door blew open.
Elena came barreling out with little Kai in her arms.
Both their faces gleamed with smiles and excitement.
That crater inside my chest that normally only accommodated my dread and worry over my brother expanded in a fit.
Pressing at the vacant places.
An older woman shuffled out behind them. Short and plump with those same sage eyes threaded with blues and browns shining with something that looked a whole lot like mischief.
“And here’s the welcome committee.” Silas muttered it with affectionate irritation.
I chewed at my bottom lip. “I’m not so sure this is a good idea.”
I mean, was I really supposed to stay here? With them?
“I thought we already discussed this?”
If he meant growling at me exactly what was going to happen, then I guess he could consider it a discussion.
At least he’d said ‘please’.
“I still don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“Letting me take care of you, that’s what.”
I huffed in frustration, then Silas pushed toward me, leaning over the console. It made my heart take off at a sprint.
“You let go a little, and you just might find that you like it.”
It was packed with innuendo, and I nearly choked on the lust that suddenly addled the air.
“It’s not going to happen, King.” How I managed to make it sound like I was disgusted by the prospect, I’d never know.
Silas chuckled a dark sound as he pulled away, taking my breath with him.
Every intimidating inch of him was written in arrogance.
The tattoos on his arms and neck seemed to crawl with the same crude appeal as his eyes watched me with right then.
“You sure about that?” The words scratched across me. Silken sandpaper.
Crappity crap, this man was dangerous.
And not in that ‘he’ll pull a gun in broad daylight and raze his enemies’ sort of way.
It was in a ‘Brinley could make very terrible, heart-decimating mistakes with him’ kind of way.
I could already feel my ribs creaking under the pressure.
I needed to remember the first was just as valid. If Dereck didn’t come through with whatever Silas wanted, I’d likely end up with a blade to my throat.
“Very,” I tossed out like I’d rather eat a piece of gum stuck to my shoe and threw open my door, needing to get the hell out of the confined space I was sharing with him before I combusted.
By the time my heels hit the ground, Elena’s voice was carrying on the wind, except she’d lowered it like some kind of bro who was prepping for a rager.
“Brinley in the house!”
An impetuous giggle erupted. Reckless beyond measure.
Apparently, when my life was at stake, I had no problem laughing. I guess sometimes the only way people survived was laughing their way through the treacherous things.
“Bwinwey house!” Kai waved a fist in the air, clearly trying to mimic his aunt.
That hole inside me throbbed all over again with the way he said my name.
Precious.
I tried to fight against it. Not to let my ribs expand to make extra room, but I figured that type of fight would prove fruitless.
I glanced over the hood of the truck so I could gauge Silas’s reaction to seeing his son after a long day.
I’d be a liar if I said I hadn’t really liked the sight of it yesterday.
Proof that he might not be all cold blood and killer.
His expression morphed.
Adoration and loyalty poured out, mixed with something that looked a whole lot like terror.