Page 32 of Pain

And thanks.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “These guys... aren’t great at helping me deal with that sort of thing.”

I cast an amused glance around at the rest of the crew, who were all standing as far from the blood as they could manage—including Knight. “I noticed.” When my eyes came back to meet Mandy’s, I was nearly grinning. “Good thing you have me here to help.”

Something passed between us—mutual respect? Acknowledgement?—and I had the flash of a thought that this woman could be my friend. My compatriot.

It had been so long since I’d had a friend that I almost didn’t know how to feel about suddenly finding myself with one.

Then she was turning and stumbling toward her room, Gemini leaning over her and still complaining about her rough treatment. I shook my head and watched them until they’d shut the door behind them, then turned to head toward the sink. My hands were covered in Gemini’s blood, and it was starting to itch. I wanted to wash them immediately.

Instead, I ran right into Knight’s chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

I stared up at him, shocked. “Are you? You’re the one who was just involved in a gun fight.”

He smiled a bit at that, then looked up and gazed around at his guys. “You did well,” he said firmly. “We did exactly what we wanted to do: gave Devil the message that we’re not going to bend to his will, and that we’re finished with avoiding it. If he wants a war over this, he’ll get one. They might have shot Gem, but we threw the first punch. If he has any sense, he’ll be shaking at the thought of going to war with the Banshees!”

Everyone in the clubhouse cheered, and I felt a reluctant grin growing on my face. I didn’t necessarily want the Banshees and the Steed to go to war with each other, but it was impossible to stay immune to the excitement of the men around me. Now that they knew Gem was going to be okay, they were practically bouncing with the leftover adrenaline of having made the first move against the Devil’s Steed.

This was something they’d been wanting to do for a long time. I’d just given them the excuse to do it.

And judging by the look of triumph on Knight’s face, that wasn’t only true of his men. He looked... excited. Like a little kid who’d just realized he can conquer anything.

“We don’t have time to get complacent, though,” he said quickly. “We have to assume they’ll come after us.”

“I’ll stand guard first,” the mountain of a man called Brock volunteered. “I’ll bring a couple others with me.”

Knight nodded and quickly assigned men to take Brock’s place in several hours. “I’m going to bed,” he said. “I want sleep and then food.”

His men all seemed to agree to this, as they nodded and turned away, and I was just about to do the same and find something else to keep myself occupied when Knight brushed my arm.

When I looked up at him, I found him staring down at me with so much tenderness and appreciation that it made my heart hurt.

“Are you coming?” he whispered.

I hadn’t thought I was. I hadn’t even considered it.

But now that he was inviting me, I realized that I’d been secretly hoping he’d ask.

I nodded once, took his hand, and followed him quietly toward his room.

CHAPTER 15

SARAYA

As I walked toward my room, Saraya’s hand in mine, I cursed myself up one side and down the other for that one tiny question. What, exactly, was I thinking? I’d just spoken to her like she actually belonged to me—like we had some sort of agreement—when the truth was, we hadn’t even discussed what we were to one another.

Sure, she’d begged me for my help the first time we met, and I’d rescued her like some sort of knight in shining armor. Sure, I’d come home and defied the rules of our MC—rules I’d put in place!—by refusing to take a vote about her presence that first day.

I’d been too worried that they might send her back, and I’d already realized that I didn’t want her to go.

The chemistry between us had already been too obvious. My body’s reaction to her was too intense to even think about sending her away.

And then I’d gone to her bedroom the moment I heard her crying out, like a sailor to a siren. I’d held her while she shook with the nightmare she’d been having.

She’d asked me to stay when I tried to leave again and had then slept cuddled up to me all night like a kitten who couldn’t quite get warm.