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7
Archer
Mare cried quietly in the back seat, the sobs slowly morphing into sniffles before finally being replaced, several minutes later, by soft snores as she curled into Jensen’s arms.Lucky bastard.Ian’s white-knuckled grip and rigid position gave away that he was pissed, but the repeated glances in the rearview mirror as he drove elevated that to furious. Ian was shaken, and thatneverhappened. Whatever he’d witnessed had to have been bad, and I was determined to pry it out of him when we got back.
The drive wasn’t long, not with us having a central location close enough to Mare’s living arrangements. Since she fell asleep before we even reached our safe house, Jensen maneuvered out of the back seat with Mare safely cradled in his arms, and I darted to the door, more focused on getting her inside and out of the cold than anything else.
“Take her to the first bedroom,” Ian commanded as Jensen started towards his own room. Jensen grumbled under his breath, shooting our leader a glare over his shoulder. “Your bed is the smallest of all of them, and I don’t want to risk her rolling out of it and hurting herself.”
With that logic, Jensen reluctantly agreed, changing directions to Ian’s bedroom and laying her gently on the king-sized bed.
She looked so peaceful despite the tear tracks staining her cheeks where the obscene amount of makeup had streaked. Her lightened hair flared out around her slightly, the two ribbons that had held it in twin pigtails tangling in the soft tresses. Ian dug around in his dresser, I assumed for something to put her in. Stepping forward, I made quick work of the coat buttons, my throat going dry when I saw her creamy skin barely covered in a lacy white bra and matching thong.
It had been half a decade since we’d been this close, half a decade since getting to taste and play. Of course, we had seen her both in her clothed and unclothed glory over the years, but it was always watching, never getting to touch and enjoy. Unable to stop myself, I brushed my fingers over her exposed thigh and hip. A trail of goosebumps flared after my feather light touch, and I noted that even asleep, her body responded to mine.As it should.
“Jensen, get a washcloth and clean her face. I can’t stand to see all that shit on her,” I told him quietly, my lip curling up as I untied the ribbons. Mare was naturally beautiful; she didn’t need makeup and ridiculous outfits to be attractive. Ian stepped up to help me get Mare out of the coat and into a pair of sweats and a shirt, while Jensen headed to the bathroom.
When she was cleaned and dressed, we tucked her in and walked out of the room, hoping she would sleep for a while longer. As soon as the door was mostly shut, we filed down the hall and into the kitchen. None of us talked for a while, not wanting to wake Mare. We each went about doing our own thing; Jensen made a cup of coffee before yanking out something to snack on from the cupboard; Ian stood stoic against the counter, his glare focused on the far wall. Trying to keep my questions contained, I reached in and grabbed a beer. As soon as the tab was off, I chugged, hoping it would calm the last of the adrenaline that had flooded me at the strip club.
After another twenty minutes and a second beer, I couldn’t stop the urge any longer. “What happened tonight?” I demanded, my voice hard as I turned to Ian.
“Doesn’t matter,” he bit out, finally moving away from the counter and focusing on pulling out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. My blood boiled at his brush-off.
“I get that you beat the shit out of him and it’s been dealt with, but I think we deserve to knowexactlywhy we left him bloody and broken in the alleyway,” I snapped, reining in my words when I realized I was nearly shouting. “Did he work for her father? Is it possible he was sent to take her out?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?” I barked. “How the hell are we supposed to keep her safe if we don’t know what he was doing to her? If we don’t know what kind of threats we’re up against.”
“I’m sure you’re capable of figuring it out for yourself, but since you need me to spell it out for you, he had her pinned in the dressing room,” Ian ground out, muscles taut as his voice shook with rage. “I don’t know what the fuck he was on, but he didn’t work for her father. I do know he was intending to rape her. Who he was outside of that or what he was on doesn’t matter. That’s all you need to know. It had nothing to do with any intelligence we’ve gotten on her father.”
My stomach churned, acid burning my throat. Rage flooded me, and my muscles clenched in response. I knew it was bad, but hearing exactly what Ian had seen only solidified it. A beating hadn’t been nearly enough. A bullet between the eyes would have been better because the only ones who could touch America Perelli were us.
“She shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” Jensen hissed, “and that man shouldn’t ever have been able to lay a hand on her at all.”
“I said I took care of it.” Ian’s tone conveyed that he was done with the conversation. He tilted his head slightly, eyes moving towards the hall as he did so. Ian remained quiet for a moment as if he were listening to whatever had piqued his attention. “Besides, our little bird is listening.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that spread over my face, the anger at the previous conversation dulling at the thought of her. Always eavesdropping.
“Took long enough.” I chuckled, leaning to the side so I could look into the hall.
There she was, our girl’s eyes wide as she realized she was caught. I frowned as I looked down her frame. Now that she wasn’t covered in a black jacket in the darkened interior of the SUV, I was finally able to see what had been pointed out. Jensen was right; she had lost weight. Ian’s clothing draped off her thin frame even more than they had five years ago.
“You don’t have to creep around or hide,” I reassured her as I held out my hand. My heart thudded with anticipation.She’s right here, right within my reach. “Come on, Mare. Time to face the music.”
