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Damn. She smells edible.
She nods, unaware I’m ready to scoop her up caveman-style and run off with her to whatever bed I can find to sate my thirst.
“So you came running.”
A statement, not a question.
I raise my gaze to hers and hold it. The years we put into her protection before the shit hit the fan should be proof enough of why we are here, and I don’t feel like that statement needs to be justified. From the hard expressions on Boone and Landry’s faces, I see they feel the same.
Her lips twitch like she wants to say something but holds back. If we weren’t here under some pretty fucked up circumstances, I might take a little pleasure in cracking the hard exterior of her stubbornness with sweet persuasion.
I wrap up tending to the scrapes on her arms and start on her feet.
Landry takes off his outer shirt and holds it open while she slips it on. The morning air coming off the lake is a little nippy, and that monstrosity she has on is a lump of dampness. “Let’s get a few details out of the way and then you can shower.”
“We have fresh clothes. I’m sure one of us has something that will fit better than my shirt and your filthy dress.”
“Tell us about tonight. The men you saw kidnap the governor’s daughter.”
Boone, all business as usual.
She doesn’t realize it but our words cause her to tighten my buddy’s shirt around her.
Body language 101, baby.
She missed us and is scared. The latter more than the former from how she squares her shoulders without any real force or strength despite trying to hide it from us.
“I called 911 and told them everything already. It’s all a haze now when I think back. They wore cop uniforms and drove a van with something in gold along the side. An emblem, I guess. I don’t really know. All I could think was what you said to me when you were mine.” Her head shoots up, and her eyes land on Boone’s before dropping to the floor. A burst of red hits her cheeks. “I mean my protective detail. Get safe. So I did. I didn’t want to lead anyone back to my place or my father’s, so I came to the one place no one knows about.”
“Not the smartest move.”
Boone and all his glorious finesse. The man needs a filter between his brain and mouth. I shoot him ashut the fuck uplook, but he shrugs it off.
Boone moves away from us to stand by the window. I know the man is working on roping in the anger he feels toward this whole fucked up scenario. Honor didn’t ask for any of this, and he needs to take it down a notch.
She visibly stiffens, and her eyes fly to peg Boone between the shoulder blades. “Ok well, we all now know I don’t operate so well under pressure.”
Boone is across the small cabin and in her face in one second flat. “Under pressure, you work just fine. My swollen nose and foot can attest to that fact.”
I shake my head as Boone pulls away only to backtrack. “Stubborn as hell,” he growls. He’s digging in for a fight and from the looks of Honor’s red face and tight-lipped scowl, she is ready for one.
“Hold up.” I stand, hands up. “It’s obvious tension is high. Everyone take a freaking minute and breathe,” I say, playing peacekeeper.
Honor isn’t having it.
“Just because I am headstrong doesn’t mean I always make the right calls. I slept with you three, didn’t I? Not the best move, obviously.” She jerks her hand from me and pins an amber-eyed look of contempt at all of us, ending with Boone.
Seeing her worked up and angry has my blood pumping. I’m not gonna lie. I’m hard. Maybe it’s a case of three years’ worth of blue balls for a woman I almost fucked; how the hell should I know? Only thing Idoknow is she has me testing the strength of my zipper.
The smart whip of her tongue with sweet curves of her body under all that ugly mess of a sheer gown does filthy things to me. I must be a bastard.
Her breaths are shaky, and I recapture her hand in mine. I ache to see pleasure blazing in her eyes. I lean in and place a small kiss on the back of her hand. Her skin is soft and delicate against my lips.
Her ire diminishes by a few degrees. Maybe a low simmer. “Damn. I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry.” She wraps her fingers around mine, and I can feel her regret through her touch.
I lean back in my chair, giving us both some space to think. Her light perfume in my lungs fogs my brain and we both could use some distance. “It’s okay to be vulnerable to the people you trust, Honor.”
She sits forward, taking her foot from where I have it propped on my knee. “That’s just it, Austin. I can’t trust you.” I have to strain to hear her at first. “Any of you. Last time I did you ran thousands of miles away and left me behind to deal with the fallout. Alone.”
