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“No time to get handsy,” Beau said, a shuffling click following his words along with a mechanical whirring. “Come here, baby. Daddy’s gonna teach you.”
“Eww. Don’t ever let him say that again,” Devin mumbled against Rey’s chest. His hands took a firm grip on her arms, turning them to face where Beau waited.
It was no longer dark, though it still held a creepiness Devin didn’t like. Bright lights shone on a long table, the malevolent gleam of black and silver metal dragging Devin’s gaze down the entire length of it.
Guns. A lot of them.
Small pistols, large handguns, shotguns, rifles, and what she thought might be a machine gun. They were all laid out in an orderly fashion. Clips and boxes of bullets stood beside their partners in neat rows. The rustle of paper caught her attention, the dangling target with an outline of a body shifting in some unseen draft.
“What the hell is this,” Devin demanded in a shrill whine.
“Rey can’t shoot for shit,” Beau said as he snagged Devin’s flailing hand and pulled her towards the table. Picking up a set of huge, orange headphones, he held out a pair of safety glasses to her. “He insisted I get fancy, though, so put these on.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Not about this. Rey will kill me if you blow your own foot off.”
“Daniel? What the hell—”
“You’re going to learn to protect yourself,” Rey said as he came to stand behind Devin, one arm high on her chest to pull her into him. “If you’d been able to, they never would have laid a hand on you. I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“No, don’t say that.” Devin twisted in his grip, going on tiptoe as she clenched her fingers in his hair to bring his lips within reach. “Even if I’d known how to shoot one, I was naked and—”
“And there will be some changes in the house. Tomorrow we’re going to go over every place a weapon is hidden.” Rey captured her lips in a short, brutal kiss before he stepped away, leaving Devin to stagger at the sudden loss of him. “Now pay attention to Beau. He knows what he’s doing.”
“Wait, are you saying there have been guns in the house all this time?”
Beau grabbed Devin’s shoulder and whirled her around when she would have followed Rey. Tugging her in front of him, Beau kicked her feet apart and held up the safety glasses.
“We’ll go through the motions, then you’re going to fire a few rounds.”
“I don’t like guns…”
“Too bad,” Beau snapped, curling Devin’s slack fingers around the grip of a handgun that seemed far too large for her to hold comfortably. “Donotput your finger on that trigger.”
Beau pushed and poked at her until he was satisfied with her stance, though he growled low in his throat each time Devin’s arms drifted down with the heavy weight of the gleaming steel.
“This is how you hold a gun. None of that sideways, single-handed shit. That gets you killed. Now look down the sight. Good, now aim… You can’t aim with your eyes closed. Okay, now squeeze the trigger when you think you’ve got the bastard’s heart lined up.” He dropped the headphones over Devin’s ears, making her wince. Quick to correct the height of her shoulders, Beau extended a long arm towards the hanging target, his voice coming through the ear protection just fine as he snarled at her to fucking shoot already.
It was louder than Devin expected it to be, the recoil far stronger. Her arms jerked up and her shoulders jolted in their sockets. The thunderous report hammered down her spine, pulling at it until Devin wanted to curl up into a little ball. Nothing appeared on the paper, either.
“You hit the wall. Now concentrate.”
Beau made her do it again. And again, and again, and again. Moving down the line of weapons, making her fire each one of them. Until Devin’s arms ached, and she knew there would be bruises all along her shoulder from when he’d made her try the rifles. She was getting better, though. The bullets were finding the target, ripping through the thick paper. Patterns of holes appeared with each shot, even if they weren’t centered in the outline of a body.
Better still was the surge of excitement. Adrenaline and something dark. Twisted and vicious, it rushed through her. She felt almost powerful, the cold metal warming beneath her hands. The kickback became more manageable as she strengthened her grip. She might not be delivering killing shots, but by the Gods, she could hurt someone.
“Terrible,” Beau said as he set the latest pistol aside, shaking his head though the brilliant blue of his eyes smiled as he looked down at her. Thumb ghosting over her cheek, he leaned in close. “Worst I’ve seen since Rey.”
“She’ll practice.” Rey came up to stand at her back, the comfort of his hands coming to her shoulders to knead away the trembling tension.
Devin hummed, letting her head fall back into his chest. She needed to calm down, take a deep breath, but they were so close. The potent feeling of not being powerless for the first time in her life coursed through her veins. A heady cocktail that made her wet, slick staining her underwear where it collected the sugary sweetness until the smell of it was undeniable.
Beau cleared his throat and took a quick step back. Averting his eyes from the pink flush Devin felt warming her chest and up to her cheeks, he couldn’t hide the way he sniffed in her direction. Chest expanding as he took a deep breath, his tongue slid over his lower lip as he tasted the air.
Devin arched her back, pushing her shoulders into Rey as she bared the line of her neck. Her lashes fluttered before they met on a throaty purr, relishing their attention. The way Rey’s hands tightened over her. The heat of Beau’s gaze as he took in the curve of her body.
“I think you should get back. I’ll find my own way to the club,” Beau said in a voice gone low and gruff.
