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“Everyone okay?” Nick glanced over his shoulder, but it wasn’t me he was looking at.
Still, I gave a nod. “Yeah.”
Caleb looked, too, his stare finding mine. “Just stay close to us, okay, princess?”
Tobias cracked open the door before I had a chance to speak, then the others moved, climbing out after him.
“Rebel,” Nick called, patting his thigh.
She followed his command, lunging between the seats to scurry out his open door. When she leaped out and landed on the ground, she whimpered.
Nick bent and ruffled her ear before checking her back leg. “Easy now, that’s a good girl.”
He was so kind with her, so careful, making my chest flutter. Empty booths were all I saw as I glanced in the windows of the diner. “At least it’s quiet.”
The car doors closed with a thud. I shoved my hands into my pockets as Tobias turned his face from me. That hurt. A lot. But Nick was already moving, heading to the front door of the diner, and Caleb followed. I hated leaving Tobias behind, but that pang of guilt in my chest told me he needed space. I didn’t like it…no, I didn’t like it at all. But I headed to the steps and climbed, following the others.
The bell above the door let out a chime, making me flinch. I glared at the thing before following my stepbrothers inside.
“No dogs.” The woman behind the counter snapped as she buffed the counter to a shine.
But Nick didn’t listen, just strode close and placed a hundred-dollar bill on the freshly cleaned surface, sliding it toward her. “We’ll sit in the back,” he said with the kind of tone that was dangerous. “You won’t even know she was here.”
The woman said nothing, just stared at the money before she slowly reached out, took the bill, and slipped it into her pocket. If she had been the owner, she might’ve kicked up a fuss, right before she tossed us out. But it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
A slow nod from her, and Nick turned. The lone truck driver watched us from the far end of the counter. He scanned us, wiping the corners of his mouth with his napkin before tossing it next to his plate.
We didn’t slow, just headed for the last empty booth in the row alongside the widows, like Nick had promised. He stepped aside and motioned for Caleb to slide in first, which he did. I listened to the limping thud of boots coming behind me, then lifted my gaze to the door of the women’s bathroom. My breaths were heavy, panic coiled in my stomach, desperate to come out. I needed a second…a second where I could think…
“I’ll be back.” I left them behind, forcing myself not to lunge for the salvation of a damn restroom.
My steps were silent, when all I wanted to do was scream. I pushed through the door, stepping into the gloom, and for a second I thought I was back there—in the pit of Hell, where the rooms were more like cells and the guards were sick men bent on your destruction.
But then the overhead lights of the restroom blinked on, causing me to stumble for the sink before I stopped, lifted my gaze to the haunted stare in the mirror, and whispered. “What the hell have I done?”
I didn’t have time to listen, only spin as the door squealed and that same limping thud of steps followed me in.
“This is the women’s—” I started, and froze, the words dying in my mouth.
Tobias’s threatening glare was fixed on me. My mouth went dry, my pulse raced. There was a tiny scowl…before he lunged.
He closed the distance between us in a second, his fist in my hair, yanking me backwards to show me who was in control here…and it wasn’t me.
My jacket gaped open and my t-shirt pulled taut across my breasts, drawing that savage stare.
“Princess…” He purred, reaching up to palm my breast. But the touch wasn’t soft or tender. No, nothing about Tobias was tender. I winced as he pinched my nipple hard enough for me to cry out, then raised that fierce glare. “I thought I'd fucking lost you,” he growled.
I opened my mouth to speak, but he didn’t let me, just slid his hand over my ass, gripped my thigh from underneath, and lifted, hoisting me onto the edge of the sink.
All the fear and the heartache I’d been holding inside tore free. “I thought I'd lost you too.”
His mouth was unforgiving and I welcomed it. Every gnash, every bruise, every clench of his hand around my breast. I let out a moan, needing his hard love like I needed air to breathe.
He yanked my jacket from my body and stared into my eyes. “Princess…” he whispered. “I’d crawl through fucking Hell to get back to you, don’t you know that by now?”
I melted with his words, lifting my arms as he dragged my shirt over my head. My nipples tightened under his stare. He lowered his head and licked a puckered peak before grazing it with his teeth.
“Oh, God,” I whimpered, my hands moving to his clipped hair. “Yes. Yes, Tobias…yes.”
