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He didn’t move his arm from my legs.
“IsaidI won’t say a word. That’s what you want, right? So let go.” I pushed his arm, not that it made a difference.
“I need you to actually mean it.” He was smiling again, and it was obvious he was used to charming his way through a lot of things. It wasn’t going to work. Or not enough. I refused to be charmed by anyone.
“I said I’d lie.”
“Except you’re lying to me.” He tilted his head, looking at me like we were best buds, just having a chat on a slow afternoon.
“I’m sorry if I don’t feel especially responsible for someone who hit me over the head and tied me up so tight I’m going to have bruises all over me tomorrow.”
His eyes went to my arms, and he reached out and ran his finger over my wrist, as if he actually felt bad about that. He was too slick to trust.
“Fine. Give me a few minutes and I’ll drive you back.”
“Fine,” I answered, not quite believing it. I’d already tried to leave once, but now it was okay?
He let go of my legs. I tucked them up to my chest, and he got up and walked to the door. I purposely didn’t look at the window I was going to climb out of as soon as he left the room.
“Magnum, come here,” he called, not leaving the room and giving me an opportunity.
Damn it. And why was he bringing Magnum back? Was he going to get him to hit me over the head again if I didn’t agree?
Magnum walked in. Kicks pointed at me. “You hurt the lady pretty bad. See what you did?”
Magnum stared at my arms, a little gasp coming out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just got excited because I knew Kicks wanted a guide.”
He was looking at my wrists, frowning. He met my eyes for a few seconds before breaking contact, as if he were scared of me. I wanted to scream, but more at Kicks than Magnum. Being mean to Magnum, even after what he did, felt like kicking a puppy.
“It’s all right. I’m not that hurt. But don’t do that again.” I pointed, trying to reinforce how bad it was.
He nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Okay, Magnum. You can go.” Kicks patted Magnum on the back as he walked out, then came over to stand in front of me.
“They’ll want to kill him, or at least hurt him. I won’t let that happen, and a feud between the packs isn’t a good idea right now. If you really want to see him killed or battered to within aninch of his life for a mistake, then it’s your choice.” He angled his head toward the door, as if that was the last he’d say about it.
It was worse than the strong-arming tactic and made me want to hit him even more.
“Fine. I’ll lie for you.” I got to my feet, realizing how much taller Kicks was than me, and tried to keep a reasonable space between us.
He smiled, this one seeming a little warmer and a tad more genuine than the last. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
Chapter Five
“How far away are we?”If they made me late to get Charlie, and he was freaked out for even a second, I was going to hand Kicks to them on a platter.
“Only a few minutes down the road. We’re going to be in the area, but I wanted my own space. Not sure how long it’ll be until we figure some things out.”
Yeah, he wouldn’t be the type to play nice with other alphas. If you couldn’t see that, you were stumbling around in the abyss. I could play nice with lots of people, and I didn’t want to be there either.
Instead of his telling me where to go, his hand was on the small of my back, then curved to the side of my waist as he steered me. He was clearly the type that was very comfortable touching people. I’d grown up in a generation that frowned upon such easy liberties. Ishould’vehated it on principle alone. I should’ve told him to stop touching me. Except I sort of didn’t mind the contact—something was comforting about it for a reason I couldn’t quite fathom. I wasn’t going to dwell on it either. I’d get out of here and probably never speak to him again, which was for the best. I’d already had one too many sloppysituations with sexy shifters. He could go find himself another human who didn’t know the score to dally with.
I forced my attention from him to my surroundings. The place looked like a boutique hotel, one of those little diamonds that was nestled in charming small towns. Before Death Day, people would probably come and visit, go check out the historic site where I now resided, and then maybe do a little antiquing the next morning. It would’ve all been so perfectly pleasant, and so at odds with life now.
We turned a corner and walked into a lobby, all done in dark colors and rich woods, antique lighting hanging from above. Lit antique lighting?
“This place has a backup generator,” Kicks said, following my gaze.
