Page 3 of Blade
I don’t need a second invitation because I am delirious with hunger and the aroma is as intoxicating as my companion.
We eat in silence.
Birdsong through the rickety window is delightful; the sun pouring through the glass is warming and the silence relaxing. Is this paradise, or the gateway to hell? I have yet to find out.
CHAPTER 2
BLADE
Fuck Ryder King. Why me? I hate playing babysitter, and he could have given this job to anyone else but me.
My resentment is overridden by the need to fuel my body. The last thing I need is to be holed up in one of our safe houses with a woman who looks as if she’s about to expire with fear.
Do I want to deal with another dead body today? Not fucking likely, and when he issued the instructions when she was passed out in my arms, I fixed him with a sharp glare, wondering if he lost it last night.
If I had my choice, she would have remained in the hospital because she needs medical attention not a fucking vacation. Snake obviously sensed my disagreement because he reminded me not to disobey an order from the mighty leader we tolerate and yet love with a fierce loyalty that has been hard earned over the years.
There is always method in Ryder’s madness, and we must wait this out to discover the reasons for this detour.
If she wants answers, I’m not the man to give them, and I prepare myself for some difficult questions when she gets over her obvious fear of me.
I’m used to it. I’m not exactly the kind of man you’d take home to meet your parents. Anyone even. I terrify the shit out of most people, my brothers included, because along with my blood brother Razor, we are a surly addition to the brotherhood otherwise known as the Twisted Reaper MC.
I wouldn’t have it any other way. Playing nice lands you in deep shit, and there is no more Mr. Nice Guy. That ship sailed years ago, and I hold the body count to prove it.
“Um,” she hesitates, her soft voice tinged with a slight accent I can’t quite place, and I raise my eyes, noting the flicker of fear in her beautiful deep green irises.
“Well, um–”
I lean back, my food already eaten, hers merely pushed around her plate.
Her lower lip quivers as she swallows hard, and her voice is soft, hesitant as she whispers, “Thank you.”
Her pale skin colors as she draws in a deep breath, and I wonder why it took so much effort to say two freaking words.
“You’re welcome, darlin’.”
I nod toward her plate.
“Don’t you like it?”
“I’m sorry, yes, it’s delicious.”
I make her nervous; it’s pretty obvious, and with a sigh, I push back from the table.
“I’ll be outside chopping wood. It can get cold up here in the mountains; we should be prepared for that.”
I leave before she can question me further because I don’t have any answers, anyway.
I wonder if she will retract her thanks when she realizes we’re stuck here together for the foreseeable until Ryder decides otherwise.
The crisp mountain air is welcome as I drag in a deep lungful, loving the pure oxygen with none of the pollution of man.
I wish I were here alone.
It’s my preferred option every fucking time because I’ve always been a lone wolf and I doubt that will ever change.
Chopping logs will be a distraction from the woman inside the cabin.
