Total pages in book: 205
Estimated words: 204377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1022(@200wpm)___ 818(@250wpm)___ 681(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 204377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1022(@200wpm)___ 818(@250wpm)___ 681(@300wpm)
“Your smile…” Kody gestures at her face, looking all awkward and annoyed. “Get rid of it. It’s too…”
Too seraphic and soothing and full of genuine kindness. None of us know what to do with her.
Well, I do, but first, I have to make a deal with the devil.
“What did they tell you last night?” I ask her.
“They showed me the driver’s licenses of the other five women. And three of them are your mothers.”
Surprise jerks my gaze to my brothers.
Leo shakes his head, confirming they didn’t tell her that.
“You were kidnapped years apart, came from separate lives, and have different fathers.” She sits beside my feet on the bed, her voice gentle. “None of you are blood related.”
Again, I glance at my brothers.
Leo wings up a brow and shrugs.
“Cool.” Disappointment laces my tone. “When you don’t know shit, you make it up?”
“What am I supposed to do? You don’t answer my questions.”
“I offered you answers,” Leo says.
“In exchange for my clothes!”
“Are you kidding me?” My jaw drops. “How much did you show them? Did they see your tits?” I groan, digging my fingers into my hair. “Please, tell me you didn’t show off the goods without me.”
Her neck goes taut.
“Dammit!” I rise from the bed and thrust a finger at the mouth-breathers. “Fuck you guys.”
“You didn’t miss anything,” she mutters.
“I’ll be the judge of that. No, really. Show me what you showed them, and I’ll give you honest feedback.”
“Wolfson.” She releases a heavy breath. “I’m trying to have an adult conversation.”
“Is that what you did last night? I’m sure it was very adult while you went all Basic Instinct on my brothers. What did you give them? A wet mouthy?”
“What? No—”
“Dry handy?”
“No—”
“One in the stink?”
“Stop. Jesus.” Jumping to her feet, she stabs her hands in her hair. “They saw my boobs, okay? And believe me, it won’t happen again. It’s become abundantly clear I’m dealing with man-children who can’t handle a serious conversation with a woman.”
“You’re wrong.” I cock my head.
“Not where I’m standing.”
“You’re wrong about our genetic connection.”
“Wolf,” Kody growls in warning.
“We’re related.” I motion between my brothers and me. “We don’t know how exactly, but we share blood.”
She glances around the room, searching our expressions. No one denies it.
“Oh.” Her teeth stab her lower lip. “How do you know?”
“Denver told us.”
She narrows her eyes, incredulous. “You can’t believe—”
“Denver’s a lot of things, but he doesn’t lie to us.” I amble into the closet. “Whenever we fought as kids, he would go on about the importance of blood and family and loyalty.”
“But you have different mothers?”
“Yes.” I select a comfortable change of clothes for the chores that await.
“Did Denver…?” Her breath shudders. “Did he have relationships with your mothers before he abducted them?”
Relationships? Not likely. Did he fuck them on his excursions away from Hoss? Probably.
Or it could be that our mothers are related to one another. Sisters? Cousins? Who the fuck knows? My brothers and I have varying opinions on how we’re related. The one thing we agree on is that we are. Denver wouldn’t lie about that.
“We don’t know,” Kody says, surprising me.
The fact that he’s even part of this conversation is a shocker. Guess he’s given up on staying away from her. Was it the stitches she put in his hand? Or the skin she flashed him last night?
What did he see? Absolutely adorable breasts in the shape of perfect round balls? And now he’s ready to throw down his life for her?
A hot, slimy sensation coats the back of my throat and burns my chest. I hate that she shared part of herself with them. Any part of her is a part I want to claim for my own.
I intend to claim all of her. The price is inconceivable, but I’ll pay it. For her, I’ll do anything.
Sounds insane, even in my head.
It must be the isolation and endless loneliness. Yeah, that’s it. I’m losing my mind.
Maybe I lost it years ago, and no one bothered to tell me.
As I step out of the closet, Kody swipes one of my blank sketchpads from the desk and hands it to her.
“What’s this for?” Her forehead creases.
“Stop vandalizing our books.” He steals one of my sharpies, making my heart rate double, and offers it to her.
“You know about that?” She accepts the marker and looks to me for validation.
“Kody’s a stalker, baby girl. He doesn’t understand the meaning of boundaries.”
“You’re one to talk.” He makes a grunting sound.
“I’m too lazy to be a stalker. My toxic trait is wanting her to stalk me.”
“Let me see this.” Ignoring me, he takes the marker and sketchpad from her, opens it to a blank page, and writes across the top.
Kodiak Strakh.
Plucking a strand of hair from his head, he drops it on the sketchpad and guides it into the crease.
“What are you doing?” My chest tightens.