Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“Rocket, put me down.” I didn’t really want that, but felt like I had to put up at least a bit of a protest.
“No. And if you start squirming, I’ll spank you when we get to our room.”
“Fuck you.” There was no real heat behind my words, and I knew there never would be. Not in the sense I was angry with him. It wasn’t his fault I was a handful and kept getting myself into trouble.
“Yep. In just a few minutes.”
Chapter Nine
Rocket
Lemon had reached the end of her endurance. I wasn’t sure what was going on with her, but I had the feeling it was more than just the recent trauma of being kidnapped. Sure, I could be wrong. She was strong, but she’d been through a lot in the last couple of months. I mean, how could one small woman get into so much trouble?
Scratch that. Lemon wasn’t just a small woman. She was a force of nature. It was one of many reasons why I loved her so much. Which is why I was surprised she lay passively in my arms on the way to our room. Actually wrapped her fucking arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest. Yeah. This was serious.
When I reached our room, I found Bullet waiting at the door. “Heard our VP might need a little patchin’ up.”
“I’m fuckin’ fine!” Lemon surprised me by really making a concerted effort to get out of my arms this time, which is how she escaped. “I just need a shower, which you absolutely will not help me with.” She gave Bullet a fierce scowl before turning and marching toward the bathroom.
Bullet raised an eyebrow at me and handed me a chemical ice pack as well as a bottle of pills. “Painkillers. Two to start, then one every six hours. If she still ain’t relaxed enough to let you take care of her, have her drink this.” He handed me a bottle of…
“Fruit punch? Really, Bullet?”
The big man shrugged. “It’s got cannabis in it. It’ll mellow her out and let her sleep. And quite possibly let you keep your balls intact.”
I scowled, then looked over my shoulder in the direction Lemon had gone. “You know, you’re probably right.”
“Everything’s finally caught up with her.” Bullet wasn’t above joking around, but not about this. “Not sure what’s goin’ on in the dungeon, but you keep her out of it.”
“She’s vice president of this club, Bullet. I wouldn’t hold back any of the others.”
“She’s still a teenager, Rocket. And your woman. It’s time for her to be your woman for a while. You wouldn’t hesitate to pull any of us back if you thought we were in over our heads.” He stabbed a finger in Lemon’s direction. “She is. Whether she wants to admit it or not.”
He was right. In truth, I’d been waiting for this moment. The trick would be to figure out what exactly she was most upset about. I knew it was a combination of things but one stood out. During the fight downstairs, she’d told me I could have my skanky whores. If the main problem was her doubting me, we’d have to have a come-to-Jesus meeting.
I found her in the shower, scrubbing the blood off her skin so hard I winced. The bloody clothes she’d worn were in the middle of the bathroom floor, so I added my own to the pile. When I stepped in with her, she pushed away from me.
“Don’t touch me! You smell like whores!”
“Then wash me, baby. Get their stink off me.”
She turned away, muttering, “Wash your own fuckin’ self.” It wasn’t like Lemon to sulk, which meant she was saying what she thought she should say. Not what she wanted to actually do.
I stepped forward, reaching around her for the shower gel. I put my other arm around her middle, pulling her back against me. She tried to bat my hand away, but it wasn’t even a half-hearted attempt.
Squirting a generous amount over my torso, I turned Lemon around to face me and took her wrists in my hands, placing her palms against my chest. “I said wash me, Lemon.”
“That an order, Prez?” The snarky comment was said without any real heat. In fact, she looked more like a sullen teenager. Which she kind of was. Though she was of legal age for me to have her as my woman, she still wasn’t twenty. It was easy to forget sometimes, because she saw so much of the way things really were when none of the rest of us in Grim ever had. We’d kept our heads down except when we were forced to pay attention. That had started to change, and it was all because of the woman in my arms.
“Yeah, baby. It’s an order.” When she actually pouted, her delicate brows knitting together in disapproval, I had to clear my throat to cover my chuckle. I wasn’t stupid.