Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
And yet…
All I notice is how Ronan slips a comforting arm around Logan’s waist, hugging him to his side. It rankles to see Logan nearly collapse into my brother’s hug.
I don’t like the way they touch.
These people are bad news.
Logan may be a decent guy, but his people brought this into our backyard. They led some vicious men to our home where it could have been Rae or Destiny out there rather than one of their own. Twice now, my family’s safety has been in jeopardy because of these people.
I’ll be damned if I let it happen a third time.
Michael says something to Logan that has him peeling himself—reluctantly—out of Ronan’s arms. Choosing my brother over whatever the men are going to discuss, I make a beeline over to him. He frowns at me when I grab his bicep and tug him away from the brightness of the fire and into the shadows of our yard.
“This is so fucked-up,” I murmur before pulling Ronan against my chest and hugging him. “So fucked-up.”
Ronan is stiff at first but quickly melts into my embrace. His arms snake around me, squeezing me tight. My heart thunders wildly in my chest.
When I’d grabbed him, all I’d cared about was getting him away from Logan, but now that I have him in my arms, a different sensation tingles through me.
Relief. Happiness. Warmth.
The adrenaline that’d been running through me all day floods out of me and I sag against him. My nose finds his neck and I inhale the smoky campfire scent that hides his usual cinnamon smell. The urge to lick his skin there to see if he tastes the same as he smells is brief and frankly confusing. Somehow I manage to keep my tongue in my mouth.
“It could have been Rae,” I whisper. “It kills me to think of her like how we found Kristen.”
Ronan tenses and his arms hug me impossibly tighter. “It wasn’t and for that we can be thankful.”
It seems like maybe we’ve gone long past an appropriate hug time, but I can’t find it in me to pull away. Ronan doesn’t try either. Luckily, it’s late and dark, allowing us a rare moment of privacy.
In this moment, I can almost pretend everything is fine. That there aren’t monsters or trespassers threatening my family. That tonight is any other ordinary night in the Jamison household. That my biggest life problem is Raegan stealing my knife.
I hold onto the moment just a little while longer because the second I let Ronan go, the harsh reality will intrude once more.
We won’t be safe again until these people are gone.
And, starting tomorrow, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
* * *
* * *
It’s days like these that really make me wish we lived in town near Wild and his family. Not that I would willingly choose to be near that douchebag, but it would mean access to hospitals and the police.
As it stands, we have a woman who may or may not be going into labor, a teenage boy badly injured after a bear mauling yesterday, and a traumatized woman who was snatched from her bed last night and God only knows what happened to her.
We are so not equipped to handle this.
My parents are trying, though. For people who don’t like outsiders, they’ve really stepped up to help them. Like letting them move their camp last night within our fenced-in boundaries and set up their tents on the west lawn near Dad’s workshop. I slept a lot easier last night knowing CJ and the rest weren’t going to get hurt. Everyone is as safe as they can be thanks to Dad’s generosity.
At least, within the week, Uncle Atticus will be here for a visit, bringing much-needed medicines and supplies that we can use.
CJ tosses a twig my way and flashes me a grin. I smile back, shaking my head. Despite all the trauma everyone has been through in the past few days, I can count on CJ to make things feel somewhat normal. Ryder hates him and would probably beat his ass if he had an opportunity alone with him, but I like CJ. Not to mention, he’s a good kisser.
While the men are hashing out a plan to hunt down whomever hurt Kristen, the memory of my kiss with CJ distracts me. It started out sweet—just a peck on the lips—and when I laughed at the surprise of it, he plunged his tongue into my mouth. At first it felt weird, but the way he groaned with such fiery need and pressed his body against mine, I got dizzy with pleasure.
I felt CJ’s hard penis pressing against me, which made me a little nervous and a lot happy, but then Ryder, like always, ruined all my fun.
I still don’t understand why Ryder hates CJ so much. Even Destiny has thawed when it comes to the new people and is now sitting near Jace, nodding at whatever he whispers to her. These people are nice and funny and most importantly a break from the monotony.