Queen of The Reapers by Jessa Halliwell
Four
“Put me down, you asshole.”
From the second I pulled her out of the car, Stevie hasn’t stopped complaining. Part of me wants to drop her on her ass and watch her limp up the driveway with her tail between her legs. The other part of me, the stupid overprotective fuckhead part, would rather deal with her relentless stubbornness than watch her feel another second of pain. The second part wins.
“Not going t… to happen, Pet.” I retort, shifting her body higher in my arms. She glares up at me with narrowed eyes.
“What happened to ‘baby’?” She scoffs, bitterness coating her tongue. Stevie is being her usual stubborn ass self, but after the shit that went down tonight, I’ve had about as much of her bullshit as I can handle.
“You’re the one f… fighting us like a rabid fucking animal.” I say, glaring down at her. “You want to act like a f… fucking pet, then we’ll treat you like one.”
Silence falls between the two of us as she soaks in my words.
“I can walk, you know.” She says, glaring up at me. “By all means, don’t let me hold you back from your little family meeting.” She nods her head towards the window of the study for emphasis. “I’m sure they’re making more decisions for my life in there. Wouldn’t want you to miss that.”
“God. Why are you s… so fucking stubborn.” I grunt, refusing to look down at her again as I continue our climb up the driveway. “Learn how to accept help when it’s given t… to you.”
She jerks her head towards me and stabs her index finger into my chest.
“Maybe you should learn how to listen when a girl tells you no. I need to find Alex and wasting time with you isn’t going to make that happen any faster.”
I stop moving and glare at her, hard.
“Wasting t… time, huh?” I ask, looming over her. “You think this is a waste of f… fucking time?”
She says nothing in response, so I continue. The words shoot out of me and cut into her like knives.
“You’re s… so hell bent on taking care of everyone else. On making s.. sure every other person in your world is okay. But t… tell me, who the fuck takes care of you, Stevie? Huh?”
I see a war forming behind her eyes. She wants to fight back. To tell me I’m fucking wrong. But she knows I’m right. She doesn’t say so, but it’s written all over her face. Her mouth falls open and her wide eyes shine with unshed tears.
I know Stevie, so I focus my attention back on the house to give her a second to recollect herself. She may be reluctantly accepting my help, but she’d never forgive me if I don’t let her have her pride. It’s one of the few things in this world she holds sacred.
“Ezra is going back t… to the motel.” I offer, picking up my pace again as if nothing happened. “As s… soon as she shows up, he’ll bring her home.”
The rest of the walk into the house is silent as an unspoken peace treaty settles over us. I said everything I wanted to say and Stevie seems too stuck in her own head to want to say anything else. We made finding her sister a priority, which, based on the look in her dazed eyes, came as a shock. But it shouldn’t have. We may be morally corrupt assholes who linger on the outskirts of law, but we are men of our word. We told her we’d retrieve her sister and we’re doing everything we can to keep that promise.
Once we get inside, I make my way up the long staircase and chance a glance down at her. I expect to see the anger on her face return, but when I see her, I find nothing of the sort. Stevie looks lost, like a girl who’s just gone through hell and barely made it out alive. The skin around her wrists is raw and I can already see the bruising finger prints on her arms forming. I wish we could resurrect the bastards that hurt her, only to slaughter them all over again for what they did.
I haven’t pressed her for details, but it’s hard not to think about what would’ve happened had we shown up a few seconds later. She’s strong. So much stronger than my brothers and I in a lot of ways, but she’s still so goddamn fragile. So fucking human.
I could’ve lost her before I ever really had her. Before we could figure out whatever the hell this was between us. She loves Atlas and apparently has, for quite some time, she embraces Ezra with all his idiosyncrasies, and has an unspoken bond with Cyrus. But with me, all we have is miscommunication after miscommunication. Fight after fucking fight. I want what’s best for her. I just haven’t been the best at showing it.
We close in on her room and I know this is where our peace treaty will end. I’ll go back to my room without ever telling her how I really feel and she’ll go back to hers, despising the men that forced her away from her sister. Given their connections, my brothers may get back in her good graces, but I’ll always be the asshole that didn’t want her sister. That fate was sealed the second she denied my offer.
We’re almost at her door and I can’t help but slow my pace. She feels so fucking good in my arms, but in a few seconds, they’ll be empty again. Fuck. I’m not ready to let her go. To let this peace treaty between us end. I want more of her. I need it. So, like the selfish fuck I am, I keep walking.
“Where are you taking me?” Stevie asks, noticing we’ve moved past her bedroom.
“My bathroom.” I say, thinking on my feet. “We have t… to clean your wounds before they get infected.”
It isn’t a bad idea. Who knows what kind of shit was on the ground in that parking lot.
As soon as we step into the bathroom, her lips twitch with a hint of a smile. She likes what she sees, and I don’t blame her. The interior designers got a little carried away with the elements of this space and this bathroom is the most extravagant room in the house by far. They tiled the large space floor to ceiling with natural slate gray stone and set up natural waterfalls throughout the space, giving the room an atmospheric, almost grotto-like energy. To complete the design, they set an in-ground jetted tub into the stone floor, making it look more like a natural hot spring than a hot tub.
As we step in deeper, Stevie brushes her fingers against the water trickling down the rock waterfalls and grins. “This is…” she pauses, trying to find the right word as her eyes circle around the room again.
“Nice?”
“Nice is an understatement.” She says, looking up at me in disbelief. “This is just… wow.”
I want to soak up the adoration in her eyes, even if it is for the fucking room. It’s pathetic. But we came here to clean up her wounds, so I shake out of it and bring my focus back on her needs.
“Ready?” I ask, cocking my brow.
She gives me a quick nod and I carry her towards the sleek slate countertop. After carefully setting her me down, I take a few steps back and give her some space to undress.
Stevie continues to gape at the room. Studying every minute detail. From the large, glass encased shower to the live water plants the designer embedded into the rock walls.
I audibly clear my throat and give her a look.
“What?” She asks, cocking her head at the obvious question in my eyes.
I step forward and plant my arms on either side of her body. She shrinks back instinctively, and the predator within me roars to life. Slowly, I level my eyes on her and give her an appreciative stare.
Mere inches away from touching, she swallows and I breathe in her heady scent of rich vanilla and juicy pear. I can almost taste it on my tongue. The closeness is intoxicating.
“Can’t exactly clean you with that on.” I say, looking at Atlas’ jacket, still swallowing her tiny shoulders.
“Oh.” She replies, looking away as a flush creeps up her neck.
I try not to think about what caused it, but the mind is a cruel bastard. And with her nearly naked body so close to mine, it’s hard not to think about sex.
Stevie fumbles over herself as she tries to shake off the jacket with a wince. She injured her palms almost as badly as she hurt her knees, so it’s a feeble attempt. Instead of letting her go for a second try, I reach for the jacket and slide the silky black fabric down her shoulders myself.
Stevie visibly swallows and looks at me with pleading, come-fuck-me eyes as my thumb gently grazes her hot skin. My tongue swipes out to lick my bottom lip and her tongue instantly mirrors mine. My eyelids grow heavy and my jaw clenches. Fucking hell. She’s making it damn near impossible not to think about sex.
Clearing my throat, I take a step back and turn my attention to the jetted tub. I start the water and grab a few supplies from one of the sleek glass cabinets adorning the walls.
“What’s that?” She asks, studying me as I finish adding some oil into the water.
“T… tea tree oil.” I offer, grabbing a few pads of gauze and a tube of ointment from another cabinet. “It helps with the healing.”
“You know a lot about treating wounds.”
“Yeah.” I say, releasing a heavy sigh. “This isn’t the f…first time one of us has gotten hurt and I’m s… sure it won’t be the last.”
Hot, fragrant steam floats in the air as the warm water thunders into the tub. I turn towards Stevie and lift her into my arms again, doing what I can to avoid staring at her hot naked body as it jostles in my arm. I gently lower her in the steaming water and avert my eyes as she gets settled.
“The water’s a little hot.” I say, grabbing one of the black washcloths I stacked on the edge of the tub. “Let me know if it’s uncomfortable and I can cool it down.”
“It’s fine.” She says, eyeing me as I dip the washcloth into the soapy water. “What are you doing?”
“Cleaning you.”
I gesture for her to turn around and she does so without protest. She slides her wet hair to the side and angles her bare shoulder towards me and turns to give me a seductive grin.
As soon as the warm wash cloth touches her skin, I feel the tension in her body dissipate. I work my way from the nape of her neck down to her shoulders, pressing deeper while simultaneously rubbing her muscles. I find an especially tight spot and when I squeeze, a tiny moan of relief escapes her lips.
For a split second, I freeze, and my cock painfully hardens.
Fucking hell.
“Lean back.” I order, my voice rough and demanding. She obliges almost immediately and stretches her body across the length of the tub.
Abandoning the washcloth, I move my bare hands towards her scalp and lather her hair with shampoo.
“It smells like you.” She mumbles, her eyes still closed as I massage her scalp.
“I have a s… scent?”
“Mm hmm, like a mysterious forest. Grassy & woodsy, with a hint of something exotic.”
I give her a grunt of a laugh and continue washing her hair. Her body is on full display and I’m having a hard fucking time staying a gentleman. With every move I make, the peaks of her nipples float above and below the surface of the water, calling to me like a fucking siren.
She releases another moan again, this time a little louder, and I watch her tongue flick out to moisten her bottom lip.
“Join me.” She says, out of the blue.
My hands still and I stare at her for a beat to make sure I’m not imagining things.
“Hmm?”
“Craning my neck like this is a little hard,” she says, blinking her eyes open, “it’ll be easier if you’re in here with me. Besides, there’s plenty of room for the both of us.”
It isn’t the space I’m worried about.