Page 13 of Her Avenging Angel

Chapter Ten

Taylynn stayed busy, wiping up behind the bar and reorganizing things to suit her. She could tell that there had been no one who knew what they were doing in charge back there in quite some time. Things were shoved wherever they could fit instead of being put away and orderly.

She was also hyperaware of Raven sitting at the bar, watching her. She could feel his eyes on her and, while she liked it and the warm feeling knowing he was watching her sent through her body, she didn’t know how to react. She wanted more. She wanted him to touch her but how did she let him know that? And what if it brought back the things she was working hard to ignore? The things she’d survived while she’d been with the Demons.

Her face flamed and she couldn’t let him see it, so she sat on the floor, planning to clean out one of the lower shelves and put it in order.

“Dax!” Raven’s voice above her made her jump as he yelled, calling for the prospect. She shook her head but went back to what she was doing, not really listening to what was being said until the prospect Raven had called stepped behind the bar, moved beside her and dropped down to sit on his heels.

“What?” she asked, barely looking up. She was busy and didn’t have time to deal with him right now. Besides, while none of the Angels had done anything to hurt her, she still didn’t trust them. She was afraid they were trying to make her feel comfortable and she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For them to get tired of the act and their real selves to come out.

“What do you need done?” Dax asked. Something about his voice made her twist around to look at him.

She couldn’t help the squeak of pain that escaped as she’d forgotten her ribs and trying to see Dax had hurt.

“What was that? What did you do to her?” Raven’s voice came from above, where he was obviously still sitting at the bar, but unable to see them. She could tell from the way Raven growled that he wanted to come over the bar and make sure Dax didn’t hurt her again.

“He didn’t do anything,” Taylynn said between clenched teeth. “I did it to myself. Someday I’ll get used to these ribs and be more careful how I move.” She lowered her voice so only Dax would be able to hear her, at least she hoped. “You startled me. Let’s try not to do that again.” She spoke through clenched teeth as she hugged her cast arm against her sore ribs and tried to breathe through the echo of the stabbing pain that had shot through them. It had been weeks, and while she didn’t hurt all the time, she wished her ribs would just get better already. Yes, she’d known he was around, she’d even been vaguely aware he’d bent down, but she hadn’t been expecting him to talk to her, or expect her to answer. She hated having to think about how she moved and whether or not it would hurt. She was finally able to breathe normally, even deep breaths, without pain, but that just made her forget not to do other things.

“Sorry. I was just trying to help. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Dax’s deep voice rumbled out of the chest that she swore was as big around as a barrel. The guy was huge and she was more comfortable with a little space between them. Not that she would tell him or let him see how he made her feel.

“It’s all right,” she said with a sigh. “I did it to myself really.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly to give herself a moment to think. “You can start by washing those dishes.” She waved one hand toward the sink she’d filled with water earlier. She’d been dropping things into the water as she found things that needed to be cleaned. Now, the sink was full, as was the counter next to it, as she’d found more than a few things that didn’t meet her standards. “I’ll let you know when I find something else I need done.” She continued to move bottles off shelves one at a time, clean the shelf, then put things back in an order that made sense to her.

She lost track of time, enjoying being busy with something that she chose to do for the first time in what seemed like eons. It wasn’t until a foot nudged her hip that she realized that Dax was standing right beside where she sat and had been talking to her. She’d been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed him moving close or that he’d been talking to her. In her defense, he’d been talking most of the time they’d been back there, just not to her. She’d tuned out all the voices while she’d focused on what she was doing.

“What?” She scowled up at him, not happy at having been interrupted.

“What do you want to eat?” Dax asked.

Taylynn’s scowl grew deeper as she thought about it. Her stomach grumbled at the idea of food, making her realize she’d probably been working longer than she’d realized.

“A burger is fine.” She put the last of the bottles she’d been wiping down back onto the shelf and tried to get up, but her bruised muscles seemed to have frozen. She managed to make it to her hands and knees, then took a couple of deep breaths as she mentally prepared for the pain she couldn’t stop as she pushed herself to her feet. Before she’d fully prepared herself, a hand appeared in her line of sight. No one else was close enough. It had to be Dax. Should she take it? Would he read something into it if she did?

Tired of overthinking and needing help anyway, she put her hand in his and let him tug her to her feet. As soon as she stood, she released his hand and stepped away.

“I’ll be in the kitchen. Call if you need anything,” Dax said before disappearing down the hall.

Taylynn looked around, noticing that there were several men scattered around the room, but Raven wasn’t among them. Apprehension crept up her spine.

It wasn’t that she’d never been left alone since they’d brought her there, almost three weeks ago now, but she’d never found herself amongst them all without Raven there to make sure they didn’t hurt her. Now though, there was nothing to stop any of them from doing whatever they wanted to her. Nothing but the bar she stood behind.

She tried to keep her expression blank but wasn’t sure she was managing it.

“Hey, darlin’, how you doing?” Freud moved to the far side of the bar, leaning one elbow on it as he spoke to her.

“I’m fine. I finally talked Raven into letting me do something.” She managed to keep her voice from shaking but just barely.

“I see that. Does that mean you’re the one who will get me a beer?”

“It is. What kind do you want?”

He gave her his preference, she retrieved it, twisted the top off then handed it across the bar before dropping the lid in a can of them she’d found while cleaning. She’d ask if they were saving bottle caps for a reason later.

“You’re not lifting anything are you? Or getting that thing wet?” Freud nodded toward her cast.

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