Page 22 of Her Avenging Angel

Chapter Sixteen

Taylynn woke as herdoor opened, but she lay still and kept her breathing even, hoping whoever it was would go away and leave her alone. The scuff of a boot on the floor told her they were moving, likely coming closer to the bed. She forced herself not to react.

She caught the scents of leather, motor oil, and mint. Her whole body relaxed as she realized it was Raven. He was probably checking on her, and after today, she couldn’t blame him. With her eyes closed she had no way of knowing how long he stood there, but after what seemed like an eon, she rolled over and found Raven standing beside the bed, watching her. A small smile curved his lips as she scooted to one side and patted the bed beside her, inviting him to sit.

“What’s up?” she asked, sitting up.

“Sorry to wake you, but I needed to let you know I’ve got to head out for a bit.” He sat on the edge of the bed, bending one knee and bringing the leg up onto the bed while leaving his booted foot dangling from the edge.

“Okay,” she said the word slowly, trying to make her brain work. “Is something wrong?” Why else would he wake her to tell her he was leaving?

“No, everything’s fine. I just have some business to take care of and didn’t want you to go looking for me only to find me gone.”

She glanced at the clock, it was almost 10:00 PM. What kind of business did he have at this hour? Not that she would ever ask. She’d learned better than that while she was with the Demons.

“Not that I’m leaving you here alone either. Dax, Hunter, and a couple of others will be here, just in case. If you have any problems, you need anything, go to one of them. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

She didn’t know what to say. A heavy weight sat in her stomach, but she nodded letting him know she’d heard, before pushing her face back into the pillow. She didn’t want him to see how badly the idea of his leaving her there bothered her, even if she wasn’t alone.

It wasn’t that she thought any of them would hurt her, at least not as long as the threat of Raven hung over their heads, but what if they started drinking and decided to risk something they knew better than to do while they were sober? No, she reminded herself. That was something the Demons would have done, not these guys. In the time she’d been there she’d not seen anything to make her think that any of these men would do anything like that. Even if they were bikers like the Demons, these were good men.

“I should be home before sunrise, but I wanted to let you know, in case I end up running late. Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?

Taylynn unburied her face from her pillow and looked at him. What was he worried about? Was it her or his men?

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I don’t plan on leaving this room until I go for coffee in the morning. If you’re not back by then, I’ll round up the men around here and send them hunting for you, okay?”

He watched her a moment longer then nodded. He bent close and kissed her forehead.

“Sleep well, little one.”

She watched as he got up and went to the door. He paused, looking back at her for a moment before letting himself out and pulling the door closed behind himself. Taylynn lay there, staring at the door wondering what she was missing. There had to be more to this than just that he was going out. After a few minutes, not coming up with anything, she shook her head, buried it back into her pillow and went back to sleep, questions about what was really going on circling in her head.

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