Page 82 of Her Brother's Keeper

We ate together in companionable silence for a little bit until the conversation at our table with Archer and Mel, Evy and Dray, drew us out to participate. It was a good dinner, and a relief to look over at Sage and Connor getting along across the deck. The carefree smile plastered to the kid’s face worth the trip already.

We finished up our food, the sun starting to set, and took our time wandering along the lake, talking and holding hands. With the fading light, the chill started to rise and Maren hugged herself. We hadn’t needed our coats, opting instead to just be out in the sunshine in our long sleeves which had been fine during the day. Not so much with the fading sunlight.

“I’ll go in and get our coats,” I said and pulled her close, kissing her gently.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Nah, no need for that, I’ll drop you off at the fire with the others. You relax, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

She smiled, “Okay.”

I took her hand and led her over by the fire. Trigger was leaned up against the log everyone used as a back rest, Sunshine cradled against his chest.

“Hey man, look after my best girl for a minute while I run and get our coats?”

“Sure thing, man. Hey, Maren.” He inclined his golden head and smiled up at my woman who smiled back down at him, settling on her jean clad butt on the plaid blanket next to him.

“Hey.” She settled in and I left off, heading back up toward the lodge, digging in my hip pocket for our room key. I met Sage and Connor on their way down, arms loaded with boxes of graham crackers and chocolate bars.

“Woah, hey, where are the marshmallows?” I asked.

“My dad’s got ‘em,” Connor said and I nodded.

“Good deal, can’t do smores without ‘em.”

“Ever had one with a peanut butter cup instead of just plain chocolate?” Sage asked and I put my hands over my heart in mock indignation.

“Sounds like sacrilege to me!”

“No, it’s hella good! Ask Maren, it’s her favorite.”

I laughed, “She’s been holding out on me! Not sure we can date anymore.”

“Then pretend I didn’t say anything!” Sage called and I grinned at him as he marched backward down the trail. I do believe I just got the kid’s official, unequivocal, stamp of approval, and that felt damn good.

I let myself into our room and pulled my cut off from over my shirt, laying it on the bed. I swung into my jacket and got it settled comfortably before I put my cut back on over it. When I took up Maren’s coat, I spied my rag, folded neatly on the dresser we’d fucked on earlier. I picked it up and slid her sleeves through the arm holes. If my twin had anything to say about it, he could take it up with me.

Her jacket and my rag slung over my arm, I left out of our room shutting and locking the door tight behind me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my brother’s locking it up like this, it was more the lodge itself. It had staff that wasn’t club, and so it was better safe than sorry – for them, not us.

I found Maren and Sage by the fire, getting their marshmallows done up on long roasting skewers and laughing. She handed her skewer to Sunshine when she saw me and got up. The air was crisper than even when I’d left and she looked grateful for her coat. I held it open for her and she slipped her arms into the sleeves. I took a brief moment to smile over my name against her back, a little disappointed I’d had to cover up her wings.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“What’sthatsupposed to mean?” Sage demanded, and I sat down next to him, between him and his sister.

“It means I love your sister, and if anyone tries anything, I’ll hurt them,” I said.

“Like you did Luke?” he asked.

“What do you know about that?” I asked as Maren settled in next to me, her fingers threading through mine as she took up her marshmallow from Ashton on her other side.

“Nothing, just that he was hurting my sister, then you went over there and he stopped.”

I nodded, and said, “That’s all you need to know.”

“Why?”

“Because, boy. That’s the way it is among our kind,” Dragon said. He had his legs stretched out, the soles of his boots nearly smoking with how close they were to the fire. He had his hands folded across his belly and the tops of his shoulders leaned against one of the other logs, the picture of his namesake guarding his horde. He sucked on his cigarette, the coal flaring bright, and let out a stream of smoke through his nose.

---