Page 20 of Silent Fire

Tomas made a low, rumbling sound deep in his chest. He lifted Noel’s hand to his lips, brushing a featherlight kiss across his knuckles. “Then I will be your shelter from the storm, mi amor,” he vowed gruffly. “Your peace in the eye of the hurricane.”

“I don’t know about you, but I could use a ride after all this emotional heavy-lifting.” Noel just let the words hang there like a thread tossed out to reel in something lighter.

Tomas barked out a surprised laugh, the sound rough and real, knocking loose the tension that still clung to them like static. “What kind of ride are you referring to, mi dulce perversión?”

“You always turn everything dirty?” Noel tilted his head just slightly, enough to catch the gleam in Tomas’s eyes without pulling away from the comfort of his chest.

“With you, it just seems to flow naturally.”

The corners of Noel’s mouth twitched. “You saying I’m special?”

“You’re one of a kind, mi elegido.” Tomas nuzzled his neck, breathing in deeply.

Noel started to ask why Tomas kept calling him that when he saw two men pull up on motorcycles. Men he’d seen at Sin & Steel. One he’d met at the farmhouse the night he’d waved a gun at everyone. Santiago.

They didn’t look like they came to play either.

“Tomas, behind you,” he whispered.

With an irritated groan, Tomas straightened and turned around. “Fuck me,” he muttered.

“Why do they looked pissed enough to rip your head off?” Noel pulled his hand free and stepped in front of Tomas, once again feeling like he’d lost his mind. But he was hoping like hell those men didn’t believe in hurting someone much smaller than them. Brave assumption for a man still haunted by the taste of his own blood. But if Santiago hadn’t broken Noel in half for waving a gun at him, he didn’t think the guy would hurt him now.

“Diablo, Santiago,” Tomas said with a low growl. “Do I need to put my mate on my bike before we begin?” He glanced past them. “I would hand him over to Cesar, but since he’s the one who called you, que se joda.”

Cesar flipped Tomas off.

The biggest one of the two glanced at Noel. Shit. He didn’t want this man’s attention. He looked like something that emerged from shadows in dark alleys. “We doing okay, cariño?”

Tomas gently pulled Noel behind him. “What’re we doing, Diablo? Is my mate heading into the diner, or you gonna hear me out? But what you’re not going to do is intimidate mi elegido.”

“We just want to hear it from him that everything’s cool,” Santiago said.

“My ex, who’s a pendejo, left something on Tomas’s bike to let me know he’s found me,” Noel said, shoulders back, voice snarky. “Tomas’s wolf didn’t take it well. Would yours? So, yes, everything’s cool. I wasn’t in any danger from Tomas.”

Santiago smirked. “That’s because you kicked Tomas’s ass again, cría de foca. Didn’t you?”

“That’s the guy who stole your weapon from you?” Diablo frowned at Tomas.

“Are you two done humiliating me, or should I get comfortable?” Tomas shot back. “And he didn’t kick my ass that night. I just didn’t want to hurt him.”

Diablo’s chuckle was as deep as rolling thunder. “Okay, hermono. If you say so.”

Tomas glanced back at Noel, like he wanted confirmation it hadn’t gone down that way.

Noel shrugged. “You want me to lie to them?”

That only made Diablo and Santiago hoot with laughter. Even Cesar was chuckling.

“I vowed to be your peace in the eye of the hurricane, and you tossed me into the hurricane?” Tomas huffed. “I see how it is, hermoso.”

“I’ll make you a deal.” Noel crossed his arms, locking gazes with Tomas. “You forgive Cesar, because he was only looking out for me, and I’ll tell your buddies any story you give me.”

“Oh my god.” Santiago wiped at the tears his eyes. “I needed that good laugh. Now, since I’m at Lizard’s, I’m grabbing some breakfast for me and Percy.”

“You’re evil.” Tomas growled softly at Noel.

“And I can outrun you,” he countered, his lips twitching. “You gonna forgive him, or am I sharing how you couldn’t catch little ole me?”

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