Page 46 of Lawless
"Wait," I grabbed his arm, an apology stuck in my throat but it wouldn't come out. He almostdidforce himself on me back at the service center so why was I the one apologizing? One of these mendidhurt Gretchen, but something at the back of my brain believed that it wasn't him.
"Maybe we can just sit next to each other first?" I suggested. "Just talk, and you know, get used to each other?"
That electrifying grin returned and my heart skipped a beat.
"You've been in my seat and holding onto me all day, baby girl. What's it gonna take for you to get used to me?"
"Tell me about you," I suggested. "I've been with you guys for almost a week and feel like I hardly know any of you. Where are you from? How'd you find Horus?"
"Now there's a story in both of those answers." He relaxed once again next to me. "I was Arizona born and bred, but my family's from California originally."
"Really? Before it sank into the ocean?”
"Yup, my grandparents were actors." He laced his hands behind his head. "They lived in Hollywood and did a few movies before that whole area went under. My parents were little when they headed east to evacuate."
"I heard you can swim out there and still see whole towns and neighborhoods underwater."
"I wouldn't," Gunner chuckled. "My folks said the pollution is so toxic, you'll get cancer just by letting the water touch you. I heard the coastline is pretty, though." He paused as he looked at me. "Maybe we can ride out there one day."
"Maybe," I mused.
"As for Horus," he continued. "I was bird-hunting, quite ironically. Not for falcons, though. For quail. Out of nowhere, this fluffy little fucker with big-ass talons starts clinging to my pantleg and screaming bloody murder. I knew he was some kind of raptor based on his feet, so I fed him some quail I shot. He's pretty much never left my side ever since." He nodded across the fire to Reaper. "Him and Hades have a similar story. Hades was an abandoned pup and they just seemed to find each other."
The dog rested calmly on the ground, his dark eyes blinking slowly with sleepiness while his owner continued talking with Jandro and Shadow.
"Does Horus do anything...unusual, like Hades?"
"Like what?"
"You know, like how Hades can just run alongside Reaper's bike for hours. No normal dog can do that."
"Hmm," Gunner pursed his lips as he thought. "I guess I never really thought about it. No, Horus seems like a pretty normal bird to me. Sometimes I have dreams like I'm flying, though, and it's like I'm seeing through his eyes. Hey," he tapped my arm with the back of his palm, looking excitedly at me like a little kid. "What's the freakiest dream you've ever had?"
"Oh, that's easy," I laughed. "In nursing school, I dreamed I delivered a two-headed baby."
"No shit! How did you react?“
“I just started talking to it and the baby talked back! But each head answered in a different language. I think one of them was Russian.”
Gunner howled with laughter. We talked until the fire burned down to embers, and I didn't think twice about following him to his tent and falling asleep next to him on his bedroll.
Seventeen
MARIPOSA
Idistinctly remembered how the temperature dropped during the night. So I was surprised to find myself in a cocoon of warmth when dawn approached.
Or rather, a sandwich of warmth.
My eyes fluttered open, expecting to see Gunner's fair, angelic features. Instead I found caramel skin and Jandro's full lips inches away from me.
With a gasp, I tried to push away but my back pressed against something solid. Looking over my shoulder, there was the angelic face I expected to see. And damn, did he look sweet in his sleep.
Gunner's lips were parted as he breathed softly, his hand resting on my thigh while Jandro's arm draped over my waist.
Turning back to the VP, his jaw was tight and his brow furrowed in his sleep. His fingers also periodically clenched around my shirt. Seeing how differently these two men slept was morbidly fascinating to me.
"Jandro?" I whispered, placing a tentative hand on his bicep.
