Page 4 of Fearless
“That’s always a risk,” Dallas laughed. “But you have Jandro in case that happens.”
Did I really? Have Jandro in the same way I had Reaper? Could I treat him like my man automatically? Did I have that right? Reaper encouraged us to spend time alone, to get to know each other. But the surly Steel Demons president was my safety net, and I didn’t know how to navigate this thing with Jandro without Reaper there. In any case, I’d barely seen the charming VP since the party. He was buried in work at the shop with all the wrecked bikes from the Razor Wire ambush.
“Think I’ll hang out with the guard dog to be safe.” I tossed a small wave over my shoulder at Dallas, which he returned, before continuing down the hall.
Hades’ big head lifted off of his paws, ears straight up in the air the moment he saw me turning the corner.
“How’s my favorite boy?” I asked, quickening my pace toward him.
He let out a soft whine but didn’t move a muscle from the closed door he guarded. I sat on the floor next to him and he immediately placed his head in my lap.
“Hades, I might love you more than your master,” I said, massaging over his forehead and ears. “You are just the sweetest thing.”
The affectionate, protective Doberman licked my hand and nuzzled into my pets, but his body remained alert and guarded. He took his job seriously, evidently, but who could resist pets? And Hades seemed especially partial to mine lately. Even Reaper started complaining that he liked me more.
The Steel Demons’ president’s low, murmuring voice floated to my ears through the door, though I couldn’t make out the words. Gunner’s voice answered him, whatever he said punctuated by an occasional chirp from Horus.
While I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, I still listened to their tones as I rested my head against the wall. They sounded tense. Not angry, but maybe a bit worried. Gunner just came back from a mission I still didn’t know the full details of. All I knew was how pissed Reaper was about him going, but had allowed it anyway. And that it was some kind of last resort measure for the survival of the whole club. From how tense things were since Gun’s return, the mission didn’t appear to be a successful one.
He came upon Python, the imprisoned man I was just checking on, conspiring with a member of Razor Wire, the same club that ambushed us right on our doorstep. Finding the club traitor was the biggest Steel Demons victory, that and losing no one in the ambush.
But Python’s punishment still had to be carried out. And I had a feeling the Steel Demons were wound up and tense because they felt like sitting ducks. Many of their bikes had been wrecked in the ambush.
Heavy footsteps approached the door and opened it before I could move. Hades lifted his head from my lap to look at his master with wide, innocent eyes.
“Some guard dog you are,” Reaper huffed, reaching a hand down to pull me to my feet. He immediately braced a forearm against my lower back, anchoring my hip to his. “You didn’t have to sit on the floor out here, sugar.”
“I didn’t mind.” I scratched under Hades’ chin. “And I didn’t want to interrupt anything important.”
“Nothing’s too important for you,” he murmured much lower and sexier than was necessary. “Just knock and I’ll let you know what’s up.”
“Okay,” I smiled, stroking a hand along his bicep.
He was being charming and sweet lately, all starry-eyed and smitten when he looked at me. This side of him was adorable, and I had to admit that I was surprised he kept it up for three days without totally putting his foot in his mouth. Not once did he take out club frustrations out on me. He snapped orders at his men, especially concerning the prisoner, then in the same breath, turned around and told me my ass looked nice in my scrubs.
Nothing but romance and poetry, being the president’s old lady.
Even right then, his gaze softened from the pinched brow he wore coming out of his meeting with Gunner. He drew me close and kissed me full of depth and tongue, like we hadn’t seen each other in days, much less a few hours ago.
“Done for the day?” he asked, dragging his lips to my cheek.
“Mm.” I turned my head to catch sight of the tall, blonde captain of the guard, apparently trying to sneak out into the hall without saying anything. “Where you off to, Gunner?”
He whirled back around on the ball of his foot with a sheepish grin, the falcon on his shoulder fluttering his wings at the sudden change in direction.
“Grabbing something to eat before I relieve Dallas on guard duty.” He reached up to stroke the feathers on Horus’ chest. “This little guy needs to catch some food too, before it gets dark.”
“You owe me more swimming lessons, remember?”
Thanks to his gentle guidance and positive reinforcement, I was able to float on my back in the pool at the Sandia outpost. If any of the other guys had attempted to teach me, I’d probably end up looking like a drowned rat, and trust none of them near a body of water again.
His grin widened with a shy glance downward. “I sure do, baby girl. We’ll get around to it, okay? Once all this other bullshit is taken care of.”
“Sure.” I returned a forced smile through the pang of rejection in my chest. “See you, Gun.”
Reaper pressed a kiss to my temple with a chuckle as I watched the back of Gunner’s cut float further down the hallway. “He’ll be yours one day, sugar. Just give him time to come around.”
“It’s not even that,” I said, turning into him. “We used to be able to talk like friends. And now he keeps blowing me off every time I say hello.”
