Page 74 of Fearless
"Don't speak too soon," he chuckled, taking the clasps from me as I moved my hair. "Someone else might've gotten you something special too."
"Oh?" I looked at him over my shoulder, touching the pendant now sitting just below my throat. "Are you going to tell me any more than that?"
"Nope." He kissed the crook of my neck, wrapping me in a delicious hug. "I'm glad you like the necklace."
"I love it so much.” I leaned back against him and kissed his temple. "Thank you. I'm never taking it off."
"Mm, that's what I like to hear." He rained more kisses down on my neck and shoulder before slowly unwrapping from me. "I'm going to check on the food. Don't go anywhere."
I snorted. "Like I could if I tried."
He went to the kitchen, humming to himself as he stirred the tortilla soup. Traditionally the recipe called for chicken, but he couldn't bring himself to kill any of his girls. He was tempted with Foghorn, but needed him for future generations. So we were having a vegetarian version tonight.
I sank into the pillows, reminiscing on this crazy fucking day. Once the rest of the Steel Demons rode up to the caves, they thoroughly searched the entire place. No other slaves were to be seen, but they did find plenty more chains and shackles.
On Reaper's orders, they shackled one ankle of every trafficker still alive, even Corinne, and attached the other end to their bikes. We rode home, dragging them behind us until their bodies were unrecognizable.
Halfway to Sheol, we stopped to unhitch the dead weight. Reaper and Jandro heated up two brands with a blow torch and stamped the bodies with the Steel Demon emblem. If anyone found them before the vultures picked them clean, they'd know exactly who these people crossed.
Jandro's front door opened as I was lost in my macabre thoughts. I looked up to see Shadow's large form crossing the living room toward me.
"Hi, Shadow," I smiled at him.
"Hi, Mariposa." He stopped several feet away from the couch, hands clasped behind his back like a soldier standing at attention. "I'm glad to see you're unharmed after what happened today."
My smile grew wider. The statement sounded rehearsed, like he practiced saying it several times. But it didn't take away from the sentiment. I actually found it endearing. He was trying, and getting so much better with every baby step.
"Thank you. That's really sweet of you."
"Yo, big dude!" Jandro called from the kitchen. "Reaper let everyone go?"
"Yes, he'll be over soon. He's helping unload supplies." Shadow's eyes darted from me to the kitchen. "I have something to fill you in on later."
"Cool. We'll talk after Mari goes to bed."
Reaper called an emergency church meeting right when we got home to let everyone who stayed back know what happened. Only Jandro stayed glued to my side to look after me. From the way Shadow was acting, my guess was they saw their own share of action here while we were gone.
"Is Gunner helping with supplies too?" I asked Shadow, wondering how much more conversation I could drag out of him before he retreated.
"No. He went home as far as I'm aware."
"Oh."
And just like that, my mood spiraled. After everything, he still went back to avoiding me. Did he not mean everything he said while we were chained up together? Did he touch me, kiss me, protect me all that time, just out of a sense of duty to his club and president?
It took a few moments of racing thoughts for me to realize Shadow was still there. And to my complete shock, he came closer until he took a cautious seat on the arm of the couch. We were still a good six feet away from each other, but his presence was so large and overwhelming, he might as well have been sitting on top of me.
"Is everything okay, Shadow?" I noticed his distressed expression.
His odd-colored eyes flicked up to mine and I felt that familiar heat rush through me whenever he looked at me.
"Reaper gave me orders to tattoo you as soon as you feel up to it." He swallowed thickly, looking massively uncomfortable. "To prevent something like this from happening again."
"Oh. Okay." I folded my hands on top of the blanket covering my legs. "And would you be comfortable doing that?"
He raised a hand as if to run it through his hair, then seemingly changed his mind and dropped it back to his lap. "I've never tattooed a woman before but...I think I'm willing to try."
I offered him my biggest smile yet, beaming with pride. "I'm sure we'll both get through it when the time comes. From what I've seen, you do great work."
