Page 87 of Painless
“Nice double-tap, baby girl!” Gunner beamed at me.
“Did I get it?” I lowered the gun and squinted at my target.
“Pretty close. Your groupings are getting closer, see?” He came up behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder as he pointed out my shots.
“Hey, they are!”
“All it takes is practice.” A kiss landed on my cheek, followed by the warmth of his arms around my waist, hugging me close. “You’ll be nailing those bull’s-eyes in no time.”
“I have a good teacher.” A smile formed on my lips as I turned my head, nuzzling against his mouth. It felt good to smile again, and my falcon boy turned out to be right about target practice releasing frustration.
Not that I could pinpoint the cause of my frustration. Reaper shutting me out again? Maybe. Nearly losing Jandro to him being a hero? Possibly. Having to leave the first place in years that I called home? Likely. Myself, for not being able to save Dallas’s life, however irrational it was? Even more likely.
“I heard you’re sleeping with your teacher.” Gunner nuzzled my neck, his grin teasing on my sensitive skin. “Bad girl.”
“What can I say?” I leaned my head back on his shoulder, reaching up to grab handfuls of that gorgeous hair. “I like working for extra credit.”
His warm laughter cut off abruptly. When I looked at his face to see why, his blue irises had just returned from rolling back in his head.
“We’re about to have some company,” he muttered, reluctantly untangling from me.
“Who?”
“The Sons.” He became preoccupied with checking and reloading the magazines of our guns. “They’re not close enough to hear us yet.”
“What’s your take on ‘em?” I picked up my favorite handgun and began reloading it myself.
Gunner’s face brightened as he watched me do it just as he had instructed me. “I dunno yet. I don’tdislikethose guys, just don’t know ‘em well enough to say. Offing my uncle definitely puts them in a pro column though.”
“Are they going their own way when we leave? Or coming with us?”
He clicked his tongue. “Sounds like they’re coming along. They don’t exactly have anywhere to go.”
Heavy footsteps crunched over the rocky ground as the three Sons of Odin approached.
“Mornin’,” greeted T-Bone, accompanied by a cawfrom the raven on his shoulder.
Freyja, who’d been scratching one of the fence posts, arched her back and hissed in reply.
“Don’t mind my cat,” I grumbled, glaring at her like I would a petulant child. “Good morning.”
“She’s protective of you,” T-Bone said with a small grin of understanding. “And I’m a stranger. No offense taken.”
“Can we help you boys?” Gunner’s hand slid possessively around me, resting low on my hip. I bit my lip to hide my smile, the touch making my insides dance and flutter.
“Just going around being neighborly, making our introductions,” T-Bone remarked. “You two know us already, so figured we’d check out the target practice.”
“We haven’t formally met the third of your trio.” I lifted my chin at the quiet one hanging in the back. I’d yet to hear a word from him, or the Sons mention his name. He reminded me of Shadow.
“That’s Grudge,” T-Bone turned to acknowledge his silent friend. “He ain’t much of a talker. Prefers to listen and observe.”
The tall guy, Dyno, lifted his eyebrows slightly as if daring me to talk shit. To ridicule or write off his friend for being different.
But I just shrugged and looked past the two men in front to address him directly. “Fair enough. Nice to meet you, Grudge.” Then I returned to loading my handgun.
The raven fluffed his feathers and let out a cackling set of caws that sounded like laughter. T-Bone and Dyno visibly relaxed.
“So,” T-Bone eyed the arsenal of weapons laid out before us. “What’s the Steel Demons weapon of choice?”
