Page 27 of Their Property
I growled in frustration and stabbed my finger at my notepad where I’d written,She dreams of valkyries and ravens. A valkyrie was guarding her yesterday.
“I understand, but what does it mean?”
My hands went up in the air in anI don’t knowgesture, then I turned to Dyno for help. He leaned against the side of the couch in our suite, solemn and thoughtful.
“It’s something to do with us,” he said finally. “The imagery is too specificnotto.”
Grateful for the support, I walked over and kissed him. Dyno smiled against my lips and ran his fingers through my beard, holding me close with his other arm.
“Mm, I dunno.” T-Bone’s voice grew low and husky at the sight of us.
“You don’t know?” Dyno turned his head to face him, leaving his neck open for me to kiss and suck. “The only guy who can see through the eyes of a raven is skeptical of dreams being a message from the gods? Mm, fuck. Hold that thought, Grudge. You’re distracting me.” He placated me with a peck on the lips, and I eased away. I couldn’t help myself, he was too fucking delicious.
“The gods have never spoken to me through dreams,” T-Bone argued.
“Alright, well, newsflash, you’re not the only one here,” Dyno said. “Dreams are a huge part of indigenous cultures. I have absolutely received messages from dreams. Who’s to say Kyrie can’t? And the fact that she sensed the valkyrie while awake? That’s no dream. That’s a spirit who’s attached itself to her.”
“But what does it mean?” T-Bone repeated tiredly. “A valkyrie and a raven. Okay, so what?”
I grabbed my pen and paper, then paused. Spinning the pen idly in my hand, I tried to think of the best way to articulate not just my thoughts, but how I felt. How to explain this sensation in my gut that had never left me since Kyrie and I last spoke?
Finally, I just thought,fuck it, and wrote out the biggest question gnawing at my mind.What if she is meant to be ours?
“Grudge, that’s a little—” Dyno started.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” T-Bone cut in angrily. I expected him to have the most explosive reaction. He was smitten with Kyrie and in complete denial about it.
I cut my hand aggressively through the air so they would let me finish.Not just the dreams, but consider everything. How did we end up working for her now, after avoiding 4C for years? In a new territory outside of her father’s watch, no less? This can’t all be coincidences. All four of us have been steered toward each other by forces outside of our control.
The guys went silent for a while, staring at my words on the notepad.
“I hear what you’re saying,” Dyno said softly. “And I’m not disagreeing, Grudge. Not entirely. It’s just…” He trailed off, looking at T-Bone for support.
“She has everything to lose and nothing to gain by being with us, that’s what,” T-Bone spat. “It’s what I tried to warn her and you dicks about the first night we got here. She gets involved with us, her life is ruined. All the good she’s trying to do will be for nothing.” He looked at me and gave a sad shake of his head. “We’re no good for her, guys. We can’t…pursueanything with her. Not if we care about her, which I think goes without saying.”
I brought my hands to my knees and closed them into fists. Logically, I knew what he was saying. But I still didn’t understand it. If she wanted us like we wanted her, who cared what anyone else thought? Why did reputation and her father and all this other shit really matter?
My hands opened with a sigh. I was getting ahead of myself anyway. She probably didn’t see us that way, especially not me. And yet…
She kept glancing at me during her meetings, and I saw her look at T-Bone and Dyno the same way. I made her laugh, and she always seemed to wander close to me when I wrote things down.
“So, we’re actually admitting this to ourselves now?” Dyno’s gaze slid between T-Bone and me.
“Admitting what?” T-Bone growled.
“Don’t pretend you’re a dumbass, T.”
“You want me to just say it then?” T-Bone shot back. “That I fucking want her? That if only she wasn’t a governor’s daughter, and a rising political figure herself, she’d be perfect for us?” He poured another generous helping of whiskey and confessed under his breath, “I’ve thought of her while we’re fucking.”
Dyno smirked. “I have too. Haven’t stopped, to be honest.”
“Mm,” I confirmed with a nod. I still wasn’t convinced she’d wantme, but I imagined watching her with them. Just the thought of her soft curves between all their hard edges was enough to make me swell in my jeans. No other woman we’d brought to bed held a candle to the effect she had on me.
“But T’s right.” Dyno looked at me with an almost apologetic expression. “Even if she’s interested, getting with us would only be a bad move for her. These crusty old politicians will drag her through the mud if she so much as hops on our bikes again.”
“I told you fuckers.” T-Bone pointed at us as he took another swallow of whiskey. “We shouldn’t have taken the job. We should have stayed the fuck away from Kyrie Vance like we agreed to the first time we left.”
“Maybe,” Dyno admitted. “But if we’re being honest, there was no way we could leave. Not while she’s surrounded by a bunch of small-dicked egos in suits.”
