Page 42 of Enemy
“So you got it dealing with club business?” Road asks in a tense voice, but when I nod, his shoulders relax, and he rubs the ultra-short hair on his head. I love stroking it so much. “Fine. I thought maybe something happened.”
I frown. “And what would you do then? Come save me? Like I’m some damsel in distress? Do you not remember who I am?”
“What, you would rather I pissed on your grave?” Road throws back, taking another few steps. He’s still keeping his distance, but at least now there’s nothing separating us. And, of course he’s staring at the bruise, as if I were a child in need of coddling.
“I don’t care what you do when I’m dead anyway,” I say even though he’s starting to pull on my heart strings simply by his proximity. “Did you come here because you felt owed a day?” Okay. Harsh. But him being in my space is unnerving me and I don’t even know why it’s affecting me so much. Like the Road I met by the lake was some sexy, harmless version of him, and now the real thing is stepping into my life.
And then he’s next to me, shoving at my chest. “What isthatsupposed to mean?”
I push back. This I know. This I understand. “I said what I said! You’re not allowed to be here! How long have you even been in my house? We arrange meetings! So it’s safe. And separate. That’s the only way it works.”
“Then you should have told me not to worry,” Road barks in my face, his twisted features inches from mine.
Is he baiting me into a kiss, or is that my own greedy brain suggesting it?
I bump my forehead into his, unwilling to back down. “Why would you worry?”
His mouth opens, eyes widen as he spaces out, staring through me rather than at me. His scent is even more intense than usual, musky, spicy, dangerous, but the tingling in my toes has nothing to do with fear.
“I… don’t… I just don’t like being out of the loop,” he mutters in a softer voice, but when his gaze meets mine, I drown, and he leaps in after me.
My back clashes with the wall as our teeth collide, but his hands keep me afloat, digging into the flesh of my thighs.
Fuck.
I need to kick him out. I really do. We can’t be doing this here. It’s the exact slippery slope we were supposed to avoid. Meets at the lake were supposed to create a bubble for us. A different world in which who we are doesn’t matter.
I should push him away, but I only open my mouth wider for his tongue. He’s such a good kisser. It’s like he fucks me with his tongue. That’s all I want after the day I’ve had.
When he lifts my legs, I gasp in surprise, but instinctively wrap my arms around his neck. It’s madness. I’m still wearing my damn patches. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
But the way he smells? So right. My heart beats faster at this show of strength too. I’m no featherweight, and no one’s lifted me since… maybe my birthday a few years back. But I can hardly compare my brothers throwing me in the air a few times to the way Road holds me.
He’s intense, and hungry, and when his mouth descends my neck, leaving wet, lusty kisses, I find myself shuddering, because it’s that good. I’m not kicking him out and he knows it, the smug bastard.
“Fuck, I missed this,” he whispers, stepping away from the wall. My eyes shoot open as panic coils in my stomach, but while it’s evidently more difficult for him to keep me up without support, he’s still able to hold my weight.
I hug his head, rubbing my cheek against the soft fuzz on it. “Show off.” I secretly love it though. Him carrying me gives me a feeling of not having to be in charge for once, and after today, it’s like a weight lifted off my shoulders.
He chuckles. “What if I am, Blue Eyes?”
The stupid nickname makes me feel seen in ways he can’t imagine. It’s not my family name, not Butcher, and not something based on my skill. Simply a pretty part of me he’s noticed and wants to make sure I know.
“You can stay. Since you’re already here. But only this one time. I’ve had a shit day,” I confess, fighting the urge to tell him all about it when I need to keep my mouth shut.
A shadow passes over his features, and he puts me down, only to slide his arms around me. Just like that, in the middle of my living room, as if that kind of thing was normal. “Sounds like a pain. Wanna feel better?” With a soft smirk, he nips my nose with his teeth.
A wave of tenderness hits me so hard I find it hard to speak and nod noncommittally. It’s been a long time since someone cared how I feel and I don’t know what to do with that, so I hook two fingers against his.
Road looks back at me, rubbing my palm with his thumb, but when neither of us says a thing for a few seconds, he clears his throat and nods toward my bookshelf. “So… you like… chickens?”
I choke out a laugh because that’s so stupid, but it cheers me up. I don’t even have the energy to scold him for rummaging through my bookshelf. “They were my mother’s, the books about chickens. I don’t have the heart to throw them away.”
“The plates and salt and pepper shakers too?” he asks, nodding toward my kitchen. Clearly, he’s been everywhere. I don’t even care to ask how he got in.
I shake my head. “She loved those damn chickens. She even…” I worry Road will laugh at me, but he’s listening. “She got me a chicken for my tenth birthday. We had the coop out there.” I point at the back of the yard through the window. There’s no trace of it left now, but I remember how it looked as if that image was etched on the backs of my eyelids.
Road chuckles. “Wow, so you had like… a real family, huh?”
