Helpless (Steel Demons MC #5) - Crystal Ash Page 0,68

smile. “Come back to the fire.”

I followed her lead, my hand never leaving hers until the last possible moment.

Twenty-One

MARIPOSA

I woke up with my back aching in at least ten different places. My neck didn’t fare much better. Stretching with a groan, I forgot that I slept in the backseat of the Hummer until my fist hit the seat in front of me.

“Shit,” I whispered, hoping I didn’t startle Kyrie.

My worries were for nothing I realized, as I sat up and saw her poking the charred logs from last night’s fire. With one shove of the heavy car door, I stepped out into the chilly morning.

“Trying to get it started?” I asked, pulling my arms close around me.

“Um, yeah. Seeing if there were any embers left.” She gave me a sheepish look. “I’ve never been all that outdoorsy.”

“That’s all right. Here, let me show you.”

I tip-toed over to Dyno, sleeping curled up with his back to us. All three Sons of Odin were cuddled into a puppy pile to stay warm for the night. Dyno’s head never even twitched on T-Bone’s chest as I carefully pulled the lighter from his pants pocket.

“The thing about traveling with bikers,” I said to Kyrie, tossing the lighter once in the air, “they’re always carrying gasoline in one form or another.”

She helped gather pine needles and sticks for kindling, then I set up a triangle of fresh logs and lit them up.

“How are you holding up?” I asked her. “I was so exhausted after helping Shadow last night. I’m sorry I never checked on you.”

“That’s okay. I’m fine.” She extended her palms to the growing flames. “Just can’t believe this is really happening. I thought I’d never get out.” She shook her head with a heavy sigh. “I thought I actually wanted to marry him. I’m so stupid.”

“Hey, you’re not,” I insisted. “That whole family is a bunch of manipulative pricks. They took advantage of you.”

Kyrie sucked her lip between her teeth, her hands wringing in front of her. “Do you really think they’ll declare war on Four Corners?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them. But we’ll deal with that when it happens. Right now, our priority is getting you home safe.”

She nodded, her worried expression relaxing slightly. “How did you end up with these guys? No offense, but you seem…a little less feral, I guess.”

“None taken,” I grinned. “It’s a long story, and I certainly never thought I’d end up in a biker gang. Life has a funny way of dumping you right where you belong.” I reached out and placed a hand on her forearm. “These are good guys, you can trust me on that. They’re rough around the edges, but they don’t use people like those pricks we took you from.”

She looked over at the Sons, still wrapped up in their cuddle pile. “They actually look really sweet like that.”

“They are sweethearts,” I agreed. “Armed, dangerous, and foul-mouthed sweethearts, but sweethearts nonetheless.”

Kyrie’s head swiveled across the fire, where Shadow and Larkan slept a few feet away from each other. “Are you one of their uh, old lady? Is that the right term?”

My chest squeezed with the aching memory of last night. Shadow’s fear of my scalpel, his trauma rearing its ugly head. And then when he finally allowed me to remove the arrows. He trembled the whole time, but he let me. I couldn’t even put into the words the amount of trust that must have taken.

And then afterward, when he laid down to sleep, it almost physically hurt me to leave his side. I wanted to stay near him the whole time, to soothe and reassure him. To show him I understood how difficult it was to face such a lifelong fear. That I was so proud and did not take his trust in me lightly.

“No,” I answered Kyrie, watching Shadow’s deep breaths. “Larkan, the smaller one, was posing as my husband, but he’s kind of my brother-in-law. Shadow and I, we’re,” I swallowed, “we’re friends. My men are actually all waiting for us in Four Corners.”

“Men, plural?”

“Yeah,” I smiled sheepishly at her. “I have three husbands.”

“Three?! What?”

“My first husband, it’s um, part of the culture he grew up in. For one woman to be with multiple men. It’s normal for him. He introduced me to the idea, and his best friend was all for it. My third was a little more resistant, but he came around.”

“That’s, wow.” Kyrie went back to staring at the fire. “I’ve never heard of anything like