Sparrow’s Flight by Jenika Snow Page 0,22

hard-ass I am, but it wasn’t until this situation that I realized her silent company wasn’t bad. I like having her tag along, like hearing her soft voice, but I also want you to remember that the thoughts going through your head concerning her can’t happen.”

Asher pulled back and narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“This isn’t about some happy little family, Ash. That girl isn’t about to be with both of us, and the moment we ask, she’s going to run fast and hard, and frankly, I don’t blame her.”

“Who in the hell said anything about fucking her? I am not going to stand around and let some innocent girl get handed to those motherfuckers, pure and simple.”

“And neither am I, Ash. But I see the way you’ve looked at her, and I know you’ve seen the way I look at her.”

Ash was silent for several seconds. “It doesn’t matter how either of us look at her, Mason.” He didn’t miss the hard tone in Ash’s voice.

“Listen, I’m just saying this isn’t going to be some happy little threesome, no matter how much we both want it.” Yeah, he said it out loud, but he wasn’t going to take it back. “You think she is all about being with two guys that fuck each other?” Ash’s gritted his teeth and made a low sound in his throat. “I care about you, okay? It has been you and me for the past several months. But we also need to think about reality. We need to protect her as if she were our little sister.” Asher was silent for several long seconds, but Mason already knew what he was going to say before the words left his mouth.

“I don’t see her as a little sister.”

Yeah, and neither did he, but that wasn’t the point. “Listen, let’s not worry about any of this now. Let’s just go get her.” He stared at Ash for several long minutes. “And we will get her back.”

“I know we fucking will.”

Okay, so Mason’s words had rubbed Ash the wrong way, but he had to say them, because he didn’t want the other man to have hopes that they could be some happy little throuple. This was not a movie or book but real life, and it was a shitty one at that. Sparrow was fragile in her own way despite the fact that she tried to be so damn hard and strong. He had seen it the moment he looked into her eyes.

They needed to tread lightly, not scare her, and just enjoy the fact that they were alive and weren’t alone. They headed out of the store and back the way they had first come. Although Mason didn’t see anyone, he felt eyes on them. How had he missed that initially?

Because you were too focused on the girl.

Yeah, and that was dangerous, because his concentration was elsewhere. He needed to get his head in the game if they had any chance of getting her back safely.

Chapter Eight

They watched her like they were fucking starving for her. It made her feel greasy and dirty, and all she wanted to do was kick every single one of the leering bastards right in the balls. There was a total of nine she could see, and she knew there were some scattered throughout the woods, watching the perimeter. A fire was in the center of their little campground, and the men sat around it, drinking and passing a joint around.

The smell of marijuana was strong. She was tied to a tree a few feet from the fire, and the rope dug into her skin. It only made matters worse that she was trying in vain to wiggle her hands free. The warmth of her blood sliding down her wrists and dripping onto her palms had her renewing her efforts, because surely the pain to come was a hell of a lot worse.

The men were passing around bottles of liquor and joints, and with each passing hour, they were getting drunker, lewder in their comments toward her, and she could tell they were getting more excited as they kept looking over at her. The fire crackled, and through the flickering and swaying flames, she saw one man eyeing her very intently. There was lust in his eyes, but he wasn’t watching her in the same disgusting and violent manner as the others. His dark hair was cut close to his head, and when he stood and flicked