Scorched King (Outlaw Justice #5)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Sasha

After a fitful first night, I’d woken far too early for comfort. I’d stayed silent in my room for as long as I could using only my phone for entertainment, and when I’d emerged JD had immediately gone to his office.

That had been over three hours ago, and the silence in the cabin pressed against me like a physical weight. After the constant noise of the hospital, I should have welcomed it. Instead, every creak of the floorboards, every distant murmur from JD’s office made me jump.

Tel and Axel had already come and gone, their faces grim. Something was happening. Something they didn’t want me to know about. The tension radiating from that side of the cabin was thick enough to choke on.

My fingers traced the rough edges of my scars through my shirt. The last time I’d felt something like that had been right before the explosion.

I missed the easy distraction of Bear’s hospital visits. The way he’d taught me card games to pass the time. They had helped, even if they stirred memories of the poker club. At least then I’d had something to focus on besides the nightmares and the phantom pain. Our physical injuries had mostly healed, but mine continued to play out in my head a hell of a lot more than I’d like.

Hence, why the current silence was not good. That left nothing but time to sit in my head and fester.

Things were different now. The easy friendship Bear and I had built felt strained, weighted down by JD’s presence and the undercurrent of danger that seemed to pulse through the compound.

I looked out the window at the trees that lined JD’s property through a thin veil of misty rain. I would have loved to feel that soft rain on my skin, but that line of trees haunted me as surely as any ghost. Because just beyond it was where the club poker room had once stood.

Maybe if I went in the opposite direction…

I closed the blind and turned away from the window. No, not today. I wasn’t ready. But I wasn’t going into JD’s office either just because I was bored. There had to be something else to do. I was finally free from the hospital. Although cooped up here might be worse. Because now all I could think about was the man and that kiss in the truck. My heart skipped a beat and a little butterfly swooped in my stomach. I pressed my back to the wall and closed my eyes, trying to block it out, but that didn’t help.

Not when I could still feel the imprint of his lips on mine, and taste him on my tongue. I banged my head against the wall, trying to force the memory away. I’d spent the last month trying to let go of the feelings I’d struggled with. I’d even gone so far as chalking it up to infatuation. A couple of kisses and one little instance of oral did not a relationship make. He was as closed off as ever and had made it more than clear that we could not be more than what we were. He was my boss, I was his employee, and it was high time I accepted him at his word and let the past go.

So what the hell was I doing in his house? Why did he have to bring me here?

I was going to go insane if I didn’t do something.

I opened my eyes and stood up straight. Okay if I wasn’t going to go outside to burn off this excess energy, I’d have to do something else. My doctors had been up my ass to get more exercise so that’s what I was going to do. JD had a nice big television hanging on the wall in his living room and if I pushed his coffee table out of the way, there’d be plenty of room…

Opening the bag I’d dropped on the floor the day before, I pulled out leggings and a sports bra. In my haste, I forgot about being gentle. I hissed as I raised my arms too quickly, stretching my barely healed scars. Okay, scratch the sports bra. I was going to have to wear a tank top without instead. I gathered a towel, a water bottle from the in-room fridge that JD always kept stocked, and then poked my head out the door to make sure the coast was still clear. I wasn’t looking for an audience.

The living room was empty so I made my way to my spot, pushed the table out of the way and set the television to my favorite yoga channel on youtube. This one included five minutes of meditation at the beginning and at the end and it sounded like just the thing I needed to clear my mind.

Only it wasn’t that easy to get the man out of my head while sitting in his house, surrounded by his things, smelling his scent everywhere I turned. But I kept trying until eventually I got lost in the exercise, the sweat, and the much-needed challenge. I was way out of practice and an intermediate session turned into the challenge of my life with my muscles shaking like it was my first time all over again.

“What in the hell are you doing?”

I jerked, falling out of my dancer pose and landing on my knees. Pain shot through my legs and up my back, forcing a gasp from my lips. I looked down to survey the damage and it was then I realized the situation. My tank top had worked its way free from my yoga pants and ridden up my back, exposing both the scars I didn’t want him to see and my breasts.

I shoved my shirt down and shifted back onto my heels, thanking God he was behind me and not in front of me. I didn’t need to see his face right now or him mine. I was probably three shades of red as waves of humiliation washed over me.

“I’m sorry. Shit. I can’t wear a bra yet and I didn’t realize…” I couldn’t even finish that sentence. It didn’t matter that he’d seen my tits plenty of times. This was different. And my back…

Oh God. I wasn’t ready for that.

“I don’t give a shit about that.” Ouch. That biting tone with those words stung, making my embarrassment complete. “I thought you were supposed to rest.? You’re barely out of the hospital. Is this kind of activity even approved?”

I laughed, looking over my shoulder at him finally. “Approved by who exactly? Last time I checked I was a free woman now.”

He glowered at me darkly. Normally, I might have scurried away from him after a withering look like that, but I was cooped up and embarrassed which meant I was a live wire in danger of going off at any second.

“I don’t remember your doctor’s instructions including anything about dancing half naked in my living room.”

It was my turn to scowl at him. “I wasn’t dancing, asshole. It’s called yoga and it’s exercise. And I already explained that I can’t wear a bra. Besides, I thought you were busy and I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone barging in.”

His left eyebrow lifted and his look got darker if that was possible. I’d definitely opened my mouth and stepped into it. Oh well, maybe now he would agree that I didn’t need to stay in his house. If I was in my own apartment, this kind of thing would never happen.

“Asshole, huh?”

I got the feeling he was waiting for an apology, but as far as I was concerned, he could keep on waiting.

“If the shoe fits,” I practically snarled. “I thought you were in your office working. Don’t you have better things to do than shame me for getting some exercise?”

I twisted around to roll up my makeshift yoga mat, desperate to keep myself busy before I completely lost it on him. There was a fifty/fifty chance I was going to go on a verified rant or start crying. And the last thing I wanted to do was explain to JD that my emotions were all over the map since the incident.

He squatted down in front of me. “I wasn’t trying to shame you. Finding you like this,” he hesitated. “Startled me. I was concerned you were pushing yourself too hard. I thought you would be resting today. That’s why I kept quiet and stayed in my office as long as I did.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I got bored, okay? I’m not used to this much quiet. I thought leaving the hospital would provide a nice peaceful respite, but then the next thing I knew I was crawling out of my skin.”

“You could have come and knocked on my door.”

I shook my head. “No.It’s not your job to entertain me.”

He smiled. “That may be true, but maybe I could arrange a play date for you. Should I call Bear?”

My eyes narrowed, hoping like hell he wasn’t serious. It was hard to tell with him. He never seemed to have much of a sense of humor. If anyone took life too seriously, it seemed to be him. “I refer you to my previous statement.” I thought better about actually calling him an asshole again, but I’m sure he got the idea.

“Okay, fair enough,” he said, rising to his feet. “How about food then? Have you eaten anything today?”

“Not since yesterday.”

“Why the hell not?”

Again, I wasn’t going to say anything derogatory. He might have told me to make myself at home, but this was his house not mine. I was never going to get that comfortable here. “Hadn’t really thought about it.” I didn’t want to say it, but I’d gotten so used to someone bringing all my meals it never even occurred to me to eat on my own.

Even when I ate non-hospital food it was because Patty or one of the other girls brought it to me. Including the premade margaritas they snuck in with the Mexican food for our in-hospital girls’ nights.

“Well, I’m going to see what can be brought up from the clubhouse for us. I’m sure they’re cooking down there and from now on I’ll make sure someone brings you meals up here.”

“You don’t have to do that. If you want me to cook, I can do it. I just don’t want to make any assumptions about my position here. It’s not my kitchen.”

He ignored me and walked into his kitchen as I watched his backside. Looking at his body, I wondered about his exercise routine. The clubhouse had a pretty extensive gym, but I didn’t get to spend a lot of time down there. Most of the time it was off limits to nonmembers except during meals or parties. But even then, only certain areas were open.

It always gave me the idea that they had a lot to hide if they didn’t even allow employees full use of the building. Even kitchen time had to be pre-approved or scheduled.

I scrambled to my feet, tucked in my shirt extra deep so it wouldn’t work free again, and then wrapped my towel around my neck so it draped across my front. Being a mid-size girl on her way to plus size meant my breasts were on the bigger side, and going without a bra seemed rather obvious. Not that it had ever seemed a big deal before. The man owned a strip club for Christ’s sake. I didn’t have anything he hadn’t seen a million other times. It should be no big deal.

And yet, I was more self-conscious than ever before.

I warred over whether to follow him to the kitchen or go change first. If I was honest with myself, it wasn’t the lack of a bra that frightened me. My arms, especially my right one, were a criss cross of burn scars and while I couldn’t see my back, I knew exactly what it looked like back there. A mangled mess. The worst of the damage had occurred there, and this was the first time he’d seen it.

Taking a deep breath, I hastily chose to follow him. I was going to have to get used to this. I couldn’t hide them forever and there was no better time to start dealing with it than now. I inwardly rolled my eyes. I’d just repeated that hospital counselor’s idiotic words in my head verbatim. Someone kill me now.

The snug t-shirt JD wore, emphasized the fact he had shoulders that seemed as wide as doors. And the muscles of his arms stood out as well, but it was the line of his back tapering down to his narrow waist and an ass I could probably bounce quarters off of that continued to draw my attention. It made me wonder how upset he would get if I just tackled him from behind and took a juicy bite.

I bit my lip at the image of me sprawled against him, preferably without clothes. I got so lost in that thought I barely noticed when he turned around and his eyes narrowed when he met my gaze. “You okay?” he asked.

Oh sure. Just fantasizing about our naked bodies writhing on the floor together is all.

My head jerked up from where I’d zeroed in on what I knew were tight abs and an impressive package, swallowing hard as I met his gaze. I could feel the heat of the blush rising up my throat, but that was the least of my worries when I realized how aroused I’d gotten. I was going to need a cold shower and fresh panties as soon as possible.

“Fine,” I croaked out, averting my gaze before he figured out exactly what I was thinking. I swear the man had a sixth sense when it came to that.

“Here,” he shoved a tray in my direction, which I blindly took. “Eat something while I check on dinner. And next time, bring your cute ass in here and eat when I’m working. I don’t give a shit about who’s kitchen it is. Or call the clubhouse. Whichever you want. You need to take care of yourself and not half ass your recovery,” his brusque tone pulled me out of my stupor.

I had to bite back the desire to tell him he wasn’t the boss of me, because he actually was. And it sounded ungrateful, especially considering he’d just handed me a tray of veggies, cheese and dip that looked amazing. Admittedly, now that he’d brought up food I was actually starving.

“Okay,” I said, dropping down into one of the chairs at his tiny in-kitchen dining set. There was also the fact that his bossiness turned me on. Although I was going to do my best to ignore the way my nipples had puckered against the thin material of my tank and the fact a deep ache had flared to life between my legs.

Nor did I intend to dwell on the fact that until I met JD Monroe, not a single soul had ever tried to take care of me. Every foster I had ever gone to saw me as a household slave or a live-in babysitter for their real children. They didn’t care if I was sick, or hungry, or sad… Dammit. My big plan to fight the pull that led me to a man who didn’t feel the same way was about to crash and burn.

Pun fucking intended.