5. Sol
CHAPTER 5
Sol
E very muscle in my body cried as I slid Orion’s oversize jeans up my body and tightened his belt around my waist. I slipped the long-sleeved shirt over the white T-shirt I’d slept in last night and inhaled Orion’s masculine scent—fresh and sharp and powerful. A girlish shiver raced down the center of my torso, and I leaned my head to the side, breathing more of it in, relishing in how much I liked it.
Wait…what?
I shook my head and berated myself for such a silly thought. I’d only met the guy yesterday, and he was my family’s enemy. I couldn’t be so reckless as to develop some silly crush on a Royal Bastard, especially when he’d made it clear that he didn’t think very much of me in return. My joints ached, my head splintered, and my stomach churned, all the result of dehydration and whiplash. I checked my cell phone, only to see that it had died sometime overnight because I’d forgotten to plug it in.
“Ugh,” I groaned. Thankfully, I’d had a spare charger in the SUV and Orion had grabbed it along with my other belongings. Reaching over the nightstand next to the bed, I attached the business end to the wall. While I waited for my phone to turn on, I glanced outside the window and winced at the entire three feet of snow that had fallen. It all came rushing back to me.
The crash. The angel. Orion. The Bastards.
Orion had been the one I made eye contact with at my father’s funeral, the one that time slowed down for, the one that nearly stopped my heart and forced the air out of my lungs. What the hell could that mean?
Nothing, you ridiculous girl. It had been from the stress and grief of losing my father; that was all. But even as I thought about him barging into my room and commanding me to get dressed, a tremble ghosted up my spine and the throbbing in my head grew more prominent, almost like the answer was right there, like fate was trying to tell me something and I’d was only just too far away to hear it.
“I’m so screwed.” I debated my options. I could go downstairs, meet up with the Bastards, and demand they take me back to my car. But one glance outside told me that wouldn’t happen any time soon. It had snowed a tremendous amount, and the weather showed no signs of stopping. They’d said as much yesterday, that I’d be stuck here with them until the roads cleared on their own.
Perhaps I should be worried for my safety. I thanked the version of myself from last night for bringing my pepper spray and pushing the chair up against the door. Although, Orion had made a valid point. If they wanted to kill me, they had enough opportunity to do it while I was drunk. Hell, Orion could have left me there to be buried alive in my own vehicle like Poe had suggested when he thought I couldn’t hear. The Bastards had that reputation—kill first, ask questions later. But they’d been decent to me. I had no reason to think they wouldn’t continue to be.
I ran my hands over my face and imagined what Percy would do when he realized I hadn’t come home, that I wouldn’t be home for the next few days, if not longer. So much for his silly plans with the Scorpions. So much for getting married right after the blizzard. The president had wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, and now his would-be bride had run away. Would they think the worst? Would they assume something terrible had happened to me? Or would they think I had gone back on my word?
I wasn’t sure which I preferred, but I also knew I couldn’t do nothing. If I didn’t get in touch, if I didn’t let them know where I was, they’d assume I’d been abducted and throw the entirety of Montana’s resources into finding me.
Still, I had a few days until that happened. Perhaps I could enjoy this little respite. Perhaps I could use it to figure out what to do next, to get in touch with Guin and come up with a plan to evade my dastardly brother. One thing was for sure, I would do whatever I could to get out of this mess. I just needed time to come up with something.
Digging around in my purse, I took inventory of what things from my old life I’d managed to bring with me: a travel manicure set, a few bottles of polish, perfume, my wallet, an e-reader (fully charged, thank God), and sunglasses.
My phone blinked to life, and I glanced at the missed calls: two from Maeve, one from Avalon, and a text from Guin. I opened that first.
Guin: I’ll be home in a few days. Hang in there.
I sighed a deep breath of relief. She hadn’t outright said she could help, but I took her hang in there as a sign that she understood and would do her best. She’d never had a problem standing up to Percy and kicking him back into place.
I called Maeve back, but she didn’t answer, so I tried Avalon. She groaned into the phone after the second ring.
“Hey?” she said. “Where are you?”
“I got into an accident,” I explained. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Percy is freaking out,” she said. “Whatever you did to him, you must explain it to me. I need to know how to put him on edge, just for funsies.”
“Ava,” I started, taking a deep breath. “Will you cover for me for a few days?”
She paused, and I could imagine the confused, rumpled look on her face. “What do you mean? Where are you?”
“I’m taking a break,” I explained. “I’ll be back before they notice I’m gone.” I hope. “If anyone asks, just say I’m at the lake house for a quick relax before my upcoming nuptials.” I rubbed my fingers over my tired eyes, praying they had coffee downstairs.
“The lake house?” Ava’s tone became more concerned. “Sol, where are you, really? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’ll be back once the storm is cleared.”
“Okay,” she said. “Call me if anything dramatic happens.”
I let out a sad sigh. “Okay. Same here.”
Yes, Orion and Lycan had wanted me to ask my family to come get me, and we did have a chopper capable of making that trip once the weather got better. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to go home, not yet anyway.
Yes, this could work. This could give me the time I need to come up with a plan.
Deciding I would tell my family the truth once they could do something about it, I went downstairs to the living room, ignoring three pairs of eyes as I gingerly limped to the bathroom at the back of the tiny log cabin.
Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I winced when I looked like I’d been put through a meat grinder. The cut on my head had bruised, leaving the area around my temple in angry purple splotches that cascaded down to my cheek. The bags under my eyes hinted at the hours of sleep I needed to catch up on. After I did my business and cleaned up as best as I could, I went to the kitchen, where Orion sat at the head of the table alone. From the sounds of the heavy machinery already running outside, Lycan and Poe must have grown tired of waiting for me. Orion’s raised eyebrow and frustrated glare confirmed that suspicion.
“Took you long enough,” he said with a twinge of irritation.
“I called my sisters,” I said, glancing at the place setting next to him. A cup of coffee sat next to eggs, toast, and bacon. I grimaced, my stomach still too full of whiskey to contemplate eating any of what was offered. Still, I pulled the chair out and sat, swallowing down the rising bile as I took a sip of tepid caffeine.
“It was warm when I asked you to come down.” He must have read my expression.
“No worries,” I said. “I enjoy my coffee cold with a side of grumpy Bastard attitude.”
He narrowed his dark gaze. “You think this is an attitude?”
“I’m sure it can get much worse.” I bit into my toast, ignoring how that, too, had gotten hard and chilled.
“If you want your food hot, you’ll get down here when you’re called.” He tilted his head to the side.
“Yes, sir!” I lifted my hand to my forehead and brought it down in a mock salute.
“This isn’t a game.” His voice came out gravelly, almost a growl, forcing my attention to him. “We don’t regularly take in strays, much less ones that have your particular history.”
“I’m not a stray,” I said, choking back my offense. “If anything, I’m a pedigreed thoroughbred.”
“I don’t give a fuck what your last name is,” he said. “Here at the Fiver, it’s all hands on deck. The work is hard and the days are long, even in the winter. You’re another mouth to feed.”
“Yes, I heard you and your brothers whispering about me.” I snorted out an indignant scoff while I nibbled on another bite of bread. “I promise, I won’t be any trouble.”
“Oh, I know that,” he said. “You’ll follow me around and do whatever I tell you.”
Wow. The audacity of this guy astounded me. Growing up with an overbearing father, I’d gotten used to big men ordering me about, but I had only just met him.
“You should have left me in the snow,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Yeah, I probably should have,” he said, “but here you are.”
Silence fell on us while I forced another bite, deciding I could perhaps get the eggs down, too. I scooped up a forkful and swallowed, glancing around at the tiny place. Details stuck out more to me this morning than they had last night. Cobwebs lined the corners of the walls and the floors were littered with filth and decades-old patina of who knew what. When was the last time this place had been properly cleaned? I supposed it wasn’t like they had a staff that would keep the place up for them.
“Did you sleep okay?” His gruff voice cut off my line of thinking, and I glanced back to him, studying him, perhaps really seeing him for the first time.
I’d thought he was gorgeous last night, an angel sent to rescue me from certain death. In the broad daylight, that was an understatement. His square jaw gave way to high cheekbones and intense eyes that penetrated even my tough exterior. When he looked at me, I felt like I’d been stripped naked in front of him, like I couldn’t hide no matter what I did. My cheeks burned at the images floating around in my brain, and I went back to my breakfast, ignoring the way he analyzed every move I made. I could practically hear the wheels churning in his brain, trying to suss out whether I was a spy or just a silly girl that had run too far away from her problems.
“Fine,” I snapped, realizing too late how ungrateful I must have sounded. I should have thanked him, but I couldn’t let him win. If I gave him an inch, he’d take a mile. That was how the Bastards were.
“Hmm,” he said with a scowl.
I balked at his lack of decorum and proper manners but didn’t comment, just returned to my breakfast. “Why do they call you Orion?”
“Because my soul is as dark as the night sky.”
I snorted. “Orion is a constellation.”
“I’m the best hunter in the MC.”
I knew the myth about Orion. He’d been a companion of Artemis until her brother, Apollo, grew envious and tricked her into killing him. In her grief, Artemis put him in the sky so she could see him whenever she wanted.
“But Orion isn’t your real name?” I drank the rest of my coffee and finished the eggs.
“No,” came his one-word response. I waited to see if he would give me more, but he didn’t. Well, I guess I won’t be practicing my conversational skills with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broody.
My stomach churned and I stood, deciding I’d had enough breakfast for my hungover state. I grabbed my plate and dumped what little remained of my meal into the garbage before rinsing it off in the sink and loading it in the dishwasher. After I cleaned up, I turned to him and raised my eyebrows, silently telling him I was ready for whatever he had in mind.
My joints throbbed and my head ached like I’d had an anvil dropped on it, but when he pushed to his feet and stalked out of the house, I followed dutifully behind him. On the porch, he handed me a shovel and nodded down to the others. Lycan sat behind the wheel of a big industrial plow as Poe steadily carved out a path to the barn.
“Really?” I glanced up at him. “Shoveling?”
“What? Is that too far beneath you, Trust Fund?” He grabbed his own and stomped down the stairs, leaving little room for argument.
In my defense, I’d never shoveled before, and based on how tired and wrecked I felt, I wouldn’t do much good today, either. But short of blatantly refusing and stomping my way back inside the house, I didn’t see how I had another choice. Even if I did, he’d probably just haul me over his shoulder like a caveman and force me outside anyway. He wouldn’t leave me unsupervised, not that I blamed him. Our families had been enemies since before I was born. It would probably be easier to do what he wanted with little fuss, and if it made him tolerate me enough to let me stay here, surely it couldn’t be that bad. I clutched the pepper spray in my pocket, reassuring myself that I could use it at any time before stalking down the porch in my ill-fitting boots.
Sure, my siblings and I had played in blizzards as children and even had the occasional snowball fight. But I’d never done anything laborious. After a few minutes, I found a certain calm in putting myself to work, even if my hands trembled and my brain throbbed with every movement. I managed to keep up, though that was probably hubris on my part. Poe cleared more snow in twenty minutes than I did in an hour, but I blamed that on being injured.
Once the path to the barn was cleared, Orion showed me around and introduced me to the animals. I gave Judge and Pete a pat on the head and watched as Poe fed them so that I could do the same if they needed me to. I helped Lycan spread hay around for the mule and the horses, and I even offered to brush them down. Orion told me to stay away from the mare at the far end. She was big and sturdy, named Nemesis for how ornery she was around strangers.
“I can’t imagine why,” I murmured to myself as I took a step closer to her. Life with the Bastards was sure to turn even the gentlest of beasts into a monster.
“Yeah, I wonder how much worse she’d be if she’d been raised by the Vanderbilts,” Orion said low enough that he thought I couldn’t hear. But I did, and both Lycan and Poe stiffened before glancing at each other.
“What was that?” I said, turning toward him. I’d done everything he’d asked me to do this morning. I’d gotten out of bed and hauled my exhausted self out here. I’d sweat through my clothes and developed blisters on my hands, despite the gloves. I didn’t have the energy for this, even if I might have been the one that started it.
“Nothing,” he barked, moving away from me.
“Go on. Say it louder. We might as well clear the air.” Fire raged in my gut, probably due to the work and onslaught of hunger, but I’d come too far to back down now.
He shifted his broad shoulders and pulled his lips into a sneer. “Forget it.”
“Just like a Bastard,” I said. “Coward.”
That set him off. He growled and turned to me, towering over me with eyes the color of coal. “Coward? That’s real nice coming from you, Trust Fund. Your father killed dozens of my family, my parents included, and never owned up to it. How far does the apple fall, I wonder?”
“Orion—” Lycan tried to cut in, moving toward his fellow Bastard, but Orion held up a hand to stop him.
I jutted my chin up and squared my jaw, refusing to back down. Either we hashed this out or he killed me. It wouldn’t be the first time the Bastards had torn apart a Vanderbilt woman.
“Me?” I balked and let out a sardonic laugh. “Your stupid motorcycle gang killed my mother. The least you could have done would have been to leave a body. Give us something to bury. But no, I had to mourn an empty casket. Where’s the bravery in that?”
Orion took another step forward, baring his teeth in a menacing display of aggression. I nearly retreated but forced myself to stand my ground instead. My temples hurt, my muscles cramped, and I’d had enough of this elephant in the room.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, towering over me, making me feel small and insignificant in his fury.
“Don’t I?” I refused to break eye contact, holding firm. “I lost my mother, you lost yours. An eye for an eye.”
He yanked the shovel out of my hands so hard it scraped my fingers. “Stop talking, little girl. The Bastards didn’t kill your mother. You sound ridiculous.”
I swallowed and finally looked away because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing tears in my eyes. I didn’t have very many memories of her. She’d died when I was only five, but that hurt the worst. His wretched biker outlaws had stolen that life from me, the one where she came to graduations and helped me get ready for my wedding and protected me from my idiotic brothers.
“Princess,” Lycan said, nodding toward the front of the barn, “why don’t you help me make lunch?”
I stalked past Orion and Poe to follow Lycan inside.
* * *
“He doesn’t mean it,” Lycan said, squirting mayonnaise onto a piece of bread. “You being here…it’s bringing up bad memories for all of us.”
“He’s not the only one who lost people in this insidious war between our families.” I put slices of turkey down behind him, making sure to ration three slices per person according to Lycan. “Does he think I wanted my father to do those horrible things?”
“No,” Lycan said, giving me a friendly smile. Like the other two Bastards, Lycan was gorgeous. He could have been a supermodel in another life, even with the wild, roguish look in his eyes and the scruff on his jaw. “Not that I’m giving him excuses, but his default setting is grumpy and hard to be around.”
I scoffed. “Mine is stubborn and angry.”
Lycan laughed and put cheese on top of the turkey, following it up with a leaf of lettuce and a slice of tomato. “I’m surprised you stood up to him the way you did. Most people tuck tail and run the other way when he starts growling.”
“He can take his growling and shove it up his?—”
Poe and Orion stomped inside the house, interrupting my curse, and I glared at the lumbering savage, purposely showing my frustration through my expression. Orion took off his hat and placed it on the peg by the back door, clearing his throat as he eyed the lunch. He walked behind me to sit in the seat to my left, reaching in the middle of the table for the pitcher of water before pouring some into each glass.
“Have you heard from your family?” Poe asked as he took the spot opposite me. “Do you know when they plan on picking you up?”
“Poe,” Orion snapped. “Eat.” He grabbed a sandwich from the middle and plopped it down on my plate before taking one for himself. I didn’t acknowledge the action, choosing instead to sip at the water while Lycan and Poe exchanged another secret glance.
“I talked to my sister this morning,” I said, which wasn’t technically a lie. “But like you said, there’s hardly anything they can do during the storm. They know I’m safe; that’s all that matters.” I glanced to Orion, wondering if I should continue to needle him. But screw it, right? I was already stomping on thin ice. Might as well break through. “I am safe, right?”
No one spoke for a moment, and Orion glanced at me before clearing his throat and nodding.
“You mean to tell me the Vanderbilt family hasn’t figured out how to control the weather yet?” Lycan blew out a disbelieving laugh, but it was obvious by the inflection in his voice that he’d meant it as a joke.
“It’s on the list for world domination. Just wait a few years.” A laugh bubbled out of my throat while I grabbed the sandwich and took a hesitant bite. It was good, but my headache had only increased during the day and, after the argument with Orion, it interfered with my appetite. Forgoing the sandwich, I focused on the soup. That went down much easier.
They talked about what they had left to do and how they planned to keep the animals warm during the coldest parts of the night.
“Poe, you take the first shift. I’ll take the second,” Orion said. “Lycan, get your ass up early enough to check on them before breakfast.”
“Ten-four, boss,” Lycan said, giving Orion a mock salute with his middle finger.
Orion rolled his eyes, and I continued to pick at my lunch, my manners battling with my upbringing. I’d never had to shovel out a stall in my life, nor had I slept in a barn to make sure the animals stayed safe. But, it couldn’t be that hard, right?
Yeah, they seemed like weathered, grizzled men that had seen their share of hard work, but if they could do it…
“Is there anything I can help with?” I hesitantly asked, taking another slow sip of soup, savoring in the warmth it brought to my belly. “If I’m not trustworthy in the house by myself, you might as well put me to work.”
Poe pursed his lips, and Lycan rubbed a hand over his mouth, glancing at Orion. The older Bastard stared at me, placing his elbows on the table before intertwining his fingers over his plate.
“Perhaps I was overzealous.” Orion raised an eyebrow. “Do you enjoy doing dishes and scrubbing toilets?”
I recoiled and twisted my nose into a scrunch. “Not particularly.”
“Well, what do you suppose you’ll be doing inside while we’re in the barn? Sitting around, painting your nails?” He glanced down at my chipped polish, and I quickly hid them under the table.
“We’re planning on mucking out the sheep pen this afternoon.” Poe asked, his eyes lighting up with hope. “Pick your poison.”
“Princesses don’t shovel shit,” Lycan cut in, rubbing his hand over the younger man’s brown hair. “Only snot nose emo boys from Baltimore.”
Poe laughed and shoved Lycan’s hand away. “Shut up, fucker.”
“Make me, bitch,” Lycan snapped back. They stared at each other for a few tense moments before Poe pushed his chair back from the table. Lycan launched himself upright, and the two of them took off through the front of the house, Lycan throwing open the front door while Poe followed him out into the chill of the afternoon snow.
“Shut the door behind—” The slamming of the entry cut off Orion’s shout. “Apologies. They weren’t raised right but I’m working on it.”
I didn’t respond, still seething from our argument an hour ago and his continued broody disposition. As I sipped more of the soup, silence fell between us. I normally didn’t feel safe around strangers, especially ones that hated me and my family. And Orion certainly looked intimidating. He had strong, angular features and hard, menacing eyes that likely saw far more than they should. When he set that penetrating stare on me, it seemed like he could look right through me, all the way down to the terrified girl inside. Did he know about my brother’s deal with the Scorpions? Did he know I hadn’t told my family where I was or when I’d be back?
“I’m not opposed to shoveling shit,” I suddenly said, trying to draw his attention away from whatever he’d seen when he looked inside my soul.
He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and shook his head. “Poe’s just being a prick.”
“I understand why,” I said. “I’m a liability. A burden.” I threw his own words from this morning back at him. “But I can pull my own weight.”
“Can you lift a bale of hay?” Orion raised his eyebrows at my silence. “Do you even know how to feed sheep in the winter?”
“I’m a quick learner,” I said. “Vanderbilt currency is money, but if the Royal Bastards require more from me?—”
“You have no idea what you’ve stepped in, do you?” Orion rubbed his hands over his face. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“I know,” I said. “But there’s nowhere else for me to go, at least not for a few days. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Would it make you feel better to see me cleaning toilets? Fine. As long as you don’t leave me to freeze to death outside.”
Orion took a deep breath and pulled his lips into a thin line before placing the rest of his soup in front of me. “I’m sorry for what I said out there.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not,” he said, softening his tone. “You were a child when that shit went down. Neither of us had anything to do with it. But Isolde, I promise you…the Bastards didn’t kill your mother. We had nothing to do with her disappearance.” Orion met my gaze with something like kindness echoing out of his. For someone who seemed so stern and furious most of the time, this rare act dialed my rage to a simmer. I wanted to believe him. Everything in my gut told me he was telling the truth. But if that was the case, what had happened to my mother? And why would my father lie about it for years?
“Perhaps I was too hard on you,” he continued, “Perhaps…perhaps you could spend the afternoon tidying the place up, if you want.”
Seeing as my stomach still churned and my brain didn’t feel like it fit inside my skull, the thought of being out of the storm for the rest of the day came as a huge relief.
“I can do that,” I said.
“Perhaps we can call a truce.” He raised his eyebrows.
I nodded and held out a hand between us. “A truce.”
He grabbed my palm, squeezed it tight, and gave it a shake. The tentative fervor of safety settled in my gut.
Giving me one last nod, he flipped his hat over his head and headed out the same way Lycan and Poe had. Then, I choked back the rest of my soup before devouring what Orion had left, trying to ignore the fact that he hadn’t argued with me when I’d called my presence a burden.
As the second youngest child in a house with seven siblings, I’d gotten used to being seen and not heard. It wasn’t until most of them had gone to school that Father paid any attention to me, and even then, I wouldn’t call it cozy or familial. We were close, but he was still emotionless and distant most of the time.
I didn’t expect the Bastards to accept me with wide open arms, especially not after the way our families had treated each other. Based on the less than twenty-four hours I’d spent with them, I already had a better opinion of the Bastards than I did the Scorpions. No one had assaulted me or compared me to a brood mare. No one had made me feel so out of place and time.
When I finished, I washed the dishes and put them away. It was a strange feeling, cleaning up after everyone, one that I’d never had to experience before. But standing at the kitchen sink, watching the guys work outside, a unique sense of pride blossomed in my torso. Almost like I enjoyed it. But that was silly, wasn’t it? Who enjoyed doing manual labor, especially when they didn’t have to?
After that, I went upstairs and found my soiled clothes from the night before. But then, I stood in front of the washing machine, unsure which knobs to turn or buttons to push. It wasn’t like I was completely useless; I’d just never had to do this before. For as hard as my father had been on us, we’d always had staff to handle these things, even when I was at boarding school. Most of my clothes were dry clean only.
I stared down at my designer blouse and tailored trousers and wondered if it was even worth the effort. Besides, how long would I really be here? A few days? A week, max? Resigned, I put my underwear and pants in the opening, added some soap, and turned it to delicate, hoping for the best.
By late afternoon, I wandered around the tiny space with a duster I found in a closet, wiping at the counters and spinning it through the cobwebs in the corners. I paused to stoke the fire before adding a few more logs, and I glanced at the photos on the mantel, recognizing my three hosts among the crowd of other leather-wearing, muscle-wielding Bastards. They looked happy. I had understood the Bastards to be terrible, horrible men, vicious and unruly. But these three had been relatively decent, even if Orion was snarly and grumpy.
I figured the others didn’t want me here, either. Poe had argued that Orion should have left me to the elements. Maybe he was right. I made their situation more complicated. Like Orion had said, I was just another mouth to feed. I swiped over the dust and grime on the mantel and countertops, greeting a spider that had made its home in one of the corners of the room.
“I shall call you Spencer,” I said, giving the little thing a smile and deciding to let him live. “Spencer the spider.”
Instead of making friends with all the insects I found in the proverbial man-cave, I continued my dusting on the lower level before heading upstairs. I did my room first and quickly made my way through Lycan and Poe’s, grimacing at the used condoms and empty beer bottles in the trash.
Not my business.
Judging by the suitcases full of clothes, they didn’t live here full time, which made sense as I knew they had a bigger ranch in the middle of their property.
The smell of the two men mixed heavily in the air, making my head pound harder despite the food and the caffeine. Some kind of warning instinct in my gut had me turning around and leaving as soon as I was done.
A door at the end of the hallway opened to a rickety set of stairs, which led to an unfinished attic stacked with boxes and plastic containers. I figured I could spend weeks up there and still not go through it all. So I went back to the second level and wandered to the bedroom next to mine, twisting the handle to open the door.
A rush of Orion’s clean, woodsy scent bombarded me, so tantalizing and male , and I inhaled it deeply, as if it could ease the aches in my body with aromatherapy. It entranced me, luring me in. Sure, he probably wouldn’t like me invading his private space, but I couldn’t resist. The temptation of him…of being close to him…hit me behind the knees, propelling me into the room.
I didn’t understand the compulsion, especially since he’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t like me or want me around. None of that reason or logic stopped the sensation from settling in my veins like aged whiskey.
Where Lycan and Poe had left their blankets thrown about, matching their clothes on the floor, Orion had made his bed this morning. His clothes were hung in his closet or put in the dresser, folded and organized. His spare boots were lined up in their proper spot under his mattress, and another picture of the Bastards sat on an end table next to his bed.
I picked it up and brought it closer so I could see. This one had more people than the one downstairs, women included, and Orion looked like a teenager as he stood on the far end. But my gaze caught on a tall, dark-haired woman in the background. She looked to be in her late twenties or midthirties, like a female version of the grumpy Bastard I loathed, her a radiant smile stretching from ear to ear.
“What are you doing?” The gruff voice made me jump, and I nearly lost my hold on the frame. Orion stood in the doorway, leaning against the jamb with his arms crossed.
Busted.
“Cleaning, like you told me,” I said, running the duster over the table before holding the picture up to him. “Who’s this woman in the back?”
It had to have been his mother.
He pushed himself upright and walked closer, the sway of his hips reminding me of how a predator stalks its prey. When he got close enough, he stared down at me, the heat radiating off him in suffocating waves that nearly brought me to my knees. He smelled like sweat and deodorant and ice-covered outside, and that, too, entranced me. I wanted more of it. I wanted to bury myself in it.
Orion didn’t answer. He just grabbed the picture from my hands and put it back on the nightstand.
“It’s time for dinner,” he said, stalking to the door but stopping to make sure I followed him. I paused to glance at the photo one last time before moving, turning to my side when I passed him in order to squeeze through the tiny opening he’d left for me.
The tips of my breasts brushed against his lower chest, and I sucked in a breath, ignoring the zap of energy and heat that ricocheted through my muscles.
Nope . Danger. Danger. Do not read into that.