Chapter 5 Grave
GRAVE
I carried Everly in my arms and felt her press deep into my muscles.
She felt like a bag full of feathers. Light to the touch and soft against my skin.
I bit down on my tongue to keep my body from raging out of control.
Her body against mine stroked a fire in my gut I hadn’t allowed to rage in so long.
I walked her into her room and laid her down in bed, desperately fighting the urge to press my lips to hers.
She rolled them into her mouth, like she was thinking hard about something in her sleep.
And as she released them, I watched as they unfurled.
Like a rose’s petals blooming in the spring.
I tucked her into bed, making sure she kept nice and warm.
The back of my house always stayed the coldest at night, but I couldn't have her in the other guest bedroom. Between how much she seemed to enjoy the view of the sky and how close she would be if she was in the other bedroom, I couldn’t chance it.
I could feel my cock throbbing between my legs, even as I tucked her in.
I smoothed some hair away from her forehead and bit back a growl. Her skin was electric, and I could feel it coursing through the cells of my skin.
I backtracked out of her room and shut the door.
I went out into the living room and took a seat on the couch.
The furniture creaked underneath my weight, signaling to me that I’d probably need a new one soon.
I tore through furniture. It was hard to find decently made shit that held my weight on a regular basis.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, knowing damn good and well Diesel wanted to know when we were safe.
“You guys make it?” he asked.
“And hello to you, too. Yep. We’re good. Got her laid up in a room and everything.”
“Good. How is she? Knox wants to know.”
I felt a twinge of jealousy at the fact that another man wanted to know how she was doing.
“She’s good. Stronger than she looks. She liked my porch.”
“Everyone likes your porch,” Diesel said.
“Put her up in that back room with some blankets. You know, the one you always stay in.”
“She’ll enjoy that skylight if she likes the stars,” he said.
“That was the plan, yeah.”
“You okay? You sound… tense.”
“Haven’t had a woman in my home ever.”
“First time for everything. Just try to keep your dick to yourself.”
“Not a problem with that one,” I said.
Though that was the biggest fucking lie I’d ever told anyone.
“Rock’s going to the store for you guys tomorrow and he’s wanting a list because he’s an uptight asshole when it comes to food.”
“How many times has he asked for one?”
“Twelve. He’s drunk as fuck,” he said.
“That’s what happens when you take Rock drinking. He’s a repeater,” I said.
“Could you send him a fucking list so he’ll shut up?”
“Once you get off the phone with me, sure.”
Diesel hung up the call immediately and I chuckled on the couch.
Rock really was the most annoying little asshole when he drank.
He became a sap. Telling everyone he loved them and constantly repeating himself.
I grinned as I pulled up a text message to the drunk ass, then began to type out things Everly and I would need.
I wanted to make sure she ate well. She would need her strength with the task she was about to take on.
Milk. Eggs. Bread. Marbled ribeye steaks. Chicken breasts. Buttermilk.
The list went on for a while, but if Everly was going to be here for six weeks, it would take a lot of food to keep us entertained and energetic. I sent about three weeks’ worth of groceries to Rock and told him I would be coming to the lodge tomorrow with money to pay him back for everything.
The text message I got back?
“Got it. Love you, man.”
Even in text messages, he was the sappiest man on the planet.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and started for my room.
I slipped in and shut the door behind me, then breathed a sigh of relief.
Getting some space between myself and Everly was going to be necessary.
I wanted her. Every part of me wanted to go into her room and wake her up with my tongue between her legs.
The thought of it alone sent shivers down my spine and pulsed the veins of my cock.
But I couldn't have her.
She was terrified of what she was going through, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of that.
I stripped out of my clothes and slid into bed with nothing but my boxers on.
I usually slept naked, but if Everly was the type to barge in on me for some reason I didn’t want her seeing my cock salute her first thing in the damn morning.
I pulled the covers over me and stared up at the skylight, watching the stars twinkle above me.
But all that did was remind me of Everly’s excitement
I had no fucking clue how I was gonna entertain this woman for weeks on end.
Hell, only the guys ever came to stay for a damn night.
I didn’t have family that visited, so I didn’t have shit like board games or whatever it was families did at night.
I did manage to snag some internet out in the middle of fucking nowhere, but it was spotty at best. Strong enough to stream movies and television shows with two or three other things connected to it.
But streaming more than that at once and the internet failed every damn time.
Shit. I couldn't entertain the damn woman with Netflix for six weeks.
I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep, but all I saw was her.
Sleeping in that bed, curled up without a man next to her.
I bet she enjoyed it when a man pulled her close.
Slinked his arm around her waist and cupped that small pooch at her belly.
Fuck, I could kiss that bare shoulder of hers in the morning before my hands drifted below her panties, pulling her awake with nothing but the sound of her own panting.
And my growling in her ear.
I shook the thought away and opened my eyes.
Damn it, I had to find a way to get her off my fucking mind.
That wasn’t going to happen. She was scared and running from her brother.
From The Black Saddles. From a club we all knew would want her dead with what she had done.
I fisted my comforter and pulled it over my shoulder, then turned on my side as the frame groaned underneath my weight.
The frames in this damn house would probably break underneath the weight of both of us anyway.
I tossed and turned for two hours before I decided to get out of bed.
I pulled on some pants and walked into the kitchen, rummaging around for something to eat.
I couldn't sleep in my damn bed and dream about her body all fucking night. I’d end up pouncing on her in the morning simply to relieve my damn desires.
I wasn’t used to holding myself back. I took what I wanted when I wanted it and was done with it.
I knew how to pinpoint women who enjoyed that sort of thing and I fucked until I was satiated.
But I couldn't do that with Everly.
She was frightened. Apprehensive. But most of all?
I could tell she wasn’t that type of woman.
I made myself a candied BLT from some leftover bacon I’d candied the other day and sat down in a chair.
I reached for my remote and turned on the television, then began flipping through one of my many streaming services.
I’d never admit it to the guys, but I was a reality television junkie.
But the shit I loved to watch were all those restaurant and bar and home renovation shows.
Where people went in, yelled at everyone for a little while, then somehow magically turned their bullshit into success stories.
Gordon Ramsay was the cream of the crop with shit like that.
I started up Hell’s Kitchen and took a massive bite of my sandwich.
I turned the television down so Everly wouldn’t be woken up and watched episode after episode of that man beating people down and calling them every name under the sun.
I finished my sandwich in a few bites and brushed my chest off, telling myself I’d clean my chair in the morning.
But then, a sound caught my ear.
I could hear rustling at the back of my house and I leapt out of my chair.
My heavy footfalls became as silent as the night draping around my house.
I went over to my kitchen counter and pulled out a drawer, then pulled my gun from the hidden compartment.
I cocked it as one of the bedroom doors swung open, and I didn’t get the gun leveled down the hallway before I saw her.
Everly, with her tangled blonde hair and her wide blue eyes.
And she looked like she had seen a ghost.
“Everly? What's wrong?” I asked.
She was standing at the end of the hallway panting, but she didn’t act as if she could hear me. I set the gun down on the edge of the kitchen counter before I took a step towards her, and if she could see me she didn’t act like she could.
“Everly?” I asked. “Can you hear me?”
She stood there, her fists clenching and unclenching. Her eyes were wide open, but they were unfocused. Hazy. Far away. I stood at the opposite end of the hallway and watched her curiously, waiting to see if she would snap out of whatever trance she was in.
“I see you,” she said.
“I see you too, Everly.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?” I asked.
“I love you.”
She what?
“I wanted the best for you…”
Tears dripped from her unblinking eyes as I took another step towards her.
“Everly, can you hear me? It’s Grave,” I said.
But I didn’t get another step in before she charged down the hallway.
Her feet took off, carrying her as fast as she could move.
Which was fast, given the fact that I was pretty sure she was still asleep.
I braced myself for impact and opened my arms to her, and felt the weight of her body slam into my chest. Her feet kept trying to run as I wrapped my arms around her, cradling her against me as she fought.
Her hands raked against my skin and her feet stopped moving, and as I looked down upon her face I saw her eyes close.
And with that, her body settled back out.
Like nothing had ever happened.
I gathered her in my arms and took her back to bed.
So Everly was a sleepwalker. That would make things more interesting around here.
Was it something she did often? Or was it something that happened when she was under stress?
Or maybe in a new surrounding? That sometimes did it to people.
Mick was a sleepwalker in new places. He did it the first two times he ever came over to my place.
Fucking got up and started walking around.
Turned on my damn stove. Put an apple in the damn microwave.
How the hell was I going to keep Everly safe from shit like that?
I laid her back down in bed and tucked her back in.
I could always flip the lock on the door and lock her in.
But she wasn’t my prisoner. She wasn’t some animal that needed to be caged.
I stood over her and watched, listening to her soft snores fall from between her lips.
She looked so peaceful. A stark contrast to the moment I’d just witnessed.
Who had she been talking to?
Rex, possibly?
I stepped out of her room and closed the door behind me, but now I knew I couldn’t sleep in my own room.
Had she kept running down that damn hallway, she would’ve run straight into the front door.
Nope. If she was going to sleepwalk, then I was going to sleep in a place where I could hear her.
A place where I could intervene if things got rough with her nightmares.
I gathered my comforter off my bed and made my way out to my couch, then set myself up with Hell’s Kitchen muted in the background.
Yep. I was on the couch for the next six weeks.
Fuck. The shit I did for pretty little girls was insane.