Chapter 11 Wren
CHAPTER ELEVEN
WREN
“That’s all?” Pete asks as I blink my eyes open and look around. It’s light out now, and we seem to be parked in a motel parking lot. Not the one I’ve been staying at, though.
“We ate a lot on the journey here. Food’s not cheap,” Sly says grimly as I sit up and turn to face them.
“What’s going on?” I ask, yawning and stretching my arms and back. Dex’s eyes track my movement, amusement filling his gaze.
“We only have fifty-two dollars left, it’s not enough for a room,” Sly says glumly.
“Just drop me off at a convenience store, I’ll rob it,” Pete says as if stealing isn’t a big deal. But maybe to him it isn’t?
“What? No! You don’t need to do that, I have enough for a room.”
“You’ve got some money?” Dex asks, seeming surprised.
“Yeah, I didn't leave completely empty-handed. How much do we need?”
“For the room, we just need another thirty,” Sly says, watching me as I pull a couple of crumpled bills from my pocket and hand them over.
“Is this enough?”
He flattens them out and looks up at me.
He doesn’t smile, but by the slight crinkle at the corners of his eyes, I can tell he’s pleased.
For some reason, that makes me squirm as I move off Jagger’s lap to the small space between him and Dex.
“Perfect. I’ll get the room so we can finally get out of this car, then we can make plans. ”
“Plans?” I ask after he slips from the car and heads into the lobby.
“He means for food. We might have to do some pilfering,” Pete says with a grin.
“I could break open a vending machine?” Dex suggests.
“Do you guys always resort to crime first?” I ask, curiously.
“We need to feed you,” Pete says with a shrug.
“Is this about money again? I told you I have some.”
Jagger points through the windshield as Sly makes his way back to us with a key dangling from his fingers.
He opens the door beside Jagger, and between the two of them, they help me out onto my feet. All four of them surround me as I stretch my back, then look up… and up.
“You guys are so tall,” I say in surprise as I rub the back of my neck.
“Aw, angel, if I didn’t already love you, that comment would have sealed the deal,” Pete says with a grin.
“You—What?” I ask, my heart leaping in my chest at the use of the L word. He’s never even met me in person before.
Then again, I knew I was in love with all of them, and had been for months.
Getting to know them through letters had made me feel connected to them in a way I never had with anyone before.
However, it was a lot different seeing them in person.
They were so much more… real. It was a little hard to connect the men who wrote those letters with their real-life counterparts.
“Let’s not linger, come on,” Sly says, leading the way around the side of the building to room number twelve.
Jagger places his hands on my shoulders from behind as Sly unlocks the door and he and Dex enter, checking the place out first.
“It’s safe,” Sly calls, and Jagger nudges me forward.
Inside, there are two queen beds and a small table with two chairs. I wasn’t sure how we’d all fit sleeping in here, but it sure beats the car.
Pete runs to the bathroom, yelling, “Dibs!” as Sly inspects all the drawers and cupboards. The rest of us fan out and look around.
“What’s the time?” I ask, looking for a clock.
Sly pulls out a cellphone. “Three o’clock.”
“I’ve been asleep all day?” I feel slightly embarrassed as I turn to Jagger, my eyes wide. “I’m so sorry! You could have moved me off your lap; that must have been so uncomfortable.
Dex snorts, and when he sees my worried look glance his way, he grins. “Baby, he loved it.”
“He did?” I ask, turning back to Jagger, who nods, making some of the tension leave me.
“I’m jealous you weren’t sleeping on me,” Dex adds. I give him a wary look. He couldn’t really mean that, could he?
“Wren,” Sly says, taking a seat on the corner of the bed closest to me.
“Come here,” he crooks his finger at me, and I move to stand in front of him.
It triggers a memory of Tony the biker beckoning me the same way, and I hesitate.
But this feels completely different. I want to move closer to Sly, so I do.
He gently grabs my hips and pulls me to stand between his spread knees before he takes my hands in his. “There was an empty row of seats behind you, so if one of them wanted to stretch out, they could have. But they wanted to stay close to you. We all did.”
“Oh,” I say quietly as I stare into his beautiful green eyes. “Your eyes are so pretty,” I say quietly. He blinks at me in surprise, and I hear Dex snort in amusement.
Sly seems to shake himself out of it before reaching for something on the bed beside him. He holds up a bag of ice, which he must have gotten from the little fridge he found. “I need to ice your face. It’s red and swollen where he hit you. Does it hurt?”
“A little,” I tell him as he presses it against my cheek, the cold making me hiss in surprise.
“I’m sorry we didn’t do this earlier. I was afraid to stop, but we should have. I need to get you some painkillers.”
“I don’t mind, Sly. I’m just happy to be away from there.”
He hums, slow and low, his thumb skimming my cheek as his eyes move over me. His gaze lingers, steady and unreadable, like he’s only now seeing me—really seeing me—for the first time. When a minute passes, and he hasn’t said anything, I whisper his name in question, “Sly?”
“I just want to look at you,” he says quietly. “For nine months, I’ve been trying to picture you. And now that you’re here…” His gaze drags over me, slow and reverent. “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”
My heart stutters.
“Fucking gorgeous,” Pete says as he exits the bathroom, eyes fixed on me.
I gulp nervously, realizing I haven’t exactly had a chance to meet him properly without the chaos of their rescue or him being stuck behind the wheel.
Sly pulls the ice bag back, letting me go as I turn toward Pete. He watches me with a hint of amusement and interest as I walk over to where he’s standing and give him the best curtsy I can manage, almost toppling over from bending so low.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Peter,” I say before rising back to my feet. When my eyes meet his, I see confusion and shock.
“What was that?” he asks, his brows furrowing together. “Did you just curtsy?”
“I would have greeted the others like that, but I didn’t have the opportunity.”
“But why did you do that?” Sly asks.
“Why?” I ask in confusion as I look at him over my shoulder. “That’s the proper way to greet men. To show them respect.”
They glance at each other as if sharing in a silent conversation before Sly speaks again, more carefully this time. “Did your brother teach you that?”
I nod, and he presses his lips together with a knowing tilt of his head, like he expected that answer. “Curtsying is rather antiquated,” he says. “You’d only ever need to do it now if you were to meet a king, or someone of comparable rank.”
“But…” I trail off, feeling confused. “How do I show them that I respect their position as my superior?”
They’re all silent for about three seconds before three of them start talking at once.
“Your superior?”
“What the actual fuck?”
“I’ll kill him!”
My head darts around in confusion, unsure where their anger is aimed. When I take a step away from Pete, his jaw snaps shut, cutting off whatever he was saying, then he drops to his knees and reaches out a hand toward me.
“Come back,” he pleads with giant puppy dog eyes that instantly soften me, reminding me of his tender, playful side that I got to know through his letters.
I give him my hand, and he pulls me closer.
“Angel, there is no man in this world who is above you, including me. Your brother’s an asshole.
You need to forget what he said. If he were here, I’d rip out his insides and have him stuffed in a kneeling position, so he’d be groveling at your feet for the rest of eternity. ”
I blink twice, trying to take in the casual threat of murder alongside such a romantic gesture.
Not sure how to respond to that, I ask, “How should I greet you then?”
“Ideally, with your tongue down my throat, but I’d settle for a hug?”
“Pete!” Sly says his name like a curse.
I decide to ignore the first part of what he said, unsure what he means, as I lift my arms and wrap them around his neck. His slide around my waist, pulling me tight against him. He’s still on his knees, pressing his head against my chest as I hug him.
My heart beats happily at finally being close to him. After months of mailing letters back and forth, he is actually here, holding me.
“Are you sure this isn’t a dream?” I whisper just loud enough for him to hear as I thread my fingers in the back of his soft brown hair.
He squeezes me a little tighter. “It’s real, angel. I’m here.”
I pull back to get a better look at his face, since it’s much closer to my own height now.
I push his brown hair away from his enticing green eyes and study his face.
I take in the small scar on the edge of his cheek, the slight upturn of his lip, then my eyes trail down to the short beard covering his chin, barely more than stubble.
“Can I touch?” I ask, my eyes darting to his in question.
“My body is yours; you can touch me anywhere.” He smirks as I run my fingers across his jaw, bringing them back up to scrape my nails through his beard on a second pass. It’s coarse, but something about it makes me want to keep touching it. It was the same way yesterday with Dex and Jagger.
My finger follows a small scar that disappears into his beard, and when our eyes meet again, the air shifts. The look he gives me steals my breath, intense and unreadable. It makes something deep inside me tighten, caught somewhere between fear and excitement.
Someone claps, and I jump in surprise, turning to see Jagger motion to his mouth.
“I think he’s hungry,” I guess, and his nod tells me I’m right.