Page 29 of Blood of Vengeance

Unfortunately, Flinch was about to protect me from someone who didn’t deserve the wrath aimed his way.

“I’m fine.” I stepped in front of him, using my body as a barrier to keep him away from Rooster. Shivering slightly as he pressed into me, as his hand slipped around to hold on to my hip as if anchoring me to him. “I was nervous, but everything’s fine.”

“What’s happening here?” Rooster asked, looking as confused as he should have been. “What did I do?”

“You fucking scared her,” Flinch said, moving as if to push past me but allowing me to stop him. I held on to his cut and refused to move, keeping my body pressed to his. Keeping us still in that moment. We both knew he could have shoved me aside, but I wasn’t letting him slip by, and he wasn’t manhandling me out of the way. Instead, he held on to my hip tighter, keeping us close. Connected. And fuck if protective and grabby-handed Flinch wasn’t even hotter. His hands felt right on my body, even if the timing was all sorts of wrong.

“She wanted to get out of the house,” Rooster said with his hands up as if trying to show he had no weapons, forcing my attention back to him. Breaking through the haze that had seemed to settle around me since Flinch had arrived. “I honestly just thought she might like the view.”

“I do,” I said, trying to get Flinch’s attention. Trying to make my point clear. “I think with my dad’s death and the isolation out here, I got a little nervous. I shouldn’t have called you.”

Flinch looked down at me, his brow furrowed. Those ice-blue eyes stabbing me in place even as they made my heart race faster.

“You absolutely should have called me if you felt nervous.” He ran a single finger down my cheek, lowering his head and his voice. Making me feel as if we were having a private conversation. “I’ll always come to help you.”

Dead. I was dead. Right there on the hill, murdered by simple words from Flinch’s lips. How had this happened? And why did I suddenly want to kiss the man more than breathe?

“Sounds like a miscommunication,” Cutter said, walking past us to look out over the valley. Shattering the moment into a thousand pieces.

Flinch kept his eyes locked on mine, kept our bodies tight together with his arm around my back while his thumb rubbed against my rib cage. “You good?”

I nodded, leaning my forehead against his chest. Relaxing into his embrace.

“This is an incredible view Rooster found.” Cutter stood on a slight rise, staring off into the distance. “I had no idea you could see the valley from out here. And no tourists.”

“Exactly,” Rooster said, coming to stand to the side so he could address Flinch, catching my eye for just a second before focusing on the man who had turned me just enough to put his shoulder between me and the redhead. “I’m sorry if bringing Locklyn here was a bad idea—I wasn’t thinking about how being so far out might bother her because of Chiggy.”

This time, the growl came from a different Hellion member. From a giant of a man who had risen to his feet and dismounted to stand a few steps behind Flinch. The man they called Rush, who happened to have one hell of a growl. “She’s a woman alone with a man she doesn’t know in a secluded area—it’s about more than Chiggy, you dumbfuck.”

And damn if he wasn’t right. But Rush’s addition to the moment only made Flinch more tense, which was the wrong direction to go in. “I’m fine. Really.”

“She’s fine,” Zella said, her voice carrying across the quiet from the phone I still clutched in my hand. “But I really was about to haul ass down there. You can’t leave her alone and not expect her to get into trouble, Flinch.”

Cutter cocked his head, staring at the phone in my hand as if he had no idea what it was. “Who is that?”

“Zella. My best friend.”

“She’s a little sassy,” Rooster said. “And she’ll get a man in trouble with that mouth.”

Zella huffed audibly. “Not my fault you were digging.”

Cutter kept staring at my phone, his expression dark and unreadable. Which only made me more uncomfortable, so I lifted the phone, my finger over the end call button.

“I’ll call you later, Zee.” And then I hung up, not missing the flash of anger that danced across Cutter’s face. “Uh… Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about—she’s right.” Flinch sighed and pulled me in tighter before turning us so we stood side by side. Still holding on to me, though. Still teasing me with his thumb, too. “Next time you want to take her somewhere, check in with me.”

Rooster nodded once in a way that screamed respect. It also screamed he was never taking on babysitting duties again. “Understood.”

“So, we good here?” Cutter asked, grunting softly when Flinch nodded. “Then let’s get back on the road. We have a few more brothers to find before the wake at the clubhouse.”

It was my turn to frown. “There’s a wake?”

“Hellions only,” Banger said, piping up from where he sat on his bike. “Your dad wouldn’t want you there.”

I stiffened, unable not to, and immediately looked to Flinch. I had no idea what he saw on my face that made him react, but he growled low and garnered the attention of everyone on his team.

“Rooster can take my spot on the team for the night. I’m staying with Locklyn.”

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