Page 2 of Bound by Adoration

More than anything I had to think. The sheer masculine energy radiating off either of these men alone made brain function difficult. Put them together, and I was fucked. Natural instincts and carnal desires took over in their presence individually, but together my brain was on overload. My body, though, was fire. Burning hot, scorching from the inside out with their close proximity. Space. I needed it like air.

Trying to wiggle out of Raid’s grasp, he didn’t allow it and held me tighter. Fucker was strong. Had to give him that.

Eyes swinging to him, I said, “I’m okay.” Not. “Let me get to my feet.” There was a bit of a growl to my tone, but I needed to stand tall and not be wrapped up in this sexy man to figure out how all of this was going to play out. My head needed to be clear to think. His strength and smell of leather would not help in that endeavor.

“Maybe you should lay down a bit,” Raid suggested, and I felt my brows pull together in dismay.

Seriously?

Lay down?

What would that solve when my life was shattering under my feet?

Right, Raid. No fucking way.

I didn’t lay the fuck down when my world imploded before, and I sure as shit wouldn’t do it now. Did I want to deal with this? Fuck no. But there wasn’t a choice in the matter now.

Big girl panties up. Balls out. Let’s go.

“Let. Me. Up.” Emphasizing each word clearly, he had no doubt I meant what I said.

“Let her up, Raid,” Liam said, and my head swung to him. He called him Raid. They knew each other? No, that couldn’t be true. How the hell was this happening?

“You know Raid?” I asked Liam, stunned, my breath leaving my body in a whoosh.

These two men couldn’t know each other. Sumner was too small of a place. A blip on the map. Yes, the Ravage MC was well known, but the way Liam said Raid’s name felt as though they had some type of personal relationship. I knew Liam, and I knew him well. His reaction, they definitely had some history. Good or bad, that was to be determined. Guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought.

Fuck, if they knew each other … did Raid know about me before? My mind started to drift, and I couldn’t help the curiosity of knowing. Screw that. No, I needed to know.

A hard line furrowed Liam’s brow, and his tone held a tight edge I hadn’t heard before as he answered, “Yeah. We know each other.”

“Yeah, we fuckin’ do,” Raid said, standing with me still in his arms. He then stood me on my feet a bit abruptly.

Dizziness hit momentarily, but I shook it off quickly. Raid didn’t let me go, though. Instead, he clutched my hand tightly and pulled me close to his side. That territorial shit men did. It was like him pissing on my leg and screaming “mine” at the top of his lungs. No thank you. That shit I did not like.

“Raid. Let go.” I tried shaking my hand loose to no avail. The man was too damn strong for his own good.

“No.” He laced our fingers tightly together, and I had to admit that girly part of me loved that small gesture. If it were for another reason, it probably would’ve made my panties wet, but now, no.

His sole focus had turned to Liam who was staring him down like he could incinerate him with his gaze and make him disappear. Honestly, I didn’t know who’d win that battle in the end. Size wise, they were quite similar. I had seen Raid when it came to business and standing up for things. I could only imagine how much worse he would be feeling the need to protect me. Liam, he wasn’t one to back down, and his level of care for me ran deep as well. Together they would more than likely be a deadly combination.

Considering I didn’t want to talk about me, a little attention on them wouldn’t hurt. It appeared they had some questions that needed to be answered too. And I needed to know how I was involved. “How do you know each other?”

“I’m thinkin’ first you’ve got some things to explain, Cami,” Liam said, looking Raid up and down. Shit. Was he going to pull his gun out? Shoot him? No. That couldn’t happen. I might be in a fucked-up mess, but that didn’t mean anyone could die. Especially not either of these two.

Liam took a step toward me.

“Keep tryin’ to get to Nyx, and see how that goes for ya,” Raid challenged Liam who didn’t even blink, which was surprising. Raid wasn’t a big teddy bear, all warm and fuzzy.

But my temper was about ready to explode, and the leash it was on was threatening to break. I glared up at him. “Don’t give me any shit, Cujo.”

“Nyx?” Liam asked then. “Cujo?” he asked again. “You two are together?”

“Yes,” Raid said just as I said, “No.”

Raid growled low, “You need me to kiss ya right now and show ya how together we are? Don’t start that shit again.” Yes, a shiver went down my spine, and it pissed me off because he was right. If his lips touched mine, I’d be a goner. Hell, his hand touching me was enough for me to lose it.

“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me,” Liam spat, his disapproval evident in his tone. He tossed his head back in frustration before coming back to look at me. “No fucking way.”

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