Page 1 of Guarded By Them

Chapter One

Rue

––––––––

“FUCK! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, fuck!”

Now that we were away from the public eye, Dillon lashed out.

His fist connected with a vase on the hall console, sending it crashing to the floor. His clawed hand caught the corner of a picture on the wall, and that went flying, too. He kicked out at a chair and tore cushions from the couch. He was a whirling dervish, filled with a helpless anger that he was taking out on the apartment. I’d never seen him like this, and I cowered back, frightened of him for the first time since we’d met.

Ryan and Kodee exchanged glances, both knowing better than to try to step in. Dillon was like an intense fire. Eventually, he would burn himself out.

We’d driven straight back to the apartment after we’d met up on the underpass. There was a good chance other members of Joe Nettie’s gang would figure out who had killed their men and rescued me, and they’d be on their way here, too. But even though it was dangerous, we’d had no choice but to return.

I’d come so close to ending up back in the hands of Joe Nettie’s people. If Kodee and the others hadn’t saved me, I’d probably have been dead by nightfall. Chills ran down my spine at how close I’d come to dying. I’d most likely have been raped several times before that happened, and tortured, too. Dillon, Kodee, and Ryan had saved my life, and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to repay them.

Dillon’s anger wasn’t showing any signs of burning out.

Kodee stepped in and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him back around. “For fuck’s sake, Dillon, stop it.”

Dillon tried to yank himself away, but Kodee grabbed his other arm, pulling him against him. Dillon was breathing hard, his shoulders heaving.

“We killed Nettie’s men,” he blurted, “and now they’re going to be after us. We just totally fucked up our lives.”

Kodee released Dillon’s arms but grabbed his face instead. He cupped his cheeks forcefully in his palms and stared into his eyes. “We don’t have time for this. They’re going to realize who took Rue soon enough and come looking for us. You can freak out later.”

“We’re fucked.” Dillon tried to wrench his face from Kodee’s grasp, seemingly not hearing what Kodee was saying. “We can’t go back.”

Kodee grabbed him by the jaw and kissed him hard. He teased open his mouth, working his lips with his own, before pushing his tongue between Dillon’s lips.

Despite the circumstances, my breath caught at the sight. My core tightened and my nipples pebbled beneath my shirt. It took all my self-control not to throw myself at them, my palms itching to touch their skin, my lips tingling with a need to join the kiss. They were so beautiful together.

Dillon remained tense for a moment, but then his shoulders softened, his back arching as he pressed himself against Kodee’s tall frame.

I exchanged a glance with Ryan, who twisted his lips in a sympathetic smile. I thought we both felt the same way—as though we were voyeurs on a private moment.

Kodee kept Dillon’s square jaw between his fingertips, and he finished kissing him with a couple of nips and licks.

“Better?” he asked Dillon, looking into his eyes.

Dillon sucked in a breath and nodded, glancing away in shame. “Aye. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, but we need to focus now. We need to gather up as much as we can and get the hell out of here.”

Tears filled my eyes. They were being forced to leave behind their beautiful home and everything in it because of me. The last thing I wanted was to cause any harm—emotional or physical—to these three men. They’d taken me in and loved me, and now they were having to give up everything.

I choked back a sob. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left the apartment.”

Ryan rubbed my back, his palm firm above my t-shirt, trying to soothe me. I turned into him, pressing my face to his chest.

He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his nose to the top of my head. “It’s not your fault. They already knew you were here. They would have come knocking soon enough, and I doubt they’d have hesitated to shoot us as well if we tried to stand in their way.”

I wasn’t mourning the deaths of any of the men who’d been killed. I’d been forced to spend time with one in particular, Troy, and he’d known me in the most intimate of ways, but I wasn’t going to waste a single breath on his loss. He would have raped me and tortured me, and then most likely killed me if the guys hadn’t stepped in. I’d had plenty of things happen in my life that I regretted, but his death wasn’t one of them.

Ryan had been the one to pull the trigger, shooting the men who’d snatched me from the street, yet he appeared less ruffled than either of them. The reason for this suddenly dawned on me. He’d been in the Army. He’d killed his enemies before. Yes, it had left him with scars, both emotional and physical, and he suffered from PTSD, as well as the loss of his leg, but he was able to compartmentalize those things, shut himself off from them, and function as normal.

Unlike Dillon, who still looked like he wanted to tear the apartment to pieces.

---