Page 15 of Demons

“Take Zephyr for a cooldown, then back to the stables for Jim to take care of,” I told her.

It wasn’t wise for her to stay here and talk to King like that in front of me.

She nodded, and I could see I’d made her nervous. That was a good thing.

Seven years ago, I’d had to force myself to stay the fuck away from her because my reactions to when others did something to her that I didn’t care for had been getting more violent. Perhaps the stalking I’d been doing wasn’t completely staying away from her, but I needed reassurance she was okay. I was letting that get out of hand now that she was here several days a week. When she wasn’t here, I found myself going to watch her. I used to not do that so much. It had just been every couple of weeks.

“I’m not mad, Capri,” King told her, and my muscles tensed up.

What the fuck was he doing?

Her expression eased, as if she was relieved. Why did she care so damn much what King said? I’d made it real clear that I was her boss. Maybe not to her. But the rest of them knew.

Her gaze shifted back to me, and she flashed me that smile. Damn. The irritation that had been mounting evaporated.

“Thanks for letting me ride him.” The slight waver in her voice, as if speaking directly to me made her nervous, was cute.

I nodded my head and said nothing. King was listening, and I wasn’t about to give him some shit to dissect. He didn’t understand. None of them did. Hell, I didn’t even understand it. But what I did know was, she was a drug I needed. When nothing else worked, just seeing her settled the darkness inside me. I could feel something. The connection or whatever it was she stirred in me was unlike anything else I’d experienced.

She turned Zephyr back toward the track and left to go cool him down like I’d told her.

“You scare her,” King said.

I turned to look at him with the cigarette between my teeth. “I scare most people.”

He smirked. “Yeah, but you like her. Why are you scaring her?”

“Who said I liked her?” I replied, not appreciating his interest in this.

“Every action you’ve made since she started working here,” he said.

I glanced back out at her. He had no idea the depth of whatever this was I had for her. Like wasn’t even in the ballpark. It was closer to compulsion.

“What I do and how I do it isn’t anyone’s concern.”

King let out a short laugh. “All right. I’ll stay out of it. But figure this out before you kill someone.”

The corner of my lips curled. It was too late for that. Years too late.

I heard him walk away as I watched Capri take Zephyr back to the stables. Jim came out, and she spoke to him. He seemed so damn uptight and nervous that even I could see it from here. King was right about that. I had to ease his mind about Capri. She would be hurt if they all treated her that way. I hadn’t gotten her the job here for her to be unhappy. Her smile had become a necessity I required.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I pressed Briar’s number.

“Hello?” she said after the second ring.

“I need you to go get me the cookies again,” I told her.

She let out an amused laugh. “What did you do?”

I took the cigarette from my mouth. “Nothing.”

“Fine. Keep your secrets,” she replied. “I’ll leave them in your truck like last time.”

“Thanks,” I said, then ended the call.

My phone immediately started ringing, and I smirked at Storm’s name. Jealous motherfucker.

“Yeah,” I said, enjoying this a little too much.

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