Page 118 of Patching Over

“We’re going to have a clubhouse full, then, at least for a little while,” he murmurs. “Because Grim and Rael are on their way too, and Rael’s bringing his ol’ lady, Nylah, since she’s a nurse.”

“The more the merrier,” Scythe adds, smirking. He left the room briefly, then came back with a bowl of warm water and some clean cloths, and is now waiting patiently for Angel to wrap up so we can finish cleaning Belle, get her dressed in something else, then leave.

“Fuck,” Brick says when Angel stands, then immediately sways. Healing Belle stole all of his excess energy and his reserves have been depleted. Now, it’s our job to care for him while he regains his equilibrium. “Brother, I’ve got you,” he says, wrapping his arms around the Ankeny brother. “Tell me what you need,” he instructs.

“Sleep,” Angel murmurs, his words slightly slurred.

Without another word, Scythe takes Angel from Brick, slings him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, and he stalks out the door, presumably to put Angel in the vehicle so he can sleep it off while we finish with Belle and get her ready for transport.

“Let me go hunt down some clothes for her while you clean her up, Brother,” Brick says, following behind Scythe.

Once the room is empty, except for the two of us, I take the bowl and cloths and begin cleaning her exposed skin, which isalready showing signs of healing. Peaches and cream skin peeks out at me from the shredded clothing, which I begin removing as well until she’s lying there in a utilitarian style white bra and panties. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.

“So, Belle, not sure how you feel about bikers,” I say, grabbing another cloth from the small stack of clean ones that were found and dunking it into the water, which is becoming soiled and will need to be changed sooner rather than later. “But, like your brother said, I’m with the Royal Bastards, same as him, just belong to a different chapter than he does. Roanoke is one of the prettiest places you’d ever want to see, with mountains and rolling hills that are so many varying shades of green in the spring and summer it’s unbelievable. Autumn, though, is when it’s downright beautiful, with the leaves turning in preparation for winter. We’ve got snowmobiles and cross-country skis for winter fun, although sometimes, we’re stuck inside when a blizzard blows through. Still, since Brick now has an ol’ lady who didn’t get to do a lot of playing in the snow, we get outside and have snowball fights, or we build snowmen and snow animals. Banshee has an ol’ lady now, too, and since she lived in an area of the country where there's not much snow, I suspect this year will be a lot of fun. I hope you’re willing to take a chance on a biker, specifically me, because you’ve grown into a beautiful woman but I feel a draw to you, unlike anything I’ve felt before, you haven’t opened your eyes yet, and already, you’ve enchanted me, and even with these feelings being foreign, they’re strong, and I’d like the opportunity to explore that with you and see if this thing, this pull, is mutual.”

I don’t know what makes me admit that out loud; however, I don’t want to examine it too closely. After all, she’s close to getting her college degree while I’ve only got my high school diploma, and my ASE certification so I can work on bikes as wellas cars. She was going to start her final semester when she was taken, so it’s possible she won’t want to finish, but I’ll definitely encourage her to do so. We’re definitely not in the same place when it comes to book smarts, that’s for damn sure, however, Idohave street smarts on my side and can keep her safe in that aspect. But Sleeper gave me permission to shoot my shot, so that’s what I’m going to do. Even if sheisunconscious while I do so.

Chuckling a little under my breath, I pull the blanket up to cover her, and lean down to press a soft, caressing kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be right back, Belle, I need to dump this bowl and add some clean water so I can finish cleaning you up, so we can get outta here.”

I hate leaving her, even for a short amount of time, but there’s a bathroom attached to this room, so at least she won’t be out of sight. After dumping the water, I turn the taps on to let the water warm, and once I’m satisfied that the temperature is just right, I refill the bowl, adding a little of the soap, then carry it back to the cot where I continue to wipe her skin clean from the evidence of her abuse.

The trip back to the clubhouse is nearly anticlimactic. Belle is still sleeping, not unconscious as she was when we initially arrived and before Angel healed her, but she doesn’t utter so much as a sound despite some of the bumpier roads we travel. I just know I’ll be glad to be back home where I know she’ll be safe, and I can decompress.

CHAPTER

TEN

Belle

I’m unsure where I’m at right now; the last clear memory I have is yelling for my brother before everything went black. Thankfully, wherever I am, the pain is absent, which is a good thing since it was so bad, I wanted to throw up. I know there’s a medical reason behind that, but I can’t think of what it is right now. My brain is fuzzy, and I don’t feel like using the effort it’d take to diagnose anything. Instead, I’ll enjoy the warm nothingness, since I know when I actually wake up, the pain will return tenfold, and probably be worse based on what Alvin was gearing up to do to me when my body finally succumbed to the pain.

Warmth begins to spread through me, and I hear a voice I don’t recognize say, “Heal, sweet girl, heal.”

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Sleeper

I wasn’t lying to Jingles when I said I couldn’t pick a better person for my baby sister. He’s loyal as fuck, doesn’t know when to quit, and has a sense of brotherhood that’s so deeply ingrained in him, that I know he’ll be the same way with my sister.

Because what hedoesn’tknow is, any time he came to town and she was around, once he left, she peppered me with questions. She may think she was being casual about it, but I know her as well as I know myself. I’ve always been able to read her like an open book. It’s why she’s never dated all that much, or if she has, it’s never been more than a casual thing.

It’s why I gave him my blessing. Of course, it goes without saying that if he ever hurts her, they’ll never find so much as a scrap of him to identify, But I’m not worried he’ll do anything of the sort.

Grinning, I rev my bike, pushing the throttle even harder so I can hopefully make it to the Roanoke chapter before they get back with Belle.

“I’m on my way, Baby Belle,” I whisper, my words carried away by the wind. “And the motherfuckers who hurt you are going to die,” I vow.

That’s a promise I plan to keep, even if I have to step back for a bit, and allow Jingles to get his hits in beforehand.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Jingles

Since I’m feeling somewhat protective of Belle, part of me wants to set her up in my room, but I realize that she’s going to need her own space so she can deal with the shit she went through while in captivity, and begin the healing process. Still, Brick puts her in the empty room next to mine, which settles me somewhat.

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