Page 73 of Red Rabbit
“Graham!” Trav’s struggles intensified as he also realized what was going on. The men dug into one of his wounds and he cried out, collapsing onto his knees. They dragged him towards the door along with two of the others who were unconscious. I panicked.
“No!” I screamed, or tried to. “No! What do you want? Dammit!” I let out a long string of curses when our captors didn’t listen.
“Don’t let them take me!” Trav shouted, the terror in his eyes made me sick. “Graham!”
I couldn’t protect him and I hated myself for it.
“Trav! Trav—” I cursed again and then locked eyes with him. “I’ll find you!” I shouted, yanking on my restraints again. They dragged him through the door. “I’ll fucking find you!” I screamed as rage overwhelmed me and I thrashed in my restraints, screaming incoherently as I watched my brother disappear from view, angry at myself for how badly I’d failed him.
I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, seeing that moment as clearly as if it happened yesterday.
“Cooper and I were rescued but they didn’t know where Trav and the others were. Cooper and I razed the area down tryingto find him. Off book. I was pretty unhinged during that time. When I finally found him—he was dead. I lost it. Coop and I killed a bunch of people and then I tried to kill myself.”
The gun went off and the body fell but I didn’t feel any satisfaction from it. I was numb and covered in blood. I sank to my knees in the mud staring at the body Cooper and I just tortured. We’d found every single one of the bastards and extracted our revenge. He was the last one. It was over. The rain made the blood run into my eyes but I didn’t bother to wipe it away. It didn’t matter. None of it did. It was over and I was done. I swayed and sat back on top of my heels before I slowly raised the gun to my own head.
My finger tightened on the trigger but before it went off, something slammed into me. An arm snaked around my chest and pulled me back into someone. Their other hand dragged the gun down. I struggled, feeling the pain start to cut through the numbness as reality rushed over me. I choked as tears streamed down my face. I needed to die.
“I failed him.” My voice cracked and I started shaking. The arm tightened around me.
“No, you didn’t,” Cooper shouted near my ear to be heard over the rain. He took the gun from me and put it away then his other hand came around me. “We killed the bastards.”
But none of it brought Trav back. I thought I’d feel better but I didn’t.
“Kill me, Coop,” I said, my voice breaking. I struggled in his arms but his grip was solid.
“Knock it off, Wolfe,” he demanded. “If you still want to die later—when we’re back home, I’ll give you the gun myself, but not here. Not like this. Don’t die here with these fuckers.”
I opened my eyes and looked at her, seeing the same haunted look in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she breathed.
“That’s why I was in handcuffs,” I added. “I’m being charged with war crimes.”
27
KAELIN
I sat stunned by Graham’s story. I had guessed at his shadows but not like this.
“So I know better than most what you’re going through,” he said, running a hand through his hair. That was an understatement.
“Thank you for sharing that,” I said, barely able to get the words out. It felt better to know I wasn’t alone. We were silent, lost in our own dark shadows as we listened to the rainfall on the roof. I looked at him and he looked so forlorn and alone I crawled the few feet over to him and leaned against the wall next to him. Our shoulders brushed and I took his hand in mine.
“I thought you should know you’re not alone,” he said quietly, rubbing his thumb over my skin. I squeezed his hand, too choked up to say anything. We sat like that for a time and I rested my head against his shoulder.
“I think that’s the first personal thing you’ve said to me,” I said finally. I heard a rumble of a laugh.
“Well now you can’t say I never told you anything about myself.”
“I would have been happy just knowing your favorite food,” I teased, lifting my head to grin at him.
“Oh god no, that’s way too personal,” he joked.
His eyes lightened slightly as he looked at me. He brought his hand up and for once I didn’t flinch as he pushed my hair behind my ear and his touch made me sigh with longing. I leaned into him and he gently pulled my face to his and kissed me. I was nervous still and it took me a minute to relax but the longer we kissed the more I wanted him.
I slid my hand across his chest and tentatively climbed onto his lap, bringing my leg over carefully so I didn’t hurt my hip. His hands were feather light as they ran up my back and into my hair. I kissed him again until I was flushed and breathless. I could feel his cock through his pants. My stomach was tripping over itself at the feeling and my heart was hammering in my chest but I forced myself to take a deep breath.
“When you say we’re done, we’re done,” he said softly.
