Page 62 of The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune
“It’s a bondin’ moment! You killed a guy, he killed a few guys.”
“I never said I killed anyone,” Sam interjected.
“Please,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “I ain’t a moron.”
“Right,” he replied, nice and slow. He moved toward the front of the plane, finding a seat near the cockpit. “Stash your shit, and find a seat, boys. We’ll take off in a few minutes.”
“This is real fuckin’ nice,” I commented under my breath as I helped Ryder place our few bags in the overhead bins. We’d packed as much as we could in preparation for a long vacation. To be honest, living motel to motel meant that most of our stuff fit in a few duffle bags, and that was it.
While we hoped not to hunt for a little bit, we still brought our weapons.Once a hunter, always a hunter.That, and reminding Ryder that I was his sexy weapon wasn’t enough.
Cole and Sam had promised to handle our car—make sure it was hidden and taken care of while we were gone. The only reason I agreed to that was because we couldn’t fit our baby on a plane and because Cole was a certified mechanic. I didn’t like it, but it wasn’t a horrible alternative.
“There are worse ways to fly,” Ryder said. We grabbed seats away from Sam, somewhere that just the two of us could chat in private. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, baby,” I smiled as I put on my seatbelt, “I’m good. You?”
“This is your captain speaking,” the Captain’s voice came through a speaker overhead. “Please, make sure your seatbeltsare fastened. We’re about to take off. Once we’re settled, you’ll be free to move about. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Mark,” Sam said loudly.
“Anytime, Mr. West,” he replied.
“Are you doin’ okay?” I asked as I made myself comfortable in my seat. The plane began to move underneath us, smooth and steady.
“I am.” He nodded, lips pressed together tightly. “I think some part of me can’t believe we did it.”
I could see the wheels turning in his handsome head.
“You’re free, baby,” I told him. I wanted to pull him out of his head before he spiraled a little too hard, overthinking it all. “Or at least as free as you can be, considerin’ everythin’.”
Dealing with a few dumbass bounty hunters from time to time as we lay low wasn’t a big deal. We’d been keeping to ourselves for a decade already.
“We’re goin’ to be just fine,” I reassured him because I could tell he needed it. “And y’know what? We’re goin’ to have a lil’ fun in the process. I think we’re due for some of that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” Ryder said. I followed his gaze and stared out the window, watching as the ground disappeared and the night sky enveloped us. We had a few more hours to go before dawn hit, but the dark didn’t bother me. Not up here and not after knowing the vampires were dead.Though, I’d have nightmares of them for weeks.I had no doubts about that one.
“Sam gave you his necklace?” I posed it like a question, but the answer hung obviously around Ryder’s neck. While I had my suspicions as to why, I was still curious.
“Yeah,” he murmured. He toyed with the cross around his neck for a moment before hiding it under his shirt.
“Is it helping?”
“A little,” he replied. Those baby blues caught mine, and he offered a weary smile. “It’s enough to make things a little easier.”
“Good.” I meant that. Anything to make the world a little easier for Ryder to handle was worth it.
“And this is your captain speaking once again,” the Captain said once more.
“Mark!” Sam exclaimed, and I laughed at the back and forth. “You’re the only other person on the plane. We’ve talked about this, buddy.”
“You can get up and move around the cabin, Mr. West,” Mark replied. “Well, all of you can. And I’ll be right here, flying the plane like you pay me to.”
“Mark’s great,” Sam told us. “Just very professional as fuck when he doesn’t need to be.”
I rotated and watched him over my shoulder, taking a long moment to study him. The man had saved Ryder’s life when he could’ve walked away. I had a deep appreciation for doing that.
I also had a deep attraction to him that was hard to deny—not that I was trying hard to.I would forever find him attractive. And if I was being completely honest with myself, there were a lot of similarities between Ryder and Sam in that way. Both in appearance and in personality.
