Page 18 of All's Fair in Love & Chaos
I read once that night terrors are your brain’s way of trying to make sense of something it doesn’t understand—or couldn’t witness. I wasn’t at the accident, and my mind has worked overtime to fill in the blanks like a horror movie.
The bedroom door opens as I’m shuffling to sit up in the bed, my hands hanging limp and heavy in the cuffs. Camden enters the room with a cup of coffee and a bowl of something that smells like heaven. He’s wearing faded denim jeans and a plain black T-shirt, his MC cut over it. Brown shoulder-length hair is pulled back in a bun, the sides of his head shaved close to his skin. His jaw is chiseled, like an expert artist carved him personally, dusted with the lightest layer of scruffy facial hair. Tattoos cover his arms, a mix of black, grey, and muted colors. They wind up his biceps, tucking under the sleeves of his shirt, and stretch down to his thick fingers.
My heart flutters in my chest at the sight of him. I clench my thighs together, a natural response to a gorgeous, sexy man standing in front of me. Even if he is a cold-blooded killer. I have to actively remind myself that I’m stronger than my innate, biological desire to want to climb this male specimen like a tree.
I look away quickly, but not before I catch Camden smirking, a knowing look that says he enjoyed my obvious perusal of his body.
“Glad you’re up, I brought you some coffee. Wasn’t sure how you take it.”
“And how am I supposed to drink it, oh kind captor?” I quip, rattling my new metal accessories against the bedpost.
“You have a choice to make. I can let you out, and we can sit here and talk, or I can keep you locked up and hand-feed you. Neither of those options are a hardship for me, vixen.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Because you’re seductive, even though you aren’t trying to be. Everything about you is alluring to me.”
I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Typical man. Only caring about a woman’s physical attributes.”
“Oh, baby, don’t get it twisted,” he says as he walks over to my side of the bed. “You may be drop-dead fucking gorgeous, but I’m talking about your attitude, your fight, your strength. That calls to me on a molecular level. That’s what I’m attracted to the most.” Well, shit. I don’t have a comeback for that one. That’s a first. “Now, do you want to be uncuffed or want me to feed you? I’d love nothing more than to show you how you should be treated.”
Asshole.
“Uncuff me, Camden. My hands have fallen asleep past the point of no return.”
“Promise you aren’t going to try to fight me?”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
Camden nods his head, his eyebrows furrowed as he sets the bowl of food and mug of coffee down on the bedside table. “Fair enough, I’d expect nothing less from you. Let’s get you fed and cleaned up. We need to talk.”
“I didn’t agree to talking.”
“Too fucking bad,” he snaps, but there’s no bite behind his words.
I roll my eyes again as Camden leans forward, pulling the key from the chain around his neck and unlocking the first cuff. The smell of grease and egg wafts to my nose, my stomach growling in response. Camden pauses, looking down at my body and then meeting my eyes in concern. “I should have offered you food last night; it won’t happen again.”
Who the fuck is this man?
“I’m fine. I’m not your concern.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Saige.”
“You just met me, fuck off with that.”
“It doesn’t matter to me if I’ve known you for mere minutes or a lifetime. You are my concern.”
Camden frees my wrists, grabbing each one delicately in his large palms and rubbing tenderly over my skin, massaging into the tendons and muscles, working blood flow back into them. It’s . . .kind. And I don’t hate it; an odd sensation rolling through me that makes me almost want to cry.
I quickly pull my hands away, dropping them into my lap as his chin falls down to his chest, an audible sigh releasing from his lips as if he was reveling in the moment and then instantly disappointed with my rejection.
“One of our men is a decent cook; he makes a mean breakfast hash. It’s got potatoes, onions, peppers, eggs, bacon, and cheese.” Before I can respond, my stomach speaks for me, rumbling so loud there’s no denying how hungry I actually am. “Here, eat.”
The warm bowl is filled more than halfway, loaded with comfort food that has my mouth watering.
“You aren’t poisoning me?”
“Baby, I wouldn’t think of it. No one here would.” He says the words with such conviction that I almost believe him.Almost. But I’m smarter than that, and I know how people like him are.
