Page 61 of Sanctuary (The Wanderers 1)

She buried her face in his neck, her arms wrapping tightly around him. “Thank God. There’s still another man out here hunting me,” she pointed out, her hands fisted in the back of his shirt.

He’d never been so glad to have her in his arms.

“Another man?” He pulled her back, brow furrowed. “There are two, right? How did you know Jay captured one of them?”

She frowned. “Jay captured one of them?”

Ledger nodded. “Not far from here, but there are two, right?” he repeated.

“Not anymore.” She winced.

Ledger slowly grinned at her. “Out of commission?”

“Very.”

“Good girl.” He gave her neck a squeeze and then let out a shrill whistle that would tell the rest of his partners to close in. First thing he would do as soon as he had their woman safe and secure would be to teach her their signals. He could have gotten killed trying to get her attention if she’d been trigger-happy. If they had simply taken the time to share their whistle types at some point since she’d come to live with them, he wouldn’t have scared the hell out of her calling out her name.

While they waited, he cupped her face, holding her head a few inches from his so he could look into her eyes. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Glad you’re here.”

“Looks like you had things well under control without us,” he pointed out, not wanting to make light of what his amazing woman had accomplished on her own.

She shrugged. “I might have made it back to the post unscathed, but I’m exhausted. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when I heard you call my name. I’d hoped you were nearby, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“Were you watching from the side of the road? Did you see us go by?”

“No. I’d looked away, but when those two assholes went by what seemed like a second time, I knew I’d missed a car and hoped to God it was you.” She slid her hands up his back.

Her gaze was intense and heated as her fingers dug into his shoulder blades.

He dropped his mouth to hers, needing the connection, needing to reassure himself she was fine.

Their kiss was heated, a tangle of moans and tongues as her hands slid down to his ass and he gripped her ponytail tightly, holding her in place.

He’d kissed her many times in the past few weeks, never letting things get too out of control, holding back just enough to keep himself from losing it with her. She hadn’t been ready for more. He prayed that would change soon.

He loved the way she whimpered against his lips when he tugged her hair and the soft moan she made when he hauled her closer, his hand on her lower back.

“Ledger…” she murmured.

“I’ve got you, princess.” He kissed her again, knowing his time alone with her was about to end. Any second, the rest of their partners would descend upon them and this moment would end.

Nile was the first to arrive. Ledger heard him approach, but he said nothing as he added his hand to Layla’s back and slid in closer to kiss her as she tipped her face in his direction. “You okay, sweetheart?”

She nodded.

Gatlin nearly ran into them as he came from the other direction, his huge arms going around the entire group. “You scared us to death, hon.”

She turned her head in his direction and let him kiss her also.

As Ledger stood in this spot, all but one of his close-knit family huddled together, it occurred to him that though the four men had shared women in the past, none of their experiences compared to this one.

Perhaps he should have felt jealousy that he wasn’t the only person who cared deeply for the woman in his arms. That she’d kissed each man as they approached. That soon she would accept each of them into her body.

But jealousy wasn’t the emotion he felt. A sense of calm and peace washed over him. There was comfort in knowing he was not the only man who would lay down his life for this woman. She might not like it when they told her, but from now on, one of them would always be by her side, keeping her safe, protecting her.

Today had nearly brought him to his knees, and he knew his partners felt the same. If anything had happened to her…

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