Page 67 of Sanctuary (The Wanderers 1)

All four men stood rooted to their spots, no one moving, no one speaking for several moments while she shifted her gaze around the room, making eye contact with each of them.

Jay cleared his throat. “Yes.” His gaze roamed up and down her body before he bent down to pull something from his pack. A moment later, he held up her favorite knife and set it on the table.

She swallowed as she stared at it a moment, grateful she hadn’t been present to watch Jay and Ledger retrieve it. “What did you do? With Stan I mean?” She bit into her lower lip, worried about his answer. She didn’t think he would lie to her, but she also wasn’t sure what they’d done and whether or not she would approve.

“He and Ike were traveling with a small group. Moving east. Stan insisted the majority of his group was not as single-minded as Ike. They weren’t in the habit of snatching random women and taking them captive. Stan told us he hadn’t been pleased with Ike’s decision to hunt for you all evening, but he’d gone along with it because he hadn’t believed you even existed.”

Layla nodded. “I got that impression based on what little conversation I heard between the two of them.”

Jay drew in a deep breath. “Let’s hope he wasn’t lying. We didn’t tell him a single thing about The Wanderers or where we live or how many of us there are. We didn’t trust him well enough for that. But we did drive his car to a location an hour farther away and return it to him. Kester met us there and picked us up. We made sure Stan was long gone and didn’t follow us before circling around and returning to the compound.”

“Who is Kester? I haven’t met him yet.”

“He’s one of our drivers. Works with Stu. The two of them share living quarters.”

“Oh.” Layla lifted her brows. “Does anyone else live with Stu?” She’d seen the way he looked at Ariel. She’d also seen the rivalry he’d had with Tarin. The existence of yet another man, Kester, made her wonder how things might play out, if and when Stuart pulled his head out of his ass and approached Ariel. He’d have to stop thinking of her as too young and stop treating her like a child first though.

Jay shook his head. “I wouldn’t exactly call them friends. They live together out of convenience. They keep odd hours and are rarely at the compound at the same time.”

“I see.” She shifted her gaze to Ledger and then to the other two men. “Thank you for rescuing me. I don’t think I really had a chance to express my gratitude.”

“Baby, you’re our life. Do you understand that?” Jay asked, stepping toward her.

She swallowed and finally nodded. “Do you understand that you’re mine too?” she responded, her voice soft.

A collective inhale filled the room, which was thick with emotion, so thick it was hard to breathe.

“Will you stop treating me with kid gloves?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. It was so quiet in the room that every word resonated as if it were shouted, bouncing off the walls.

Jay was the only one of them to have moved, and he was now the only one of them close enough to reach out to her. He didn’t wrap his arms around her though. He held out a hand, letting her come to him.

She held her towel tight above her breasts with one hand and set the other in his.

He lured her closer until he could set his other palm on the small of her back.

She tipped her head back to meet his gaze, unable to breathe properly. Her heart was pounding, her pulse so loud in her ears it seemed like everyone should be able to hear it.

“You’re already ours, Layla, but if we take you… If we claim you in every way, we’ll never let you go.”

She licked her lips and nodded. “I understand.”

“Are you ready for that level of commitment?”

“Yes.” She met his dark gaze head-on, ensuring he knew she was absolutely certain about this. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” She shifted her gaze to each of the rest of the men, one at a time, meeting and holding theirs.

Seconds ticked by while everyone stared at her. She was beginning to grow concerned until Nile rubbed his hands on his thighs. “Dibs on the shower first. Someone feed our woman. I’ll be quick.”

Layla couldn’t keep from chuckling as he passed her, kissing her cheek briefly on the way by.

“Maybe I should put some clothes on,” she pointed out, stepping toward Jay’s room because she kept her belongings there.

They blocked her.

“No.”

“Definitely not.”

“Uh-uh.”

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