Page 11 of Harbor (The Wanderers 3)

She let her body fall back onto the pile of pillows with a sigh. Fine. She needed to eat. She needed nourishment. She’d never get out of here if she didn’t get food in her.

When he lifted the first spoonful of soup, she pursed her lips and turned her head away. “You first,” she muttered, facing the wall.

“Pardon?” Advic asked, confused.

Keanu cleared his throat. “Take a bite first, so she’ll know it’s not drugged.”

“Ah. Sorry. Of course.”

Maya turned her head back in time to watch Advic slurp the first spoonful of soup. Confident it wasn’t laced with anything, she relaxed and opened her mouth as he brought the next spoonful to her lips.

“Mmm.” She couldn’t help her reaction. Maybe she was just fucking hungry, but it tasted so good.

Advic smiled and fed her another spoonful. He controlled the pace, not letting her eat too fast, but it didn’t take long for all the broth to be gone. He set the bowl aside and wiped Maya’s lips and chin, cleaning off the dribbled soup.

She didn’t know what came over her, but she reached for his wrist as he was finishing, and squeezed it. “Thank you,” she managed to whisper.

“Any time, baby.”

She flinched at the endearment and stared at him. He was certainly attractive. All three of them were. Her heart was racing from the intimacy of having been fed by this man and how close he still sat and how he looked at her like he’d never actually seen a woman before.

She knew that wasn’t true, and it should have been unnerving. Usually, when men looked at her the way Advic was staring, she either punched them in the nose or slapped them across the face. She didn’t like to be ogled. Ever. Not by anyone.

But Advic had done nothing but be kind to her, so he didn’t deserve her wrath. In addition, she didn’t have the strength to punch or slap anyone.

Keanu spoke at her other side, making her flinch. She’d been so preoccupied with eating and trying to read Advic that she’d forgotten Keanu was in the room. “I brought your pack and your gun back here when I found you. Unless anyone robbed you before I got there, everything should be inside how you left it. We didn’t even rummage around to see if we could find out your name.”

She looked at Keanu. “Thanks.” Her name wasn’t in the backpack either. She never traveled with any personal information. In case she got caught. Nothing would indicate her name or the fact that she was with The Wanderers.

“Do you have people? Would they be looking for you?” Keanu asked.

She stared at him. She wasn’t going to answer his questions.

Advic set his hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze. He was the most familiar of the three of them, touching her and leaning into her personal space. “Keanu is just trying to be polite. We’d like to help you, but we totally understand your hesitancy. I’d be more concerned if you started spilling details about yourself than keeping your lips sealed.”

She nodded and managed to lift her arm to rub her forehead. “Can you take the IV out?” she asked, holding out the other hand. “I can drink on my own now.”

“Sure.” Advic stood again and pushed the nearly empty bag of fluids out of the way before easing the tape off the back of her hand and then applying gauze to the needle before pulling it out. He held the gauze tight against the back of her hand as she winced from the prick of pain.

“What would you like us to call you?” Advic asked, still holding the gauze. “At least make up a name or something. If you don’t, I’m going to assign you a name, and you might not like it. Maybe something like Hortense or Beatrice.”

She almost laughed at his easy joking but decided to trick him instead, widening her eyes and letting her mouth fall open. “How did you know my name?” she accused.

He froze, his own eyes going wider too. She realized by now he was of Indian descent. Even his name, Advic Patel, was Indian. And though his skin was fairly dark, she could see his cheeks darkening further. “Please tell me your name isn’t Hortense or Beatrice. I’ll be mortified.”

She continued to stare at him for a moment, schooling her face, and then she chuckled. “Nope. I was just messing with you. But I’m not ready to give you my name.” What if they’d heard of her? She’d been around for years, picking people up and making them disappear from evil eyes. She was certain she had a reputation. She didn’t want to awaken a bear if it could be avoided.

He finally eased up on the pressure on the back of her hand but didn’t release her. “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you anyway, even if you don’t have a name. I’ve wondered what your eyes looked like for days, and how your voice sounded. It played in my head, but it wasn’t as sultry as the real deal.”

“Sultry?” She narrowed her gaze at him. “You think I work in a nightclub?”

He chuckled. “Have you ever been to a nightclub?”

She shrugged. “No, but when I think of the word sultry, that’s what comes to mind. Probably from old black-and-white movies.”

He laughed again. “Well, I think your voice is kind of sexy. Sensual I guess.”

She cleared her throat. “Probably just scratchy from lack of use.”

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