Page 5 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

She flinched and scooted back a bit, holding the comforter tighter around her shivering frame. Even bundled up in the thick blanket, she was still chilled to the bone. Not from temperature but from fear.

He closed his eyes for a moment, his face tense. “What a fucked-up world we live in,” he muttered.

She wasn’t familiar with half the words he used, but she wholeheartedly agreed, and she was beginning to believe he was on her side. Was that possible?

He took another breath and met her gaze again. “Okay…” He licked his lips. “Here’s the thing. We’re not going to do what we’re meant to do tonight. Okay?” He leaned closer. “But we have to pretend we did.”

She blinked at him, trying to understand. Did it matter? All that mattered was that he was being kind and whatever horrors she’d expected weren’t on tonight’s agenda. Not for Braylon.

“Can you do that, Haley? Can you pretend we have a normal marriage—whatever the hell normal looks like? If you can do that, it will buy us some time.”

She had no clue what they were going to fake, but she was certainly willing to do it. It sounded like heaven. “Time?”

He sighed. “Yeah, I don’t know how much time, but I’ll do my best to protect you. You have my word.”

Haley flinched in Braylon’s arms as she pulled herself back to reality. Braylon had remained true to his promise. He’d protected her as best he could for six months. But they’d finally run out of time.

“What if your mother catches you in here with me?” she whispered.

“Storm is standing outside your door, baby, just like every night. He won’t let anyone in.”

Anyonewas supposed to include Braylon. Lorena Hanson did not like the fact that her son was so kind to Haley. She hated that he stuck up for her and made excuses for her. She thought her son was soft. It embarrassed her that he cared for Haley at all or even gave her a second thought.

That wasn’t how marriages among the wealthy were meant to be. The partners were supposed to live separate and aloof, barely knowing each other, not forming an alliance or falling in love.

When they were at the dinner table or in the family room, Braylon did his best to ignore Haley entirely, saving his smiles and kind gestures for when they were alone. The problem was he didn’t like his mother interfering in his marriage, and he made that clear a bit too often, interjecting when his mother reprimanded Haley.

In Lorena’s mind, that was a sign of weakness, and caused her to scold Haley with more frequency instead of less, her gaze resting on her son when she did so, testing him to make sure he didn’t interfere.

Haley had aged a decade in the last six months. She understood the world around her much better thanks to Braylon. He had help too. His best friend, Riggs, was often nearby, and the man was equally invested in protecting Haley. She also had Storm, her bodyguard. He looked gruff and he certainly was large, but when no one else was looking, he gave her a soft teddy-bear look that said more than words.

She was blessed. Or so she’d thought. Until tonight. Until she’d sat down at dinner and learned a man had been purchased to impregnate her. This conversation had happened flippantly around her at the table as if she weren’t there. Riggs had been there. His father had too. The three older adults had discussed her impregnation as if they were talking about tomorrow’s weather forecast.

Haley hadn’t been able to eat a single bite of her meal. She’d struggled to keep from vomiting on the table. She’d known this day would come in some form, but she hadn’t expected it to be so soon or so…barbaric.

“Listen to me, baby. This is important.”

She gripped Bray’s forearms so tightly, her nails were digging into his skin.

“We need people to believe we’ve been having sex.”

She held her breath. How was that going to be possible?

“I’m concerned someone is going to figure out otherwise if we don’t do something to fix the problem.”

Panic consumed her. She hadn’t considered this problem. Her heart beat so fast her ears were pounding. “How?”

“I have an idea.”

She stiffened as her mind wandered to his possible plan. She couldn’t even let herself go there. She twisted in his arms. “Do it.”

“Do what?” he asked. His brows furrowed before his eyes went wide. “I didn’t mean me. I was thinking you could do it.”

She blinked at him, hating how ignorant she was. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I want you to make love to me. If someone is going to violate me in the next few days, I don’t want them to be the first person to touch me. It should be you. Please, Braylon, just do it.”

He blinked, his eyes wide. “No, baby. I’m not having sex with you under duress. I won’t do that to you or to us.”

She jerked to sitting, grabbed his biceps, and looked down at him, not caring that he could easily see the outline of her breasts through the thin material of her nightgown.

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