Page 24 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

CHAPTER9

“You sure we can trust this guy?” Riggs asked Storm as the three of them huddled in Haley’s room. Well, four, if he counted Haley, but she was lying in her bed, curled on her side, staring into space as if she wasn’t even aware they were present.

Storm nodded. “I do. Plus, we don’t have a choice. We’re running out of time.”

Riggs looked over at Haley and winced. His gut was twisted in knots. He hated how despondent she’d been lately. It had been two weeks since the insemination. Riggs was on pins and needles waiting. Always waiting.

Was she pregnant? They would know soon. They could even know tonight if they wanted to. Riggs had acquired a pregnancy test and smuggled it into the house. He had it hidden under the pads in Haley’s box of sanitary napkins in her bathroom.

That damn test was like a giant elephant in the room. No one wanted to talk about it. No one wanted to suggest they use it. And hell, Riggs wasn’t at all sure Haley would be willing to pee on the stick. It was certainly her call. They wouldn’t violate her further by insisting she fucking pee for them.

It was the middle of the night. Lately, the three of them had started meeting at this time while the rest of the house was asleep. It was risky, but everything they did was risky. They didn’t have a choice. They needed to make some decisions.

Riggs glanced at his friends. “I think we need to go talk to him.”

Storm nodded. “I agree.”

“How are we going to manage to get downstairs without anyone knowing?” Braylon asked.

“We go in the night. If we get caught, you can just say you were curious to see what the guy looked like,” Storm suggested.

Riggs nodded. Seemed like a solid plan. Better than anything he’d come up with on his own. He shifted his gaze to Haley again. His heart was breaking for her. She was breaking. She’d reached her limit on what she could tolerate as a human being. He couldn’t blame her.

Suddenly, she pushed to sitting and pulled her knees up to her chin. She was wearing one of those thick nightgowns that reminded him of what pioneers must have worn in the eighteen hundreds. Lorena had traded all her sexy lingerie for these ridiculous nightgowns that covered her from head to toe. Apparently, the crazy woman thought she’d needed her daughter-in-law to look sexy up until she conceived. Now, based solely on wishful thinking, Lorena didn’t think Braylon needed to continue having sexual relations with his wife.

Riggs had only seen Haley dressed in the scanty negligees a few times, but those incidents were burned into his memory. Braylon had been privileged to see her wearing the sexy lingerie on many occasions of course. And Storm couldn’t miss them since he stood guard outside the door and always caught glimpses of her.

Riggs’s favorite had been a black lace bustier that pushed her chest up so that her breasts swelled out the top. He’d only gotten a glimpse of it, but he’d never forget. He vowed to make sure someday he got to really see her in something like that.

Haley cleared her throat. “I’m right here, you know. You can stop whispering in the corner.” She scooted back toward the headboard and nodded toward the bed. “Come sit down so I can hear you better.”

Riggs rushed toward her at the same time as his friends. He propped himself on one hip, keeping one foot on the floor. “Hey.” He gave her his signature lopsided grin—the one that always made her smile.

She surprised him by reaching out to grab his hand. “I’m okay. Don’t treat me like spun glass. Fill me in on the plans. I don’t like being left out.”

Riggs set his other hand on top of hers and enjoyed her warmth. She was the prettiest woman he’d ever set eyes on, with thick dark hair that reached her waist and pale skin that had rarely seen the light of day. It would burn easily if she was outside for long.

Braylon climbed up next to her and wrapped an arm around her. Storm perched on the end of the bed.

“What’s his name?” she asked.

Riggs glanced at Storm before answering her. She deserved to have as much information as the rest of them. “Rush.”

She nodded slowly, turning her gaze to Storm. “And he’s a doctor?”

“Yes,” Storm answered.

“Do you think he would really help us escape?” she asked, glancing from one man to the next.

Storm answered her. “I do. I think he’s a good guy. He says he has people who can help us.”

“Plus we might need him if he’s a doctor,” she pointed out, shifting her weight.

Riggs swallowed over the lump in his throat. “Without him, we have no place to go. It would be very risky. If we get caught…”

Haley nodded. “I don’t know why you’re all debating this. It’s simple. We don’t have other options. We need to bring him into the fold and do whatever he suggests.”

When she glanced at Braylon, he smiled. “Leave it to you to be the voice of reason, Hales.”

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