Page 33 of Born to Bleed

“And you’ll help me kill him?”

“Yes.”

Anna nodded to herself. “That man tortured us both, Hayden. And the both of us will take him out.”

His hand squeezed her arm, reminding her that it was there. “You don’t hate me?” There was an uncharacteristic hesitancy to his voice.

A half-sigh, half-laugh escaped her throat. “Oh I definitely do. But not for who your dad is.” She swallowed, hard, fear gurgling up into her throat at the amount of trust she was putting in the man behind her. “Don’t lie to me again. By omission or otherwise.”

“Never.” His fingers brushed along her arm, and even through her layers of clothing, she could feel the path of heat his hand left. “No more secrets. Not with you.”

She shivered, but it definitely wasn’t from the cold. Not that he needed to know that. “I guess it would be smart to share body heat,” she offered, wiggling herself closer to him. His warm body wrapped around her in an instant. “Plus I don’t have to look behind me now, since you’ve got my back covered.”

That… sounded far too close to trust. She hadn’t meant for it to come out that way. Her private thoughts were one things, but out loud?

“I’ve always got your back,” he breathed against her ear. She shivered again, and he hugged her tighter. She wasn’t cold, but… she wouldn’t complain.

They both knew she didn’t hate him anymore… maybe she never had. Not really.

“I could always help you sleep, if you need a bit of assistance.”

“Oh?” she asked. Perhaps he had some sleeping pills tucked away into one of his bags.

When his fingers feathered over her hip, drawing small little circles on her lower abdomen and leaving a trail of heat in the path, she realized he was definitely not talking about pills.

Arousal flooded her body at the same time that she slapped his hand. “Absolutely not.”

Hayden just chuckled, tightening his arms around her once more and settling down into their sad excuse for a bed. “Suit yourself.”

Jerk.

Despite this godawful day, she fell asleep smiling.

Chapter Eight

FOR ALL INTENTS AND purposes, he and Anna were amongst friends. The people around them were playful, relaxed, extremely open with information. They held nothing back, shared no secret whispers or charged looks.

Had Austin not been amongst the group, Hayden may have been more suspicious, but seeing the man who’d helped him organize supply shipments and border patrol measures immediately put him at ease. He may not have known the entirety of the group, but he knew Austin, and that was enough.

Being there felt similar to being at the compound they’d taken. He was only missing his brothers’ constant banter. Though, in all fairness, since Hunter and Derek had become preoccupied with the women in their life, he’d been missing that banter for a while.

Anna’s soft laugher caught his attention immediately, a gentle reminder that he did not blame his brothers for their recent distractedness. He was a fair bit distracted himself. A special woman could do that to a man.

His hand found her lower back as he stepped to her side, joining in on her conversation with Mason, Liam, and Rachel. She turned to him, and that beautiful smile of hers spread wider at the sight of him. That was definitely something he could get used to. His mask slipped away as he gave her a smile of his own, unable to stop himself.

“Well hello, travel buddy.”

Hayden’s hand slid around to her hip, gripping it tightly, as if unable to resist touching her. “Anna,” he responded.

He couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t push his hand away, didn’t pull away from him. She certainly didn’t tell him to screw off like she normally would.

Was that part of her show, or was she slowly lowering those mile high walls of hers? Had the confession he thought would tear them apart actually brought them closer together?

Perhaps she enjoyed feeling his touch as much as he enjoyed giving it. He hoped for the latter, aching to steal more touches and smiles.

Who the hell was he turning into?

“We were just talking about a scouting mission I’m sending Liam and Rachel on,” Mason said, pulling Hayden’s attention from Anna. “I asked Anna if she’d want to join, given your high praise of her.”

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