Page 27 of Claimed (Powertools: The Shields 5)

Despite her warning, he exchanged another worried stare with Legend.

“You okay, Karolena?” Legend shuffled to her side and crouched down. “Want something to eat? A drink? I have a pitcher of iced tea leftover from the party last night.”

She perked up at that. “The plain kind or the Long Island kind?”

“Regular. I know you said you don’t drink alcohol.” He smiled gently, his face growing even more handsome. As much as she wished it didn’t, his kindness and attentiveness reassured her some.

“I’d like to start now, please.”

Tavish headed straight for the kitchen. “I can make it into the other sort, no problem.”

“How can I help?” Legend asked.

“Just…sit quietly with me, if you don’t mind?” Karolena needed to think. “You know, as nice as this place is, it could really use some balconies to take advantage of this view. The windows don’t even open. I wish I could breathe some fresh air.”

“Security risk.” Legend grimaced as if he despised reminding her of their occupation.

“I wish there wasn’t a need for caution.”

“The world sucks sometimes. I’m sorry.” Was he apologizing for evil in general, for his role in fighting it, or for entangling her in more of it right when she’d thought she’d left it behind for good? Of course that presumption hadn’t been correct, but it had felt like a victory until she’d faced reality.

For a while, they simply sat there side-by-side, Legend with his arms looped over his knees. She watched birds soaring above the treetops in the distance, oblivious to the problems of everyone beneath them. She had never wanted to fly so much as at that moment.

“Here, let’s pretend.”

Before she could ask Legend what he meant, he snagged a couple beanbags and throw pillows from in front of the giant TV connected to the gaming system she’d carefully dusted earlier. He plopped them on the floor, then disappeared down the hallway toward his bedroom before returning with an oscillating fan on a pole stand. He placed it in the corner where the windows met the wall and turned it on. A breeze began drying the sheen of cold sweat that had broken out on her skin when she realized Vladimir’s men were right on her heels. Then he set the high-backed, slatted dining room chairs in a rectangle around her so they gave the impression of a railing.

For bonus points, he added a couple of their houseplants to the perimeter of the space he’d created. If she squinted, she might believe she was lounging on a balcony instead of their dining room floor. She half-closed her eyes, letting the cool air wash over her. Karolena studied the world passing by outside as if today was perfectly normal instead of a whole new beginning.

Legend vaulted over a chair, making it seem as inconsequential as a threshold and landed lightly beside her. He was capable of so much more than she’d given him credit for, even after he’d infused her with pleasure that was the stuff of her fantasies. He held out his hand, and when she took it, he pulled her up just enough to help her off the floor into the beanbag.

She practically moaned as she curled up in the fuzzy ball, which felt like it was giving her a full body hug. Legend smiled, then took a seat in the one next to her. It was only another minute or two before Tavish returned. “Oh, are we having a picnic?”

Legend peered over his shoulder, then raised his arm to accept the tray Tavish handed him before climbing over the faux-railing himself. Of course, from where they were sitting, that gave her and Legend a peek up his kilt. He still wasn’t wearing underwear. The view was even more memorable than the scenery out of the windows.

“Damn. Watch where you’re flashing those things,” Legend muttered as he set the platter on the floor in between them.

Tavish cracked up as he stretched out on the ground opposite the refreshments from Legend and Karolena. He rolled onto his side on a few of the pillows, then used one bent arm to prop his head up. “I brought some of those baby sandwiches and charcuterie stuff they had last night too. You don’t want to drink this too fast or on an empty stomach.”

He handed her the frosty glass full of spiked tea with a pretty white-and-blue striped paper straw.

Before Karolena could protest that she wasn’t hungry, her watering mouth argued otherwise. She plucked a sandwich from the tray and inhaled it in three bites before drawing on her drink.

When she sputtered, then coughed from behind her splayed hand, Legend glared at Tavish. “How strong did you make that?”

“Not half as potent as I’d pour it for you. Settle down, Papa Bear.” Tavish rolled to his back, then turned his head away from them, taking some solace of his own from the pretty view.

As frustrated as Karolena had been with him earlier, she felt bad. “It’s great. Thank you.”

Legend cleared his throat as he reached for a slice of apple and a piece of some sort of cured meat. “Yeah, thanks.”

The combination of the breeze that kept her from feeling trapped, and the chairs, which prevented her from feeling too exposed, plus the presence of the guys keeping her company without demands, and the food filling her belly while the drink loosened her muscles—including her tongue—all worked together, inspiring her to pry. “Tavish, what’s your problem?”

He faced her again at that. “I’m just lying here.”

“Now.” She took another long sip. “Downstairs you were hostile, and I don’t think I did anything to deserve that from you.”

Karolena had had enough of keeping her opinions under wraps. Or letting others turn her into collateral damage because of their foul moods. She’d become an expert in sensing people’s emotions since she’d often had to dodge Vladimir’s bad moods. Trauma was good for something anyway.

---