Page 52 of Ensnared

Theconcerned warmth on his face dims, butIbrush past him, up the stairs, and into my room before he can speak.

Chapter14

Lucky

Survivaltip #98

Sadistswill only hurt you.

Iflip the pancake into the air, trying to get it to do three spins before it hits the pan again.

“Canyou just cook the damn things instead of playing with them?”Dombarks, pacing the kitchen behind me with the charged energy of a panther lashing its tail.

“Art.Thisisart, boss man.Don’tmess with it.Anddon’t get pissy with me just ’cause you didn’t think before you swung this time.”Beforeoh-leader-supreme can bite my head off,Islide the pancake off the pan and onto a plate, and then plant it on the edge of the counter for him. “Justswallow it and apologize.Plentyof sugar in these babies to help it go down right.Jayk’llbitch, but he’ll get over it.We’llneed him on side soon enough.”

Domscowls... but stalks closer to the pancakes.He’llsettle once he’s eaten.

“Notthe point.Ishouldn’t have gone after him like that.”Hestabs a fluffy pancake with his fork, sounding almost sullen. “She’sjust got those big, prissy fucking eyes.Sheisn’t thetype.WhatwasImeant to think?”

Hestabs the pancake harder and it splits in a fluffy spray.

Alaugh snorts out of me thatIcan’t keep in, despite the glareIreceive in return.

Ihold up my hands in surrender. “Shegot naked in front offourof us on her first night here and came all overBeau’slap.”Luckybastard.Itshould have been aLuckybastard. “Shemight not know what the hell she’s doing—and she might shock herself into a nunnery—but she’s definitelythe type.Whateverthat is.”

Andshe’s cute.Andsmart.AndIhave a mother-flipping date with her tonight.

Beaueyes me sideways, andIrealizeI’mgrinning like a five-year-old with pockets full of candy.Ah, whatever.Whynot?It’sbeen ages sinceI’vefelt this excited about something, andI’llbe good for her, anyway.I’llmake sure she has a bit of fun—the girl needs to lighten up.

Well, all of them need to lighten up, really, butI’mpretty sure it’s a lost cause with the guys.I’vebeen working on ’em for years andIcan still only get them to crack a smile once a month.

“Shewon’t want anything from us if we keep lying to her,”Beausays quietly.

IshootBeaua sympathetic wince overDom’sshoulder as the full weight of the bigger man’s displeasure lands on him. “Sincewhen do we explain our decisions to civs?”

Thedoc—brave guy—rolls his eyes. “Ithink that ship has kind of sailed, don’t you?Shehas a right to know if another group of hunters is hanging around these woods.Iwant her around as much as anyone but it could influence her decision on whether she wants to stay or not.”

Choosingself-preservation on this one,Ipop a hunk of chocolate chip pancake in my mouth.

BeauandDom’srecon mission had mixed success.Theguys covered their asses by heading to town, but after they flagged that there could be another group out there,Jasperstarted running through our camera footage.Sureenough, there’s a huge group of hunters slowly making their way in our direction.Rightnow, they’re about five days south of us.

Soin the understatement of the year, it’s not great.Theseguys are getting closer and closer toBristlebrook, they’re seriously kitted out, and if they don’t already know their friends were taken out, they will soon.I’mguessing they aren’t going to be too happy about that.

Andworst of all, it’s makingDomcranky.

Thecaptain’s prickling anger is tangible as he narrows his eyes onBeau. “Thiswouldn’t even be our problem if we didn’t bundle her up and play knights in shining khaki for her.She’sbeen here a week and she’s already started infighting and brought a goddamn militia down on our heads.”

BeaumeetsDom’sgaze, andI’dgive my left nut to have that level of calm under ourCO’srage.

“Edendidn’t pull that knife onJaykob,Dom.”Heruns a hand over his head. “Weshouldn’t have assumed anything, that’s on us.Weshould have known better.Jaykis a good dom.He’sa good man.We’rethe ones who fucked up, notEden.”

Domgrunts sourly, andIgo back to flipping pancakes, shamelessly eavesdropping.

Thedoc leans back casually and shakes his head. “AndIfind it hard to believe that forty-plus men would take this many risks for one woman, no matter how hard up they are.Theywere already in our woods, close to our home.Didyou stop to think about why they’re all here in the first place?Ithas to be territorial, right?Apush out fromCyanide, maybe?”

Igrimace at that thought.CyanideCityis the closest city to us, about a week south—calledCyanidebecause it’s damn suicide to go there.Afterthe strikes settled down, it became a war zone, with every gang around trying to claim their corner, and every stupid asshole who managed to get his hands on a gun trying to loot supplies.

Wedecided early on not to risk trips out there unless it was absolutely necessary.Thereare other towns around that, while less abundant in supplies, are a heck of a lot less dangerous.Noneof us wants to get a bullet in the ass because some trigger-happy civilian wants to throw his dick around.

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