Chapter 6
Gatlin had radioed ahead to warn Jay that he and the others were approaching, but Jay had failed to mention what the three of them would find when they reached the cabin.
A woman. My God. More like an angel. She was curled up on the porch swing next to Jay, her head in his lap, her hands folded under her cheek. Gorgeous thick brown waves of hair fanned out around her. Jay’s hand was threaded in the locks, resting on her shoulder.
She looked so peaceful. Like an angel.
As Ledger and Nile stopped next to Gatlin, the three of them stood still, not moving, just absorbing this scene. For a moment Gatlin worried Jay had laid some sort of claim on this woman, cutting his partners out of the life they’d lived for years, but one glance at Jay’s face told him otherwise.
Jay was waiting, lips pursed, a brow lifted in question. They exchanged no words, and yet it was clear that something earth-shattering was about to happen.
Gatlin lifted a hand to stroke through a lock of hair, needing to feel it, perhaps to prove the woman was real or just to remind himself what long hair felt like.
Though the four of them had shared a number of women over the years, it had been a long time.
There was something oddly reverent about this moment, and Gatlin dropped to one knee so he could stroke this woman’s cheek. He glanced at Jay, hesitating before touching her, uncertain if he should wake her or even if he definitely had permission to touch her.
Jay gave a single nod as he reached out a hand toward Nile, encouraging him to close the circle. Ledger was in the middle of the newcomers and stepped closer to his partners.
Gatlin’s hand was shaking as he made contact with the woman’s cheek. So soft.
She sighed deeply as she slowly opened her eyes and then blinked before smiling. She glanced at all of them in turn. “You’re here,” she stated. Her eyes were a deep shade of brown that probably resembled his own.
She glanced at Jay and then pushed to sitting. Jay kept an arm around her, holding her to his side.
“You must be Gatlin,” she said, turning toward his partners next. “And Ledger. And Nile.”
Gatlin chuckled. Apparently, Jay had given her a description of his partners. That was a good sign. “And you are?”
“Layla.”
“Layla… I like that name.” He rose to standing as Ledger reached out to take her hand. He squeezed her fingers and then handed her hand to Nile.
Jay glanced at the horizon. “The sun’s about to go down. We should go inside.” He rose, helping Layla stand next to him.
Gatlin hurried to open the door for her to pass, making her giggle. The sound was so refreshing and pure and sweet that his cock took notice.
Jay led Layla to the sofa. “Sit in the middle,” he instructed in his usual manner. Gatlin chuckled at the way Jay could always manage to be politely high-handed.
Layla lowered herself where he’d demanded while Nile and Ledger flanked her.
Moments later, Jay slid two wooden chairs from the kitchen table over and set them in front of the sofa so he and Gatlin could sit close too, facing Layla, closing the circle.
“Maya found her and her sister last night and brought them into the shelter this morning.”
“Sister?” Gatlin lifted a brow.
“She’s down below,” Layla explained. “Been sleeping all day.”
“Ah.”
Nile turned his body so that he was facing Layla, setting his elbow on the back of the sofa, carefully avoiding contact. Not surprising. He would be the most hesitant of the four of them.
Layla wrung her hands in her lap, squeezing her thighs together.
Jay, who had all the liberties in the world apparently, reached out to set his much larger hand over hers and squeezed. “Don’t let them intimidate you. They just want to get to know you.”
She nodded.