“STOP IT!” I screamed, wrenching up in the bed until my ribs ached and my whole body protested in pain.
“Shh,” Snyder whispered, moving over until his arms were wrapped around me. “I’m here,” he said in the depths of my hair.
God, why did it feel so right being held by him?Why did being with any man other than Sabbath feel right?It was like every man in the club was meant for me somehow, but Snyder, I felt closer to him than any of them.
“Where’s Sabbath?”
“He had club business to attend to.”
“And Sandman?”
Snyder’s eyes moved toward the window. The utter damnation in them spoke volumes.
“He’s alive…” he started. “But they think he will wake up a vegetable.”
Instant tears pricked my eyes as I clutched him even closer. “No! Please tell me that’s not true. He can’t—not after—”
Snyder shushed me with a kiss, soothing me with the pout of his sexy lips. You would think after being viciously attacked the way I had been, that I’d be less likely to want this kind of affection, but it was like my body was begging for it. It was like I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted him to wash away the ick of it all, and soothe the demons rolling through me.
He cuddled me closer, neither of us caring who entered the room. I would’ve let him take me right there on the hospital bed as his lips covered mine, but we both knew that was impossible. I was still badly broken inside, and at any minute, someone could walk through the door and discover us.
With great reluctance, he pulled away, putting some distance between us that was necessary but greatly despised by us both.
“Shasta.” His voice dropped into a deadly whisper. “I know this isn’t the right time or place to say any of this, but—”
The door banged open and in strode Sabbath. He looked pissed, his eyes moving between Snyder, who was dangerously close to me, and our hands that immediately unraveled from underneath the blanket.
“What’s up?” Snyder asked, leaning back like nothing was happening.
“I want them dead!” Sabbath growled, pacing the room like a caged animal. “Every last one of those motherfuckers.”
Snyder shot a look at me and stood up. “Maybe we should discuss this somewhere else.”
Sabbath glanced over at me and shrugged. “Fuck, you’re right. Come on,” he grumped, immediately pulling Snyder from the room.
I could already feel Snyder’s absence, and it hit me hard.God, what the fuck was I doing?We were playing with deadly fire. Hell, I was skipping through an inferno with how dangerous my choices had been lately. Three men had graced my bed… three that weren’t the man whose cut I wore on my back. That was equal to three bullets in the biker world.
The door opened and Ranger walked in, smiling at me as he held out a small bouquet of flowers in a peach vase.
“The club thought this would brighten up your day,” he said, placing the vase next to me.
“They’re beautiful.” I smiled, admiring the lilies and red roses, inner mixed with baby’s breath and luscious green foliage.
“Clash picked them out,” he said with a laugh. “Who would’ve thought that a guy like Clash would know what a good flower arrangement should be?”
Clash.
The man who coaxed his way between my legs with blackmail. The man I ran to in the rain and begged to fuck me when Nina revealed her dark and dirty secret and dismantled my world. I fucking hated that bitch so fucking much, but even though I wished death upon her, that innocent soul inside of her was just that… innocent.
My wrath would have to be smothered until the timing was exactly right.
“He is a man of many talents,” I murmured, without thinking.
Ranger quirked an eyebrow. “You say that like—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”
If I could cover my mouth and suck back each word, I would. It was almost like my ability to keep shit quiet was broken.
“Thank you for the flowers. Tell Clash I said thank you as well.” I hadn’t seen Clash since the accident. In fact, if I thought about it, I hadn’t really seen much of him since our moment in the trees. It made me wonder if he regretted it already.