Page 26

“Is there any cheese left?” I ask, picking up the iodine and cloth beside me and hoping he won’t notice the huskiness in my voice.

Jayk watches my hands as I pour out some of the liquid onto a cloth. “Out of cheese. Out of all milk products. Also sugar, honey, and potatoes. The fleabags are getting low on their feed, too.”

My head snaps up. Those are staples . They should have been stretched for as long as humanly possible; none of them are easily replaceable. Not quickly replaceable, certainly.

Especially the cheese.

Ugh, damn it. Maybe this wasn’t a good topic after all. No cheese for the foreseeable future is almost definitely worth crying over. At least we still have the goats to.. .

Oh no.

I slap Jayk’s chest urgently. “No one killed Billie or Baa-bara did they? Oh, God, please tell me Henrietta’s okay. Because Lucky?—”

“I didn’t kill his stupid pets,” Jayk mutters, an irritated tic in his heavy jaw.

Then he bursts out, “But he’s a moron for naming them.

They’re food. What kind of dumb shit idiot names his food?

I don’t care if he cries about it, if shit gets real, I’m ganking them myself.

You and Kasey aren’t going to starve just because he decided to go all goat-daddy on some lamb chops. ”

Relaxing, I bite my lip to hide my relieved smile. “Thank you for protecting them, Jayk.”

He glares at me, looking a little too like a belligerent toddler for me to take him seriously.

“This will sting,” I tell him, then press the cloth against the little cuts my nails made in his skin.

He snorts, unflinching, because apparently, he’s a big tough soldier who chews rocks and doesn’t feel pain, but I grimace over the marks.

My nails are filthy. If we’re going to tear shreds off one another, it should at least be hygienic.

“Jayk, we need to talk about the others,” I continue firmly, and this time, he does flinch. I continue my ministrations as though I don’t notice. “You can’t just cut them out of my life on my behalf. I told you how I feel about them. I thought I’d explained this.”

He’s locking up under me, muscle by muscle. I glance at his face, but he’s not scowling at me. Not glaring or glowering. That same bold, reckless challenge is in his eyes.

“I heard you, Eden. You didn’t want to choose. Now you don’t have to. I’m choosing.”

My hands stop on his skin, and I fight a sigh. “You said that, but I don’t?—”

“You think you want them. Fine. They want you. I even get that.” Jayk’s tongue touches his lower lip, and his gaze rakes down my body.

He pinches one nipple hard, tugging on it, and I squeal, squirming.

The corner of his mouth lifts. “But you don’t need them, sugar.

Neither of us do. They’re ungrateful, moody, petty-as-fuck assholes, and they’ll never get you like I do.

They weren’t here for two whole weeks, and you know what?

This place did just fucking fine without them. ”

I shake my head, pulling back. “No, Jayk.”

But he’s leaning forward, the lazy arrogance swelling into hot frustration. “I’m done with them. You are too.”

I press my tongue against my teeth for calm, then bite out, “I was clear, Jayk. If you choose me, you’re choosing this arrangement too. You don’t have to be a part of this—it would kill me, but you don’t. They’re part of the package.”

“Bull. Shit. I’m making my own choice here.

And I choose war.” Jayk is in my space, all around me.

“I’m the only one you need, and I’m going to prove it to you.

You want to fuck them, go ahead and try.

I’m going to be there. They want to drag you off, I’m going to be there.

Whatever they do, I’m doing it better. They can fight as dirty as they want.

It’s not going to matter.” There is war in his face, a stubborn, dark readiness for battle.

“ You leave me if you have your panties in a knot. Kick me out on my ass. But that ? That’s my choice. ”

I tip my head back, gritting my teeth. “I’m not leaving you. I’m not leaving any of them. I love them.”

“They walk out, Eden!” he snaps, his hands snarling in the ends of my hair like a leash.

“They walk . Dom’s been trying to shove you out the door since you got here.

Lucky is hanging off Jasper’s dick. Jasper’s always ready to fall on his fucking sword for the stupidest fucking reasons.

The second he thinks it’s for your own good , he’s out.

And Beau.” Jayk snorts. “The doc is so far up his own ass he doesn’t know which way is out.

He bottles shit up worse than you do, and he holds a grudge.

Looked to me like you were in his shit books. Good luck getting out of those.”

“Stop,” I snap back, my heart pounding.

I shift off his lap, but Jayk yanks me back against his chest.

“I’m not like them. We grew up as trash, Eden, and they throw people out like they’re garbage.

I won’t do that. I don’t do that. I don’t care what the fuck went down at Cyanide.

I don’t care how dark you need to go. You’re mine .

” His eyes blaze, and he drags my hips over him again like an aching reminder. “We can go dark together.”

I’m reeling, feeling him stir against my ass, feeling his chest, his whole, huge body hard and hot and all around me.

But the anger I thought I’d extinguished finds a new spark.

The warmth between us starts broiling, and only the tall, cracked-open window sweeps in cool eddies of air.

It was one of the few that didn’t shatter when Dom set off the bazooka.

“You did walk away from me,” I remind him.

His jaw firms in instant disagreement, and I drag in a harsh breath. I don’t want this getting out of hand between us, but I need to make him understand.

With shaking hands, I loosen my grip on my cloth and start cleaning his cuts again. He shrugs away, but I grip his bicep and scowl. “Stay still and listen to me.”

“Bossy,” he mutters.

“You did make me your queen, didn’t you?” I mutter back.

Ridiculous man and his ridiculous opinions and his ridiculous throne being ridiculously hot. I huff, sweeping a line of blood gently from his skin.

“You did walk.” This time when he opens his mouth to protest, I ignore him.

“You walked when I hurt you. You walked because we weren’t talking properly, and everything was messy— I was messy—and you needed space to think.

And you had to do that, and it was okay in the end because now we’re doing better.

We’re learning, Jayk. We talked and gave each other space and we learned . ”

I swallow hard and look at him. “We’re all learning, okay?

Yes, Dom was wary of me at first. He was worried I’d break Beau’s heart—a fear that unfortunately now is seeming quite valid.

But he let me in. Dom isn’t some giant unfeeling asshole.

He was kind to me. He was a friend when you were gone, and I desperately needed someone who wasn’t going to smother or coddle me.

He put me back on my feet and reminded me that I could be strong. ”

Jayk stares at me, long and hard.

“I can do that,” he says in a low voice. His hands run up my back, hesitant. “I can do all of that.”

The cool air picks up, softly billowing the strange, thin curtains that have replaced the old luxuriant velvet.

My heart aches, and I lean into his touch. “Dom was hurt badly at Cyanide, Jayk. Whatever you say, I know you care. He’s lost his confidence. He doesn’t want to lead.”

He pauses, then glares at the ceiling. “ I’m in charge now. Problem solved.”

“Jayk,” I scold softly. “He’s supporting you. You heard him earlier. He’s not the villain, he’s a good, good man, and I?—”

Jayk flips me onto my back, tossing my glasses askew, and settles between my thighs. “Yeah, feel free to not talk to me about him.”

His cock is hardening lazily, and he strokes it over the slippery mess he left, rubbing over my clit. My body starts to perk up with tired interest, but I frown at him.

“Bristlebrook,” I say steadily, and he freezes.

Pushing off me, he sits back on the bed, watching me turbulently.

I move into a kneel, throwing the used cloth onto the side table.

“You’re not distracting me this time. Let’s go through your other points, too, shall we?

Lucky is in love with Jasper, yes, and they’re lovely together—but you’d have to be blind not to see that he’s in love with me as well.

Lucky has never walked out on me. He’s unbelievably kind, and attentive, and he makes me laugh, Jayk.

He brings me so much joy.” I point at him across the silken bedsheets.

“He brings you joy, too. No, don’t scowl at me. We both know he does.”

Jayk scoffs, getting off the bed. “I’m taking a dump.”

He walks toward the bathroom, and I scramble across the bed to grab another pillow and throw it at his back.

He spins, scowling when it smacks him.

“Don’t you leave just because I’m right!” I cross my arms over my breasts. “Mister ‘I-don’t-walk-out.’”

Jayk stares down at the pillow, then up at me. He rolls his eyes at my terrible impression of him.

“I don’t walk out of this !” He gestures between us. “Not the room . I like you, sweetheart, and you’re a hot piece of ass, but I draw the line at shitting in front of you.”

“Poop later ,” I bite out. He can be as crude as he likes—he doesn’t get to run away.

I start ticking the others off on my fingers.

“Jasper is an ethical, honorable man, and I happen to love that about him. He made mistakes with Lucky, and he owned up to those and is making it up to him. He’s intelligent and compassionate and terrifying.

.. and being with him is like being at peace for the first time ever. I can be still with him, Jayk.”