Page 46

Jaykob

Nervous shits before are better than

surprised shits during.

Fuck me, I hope this goes to plan.

Light breathing ghosts around me as we move.

It’s past nightfall, and we’re geared up and heading out for our raid.

The damp, earthy smells of the forest creep down the tunnel—all leaves and bird shit and the Reapers smoking fires.

The hidden exit out of Bristlebrook is carved from the rock, and it presses around us like a tomb as we creep forward.

We’re not about to give away our position, so the lamps are off and our flashlights are stowed.

We’re the monsters in the dark.

The lights don’t matter. Every one of us has taken this tunnel a hundred times. We know this forest. Bristlebrook has been a prison and a home for too many years now—and those years might not have been sunshine and daisies, but that doesn’t mean shit when it comes to this.

I claimed her. She’s mine.

These barnyard assholes don’t get to shit on her doorstep without getting hit back.

“Slow,” I mutter, and the echo whispers around us.

Eden’s footsteps are pixie-light behind me as she slows down, not missing a step. She can’t see worth a damn anyway, so I guess the dark don’t matter much.

Of course, her ass is staying behind, but she was cute, wanting to see me off, so I’ll let her tag along for the easy part. No one can say I ain’t generous.

Dim light starts filtering through the end of the tunnel, and I gesture to Eden to hang back while I edge forward. Tension rides me as I bring my rifle around, and I quickly check the forest around us.

The trees are dark and thick, the scrub undisturbed. There’s no one here, but I check it twice more anyway.

The tunnel entrance stays blackened and still.

I don’t know why I’m so fucking nervous. It’s a standard raid on a bunch of cow-kissing dicks who don’t know their ass from their shotguns. We could do this in our sleep.

A bird streaks from a tree beside me in a bursting flutter of wings.

My heart scatters unsteadily, and I scowl as I head back to the tunnel.

It’s this stupid King shit. This is the first op I’ve ever run, and I... damn it. I want it to go well. And if these fuckers don’t hold together, if they don’t listen to me, if I fucked this up, then it could go south really fucking fast.

Shit.

Why would they listen to me? They think I’m a moron.

You ruin everything.

I see their faces from this morning. Bitter and angry and dripping all their usual miserable contempt. If I could put it down to them being worked up over Eden, I wouldn’t get my dick in a knot about it, but this shit has been going on for years.

Acid eats at my gut as I step back inside. I should call this off. I don’t want to get anyone killed, and they don’t trust me. Hell, they don’t even like me. This is bound to go bad.

“Clear?” Dom asks, and I’m about to tell him to can it. To turn around and march his ass back home.

But then I see Eden.

She’s pale in the dark, and her glasses manage to soak up the single hint of starlight leaking through the tunnel. If we were letting her outside, it’d be a dead giveaway. Those glasses shine a direct fucking spotlight on her pretty skull. She might as well beg for a headshot.

Jesus fuck, she’s a hazard. And ain’t we a matched pair.

She’s going to get herself killed, and I’m going to do the rest of them in.

But she’s not looking at me like I’m a fuck-up, or like she thinks I’m going to send her boy-toy crushes up the river. She’s smiling at me, and her eyes are sparkling brighter than her damn kill-shot glasses. Like she’s excited. Like this is fun to her.

She trusts me.

Fuck .

“Yeah, we’re clear,” I find myself muttering to the others clustered behind her.

Stupid fucking asshole . Ignore the girl. This is how you wound up thinking you could do this in the first place.

“Everyone clear on what they have to do?” I ask, even though we’ve been over it a dozen times, and it makes me look like a nervous asshole.

“Stay quiet and listen to Daddy.” Lucky waggles his brows, and Jasper cuts him a dry look. “We got it, Pops.”

Beau snorts. “Yeah, we’re good here, Jayk.”

Dom nods, still watching me in a way that makes my skin itch. All understanding and supportive . I scowl at him, and he rolls his eyes. I don’t know where this shit is coming from, but I hate it.

I liked it better when he was taking swings at me.

Eden’s hand slips into mine, squeezing lightly, and I look down at her.

“You know what you’re doing?” I ask gruffly, conscious of the others’ eyes on me.

It’s different than earlier. Now’s not the time to rub shit in, and I’m too nervous to make a point. This is real. I need her to be okay.

Fuck. All of them.

She nods. “Distraction. I’ve got it handled.”

“Stay out of range.” Her glasses blink at me again, and I glare at her to drive the point home. “You let Sloane handle it if they start shooting. You hide.”

Rolling up on her tiptoes, she brushes a kiss over my lips. It’s quick as wildfire, and then she’s stepping back.

Her smile turns sweet enough to rot. “Yes, Jayk. I promise not to do something extreme—like walk into an enemy camp where the odds are over five to one.”

Lucky laughs, and I scowl as her smile grows, turning back to the exit.

“Fine. Good. Whatever. Then everyone move. Don’t get shot.”

I’m already edging back out into the night when I realize they’re not behind me.

I glance back to see Lucky devouring Eden. Up-against-the-rock, hands-on-her-ass, tongue-down-her-throat devouring .

“Sneaky little shit !” I snap, only remembering to keep my voice down at the last second. My heart thunders in my chest as she just lets him eat her fucking face , and for a hot moment, I debate whether to shoot him myself.

Instead, I sling my rifle, and I’m storming back down the tunnel when the springy bastard finally comes up for air. Patting her on the cheek, he says something that makes her giggle like a breathless cartoon idiot, and he steps into my path, stopping me short.

Lucky’s eyes widen innocently. “We going or what?”

I glower at him, but he just grins, his dimple flashing at me like a challenge as he nods back the way I came. “Well, come on. What are you waiting for? Keep it moving.”

Behind him, Beau smirks at us, then leans down to claim his own kiss.

Murder plays behind my eyes. Was I worried about getting them all killed? Fuck that.

Time for a new goal.

After Beau, Jasper presses a soft kiss to Eden’s temple, and the way she ducks her head makes my blood howl. I glower at Dom as he pauses in front of her.

They look at each other, really fucking look , and the howl in my blood turns into a roar.

She’s looking at him like she looks at me.

“Jayk, you know you’re really holding us up here,” Lucky remarks, examining his rifle. “As leader, I’d think you’d be a little bit more concerned with time management.”

Dom unglues his eyes from her face and looks back down at us. He grimaces, then gives her one last look before stalking back after us.

Relief bites me.

No kiss.

Dom meets my eyes as he approaches, his jaw hard enough to break my fist against. “ What , Jayk?”

I shrug one shoulder, glancing back at Eden... and for some reason, her crushed expression makes me want to punch him as much as the idea of him kissing her does.

“Nothing,” I mutter, and he pushes past me to storm out of the rock.

We follow him out, and the birds fall silent. Quiet has settled over the forest like a blanket, and Eden’s glasses wink from the mouth of the tunnel as she watches us go.

Beau eyes Dom like he wants to start some kind of open-dialogue, heart-to-heart bullshit, and Lucky shakes his head, tsking like my old school teacher whenever she thought I wasn’t living up to my potential , but when I gesture at everyone to fan out... they do.

They actually fucking listen to me.

For about three fucking seconds.

We only make it half a dozen steps before Dom stops beside me in the thick underbrush.

I look at him, then around us, trying to spot what he’s seen, but he only sighs, running a hand down his face.

“What’s wrong?” Beau whispers, and Lucky pauses on his other side, gesturing to Jasper.

Suddenly, Dom’s shoulders straighten, and his eyes are bright in the dim light.

“Fuck it.”

Then he’s turning, jogging back to the tunnel. I whip around watching, my rifle at the ready, only...

The captain isn’t on the attack.

Dom sweeps Eden up out of the shadows, and even from here I can hear her breathy little gasp. He stares down at her again, in that punchable fucking way, before he tucks his hand behind her neck . . . and kisses her.

Lucky whoops under his breath, and Beau laughs, a low, victorious fucking chuckle, and I see red.

I take a step forward, but Jasper is abruptly in my path.

“Ah, my mistake,” he murmurs.

I shove him to the side only to find Lucky stretching casually, right in my way.

He spreads his hands. “Dude, sorry. I’m all left feet, you know? It’s a real problem.”

I glower at him. “I will fucking shoot you.”

“And give away our position?” he whispers. “Oof. Okay. You’re the boss.”

I look over his shoulder, and my chest feels too tight—too damn constricted and locked in to get air. They’re still kissing. There’s not even the illusion that she doesn’t want it, either.

She’s melted against him, her arms clinging around his neck, her feet dangling as she kisses and kisses him. He’s holding her up, the way I fucking do. Kissing her like he wants to drown in it.

Lucky whistles low, and I scowl at him.

“Dominic, there will be time for this later,” Jasper whispers, sounding amused. He’s only just loud enough to be heard, and the cap flips him off with one hand.

But he doesn’t stop kissing her.

She’s smiling against his mouth, and the sight etches itself into my bones.

My fucking brain.