Page 44

Scarlett

Mateo stirred, and Scarlett still felt wobbly and out of sorts. “Don’t leave,” she begged, clinging to Mateo as he stood and laid her on the couch.

He kissed her cheek and ran his hand through her hair. “I’ll be right back. I’m just getting you a cloth.”

She sighed and nodded, turning on her side and fumbling for his shirt on the floor. She managed to pull it on and then curled up under the blanket again. A moment later, Mateo returned and softly kissed her cheek, handing her a damp cloth and small towel.

“Do you want me to carry you upstairs to the bathroom?”

Oh, right. Vince had mentioned something about UTIs. No one had ever taught her that. Despite not feeling in full control of herself, Scarlett shook her head and pushed herself onto shaky legs. “Can you choose a movie?”

“Of course.”

When she came back down, he was already waiting for her, with the blanket and a water bottle. She curled up against him, still too much in a daze to pay much attention to the TV at all.

When she awoke again, Scarlett was surprised to find that she’d slept through the night.

The early morning sun streamed through the windows.

She’d even missed Vince and Ezra’s return, who slept on either of the two couches.

She closed her eyes again, wanting to stretch the moment out as long as possible.

When Mateo stirred behind her, she finally dared to open her eyes again.

Mateo pulled her closer and nuzzled into her neck. “Good morning, love.”

“Hi,” she yawned, turning in his arms and cuddling up to his chest. “What time are we leaving today?”

“Once everything is packed. We aren’t on any tight schedule.”

Although she was hesitant to leave the comfort of his arms, the rumbling in her stomach was far too angry with her to ignore.

They had a lazy breakfast, and Scarlett insisted on training again to exhaust herself for the long drive ahead.

From what she understood, they’d spend at least three days on the road, and she’d only started strength training.

She didn’t want to start slacking now. To her delight, Vince joined them this time as well.

Mateo led her through her strength training, then she practiced on Ezra again. Once they’d gone over everything she already knew, Mateo showed her how to twist out of a knife attack.

Ezra stood behind her, a knife to her throat—he’d insisted on leaving the sheath in place—and let her practice ducking to the side and contorting his arm behind his back.

“Good,” Mateo praised. “It’ll be easier if you grip him here instead.” He adjusted her hand on Ezra’s wrist and then prompted her to do it again. “Try on Vince too. He’s bigger in size, but it’ll work all the same.”

Vince stepped up and held the knife to her throat. And just as Mateo predicted, it worked fine. She still needed to work on her speed, but she had the bones down. She used both Ezra and Vince to practice until Mateo ended their session.

“You did well,” Mateo praised. Every time he did so, her heart fluttered. Though the words themselves were nothing compared to Mateo’s conviction behind them.

“As expected,” Ezra purred, pulling her away from the gym. “Time to feed you.”

“Can I shower first?”

“As you wish.”

Scarlett started up the stairs, but turned back to Ezra. “That grilled cheese you had yesterday looked really nice. Can you make me one?”

“Anything for you.”

As she’d hoped, her body was tired. She stood in the shower, letting the hot water run over her aching muscles. Knowing they loved it, she pulled on a loose, flowery dress but packed extra clothes in her overnight bag.

By the time she was back downstairs, Ezra had her lunch waiting, hair still damp from his own shower. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

She hopped onto the counter next to Mateo, who mapped out their route on his tablet. “How are you feeling about your first road trip?”

“Nervous, but excited.”

“You’ll do just fine. Have you packed everything?”

“I think so, but if we can still stop for things I forgot, I’m not too worried.”

“Perfect. Once we’re fed, we can pack up the cars.”

“Just the two after all?”

“Yes. We can’t afford to stop on the way back, so we’ll rotate to take turns sleeping.”

Scarlett nodded and looked over Mateo’s shoulder as he went over the route and made notes for stops.

He seemed to have picked the route with the most tourist spots along the way.

She knew it was for her, and the thought warmed her heart.

She also knew that none of them were set in stone, and that neither of them would do anything that overwhelmed her.

It took nearly two hours to pack everything up.

Once all set she climbed into the passenger’s seat with her overnight bag and travel entertainment of the second car—the one with less gear and not an ounce of silver.

She sat in her seat, watching them lock up, terrified that they would make her choose who to ride with first. She didn’t want to make them think she had a favourite because even with a gun to her head, she wouldn’t be able to choose.

Seemingly without a big fuss, Vince took his seat next to her and started the engine.

They drove for a while before Scarlett grew anxious about leaving everything she’d come to know so far behind. Trying to calm her mind, she pulled out her sketchbook and flipped through the pages. When she landed on her first ever sketch of them, she halted and looked over at Vince.

He smiled softly, though his eyes were glued to the road ahead. “I won’t look,” he promised.

“It’s nothing bad.”

“But clearly something you do not wish to share yet, and that is fine.”

“I sketched the three of you. Well, not all of you—just parts that stood out. Like Ezra’s eyes.”

“Because they scared you and you wanted him out of your head.”

“Something like that.”

“Understandable.”

She flipped to a blank page and started picturing her new home.

The lake in particular—the one she hadn’t yet visited.

It was constantly on her mind, but she just hadn’t made the walk over there yet.

She started with the weeping willow right by the water’s edge and continued to the bench overlooking the water.

She lost herself in the sketch, only looking up again when the car slowed and pulled off the highway.

They parked next to Mateo and Ezra who were already out of the truck and stretching their legs. When Vince parked, Mateo opened the door and smiled as if he hadn’t seen her in months.

“Ah, someone has been keeping herself busy.”

“Just a little.”

“Well, it’s beautiful.”

Ezra stepped up to get a glimpse at the sketch for himself before Scarlett closed the book and tucked it away.

If she hadn’t been with them, she would have avoided the diner they wound up in.

It was filled with rough men and judging by their appearances and the bikes lined up outside the restaurant, they likely belonged to some sort of biker gang.

Though she was lucky her men could read her like a book.

They sat her in a booth by the window, caging her in with their strong bodies acting as a shield.

It was a rather quiet dinner, with Mateo looking into motels to spend the night.

The men seemed to want to cover more miles, but assured her they would not spend all night on the road.

When Mateo followed Scarlett to the bathroom, she knew it was for her own comfort, and the act helped her relax that much more.

To give Vince a break, Ezra took the driver seat of her car next.

The sun was setting, so she didn’t grab for her sketchbook again.

Once on the highway, she shifted in her seat and watched the sun set in the west. Ezra’s hand softly laid on her bare thigh and she couldn’t help but smile at him as his face was coloured in golden light.

“You are allowed to sleep, princess.”

“But you look so pretty with the sun setting behind you.”

“No woman has ever been allowed to call me pretty.”

“Well, I’m a special kind. Your special kind actually.”

Ezra purred, a low, rumbling sound, and slipped his hand higher up her thigh. “I think that kind of mindset needs rewarding.”

Her hand shot down to trap his wrist in place. “Ezra,” she intended to scold him, but the sound came out in a moan.

“Yes, little princess?” Still, Ezra crept his fingers higher until he brushed across the lace between her legs. “I just can’t keep my hands off you.”

“But… oh. ” Scarlett forgot all sense of herself as Ezra found her clit, softly stroking along the sensitive spot.

“I would never let anyone see you like this. It’s too dark. No one will notice my hand between your thighs.”

Scarlett adjusted her stance, sliding down in her seat and widening her thighs.

She didn’t dare close her eyes, astonished by Ezra’s focus and determination.

Her mouth fell open on a sigh, the proud, mischievous grin on his face making her heart soar.

He’d stopped teasing her, giving her exactly what she needed despite the fact that she hadn’t had the slightest clue something as simple as fingertips could make her feel so good.

Ezra applied more pressure, banishing the anxiety filling Scarlett’s mind and replacing it with all-consuming pleasure.

Her mind grew dizzy and the faster he pleased her, the blurrier her vision became.

It was hard to focus on his beautiful face as the sunlight faded around them.

When her orgasm neared, she succumbed to the pleasure and let her eyes fall shut.

Her fingernails dragged into his skin as she held on to his wrist as if her life depended on it, as if her life would end if she didn’t reach her climax.

Ezra went faster and harder, though he never lost his rhythm and before she knew it, her body tensed, and sweet release washed over her.

He didn’t relent right away, working her through the orgasm until her body jolted in his grip. Only then did he soften his touch.

He let her ride it out, his hand moving to her thigh and holding onto it, his thumb tenderly caressing her. Once she’d calmed, he lifted her hand to his lips, kissed her palm, and rubbed his cheek against her.

“Stunning,” he hummed with another kiss before he laid their intertwined hands back on her thigh.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“There is so much more I would like to do with you,” Ezra teased. “But one step at a time.”

“That should scare me.”

“But it doesn’t, maybe it even excites you.”

It did, but she couldn’t admit that, not to him nor to herself.

She dozed off, only waking up to the sensation of arms around her. The second she was rolled against a hard chest and took a deep breath in, she knew it was Mateo.

“Tuckered her out, huh?” he gently chuckled, kissing her hair.

“Couldn’t resist. Those dresses are fucking torture.”

“Don’t say that too loud she might not wear them anymore.”

“I will force her into one if needed.”

It wasn’t long before Mateo laid her on a soft bed and ran his fingers through her hair. “How about we change into something comfy, my love?”

She could only manage a sleepy, “Mmkay.”

Mateo handed her everything she needed and helped her unzip the dress and unclasp her bra. Once changed, she only trudged to the bathroom out of necessity before collapsing onto the bed, easily drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, she was woken by the delicious smell of breakfast. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of the king-sized bed with Mateo and Ezra sitting to each side of her, already dressed.

“Ah, the princess has graced us with her presence.”

She looked over at Ezra, who smirked down at her with a coffee already in hand. “You could have woken me.”

“I considered it, but I had a knife to my throat before I could think twice.”

“She deserved to get as much rest as she can,” Vince stated as if he hadn’t threatened his friend’s life.

The act only reminded her that Vince could be just as ruthless as Ezra.

She forgot about that side of him because unlike Ezra, Vince concealed how dangerous he could be.

She gratefully took the paper bag offered and devoured her breakfast before freshening up and getting dressed.

The fact that they would spend most of the day on the road made her nervous.

Mateo was the first to drive with her, following Ezra and Vince out of the parking lot and back onto the highway. He held his hand out and she weaved her fingers with his, resting their hands on her thigh. She’d chosen a dress again, bathing in the knowledge of how much they loved it.

“When you say lycans can control werewolves, what do you mean?”

“We are not entirely sure. They were believed to have been extinct for quite some time, so we don’t have much knowledge about them.” He pointed behind his seat where he’d dropped his bag. “My creature book is in there.”

She reached behind him and fetched the book out of his bag, opening it to the marked page.