Page 13 of Lost Lyrebird

My woeful groan is all in my head.I nod grimly, then look up to curse the man upstairs.Am I really asking for too much here?C’mon.

Bodie grins and rubs his hands together.“This shit is just gettin’ good.”

I hear Raven kindly say, “You’re on, honey.Knock ’em dead.”Then the music kicks in, and ‘Bawitdaba’ by Kid Rock blasts through the speakers.

A young, fresh-looking blonde steps onto the stage wearing a red two-piece, fishnets, and clunky heels.She doesn’t appear comfortable in the shoes.If anything, she’s unsteady.She has little curves to speak of, but some men love that sort of thing.

If I had to guess, she’s a college student looking for a way to pay that hefty tuition bill.You do this long enough, it’s easier to spot what category the girls fall into: single mom, college student, lifers—girls who get addicted to the attention and never want to give it up, and the Annies—the girls searching in the wrong place for their version of Daddy Warbucks.

She spins around the pole with some skill, and for a spare second, I think maybe I judged her too quickly.There’s some raw talent there.

As soon as the thought hits me, the girl slips.She falls, and I swear to God, the sound of her head cracking on the stage echoes.

“Shit!”I’m not sure who shouts it—maybe both of us at once—as Bodie and I jump up and race toward her.We swiftly assess the damage, much like we used to do in the field back in our Ranger days, when he was just Rivers to me, a West Coast beach bum turned soldier.

The girl moans as she comes to.She reaches for the back of her head, but Bodie pulls her hand away and holds her arm down.He begins asking her questions to gauge her awareness.I get a quick flash of memory of him doing the same to me after the Humvee incident we nearly died in.It’s one of the memories I haven’t lost track of, and this moment brings it to the surface.

While he takes care of the girl, I call for an ambulance, and Bodie’s baby blue eyes meet mine as soon as I end the call.They sayshe seems fine, but fuck, she landed hard.Hope you have good insurance, man.

Bodie tells her to relax until they get here.

Staring at the girl, all I can think is… this is a sign, right?Because it sure as fuck feels like one.

For a moment, I let myself think about what that would look like—more time to work in my woodshop, more time helping the women in Veno’s circle get back to their families.However, if I push any harder, it might draw too much attention, and that means blowback for the club.

“What can I do to help?”

The voice cuts through my morbid thoughts.It washes over me like aged bourbon.There’s a sultry elegance to each word.A divinely feminine lyrical quality to it.My focus snaps away from the girl and up.For a moment, the overhead lights momentarily blind me.An outline of a shapely form stands over me, her face in shadow.Her curves, though, are insane.The golden glow hitting her skin and hair makes her appear otherworldly.I know it’s merely a trick of the light, but it feels as if someone upstairs is telling me to pay fucking attention.So, I do.I eat up the vision before me.

The word angel pings in my mind, but no, there are no wings attached to this beauty.

“Is she okay?”Her voice stirs up an image of a meadow filled with wildflowers in my mind.I’m not sure why, maybe it’s her scent that triggers the memory, but the connection to that visceral image is instant, and it leaves behind a feeling of lingering warmth.

She drops to her knees beside me, face pinched with concern.I take note of her long, French-tipped nails and olive skin as she reaches out and asks her directly if she’s all right.When her gaze slowly pans to me, I’m struck stupid.

I see women, beautiful women, all the time.But this woman is next-level stunning.Her most prominent features are her angular cheekbones and plush lips, until her eyes steal the show.They’re a captivating blue, with an inner ring of a honey hue around the pupil.

Time—whatever the fuck it is—sort of shifts to a halt as our gazes tangle together.Me… I’m over here trying to understand how this exotic creature practically landed in my lap.Like, where the fuck did she come from?

A blush blooms over her cheeks, and she shyly looks away.Her hair is long as hell, rich brown with lighter strands, the ends curling over her ample chest.As I take in the rest of her, I see that my assessment of her is correct.She’s unreal.Every bit of her is pleasing to the eye.

Too perfect.Almost suspiciously so.I continue to stare until her lips twist as she fights a smirk.

“She’s gonna be fine, but damn, gorgeous, where’d you come from?”Bodie’s voice snaps me out of the trance I’ve fallen into.

She folds her hands in her lap.“Backstage.I was supposed to go on next.”

Her sultry voice is infused with Southern charm.The accent has a lyrical quality, making her words flow seamlessly into one another and sound sweeter than they are.

When we both continue to eye-fuck her, she becomes visibly nervous and runs her fingers through her hair, sweeping from left to right.Her scent works like a fucking defibrillator, burrowing deeply into my chest.It’s alluring and seductive, but also soft.A gentle floral scent with hints of raspberry.It wakes my dormant libido and kickstarts it into overdrive instantly.Because yeah, my dick perked right the fuck up.

I’m so caught off guard by it, I sway in my crouched position, dropping to a knee and planting my fingertips on the floor to steady myself, so I don’t, you know, eat shit and end up on my ass over this woman.

A familiar blast of pain hits behind my eyes.Pressing my palm to my temple, I apply pressure and bear it.

Bodie speaks, but it’s a murmur to me as picture-like images flash behind my eyes.A cholo, Veno Chavez, wearing a black folded bandana over his forehead and eyebrows.An adversary I know well.The three blue teardrop tattoos below the corner of his eye and the scorpion neck tattoo are his most distinguishable features.

His face is pinched in pure rage.He’s shouting and pushing a nine-millimeter into a girl’s mouth, a teenager with bleached hair.Wild strands cover half her beat-to-shit face.One of her eyes is swollen to the point it’s completely shut.