Page 161 of Carnal Wagers

“Listen, chéri. This isn’t my doing. We need to get away from this spot. Now.”

Those observant eyes, so punishing and complex, took me in. One long second dragged by, then he nodded. One firm bob of his head said so many things at once. He trusted me. He loved me. This was just another challenge to get through. With that, a bundle of tension seeped out of me.

I rolled my shoulders, my shirt sticking to my aching skin, and pinched my lips shut to silence my pained groan. That pain centered me, and I welcomed it, regardless of the discomfort.

“The Urabá cartel took a hit out on you,” I whispered as we crawled and slunk deeper into the woods until the foliage behind us was thick enough to cover our location. “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. My brother only told me last night, and then everything happened, and it slipped my mind.”

“Endgame’s doing this?”

“No, Adrien promised me they wouldn’t get involved. He was going to get the hit taken down. Someone must have accepted before that went through.”

A branch cracked in the distance, and I peered around a tree. An ill-timed breeze swept over the stain of blood against my back that soaked through my top and made me shudder with a hiss.

“See anything?” Cillian crowded behind me, his warmth as reassuring as it was confining.

Any other time, the feel of his hand against me would have been reassuring. Instead, I flinched away from him with a garbled hiss smothered behind pinched lips.

“Jaysus, you’re bleeding.” He pried up my shirt, practically ripping the thing like a caveman. I didn’t have time to balk before my lacy bra was on display. He wiped the blood away, too focused to notice my discomfort. “The state of you. I’ll kill them. I’ll fucking kill them all.”

When he pressed down on the wound and spread the skin to check it for debris, my back bowed away from his touch with a yelp.

“Putain de merde,” I cursed, glaring at him and shoving my top down.

“You’ll need stitches, but it’s not life-threatening. Just a deep graze.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thank you, doctor.”

He leaned in close. His natural musk mixed with the heady tang of his sweat overwhelmed every other scent.

“I’d love nothing more than to put you over my knee and spank that attitude right out of you.” The tenor of his voice vibrated all over me as he groped my ass and squeezed it hard. I loved that he didn’t treat me like glass because of a little blood. “But not right now. The moment we’re out of danger and your back’s been checked, this arse is mine. Till then, you’re going to hold on to this for me.”

He pressed his curved pocketknife into my palm. The weapon he slept with under his pillow, the one he always carried with him. It was lighter than its size indicated, with a textured resin that felt like microbeads. It had a wide ring at the end of the grip, dented to fit fingers. I blushed for one ridiculous moment while remembering this handle had been inside me less than an hour ago.

“No, I can’t take this. You don’t have another weapon.”

“I’ve got this, sweetheart.” He held up his fist, a ray of light shining off the dusky yellow metal of his brass knuckles. “That’s more than enough for me as long as you’re protected. Promise me you won’t hesitate to use it.”

I nodded, ignoring the twinge of discomfort tugging at my back.

“Good. Now you’re going to head back to the hangar and get that wound looked at.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve got mercenaries to hunt down for daring to hurt you.”

He seared my lips with a bruising kiss that left its mark long after he pulled away from me, then jogged away.

If he really thought I’d so easily go back to the hangar just because he told me to, he could think again. I’d only just accepted him as the man I loved, and there was no way I was going to risk the devil taking him.

I pried open the blade of his knife and took off after him.

Chapter 39

The promise of a fight sizzled in my veins as I stalked through the trees. My fist balled over the palm grip of my brass knuckles. Leaf litter rustled up ahead, but a branch cracked to my right. I crouched low to the base of a tree on top of stones and its roots.

A hunched shadow crept past, each step of his boots purposeful. He led with his pistol, his arms and weapon extended. I flexed my fingers through the brass knuckles and readied for the fight. It was flattering that Sosa spent so much on mercenaries at my expense. Too bad they didn’t have as much to lose as I did.

I tossed a stone behind him at the next tree over. It clacked against the tree, and the tracker spun with the sound. With a quick pull of the trigger, a bullet exploded against the tree bark only a few inches off from where the stone hit.