by Susan Bliler
The landscape was all muted grays, as everything died off with the promise of impending winter. The dull gray of the sky and the dead fields matched how she felt. The area resembled where the Megalya had taken her and Rohm, and when she passed a run-down barn whose boards had long ago faded from sun exposure and weather damage, she shivered hard. Fuckers! Had they ruined her Montana? Would she ever look at it the same? Could she?
When Doubt came on, she mumbled along with the words. “Fear leads to anxiety. Don’t know what’s inside of me. Don’t forget ab-b-b-b-bout me.” Then her thoughts went to Rohm and she kept singing. “Don’t forget ab-b-b-b-bout me. Even when I doubt you, I’m no good without you.” Then, quietly, the tears came.
It was crushing that he’d denounced her, that what happened between them had been so insignificant to him. It had felt big, like it was something…well, it’d felt that way to her.
She spotted the small Centerville bar and slowed to pull in. Before exiting her jeep she took the time to wipe her cheeks and suck back her tears before pulling down her visor to check the little make-up she wore. Stepping out, she noted that the temperature had dipped. Sighing, she stepped into the bar.
A couple of Hutterites who sat at the bar glanced up when she entered before going back to their conversation in thick German. The bartender, an older female, wiped down the bar and asked, “What can I get ya?”
Nyree took a seat at the bar, closest to the door. “Draft beer, please.”
The bartender winked before turning to pour her drink. When she came back with a frothing mug, Nyree slid her a five. “Keep the change.” She took a long drink of her beer and damn; it tasted way better than it should have. Hating to sit alone at the bar and look sad like she wanted to talk, Nyree took her beer and moved to the back room where there were several Keno machines. Typically, she never gambled, but it was a good excuse to have a beer and not be bothered. She slid a five into the machine, picked several random numbers, set the pace to the slowest setting and zoned out, barely remembering to punch the ‘play’ button every few minutes to keep the machine pinging as proof she was actually playing. She wasn’t playing though. She was thinking about that asshole Rohm and what a douche he’d been. Part of her frantically sought some valid excuse for the things he’d said, some justification that would show he hadn’t actually meant the things he’d said, but there was nothing she could come up with. Fucker!
The bartender came to check on her a few times, bringing her a beer each time she came, because if you played the machines you got free draft beer.
Four beers in and the only thing Nyree had succeeded in doing was losing forty bucks in the machines, working herself into a greater emotional turmoil, and conjuring up one hell of a buzz. Leaning back in her chair she eyed the window. It was already dark. In fall, the sun didn’t last long in Montana, and it was worse in the winter when it was dark more hours of the day than it was light. Knowing she needed to get back to StoneCrow, she declined the fifth beer the bartender brought but tipped her generously before pulling on her thick, hunter-green coat. When she stepped out of the bar, the sharp bite of air sobered her some, but not nearly as much as what looked like an abominable snowman stalking toward her.
Snow had started to fall sometime while she’d been in the bar and there was a light dusting of white on the ground, which had her blinking to ensure she was actually seeing what she was seeing.
Long white hair fluttered in the wind, and angry, ice-blue eyes held her in place as Rohm’s image became more and more clear with each step he took toward her.
“You left the Estate!” he barked out accusingly.
Nyree’s breath left her on an offended chuff. “Yeah.” She dug in her pocket for her keys.
“Unescorted?”
She was fumbling through the mass of keys on her keychain, trying to find the fob to unlock her doors and wishing she’d auto-started the damn jeep so it’d be warm and ready to go right now. “What do you care?” she muttered.
Apparently that was the wrong response, because he snatched her keys out of her hands so fast she didn’t even see it until her palms were empty.
“Hey!”
“What does that mean?” he asked angrily.
The alcohol gave her confidence, so Nyree planted her hands on her hips and glared up at the Keeper. “You know exactly what it means.”
“Why weren’t you at the meeting today?”
“I was,” she bit out a little too aggressively, then turned to hide the emotional tears that flooded her eyes. She wasn’t emotional by nature, but something about the way he’d denied their relationship ate at her.
When Rohm spoke again, his voice was lower, with less bite to it. “What do you mean, you were?”
“I was in the hall,” she explained, still facing away from him, staring down the empty road that ran in front of the bar. “I was just about to go in when I heard them questioning you.”
“You heard…”
She spun on him. “Yeah!” She rubbed at her chin with the back of her hand. “I heard!” Looking down, she saw her keys in his hand and took advantage of his confused and distracted expression. Quick as a whip, her hand shot out and then her keys were fisted in her palm as she hurried toward her jeep.
“Nyree!” Rohm bellowed from behind her as he followed her.
She didn’t turn, and he barked louder. “NYREE!”
When his hand gripped her bicep, Nyree acted on instinct. Turning, she used her free hand to punch the bend in his elbow, breaking his lock on her while she simultaneously dipped her hips. Her other arm came up with her momentum as she twisted her hips with all her weight, and then her fist connected hard with the underside of Rohm’s jaw. His head rocked back and when he staggered, she scrambled into her jeep and hit the locks before jamming her keys in the ignition. All that happened in the space of mere seconds, and Rohm had already recovered. Tough bastard! He was standing at her window scowling down at her.
“You’ve been drinking.”
Nyree wanted to laugh at the statement. She’d just sucker punched him, and all he could worry about was the few beers she had. “I’m fine!” She threw her jeep in reverse and punched the gas. The motor howled as she swiveled her head to look behind her, but the vehicle only lurched. Turning in her seat, she eyed the shift to ensure she’d actually put it in reverse. Yep. She tested the gas pedal again and the motor hummed its cooperation; she felt the tires catch, but again it jerked to a standstill. Confused, Nyree looked up to find Rohm. His biceps bunched and flexed, his jaw tensed, and his hands were locked somewhere on her front bumper as he held the front end of her jeep suspended off the ground.
Motherfu… Nyree slammed the gear back into park and narrowed her eyes on him through the windshield. “Put my car down, asshole!”
Some of the Hutterites had stumbled out of the bar and now stood staring gape-mouthed at Rohm’s display of power.
“I mean it, Rohm! Put me down!”
“You’re not driving, Nyree!”
She balled her hands in frustration. “What the fuck do you care? I’m nothing to you! Remember?” She jerked the keys from the ignition.
All expression fled Rohm’s face as he slowly lowered the vehicle to the ground.
Nyree knew that he’d just realized exactly how much of his conversation she’d heard. She climbed from her jeep, slamming the door behind her.
“Nyree.” His tone had softened. “My Light…”
She paced forward and poked him in the chest. “Don’t you dare call me that! I’m not your Light. Hell, we’re not even friends. Remember? Remember how much you hated me before we got captured? Let’s go back to that, shall we, because the feeling is now mutual!”
“I never hated you.”
“No.” She shook her head, scowling up at him. “That’s right. You never felt anything for me at all.” Turning, she took off walking down the road that led toward StoneCrow. If he wasn’t going to let her drive, she’d walk the damn thirty or s
o miles back.
A deep growl sounded behind her, and before she could react, Rohm’s massive arms locked around her, lifting her off the ground.
She laughed, a humorless sound. “Hoooo, you better put me down!”
“I’m driving you home, Nyree.”
“The hell you are!” She struggled in his arms, and it was more effective than he’d have thought, but he should have expected it. She was a highly trained Sentry after all.
“Do you really want to walk?” he bellowed.
Hell no, she didn’t want to walk. She wanted to drive, but he wouldn’t let her.
“I’ll drive you home.”
For a moment she considered fighting him, but knew even if she did—by some miracle—get the best of him, he still wouldn’t let her drive herself home.
“Fine!” she snapped, and when he set her down she shoved her keys hard into his chest before crossing her arms as she made her way round to the passenger side. When Rohm tried to open the door, she slapped his hand away. “Get real!”
Chapter 16
Okay, he’d fucked up, and he knew it. He glanced at the clock on the radio. He had about forty minutes to make things right, to explain to Nyree why she’d heard him tell the lies he’d told Monroe and Fatal. She was a captive audience now, should be easy right? Just in case, he lifted his hand to the door panel and locked the doors.
“I’m not jumping out of a moving vehicle, Rohm. Regardless of how shitty the company.”
He didn’t respond, just took the time to organize his thoughts. He knew Walker males handled their Angels delicately. He was also aware that it had cost them in the past. After several miles he’d decided on a more direct approach, because Nyree wasn’t like other women. She was stronger, made of sterner stuff. Besides, he figured after all they’d been through, and all she’d heard, she deserved nothing but the truth.
“Listen,” he started. “What you heard me say…”
“Oh, God!” She clamped hands over her ears. “Save it! I didn’t agree to ride with you so you could torment me all the way back to StoneCrow. I heard what I heard. You feel how you feel. It is what it is. Let it ride.”
“It’s not what you think, Nyree.”
She turned to frown at him darkly. “Seriously. You don’t need to explain anything to me. I get it.” She faced forward again. “We did what we had to do to survive, right? If you hadn’t gifted me Zavier who knows what would have happened.”
She wasn’t going to give him the window he needed to preface this the way he wanted, so he dove right in. “Fatal commanded that no Keeper have any personal relations with any of the females at StoneCrow. It was an order, Nyree. A direct order from the Ruling Keeper that I went against. We were told to not even touch a female unless it was required for training. When Fatal finds out that I not only disregarded his order, but that I…that we…”
***
Okay, well, this was new information. I mean, she knew that Monroe had concerns about the Keepers and their interactions with others. Hell, they couldn’t even train with Walkers because it always ended in battle, and they couldn’t train with female Walkers because it always ended with Keepers attempting to claim the females. But she didn’t know that Fatal had given a directive ordering his Keepers to refrain from touching any female.
“So you lied to Fatal to, what? Keep from getting in trouble?”
“No,” he snapped. “To buy us some time.”
“Buy us some time?”
“None of us has claimed a female since we’ve arrived. I don’t know how Fatal will react. I don’t know what this will mean.”
“Whoa!” She held up a hand and turned to face him. “You didn’t claim me, Rohm.”
He pulled his eyes from the road, pinning them on her. “I have.”
“No. We slept together. That’s all.”
Rohm growled. “You accepted my claim, Nyree. Zavier and I are a part of you now. You share my Sentry.”
“I’m not claimed!” Nyree countered in a panic. She couldn’t be…could she?
“I told you I needed to give you something, you asked for more! I filled you, long and deep, at your request! You’re mine. Period!”
“Listen, don’t go all fucking possessive on me right now!” she breathed in a panicky tone. “I’m freaking out about clearly making bad decisions, and you growling at me is making it worse.”
Rohm turned to frown at her. “What do you mean, bad decisions?”
She didn’t want to hurt him, so opted to say nothing as she tried to formulate exactly what it was she meant to say.
“You offered yourself to me, and I accepted. You are mine. You accepted my bite, and you allowed Zavier to mark you. You belong to us now. We will be together.”
“You asked me to spread my legs so you could tend my wounds,” she accused.
“And then you asked me to take you,” he countered angrily. “A Keeper only takes one way, and that is by seeding his mate. We take no others. You are my first, and now you’re my last. My cock will only ever know the inside of you. And your pussy,” his voice dipped to a snarl, “my pussy, will only ever know my cock. We are mated now, Nyree. Forever.”
Nyree bent forward in her seat, denying the thrill that tore through her at his words as she buried her hands in her hair. “What in the hell are you talking about? We shouldn’t have done that! You didn’t want it, and I misunderstood. When you said you needed to give me something, I didn’t know that you just meant Zavier. I thought you wanted me!”
His tone was even. “I’ve always wanted you, Nyree.”
She didn’t respond. Instead, she rocked back and forth. She’d been hurt mere minutes ago by his denial of a relationship between them, and now he was giving her that and more. She should be happy…right? She didn’t feel happy though. She felt panicky. Everything was happening too quickly. And how could he just declare that she was his without ever even having asked her? No, he was just announcing she was his. She sifted through his words, and after long minutes she asked, “What do you mean, I share your Sentry?”
“Zavier is a part of both of us now. If you summon him, he will come. I’ll teach you to control it.”
“But…what about you?”
“He’s with me, too. He can only ever be emitted by one of us at a time, but we share him.”
“Oh God,” she muttered. It sounded as if it was already done, as if she had no say. Her mind raced as she wondered if that’s what she wanted. Hearing Rohm’s declaration earlier, that there was nothing between them, that she meant nothing to him, had hurt like nothing else ever had. Now though, she felt cornered. It was two extremes. One minute she was nothing, the next she was his everything. It was too much. His words had hurt, because she had felt promise between them that the something they shared could blossom into a real relationship. Now, they’d just gone from zero to sixty and she wasn’t positive that he wasn’t offering her this because she’d heard him denounce her and he felt regret over the action so was trying to make up for it by claiming her now.
She didn’t speak the rest of the ride, trying to determine if she should be mad at Rohm or mad at herself. She was…confused.
Rohm kept flicking worried glances at her, but to his credit he didn’t push.
At the gates of StoneCrow, Bishop waved them through. Before Rohm could even park the car, Nyree was jerking on the handle, forgetting that he’d locked her in.
Rohm didn’t know what to do. He wanted to hear Nyree say that she accepted his claim, but knew he’d gone about it all wrong. From taking her in that damn cage, all the way to declaring to Fatal that she meant nothing to him and her overhearing it. He hadn’t done one thing right, and that kept him from demanding that she tell him what she was feeling. Still, when she jerked on the door handle before he’d even parked, he felt panic strike.
“You running from me, Nyree? It doesn’t suit you,” he challenged, leveling her with his clear eyes, hoping she didn’t see the dread that was seizing him. He di
dn’t want to lose her now, not like this, not for words spoken that he hadn’t even meant.
Nyree met his gaze. “Not running, Rohm.” She looked down and fidgeted with the hem of her jacket. “But my typical knee jerk reaction is to act immediately, emotionally. I need a minute here. I’m…I’m trying to make a rational decision, trying to think this through instead of doing what I always do and reacting instantaneously. It hasn’t served me well in the past and I don’t wanna fuck this up. It feels…big.”
She looked up at him, and he got it. He didn’t like it, but he understood. He pulled his chin down in a single nod, his eyes never leaving hers. “I’ll give you the time you need to make up your mind, but know that mine is already set. I know what I want, Nyree. It’s you. You’re already mine.”
She stared at him a few moments before pulling her eyes from his and turning.
“I won’t wait long,” he warned, as he unlocked the doors.
Nyree climbed from the vehicle, flattening a hand on her belly. She didn’t look back at him, but offered a soft, “I know.”
Rohm watched as Nyree walked way, and he was left wondering if he’d again pushed her too far. If his declaration had been too much. He couldn’t blame her. He’d denounced and claimed her in the same day. He should have apologized, he realized that now. To her, he must seem confused, but he wasn’t. He was simply trying to buy them time where Fatal and Monroe were concerned. If he could cement his bond with Nyree before either the Dominant Walker or Ruling Keeper found out, then it’d be more difficult for either of the men to attempt to break apart any bond between him and Nyree.
Chapter 17
Commander King Mulholland scrubbed his hand down his face, and Nyree would have laughed at his exasperation if she could have mustered a grin. She was beat. Avoiding Rohm, she’d poured herself into helping rebuild the Estate. Each morning she met the teams out on the grounds and she worked through to sundown, rarely even taking a lunch break. Now, after a full eight days of work, her muscles whined their protest. Plus, she had a pounding headache that had arrived two days ago and hadn’t left. She knew it was the result of hunger, but found that if she took a break from the hard labor for even a quick bite, her thoughts went to Rohm. She didn’t want to think about him right now. Sure, she’d told him that she needed time to sort things out, but too much was changing right now. The Estate was still in shambles. She’d been removed from Keeper training and reassigned back to Remy’s teams, but with him still gone on the hunt for the rest of their missing, King Mulholland was currently in charge.