Authors: Maddy Barone
He was reluctant, but he said quietly, “All right. Thank you.”
Remembering the broken girl, Rose knew it was worth whatever Sky had paid to take her away from Gabe Benson. What else might have happened to Odell if she’d stayed where she’d been? Maybe she would have been killed. It was good that Sky had brought her here. The injustice of Odell lying bloody and broken while the man who beat her went merrily about his business burned in her stomach.
Rose took a deep breath to push her anger down and went out to the dormitory. Snow sat on the dorm step, talking to Stone who prowled in a small circle like a caged animal. Both men cast frequent glances at the dormitory window. Rose guessed that was Katelyn’s window where poor Odell lay.
“Hi, guys,” she said. “Any news about Odell?”
Snow shook his head. “She’s sleeping right now, I think.”
“Sara is with her.” Stone made another circuit of his little circle. “They won’t let us in there. We don’t know anything for sure.”
Paint came out of the men’s dormitory. “Rose can go in and check for us,” he suggested.
Rose was glad to. Snow moved out of her way so she could climb the steps and go inside. She walked the short distance down the narrow hall to Katelyn’s room. The door was half open so she poked her head in. Odell, her face wrapped in bandages, seemed to be sleeping. Her breathing was rough and audible. Rose wondered if Snow could hear it. If he could, it must be driving him crazy. Sara sat in a wooden chair close to the head of the bed, and Katelyn was in another wooden chair at the foot of the bed. Sara appeared to be dozing, but Katelyn noticed Rose in the door.
Rose nodded to Odell and mouthed, “How is she?”
Katelyn got up and walked past Rose, beckoning her down the hallway. “No fever yet, so that’s good. It’s almost time for her to eat. I need to go to the kitchen and prepare the food the doctor prescribed.”
What did a person with a broken jaw eat
, Rose wondered as she followed Katelyn outside. Snow immediately leaped up. His anxious face demanded answers. “How is she? Is she awake? Can I see her?”
“She sleeping,” Katelyn told him. “She should wake soon. She’ll need to eat.”
Snow pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “I have the list the doctor gave us for food. I’ll go make something. Beef broth and mashed onions and garlic.”
Rose inwardly made a face. Mashed garlic? Snow was already halfway to the kitchen when Katelyn made a move to follow him. Paint stopped her with a hand on her elbow.
“How is she?”
“Even with the painkiller she’s in a lot of pain. A broken nose hurts a lot.”
“Yeah, we can tell that from the sound of her breathing.” Paint moved his hand up her arm to cup her cheek. “You know how much it hurts to have a broken nose, don’t you? Were you hurt as badly as Odell when Sky brought you here?”
Katelyn looked down at her feet. “No.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Not that badly.”
Rose felt sympathy for Stone as he paced his tight circle. She wanted to scream at the injustice that women in Omaha faced. It wasn’t right. “I understand completely why Odell’s brothers want to fight. Something has
got
to be done.”
Paint pulled Katelyn close. Her cheek rested on his shoulder. “Something will be done.” He looked over her head and spoke to Rose, his voice hard as iron. “I can see why Sky wants things to change peaceably. Most of the people in Omaha don’t have any weapons or fighting experience and the City Guard has both. But this can’t go on.”
Stone stopped his pacing. “It has to stop,” he ground out. “Your woman was abused. Sand’s mate was almost stolen. Snow’s mate is nearly dead. And no one has paid for any of it. Who’s next? Rose? Maybe my mate?” He looked at the window, and on his face was an expression of fury and fear so raw that Rose had to look away. “How much longer can we control our wolves? They want vengeance. Only blood will satisfy them now.”
* * * *
Sky didn’t come to supper. Rose tried not to worry about him as she ate mashed garlic and meatloaf. Apparently, if Odell was eating mashed onions and garlic, they were all eating mashed onions and garlic. It was strong garlic, and the onions were sharp. Rose had to wipe her eyes a couple of times while eating. Katelyn went out to the dorm to give Sara a supper break. When Sara came in she sat beside Stone at the table. Rose noticed the way he looked at her, eyes troubled and almost tender. To someone who lived for eight years with a pack of wolves, the slight cant of his body toward his mate screamed protectiveness. Rose hoped he was softening toward Sara.
After supper, Rose went in search of Sky. He wasn’t in his office, or the reception rooms. She went upstairs to their room. When she opened the bedroom door, Sky stood in front of the dresser, wearing only his pants. Looking at his perfectly sculpted torso made her mouth go dry. She swallowed the ghosts of garlic and onion lingering on her tongue and took a hasty step back. “Sorry. I should have knocked.”
“Come in, Rose,” he said, and laughed when she blushed. “Don’t be silly. I’m dressed at least as much as you’re used to seeing at the den.”
“More,” she admitted, coming in. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, and when he turned toward her she saw a flash of gray and pink on the left side of his chest. She came to him and touched a finger to the color that covered the side of his pectoral. “A tattoo? What is it?”
He stood very still. “It’s us. See? There’s my wolf, lying with a long stemmed rose between his paws.”
The rose was in full bloom, the pink petals resting against the wolf’s gray chest. “The rose has thorns,” she remarked. “Big, sharp thorns.”
Sky’s smile was a little uncertain. “You are the rose. You have thorns, don’t you?”
She supposed she did. Bolder, she stroked her fingertips over the wolf, feeling the tense strength of muscle beneath his warm skin. “When did you have this done?”
“About a year after I came to Omaha. I missed you terribly.” He leaned his head against hers and his voice dropped to a raw whisper. “I always missed you. I wanted the rose on my chest to remind me of you, so you would always be with me. I needed something of you with me every moment.”
That was kind of sweet. Tears that had nothing to do with the onions at supper came to her eyes. “I made you socks. I saw them in the drawer, looking just like new. Did you ever wear them?”
“No.”
That hurt. “Why not? Were they the wrong size?”
“No.” His laugh was a little embarrassed. “When they first came, they smelled of you. When each pair arrived, I slept with them pressed to my nose for weeks. When your scent was finally gone, I put them in the drawer, with all your letters. Oh, God, Rose.” He drew back and cupped her face. “I want to kiss you.”
“Oh, no.” She raised her hands to fend him off. “I need to brush my teeth. Supper was onions and garlic and I can still taste it.”
“I love garlic,” he said, and kissed her.
He must have, because his tongue tasted every corner of her mouth. His kiss was long and thorough. He took her breath away and made her knees weak. She’d always thought the weak knees thing was just a saying, but if Sky wasn’t holding her with iron arms she might have crumpled. She pressed closer, wanting more of him. He smelled good. He tasted hot and wild. Could a man taste wild? Somehow Sky did. Kissing him was better each time. She could tell he was trying to be gentle, but right now she didn’t want gentle. She pulled him closer by digging her hands into his shoulders. His erection was hard against her belly.
She dragged her mouth away, panting. “Are you okay?” She arched her back to rub herself against his penis. It wasn’t any softer than his belt buckle, and infinitely more arousing. “I mean, this? After this morning?”
When he rocked against her, what little blood remained in her head rushed south in a gush of heat. “Completely back to normal,” he said with a growl.
“Oh, good. Don’t stop yet.”
An expression of acute pain came over his face. “I have to.” He made it sound like the worst set of swear words ever heard. “I have to leave now for the mayor’s poker game.”
Her whole body cried out in protest. “What? Stay home,” she urged.
“I want to.” She could see him set his teeth as he stepped back. “But I have to go and see how much damage I’ve done by forcing the issue with Odell.” His fists clenched before reaching for the white button down shirt draped over the chair. “Don’t wait up for me. I’ll be out until after two.”
He swung into his coat, smoothed his short hair, and gave her a smile. “I swear we will have some time together. Eventually.”
Chapter 18
This, Rose reflected, watching him leave the room, was what sexual frustration felt like. She made herself sit on the bed for ten minutes while her body cooled down, and then she picked up her knitting bag and went downstairs. She would check on Odell, and then see what everyone else was up to.
She could hear voices and people moving around the kitchen, but Rose went out to the dorms without going into the kitchen. Katelyn’s room was dark. She could just make out Snow in the chair beside the bed. He stood up and moved into the hall with her where the light was brighter.
“She’s sleeping,” he whispered. “Katelyn and Sara are in the kitchen right now, making food for later. They’ll be back soon. The doctor left just a little while ago. He said she is doing well.”
Rose glanced at the mostly closed door. Odell was elevated by a bank of pillows and her grotesquely swollen face was half-hidden by bandages that cradled her jaw. “How are you doing?”
His handsome face almost glowed. “She likes me to hold her hand. The doctor said it calms her.” Simple awe softened his voice. “She likes me. She said I make her feel safe.”
“Of course.” Rose shifted the handle of her knitting bag to give his forearm a squeeze. “She knows that you won’t let anyone hurt her.”
Softness hardened to steely determination. “No one will ever hurt her again.”
A low, slurred moan came from dark room. “Snow…Snow, where are you?”
“She needs me. I have to go.”
Before he had finished speaking, Snow had left her to return to the bed. Rose listened to his gentle voice murmuring soothing words of tenderness. Odell was in good hands here. Rose left the dorm and stood on the step for a minute, looking up at the dark night sky. The heat of summer would soon be a memory. Already the air was chilly after the sun went down. Light glowed from the windows of the house, drawing her inside.
Sara and Katelyn were in the kitchen, washing the last few dishes. The work appeared to be going slowly because they were doing more talking that washing. Rose smiled as Sara turned her head toward Katelyn so the other woman could watch her mouth as she said, “Well, I got to know Paint a little bit a couple of years ago, and I can tell you he’s one of the nicest men you’ll ever meet. Stone, now, maybe he’s not so nice, but he’s mine, so he better quit trying to brush me off.”
Good for you, Sara
, Rose thought as she passed through the dining room to the reception rooms. She wondered what businesswomen did on their night off. Pausing in the entry of the first room, she saw Jocelyn at the piano, playing something quiet and elegant. Cayla sat beside the piano with the book in her lap tilted to catch the light from the lamp the other woman used to see her sheet music. A small fire burned in the hearth. On one side of the fireplace, at a small round table, sat Tasha, painting her nails and humming along to Jocelyn’s music. On the other side, Ms. Mary worked with a needle and thread. It reminded Rose of the quiet evenings she had spent at the den. Homesickness stabbed her.
Ms. Mary saw her. “Come sit with me, Rose.”
Rose sat in the chair beside Ms. Mary and took the sock she was knitting out of her bag. As she wrapped the green yarn around her finger, she had to smile. This was the yarn she’d purchased to make socks for Jasper. That day at the Martins’ store seemed so long ago. She hoped Sky would like green socks. Maybe he would actually wear these. He wouldn’t need to sleep with them pressed to his nose. She would be right there beside him. That thought made her smile.
“I checked in on Odell a few minutes ago,” Rose said as she began working the ribbing at the top of the sock.
“Good. So did I.” Ms. Mary shook her head. “This matter with Odell could be the spark that starts a fire that can’t be put out.”
Rose knew Sky was afraid the city of Omaha trembled on the edge of violence. Not long before she boarded the plane in 2014 a string of riots sparked by racial tensions had spread across America. She remembered watching news coverage of businesses burned, homes destroyed, and people caught in the middle. It could happen here, and that thought terrified her.
“Sky will make sure things don’t get that bad.” Rose wasn’t sure if she was convincing anyone, even herself.
Ms. Mary gave her a pitying glance and changed the subject. “What are you working on, dear?”
Rose held up the two inches of sock she’d completed so far. “Just another sock for Sky.”
Tasha leaned over the back of her chair to grin at Rose. “Uh-huh,” she said. “And how are you and the Mr. doing?”
For some reason, Rose felt herself blushing. “Fine,” she mumbled.
Tasha grinned. Her attention didn’t seem malicious but Rose wished she would go back to painting her nails.
“You know…” Tasha dragged the word out into several syllables. “We’ve all had a crush on Sky at one time or another. There’s not one of us who hasn’t invited him to join us in bed on our night off. He is steaming hot.”
The music stopped and Jocelyn turned on the piano bench. “Hotter than a July afternoon,” she agreed.
From her spot beside the piano, Cayla lifted her head from her book. “And he’s nice, too. Handsome is fine, but it doesn’t last.”
Tasha licked her lips. “Maybe, but a man who looks like Sky just gets better with age.”
Rose shifted in her chair, trying to find a safe place to look. “You’re right. Sky’s dad is past sixty years old, and he’s a handsome man.”
Jocelyn and Cayla laughed while Tasha waved her hands to dry the polish. “So what’s he like in bed?” Tasha asked.