Page 12 of Tangled Souls
He stiffens slightly, showing the first crack in his armor.
“I’m going to call our woman and get her ass down here,” Maxim states like he’s talking about the color of the sky, “it seems like you could use some stress relief, brother.” He grumbles, more to himself than anyone else, “One would think you’d be relaxed considering the number of times you filled our woman since the wedding.”
I snap my head around to glare at my brother as Hendrix tries to smother a smile with his hand. It doesn’t work.
Assholes.
I’m surrounded by pricks who don’t seem to feel the same thing I do. The noose tightening. The danger approaching. The darkness encroaching.
Can’t they see? Our woman is in danger.
Yes, I’m aware I brought the danger right to her. It might be my fault that our woman can’t go anywhere without an escort, which will be true even after Mikhail is finally taken care of, but I’m not going to apologize for it.
At least not in front of Hendrix.
Maybe the rest of them.
But that’s only because I can’t seem to stop myself from softening when I’m around our woman. She brings it out in me, and I can’t help it. It’s one of the reasons desperation is clawing at me. I want our woman to be safe and right now that is the last thing she is.
“Don’t talk about her like that,” I grit the words out through my teeth, my eyes locked on my brother.
Maxim holds up his hands, but the smirk on his face tells me he’s far from sorry. And now I’m thinking about sinking my cock into our woman’s tight, wet cunt. Even after shaking my head in the attempt to dispel the thoughts, they plague me.
“But now you’re thinking about it,” Maxim singsongs like a fucking court jester.
He kind of is. Even though I’m still on edge, I can feel some of the anger dissipating. Not enough, not nearly enough, but some.
After a few deep breaths, my vision becomes sharper, and I can look at Hendrix without wanting to launch myself at him to beat him until his blood is coating me. I might not like the fact that there hasn’t been nearly enough to find about Mikhail, but the man, and his men, are family.
Damn it.
“Shut it,” I command Maxim even though there’s no real heat behind the words.
“You are right about something, Kirill,” Hendrix pulls my attention back to him with his words.
He shares an uneasy look with Wolfe who has been quiet during this meeting which isn’t like him. Dominic is the same stoic presence he normally is.
When I arch an eyebrow in question at Hendrix, he sighs and admits, “You do have a weakness now.”
“Oaklynn knows how to take care of herself,” Baker points out.
Baker has assessed her in and out of the ring many times in the last few months. Watching when they spar is like watching foreplay and it does normally end with them naked, but that doesn’t mean she’s not capable of hurting someone when she needs to.
She’s sparred with all of us at least once. It put my mind at ease, but my heart is still pounding in my chest at the thought of her being in danger.
“She shouldn’t have to take care of herself,” my words are tortured and ragged.
“No,” Baker agrees, “she shouldn’t. But my point is that she can. And she has protection as well. Just in case.”
Hendrix nods, knowing all of this already. He’s gotten in the ring and spared with Oaklynn as well. As impressed with our woman as I am, the thought of her needing to use those skills has my gut pitching from one side and then the other.
“I think we need to use it,” Hendrix throws out there casually.
My eyes are not the only ones which snap to him. The only people who don’t look surprised right now are Wolfe and Dominic.
“Explain,” I bark.
“We put Oaklynn in controlled environments and get her out in public. No more hiding her away.”
