“Fuck,” he muttered, his chest rising and falling with hard thuds.

Evie bolted forward in the bed, scrambling in her haste to get to him. “Is Kick—” The words tore from her, cutting off abruptly as if she didn’t know which word to use next.

My soul twisted with an ache I’d never rid myself of at the pain I heard in her voice. That kind of agony would always touch me regardless of my efforts to maintain immunity.

Nitro faltered and his eyes came to mine. Searching. Needing. Unsure. He shoved his fingers through his hair as he shifted his gaze back to Evie. “He’s with the doc.”

I left the bed. Looking up at Nitro, I said, “Evie will be the first to know when there’s news, right?” I wanted him to reassure her of that and hoped he would.

He didn’t let me down. “Yeah.”

Evie, however, seemed anything but convinced. “No… I need to see him now.” She was confused. Disbelieving. Before either of us could stop her, she ran from the room.

“Christ!” Nitro turned to go after her, but I grabbed hold of his wrist to stop him.

“Let her go. She needs to see for herself.”

He frowned. “There’s nothing to see. The doctor is still working on him.”

I nodded. “Yes, and she needs to see and hear that from King.”

He moved past me to the bed, sitting on the end of it. His shoulders hunched and he lowered his chin to his chest. He remained silent until I closed the door behind me. Looking up, he said, “Thanks for looking out for Evie.”

I sat next to him. I wasn’t sure why except that for the first time since I’d met him, he seemed like he needed someone. Even if it was just to sit with him. I stole a glance at his face. It was hard to find skin under all the dried blood. “I take it the other guy lost.”

He held my gaze for a long time before answering me. God, how I wondered what thoughts ran through Nitro’s mind. It felt like he either ran from them or got lost in them, but I wasn’t convinced he was often comfortable with them. Something we had in common. “That depends on your definition of winning.”

I didn’t need him to spell it out for me. And I didn’t push him for more. Instead, I walked into the bathroom. Locating a clean washer in the drawer, I wet it and walked back out to him. Standing in between his legs, I began the task of cleaning up his face.

This was something I knew well. My brother had often turned up on my doorstep in this state. Caring for him had always been my responsibility. How could it not be when his journey in life had been dictated by my own?

Nitro hissed when I accidentally pressed too hard on his cheek. His hand landed on mine and he halted my progress. “I can do this myself.”

I pulled my hand away from his face. “Yeah, you can, but I’m doing it, so just let me.”

“Always arguing with me,” he murmured, allowing me to go on.

I worked in silence and when I’d cleaned the blood from his face, I said, “I’m going to get some ice for your face. Wait here.”

I hurried down to the bar because I figured he had work to get back to and no time to waste. Kree loaded me up with ice and a towel to wrap it in. When I arrived back in his room, he was in the shower. He didn’t take longer than a few minutes and when he exited the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist, I sucked in a breath at the magnificence of his body.

Nitro was a powerhouse of hard muscle that went hand-in-hand with his fearless warrior instincts. Standing before me, almost naked, his masculinity caught me off guard and a rush of desire hit me. My thoughts stalled and I momentarily forgot what I was doing. All I could focus on was the throbbing need deep in my core. A new hum filled my entire being, unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

Damn.

Shit.

No.

“You got ice?” His deep voice snapped me from my hypnosis.

“Ah… yeah,” I mumbled, shoving the towel with the ice in it at him, almost dropping it as I did so.

He frowned, his eyes searching mine. “You good, Vegas?”

Fuck, no, I wasn’t.

I was fucked.

Completely.

I nodded, swallowing hard. “I’m good.”

I was so far from good.

I wanted something I didn’t want to want.

I wanted him.

How the hell did my world turn in such a short space of time? What the fuck triggered that? Because whatever it was, I needed to un-trigger it.

He took the ice from me and turned to head back into the bathroom, grabbing clothes on the way. I was helpless to do anything but watch him walk away. My eyes stayed glued to the powerful muscles that built his back. And that ass. God, that ass. Even covered in a towel it was hard not to stare at.

I was so engrossed in his back and ass that he caught me off guard again when he dropped the towel and dressed without closing the bathroom door.

Fuck it, I was out. I yanked the bedroom door open and left as fast as I could. I needed to find a quiet corner and gather my thoughts. I needed to wipe everything that had just happened from my memory. Somehow, though, I suspected Nitro was not a man to ever be wiped from a woman’s memory.

 

 

19

 

 

Nitro

 

 

“The Way It Goes” by Keaton Simons

 

“You’re fucking kidding me!” I stared at King in shock, waiting for his reply. It was nearly midnight and I was exhausted after the shit we’d been through, but what he’d just told us had sure as fuck drawn my attention.

Weariness lined King’s face; he was feeling it as much as anyone, maybe more so. “I’m not,” he said. Although he didn’t give me the answer I wanted, I heard the misgiving in his voice. “Bronze is under pressure to clean this mess up and he doesn’t think he can keep us out of it much longer if we continue the way we have been. He wants us to lay low for a while and let the dust settle. That shit Silver Hell pulled today didn’t help.”

“So,” Devil cut in, “any idea how long we have to back off for?”

“Not to mention, how the fuck does he expect us to not retaliate when Silver Hell come at us again?” Hyde said, a scowl on his face. “Because sure as shit they’re going to.”

King held his hand up signalling he wanted the floor. “The list of potential charges he rattled off is enough for me to pay attention. I’m going to call a truce—”