Between how difficult it was for her to be a good, obedient wife, and that she was barren, Delilah had no doubts why her husband had gotten rid of her.The Calling taught that it was every man’s duty to procreate.To multiply.Hence the need for more than one wife, but no one in The Calling wanted to waste good women with a man who couldn’t produce children, which is why a man had to have at least one child, or at least one pregnancy, even if the child hadn’t survived, with his first wife before a man was allowed to have a second.The loophole was if something happened to the first wife.A man could marry again without having to have a child.That was just how things were in The Calling.
She’d been away from them for several months now.While she now realized there was a lot of the world she’d never seen, never knew existed, she wasn’t sure if she was ready, or if she would ever be ready, to face it all.
“What’s your name?”
She glanced up at the man whose motorcycle she sat on, whose body she’d been pressed up against for the last what?Hour?She didn’t know and had no way to find out.
He wore a leather vest like the men from the warehouse, the Royal Crows according to the patch on their backs, but his was different.Now that there was light, she could see that his said Fallen Angels on the back.She didn’t know what was going on but these men were far nicer than any of the Royal Crows had been.
“I can keep calling you little dove if you like, but somehow I don’t think you’ll like us all calling you that.We need to find out who’s looking for you and where you belong.”
“Please don’t.”Delilah lowered her head as she spoke, her face heating.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t send me back.”
“Don’t you have someone looking for you?”
She shook her head but kept her gaze on her lap.She didn’t want him to see her shame.She couldn’t do the one thing that women were created for.
He went quiet for a couple of minutes, finishing with the gas pump then folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the pump.She got the feeling he was watching her, but she wouldn’t look up to see.She didn’t want to see the anger or the hatred in his eyes like she’d seen in Warren’s on any of the many times he had disciplined her for one of her many failings.
“Are you sure no one is looking for you, little dove?If I lost you, I’d burn down the world to get you back.”
Unable to help herself, she glanced up at his face, meeting his gaze for a split second before she remembered and lowered it once more.
“No one is looking for me and even if they were, I don’t want to go back.”She didn’t look up at him again as he spoke.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.Well, I’ll turn twenty in a few weeks.”She refused to think about how Warren had screamed at her that she was old and dried up, that she was a waste of space and how she’d wasted the last six years of his life.
“So young, and yet still so shy.”He ran the back of one finger along the bottom of her jaw where it was exposed under the too big helmet.“Since you’re legally an adult, they can’t force you to go back, if they’re looking for you.You get to make your own decisions.I’m Hawkeye, by the way.My brothers and I are the Fallen Angels.We won’t hurt you.”He paused as if waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t know what he wanted to hear so she kept her mouth shut.“Shotgun will be out in a couple minutes, hopefully with some shoes and at least a hoodie, maybe a jacket, too, to keep you warm.We’ve got a while longer to ride before we’re done for the night.”He went quiet again.
A billion things flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask any of them for fear he would leave her there.She had no idea where she was, much less where to go or how to get there.
“Here he is, he’s got a hoodie.We’ll need to take the helmet off to get it on.Can you do it or do you want help?”
Delilah blinked then tipped her head back, exposing her neck.She kept her eyes closed so she didn’t accidentally meet his eyes.Warm fingers brushed her throat and something clicked.
“You’re free, you can pull the helmet off.”
She tugged the helmet off, then rolled her neck.That thing was heavy and would take some getting used to if she was going to wear one on a regular basis.A slight breeze ruffled through her hair, and that felt good against the damp heat that had built inside the helmet, but it also cut through the thin cloth of her dress, making her shiver.
“I got pants as well as a top.She’ll freeze before we get there without them.Do what you got to do, but I want out of here ASAP.”The man Hawkeye had called Shotgun shoved a plastic shopping bag at him, then turned and walked away.
“No worries.Let me get this stuff on her then we’ll be ready to go.”Hawkeye turned to her.“Do you need to use the bathroom?”He started pulling things from the bag.First was a sweatshirt, which he draped over his seat in front of her, then the pants the other man had mentioned.“There we are.”Last he pulled out a pair of shoes.“Not ideal, but they’ll do in a pinch.”He pulled at the strings holding them together until it broke.“Here, give me your foot.”He patted one thigh.
Taking her foot off the peg she set it on his leg and bit back the cry of surprise when he wrapped one hand around her ankle and slipped the shoe on as if he’d done it a million times.It only took him a few seconds to tie it then tuck the laces in next to her foot.She frowned and wondered why he’d done that.
Without a word he moved around to the other side of the bike and repeated the whole process.
“You didn’t answer me,” he said once she put her shod foot back on the peg.“Come on.”He grabbed the clothes off the seat and headed for the store.It took her several seconds to figure out how to get off the motorcycle without him there to lean on like she’d done when she’d gotten on, but she hurried after him, glad to have shoes between her feet and the pavement.
Once she caught up, Delilah made sure to keep a step or two behind Hawkeye.He paused just inside the door and seemed to be looking for something then he turned and continued.She stayed right behind him.
“Here.Use the restroom, change.If you want to keep your dress, put it in the bag.”He shoved the clothes in her direction then motioned to a door across the hall from where they stood.“What do you like to drink?Soda, juice, water?”
