“Are you kidding me? I’m elated. I’ve been so worried about her.” Naomi put her head down and started texting Michael back. “I have to see her. Even if it’s only for a few minutes—”
“Out of the question.”
“Do you mind if I borrow the—” She glanced up, frowning. “Excuse me?”
He gave a curt shake of his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s too soon. Slater may have eyes on the house—hell, that’s practically a given.”
Cain’s eyes, at the very least, although not until dark. Asher was fairly certain the former Hunter wouldn’t harm Naomi now that he knew she was a Breedmate, but it was still his job to look after Slater’s money. There were a lot of creative ways to move someone out of the way without hurting them. The thought of a killer like Cain getting anywhere near her was enough to turn Asher’s blood cold.
And the idea of letting her leave during the daytime when Asher couldn’t even protect her from Slater’s human thugs was an option he refused to so much as consider.
“You’re not going, Naomi. And definitely not alone.”
Her chin hiked up. “And you can’t keep me here.”
“Yes. I can.” He stepped toward her. “But I don’t want to do that.”
“I want to see Michael and Penny and the rest of the kids.”
“It’s too soon. If Slater—”
She shook her head. “If Slater had any suspicions about that win the other night, he never would’ve let Michael out of the casino with the check in the first place. We’re having a good time out here together, Asher, but I’m not your property. You don’t have the right to keep me from my home.”
Her home.
Somehow, he’d actually started to forget that fact. Ironic, considering everything else he was cursed to remember in his life. Naomi belonged somewhere else. Her friend and the troubled kids they were trying to help meant more to her than anything.
Certainly more than him.
He saw her devotion to them in the determined line of her mouth, and in the mutinous sherry-colored eyes that held the power to turn him inside out with a single look. Rather like the one she leveled on him now.
After the intimacy they’d shared the past couple of days and nights, to hear her dismiss it as nothing more than a good time stung more than he thought possible.
Time to recalibrate his thinking. Not to mention his reckless cravings where this female was concerned.
“You’re right,” he said evenly. “You don’t belong to me. If you want to go home, then I won’t keep you from it. But I’m going to take you there.”
“Fine,” she said quietly, her expression softening somewhat. “Thank you.”
He stepped away from her without acknowledging her gratitude. “Tell your Michael I’ll be coming with you. We’ll head out as soon as night falls.”
# # #
The door swung open before he had a chance to knock, and Michael Carson stared up at him from his wheelchair.
“Holy fuck, she wasn’t kidding. You’re huge.” The young man gave Asher a wide grin as he rolled back and made space for him to step inside the house behind Naomi. “I’m Michael.”
He held out his hand to Asher and Naomi blanched. “Oh, Michael, wait. Asher doesn’t like—”
“It’s all right,” Asher said, shaking the man’s hand in spite of its cost.
He weathered the sudden jolt of ugly memories that hit him on contact, careful to keep his expression neutral in spite of the ugliness—and the agony—of Michael’s past suffering. The incident Naomi told him about, the one that ended with an eight-year-old boy’s jaw being smashed under his father’s fist, rolled over Asher in brutal detail.
He nodded, feeling nothing but respect for the young man who’d suffered so much but survived to make a better life, not only for himself but the kids he welcomed into his home.
“I’m honored to meet you, Michael.”
“Likewise. Now I see why Nay was trying to keep you all to herself.” His warm, smiling eyes took Asher in again from head to toe, before he slanted a wide-eyed look at Naomi. “Well, come in, you two. We don’t want to sit here with the door open all night, do we?”
