Page 29 of Rescued

Breanna straightened her shoulders, but he could see the glitter of tears she was holding back. She said, with a little edge to her voice, “Who knew you were such a Boy Scout?”

She was still angry. Because she wanted him to have sex with her, or because she didn’t? No, it wasn’t that. She seemed… ashamed. He hadn’t meant to shame her. But he sucked at person-stuff. She might as well get used to it.

He said, “Hell no I’m not. The Boy Scouts’ pinnacle of achievement is becoming a fucking eagle. Why be a pansy-ass bird when you’re already a wolf?” He added, with a wicked grin, “I got kicked out when I said that.”

She gave a reluctant half-smile. “I don’t believe you were ever in.”

He stood up straight and put a prissy look on his face, holding his right hand up with three fingers raised. “‘A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.’”

After a pause she said tentatively, “Well, you’re brave.”

That made him laugh. And he kind of liked it, that she thought he was brave. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Fuck the other eleven.”

She said, “I think you’re loyal, too.” Then very softly, “And kind.”

“Shut the fuck up. I’m blushing.”

“I don’t think you even know how to blush.”

“Yeah, me either.” But she was more relaxed now. They both were. Maybe this thing would work after all, her staying here. How much trouble could she really be?

He said, “Thanatos and the team are good at what they do. There’s a good chance they’ll take Moreno down. And Thanatos may be a dungeon-dwelling psycho, but he keeps his word. Whatever happens with Moreno, he’ll find you somewhere to go, where you’ll be safe and can start over.”

“Yeah. A boring small town and a poverty-level job in Wal-Mart. That’s something to look forward to.”

That did suck. “Cheer up,” he told her. “Maybe you’ll meet a rich plumber and have kids and dogs and white picket fences. You know. Every girl’s dream.”

She snorted. “You think every girl’s dream is to have kids with a plumber?”

“Sure. Everyone knows tool belts are a turn-on for women. And maybe he’ll be a hot, secretly kinky plumber who gives you the best orgasms of your life.”

He could see she was trying not to let him make her laugh, but she couldn’t hold back a little bit of a smile. It made something inside his chest expand a little.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’d rather be rich and have a hot, secretly kinky pool boy who gives me the best orgasms of my life.”

“Ooh, so you like having the power in the relationship?”

Her voice turned serious. “Better than letting someone else have the power. The only way to be safe is to have your own money. You can’t rely on people taking care of you. And doe eyes don’t work as well when they have wrinkles around them.”

Without thinking, he reached out and ran his hand down her cheek. “I have a feeling yours will never lose their power.”

She sighed and said, “They always do.”

Chapter 13

It was three days until the famous Michelangela was going to come home, bringing clothes for Breanna. Three days of oversized sweats and shoes that Breanna’s feet slithered around in, and nothing to do. Plus it was pouring rain most of the time.

The first day, Switch disappeared off to the command center, working on the communications network and looking for Quentin on the internet, trying to find out bad shit about him.

Breanna figured out how to keep the wood stove fed, and made hard-boiled eggs. There was still some food left over from Gunn’s dungeon service, so she had bagels to eat with the eggs, and some ham that she sliced thin.

But she was bored, and lonely, and worried about Kimberly and what would happen to her. At least they had TV and internet, which meant streaming services, so she was able to binge watch some shows.

Boomer and his brother were still on guard duty outside the cabin, too. She wasn’t totally sure if they were there to keep other people out or to keep her in, but she didn’t really want to go for a walk in her clown shoes anyway, so she didn’t try to find out.

About eleven o’clock in the morning, just when she was starting a new season of one of her favorite shows, the door opened and Boomer stomped in, looking for coffee.

“There’s still some in the pot,” she said, trying to focus on what was happening on the screen.