Arrow's Hell (Wind Dragons MC #2)(40)

I was happy to be theirs, but that didn’t mean I was perfect either.

I sit down on the bed and stare at the wall. “I messed up. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you weren’t,” he says with a grunt. “You should have known better.”

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m not used to this, but I know this is my brother’s world, and I love him enough to try better. I won’t f*ck up again, okay?” I say, scared he is going to tell me to leave the clubhouse and never come back.

Arrow turns his head to me and scoots closer, gently wrapping me in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “But Talon isn’t a bad guy. At least I don’t think he is.”

His body stiffens. “Don’t even mention that f*cker’s name to me. You were lucky, Anna, I need you to realize just how much. You could have been raped or f*ckin’ tortured, do you hear me?”

I close my eyes. “I know.”

“I’m not telling you this to upset you,” he says, his tone turning gentle. “You just need to know that you lucked out this time. Talon didn’t hurt you, and that’s why he’s breathing right now, but someone else might not act the same way. There’s a lot of evil out there in this world, Anna, and they’re just dying to suck the life out of something as beautiful and innocent as you.”

“I have to get dressed, Arrow,” I tell him. “We can talk in the morning.”

About anything except the two of us, of course.

He stands and I think he’s going to leave, but instead he picks up the nightie I’d laid out on my bed and kneels before me, sliding the cotton over my head and pulling it down. He removes the towel, letting it drop to the floor, but his eyes stay locked on mine as the material covers my naked body. I open my mouth to ask him what he’s doing when he pulls me into his arms and stands, pulls down the blanket and lays me down. Just like the other night, he lifts off his shirt and slides into the bed on the opposite side. He then reaches over and turns off my lamp, leaving the room in darkness.

“Sleep,” he says, wrapping me in his arms, my head leaning on his warm chest. “Let me hold you.”

Was the situation with me reminding him of what happened with Mary? It was the same MC after all; maybe this brought back bad memories, resurrected old demons.

“Okay, but, Arrow,” I whisper. “If I could bring Mary back to you, I would. I want you to know that.”

His body stiffens. “Why would you say that, Anna?”

He loved her. I would do anything for him to be happy, even if it wasn’t with me.

I shrug. “I thought maybe she would be on your mind after what happened. I really am sorry, you know. I don’t want you to hurt. You deserve to be happy, Arrow. I want you to be.”

Mary was perfect to him. How did one compete with that?

Simple—they didn’t.

I fall asleep before I can hear his reply.





THIRTEEN

I’M alone in the bed when I wake up, and although I feel a pang of disappointment I tell myself it’s for the best. I take my time getting dressed, brushing my hair slowly, even taking my time with my makeup—anything to avoid walking out there and facing everyone. I’m watching a video on how to do my hair in an intricate braid that would have taken me all day when Faye walks into my room without knocking.

I hold up my free hand. “I know, I know. I’m a selfish jerk.”

“Well, as long as you know it,” she replies with a smirk. “How are you feeling?” She sits next to me. “Turn around, I’ll braid your hair for you.”

I turn my back to her and tilt my head back, closing my eyes as she runs her fingers through my hair.

“You going to tell me what made you run yesterday? I thought we were having an okay time here.”

Guilt floods me. “I was pissed off about something.”

Or someone.

My excuse sounds more and more stupid each time I have to say it.

“Arrow,” she guesses, her hands stilling for a second.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing can come of us anyway, unless I want to start shit between him and Rake.”

And that was only one of the many issues standing in our way.

She pauses. “Is that the real reason?”

“One of them,” I say. “The other is that he clearly has issues he needs to work out. I think that he thinks I won’t be safe if I’m with him. But I’m already in deep with the MC; it wouldn’t make a difference. Maybe he feels like he can’t love anyone other than Mary? I honestly don’t know.”

She sighs heavily. “He’s worth the fight, you know. And fight is what you would have to do to get him to see things clearly.”

I let those words sink in.

“I don’t know if I’d make a good biker’s old lady.”

Faye scoffs behind me. “You should have seen me when I first came in here. I was a law student with my nose in the air, judging Dex’s every move until I finally got it. You’re a strong woman, Anna, and that’s all you need to be to be a biker’s woman. Keep your head up and just do you.”

“He slept with Jill!” I grit out, hating saying the words because that makes it real. “How could he do that to me knowing how much it would hurt me?”