The Wicked Beasts That Roam

Chapter 22

A sudden knock on the door made Jade jump. The door cracked open and Zeke's head popped in, his hair still in the braids she'd made last night. They weren’t half bad—well, in her opinion.

He smiled. “Hey, you okay in here?” He scanned the room as he stepped inside with a Dr. Pepper and a Wal-Mart bag in hand. “My brother’s not torturing you in here, is he?”

She played with the cotton fabric of the black boxers she wore, the material soft against her skin. She’d be damned if she slept half-naked next to Dom again. Who knew how far they’d go next time. And she had a feeling there would be a next time.

“Not yet. He wants me to murder him though.”

Zeke set the Dr. Pepper on the nightstand. “Your sister stopped me in the hallway and gave me this. I think Aidyn told her you were locked up in here. I’m pretty sure she made him take her shopping.”

He held out the plastic bag. She took it and peeked inside. A red lace thong, really?

“Could you do me a favor and go back out there and smack the hell out of her?” She scrunched her nose. “Just smack her until she stops moving.”

He chuckled. “Your sister, she’s . . .”

“Insane?” Jade pulled out the thong and threw it behind her on the bed, then took out the next piece of clothing—if she could call it that. “Do these even count as shorts? They barely have a crotch.”

She held up the denim booty shorts.

“Eh, no, I wouldn’t count those as shorts.”

Shaking her head, she threw them over her shoulder too. She’d stick with Damian’s boxers that she stole from his dresser. “It’s like she’s dressing me up to be a hooker.” She paused and pinned him with her gaze. “And you! I shouldn’t even be talking to you. You ratted on me.”

“I didn’t rat you out.” His shoulders did a small dance as he gave a meek smile. “Your sister did. She also told him to lock you up in his room too.”

Her eyes squinted and her mouth opened as she started to call her sister the nastiest word in the book. But she stopped herself. “That . . . that—that traitorous whore. I should’ve known.”

Zeke went to run a hand through his hair and ended up getting his fingers knotted in the braids. “I should’ve snitched though, considering what you did to my hair while I was sleeping.”

She snickered and gestured for him to sit on the bed. “I’ll get ‘em out.”

He sat down beside her, pulling a beer bottle out his cargo pants and popping it open.

“You drink too much,” she said, snapping a blue rubber band.

“It’—ow—my—ow—hobby.” Zeke waved his bottle. “So, is this what you’ve been doing all night?”

“Pretty much.” She started unwinding a pink rubber band. “Where’s the giant that kept brooding around in here? He ran off like two hours ago without feeding me. If he had any pets, they’d starve.” She sucked her teeth. "He did have me chained to the bed. So this"—she shook her foot—"is kind of a plus at the moment."

The corners of Zeke’s mouth dipped downward. "It'll get better, I promise. You'll get your normal life back soon.”

She snorted. "What normal life?"

"You know what I mean." He peeked at her, a nervousness shining in his eyes. "You could still stay here if you wanted to though . . ."

"Pff, I don’t think your brother would have that." She undid the last few bands and ruffled his hair. “That’s the last one. I think I might have pulled out a few hairs though.”