The Camp (Chateau 2)

She shifted her gaze away, like it was too hard to look at me. “Should I sleep on the floor?” She stared at the hardwood at the foot of the bed. There was a rug, but it would still be rock hard against her sore body.

“No.” I pushed the sheets back.

She turned back to me. “You want me to join you?”

“If you sleep on the floor, you’ll hurt your back. And I’m not sleeping on the goddamn floor.”

She gave a slight nod before she got up and started to undress. She turned around and pulled off her shirt, revealing her bra underneath…and the scars.

I quickly looked at the ceiling again.

She dropped her pants next and stood in just her underwear. “I don’t have anything to wear…”

“Take a shirt out of my top drawer.”

She moved to the dresser and grabbed the one on top. It was a short-sleeved gray cotton tee. She pulled it on, and it fell down her body to her thighs, covering the scars that made me sweat with disgust.

She approached the bed and looked at me, as if she expected me to move over.

“I sleep close to the door.”

She got on the bed then crawled over me, settling into the narrow spot right against the wall.

The bed was not made for two people.

There was no way for us to lie together without touching each other. I couldn’t lie flat without being on top of her slightly, so I turned on my side and faced my desk, the sheets around my waist, my eyes open and looking at the light and shadows in the room.

She was still after she found her position. Based on her breathing, she was wide awake and alert.

So was I.

She sat up and closed the curtains over the window, bringing the bedroom into darkness. “What will happen to you tomorrow?”

All the damage I’d finally fixed was gone. I had to start over…because I was weak. “That’s my problem, not yours.”

“Your problems are my problems…just as my problems are your problems.”

I walked her to the clearing—like I was her guard again.

I was her guard again.

She didn’t speak to me or look directly at me. She was submissive, which was completely unlike her. She was always strong and fierce, but all those qualities had faded. She shone in bright colors, but now, she was muted gray.

I didn’t like it. “Nothing will happen to you.” I looked at the side of her face, seeing her eyes down. “I promise.” I’d never made a promise to anyone in my whole life, but I made one to her…and she didn’t even ask me to.

She slowly turned to look at me. “I know.”

When we reached the clearing, she walked away and headed to work, keeping her head down, like if she were small enough, quiet enough, no one would notice her.

Alix walked up to me right away.

My eyes glanced down to his hands, expecting to see a blade.

He carried nothing.

He stopped in front of me, getting so close to my face that his breath fell on my cheeks.

I didn’t back away because I wasn’t intimidated. Even if he had a knife and I had nothing, I’d still kick his ass.

He kept his voice low so everyone else couldn’t hear, but the threat was unmistakable. “The boss is going to hear about this. What will you do, then?”

“She’s a prisoner all the same. But now, she’s my prisoner.”

When he was this close to me, it was easy to see his features inside his hood. He gave me an incredulous look. “It doesn’t look like you treat her as a prisoner.”

“What I do with her is none of your business.” I was concerned what would happen when Fender came to the camp for a visit. He would see what I’d done—and he’d definitely have an opinion about it. “Guards keep prisoners for themselves. What I’m doing is no different.”

“It’s different if you let her go.”

“I’ll never let her go.” She may have softened my heart once again, but I would never allow her freedom. My life would be forfeit if I did. When my brother made that threat, I knew it wasn’t idle. Because he honored every threat he made. It didn’t matter if I was his brother. That wouldn’t be a strong enough reason to keep me alive.

Alix studied me, like he didn’t believe me.

“We continue our truce—and you stay away from her.”

He gave me a glare before he stepped away. “Whatever you say, Romeo. You found a woman who’s happy licking one ball instead of two…” He returned to his post.

My eyes shifted back to Raven.

She was staring at me, like she was afraid for me.

I’d survived this long. I’d be fine.

I found any excuse to stay out of the cabin.

When the workday was over, I locked her inside then found something else to do. I had dinner alone in the communal cabin, did my evening checks at the camp to make sure everything was in order, and then I went back to the communal cabin later in the evening. There was a living room with a TV, so I sat there and watched it, a scotch in my hand to wash away the aches from the long day.