Crux Untamed (Hades Hangmen 6)

“Okay, VP,” I said in my thickest Cajun French. Just to see if I could turn Ky’s red face up a few shades more. I saw the guy’s hands roll into fists, but before he could start throwing them my way, Hush put his hand on my arm to tell me to shut the fuck up.

“Ain’t gotta worry about that, mon frère,” he said. “We ain’t going after your sister. We get it. She’s off-limits.”

Ky glared at us. As did Styx. Before Ky left church, he pointed in my face. “You better be listening to your best friend out there, Cowboy. You don’t wanna face me again if I hear you’ve been sniffing around my sister.”

I laughed to myself as I thought of the VP’s veins throbbing in his neck, as if he could read my thoughts about his sister on my face. Hush turned around, his brows pulled down. It was a permanent damn feature these days. “Turn that frown upside down, mon frère,” I instructed and pushed my fingers against his lined forehead.

Hush batted my hand away. “What the fuck are you laughing at?”

“Ky. Yesterday. His fucking tirade. The gris-gris he tried to put on our asses.”

Hush shook his head, exasperated. “We got it good here at the club. Don’t go fucking it up for a piece of pussy.”

I choked on a laugh. “A piece of pussy?” I winked. “Think I’ll tell Sia you said that when we pull up. Sure she wants to hear it.” Hush’s nostrils flared, and his hand went to his thigh and squeezed. It was how he calmed himself down. How I did if I saw it happening before he realized he was losing his shit. Especially in public.

I quickly lost my smile, and I blew out a long breath. “That’s it though, hey Val? She ain’t just any pussy, is she?”

Hush turned to look out of the window again. “She is, Aub. That’s what you can’t seem to get through your fucking thick skull.” He shook his head. “You just won’t let it fucking drop. All the winks and raised eyebrows, the damn tapping of your motherfucking Stetson anytime she’s mentioned or speaks to us. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again: I ain’t interested. Just end your fucking games.” His shoulders tensed. “You want her that bad? Fuck her. You want my written permission or some shit?”

“Fuck you, Hush.” I was a pretty laid-back guy, but him speaking like that raised my forever-dormant rage from a one to a good solid three out of ten. “You want me flying solo on this one, mon frère? It can be arranged.” He sat there, seething. I just let him. Fucking prick was as stubborn as an ox. First thing I ever noticed about him at sixteen years old.

I rolled my eyes at Hush’s continued silent treatment, and then caught Sia turning right. We traveled a few miles until we were absolutely in the middle of nowhere. She turned left, and fields of pasture protected by thick trees surrounded the truck on every side. I could see why Ky got her this place. From the road you would never know there was a ranch here.

A few miles later, a small house came into view. Fucking typical ranch style, with a wraparound porch. A barn and a training ring for horses were to the side of the property, along with fields and fields of green.

I breathed in the fresh air. Fucking loved places like this.

“Reminding you of the good old days?” Hush goaded with a still-shitty attitude. The brother had no love for where we were from, and especially my roots.

“Hush, I ain’t hit you since we were kids, but I’ll tell you now, you miserable bastard, if you don’t stop pushing me, I might just snap and be forced to flick your arm . . . and I’ve been told my flicks leave a real a good sting.” I waited, a shit-eating grin spreading on my lips. And I called it a big fucking win when I saw his cheek twitch and his lip curl slightly at the side.

“Careful, mon frère,” I playfully warned, opening the door. “Looks like you might be about to smile. Ain’t a good look when you wear that brooding-handsome-bastard look so well.” I held his stare. “Sia’s been getting off on that shit. Can’t take her eyes off you . . . and, of course, me. But that’s just part of my pretty-boy looks and Cajun charm.”

I jumped out of the truck and saw a pair of long jean-clad legs climb out of the truck in front. Sia slid down onto the gravel driveway, her blue plaid shirt tied at the waist and her long curly hair flicked over her shoulder like a fucking siren.

“Nice place you got here, cher,” I said. Sia smiled my way, her blue eyes catching mine.

Her gaze ran over the property, and the expression on her face changed from the one she’d worn this morning when we set off from the club to . . . fucking peaceful, I would say. Relaxed . . . my favorite fucking bodily state. “Yeah,” she breathed. “It’s home.”

Sia turned and reached over the console to grab her purse. I knew I shouldn’t have looked down—outlaw brothers’ code and all that—but I had no choice. I held onto the door tighter and fought back a groan when she reached her arms further forward, the shape of her tight ass fully on display. I looked over to my truck, catching Hush’s eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest. I winked and smiled—exactly what he’d just given me shit for in the truck.

I wasn’t gonna change for no one.

“I’ll take that for you, cher,” I offered when Sia brought her bag out of the cabin.

“Thanks, Cowboy.” She looked over my shoulder at Hush. Her eyes lowered and she sent him a nervous smile before heading inside her house. Hush caught up with me.

“She thinks you hate her,” I said as we made our way up the steps to the porch.

“I don’t hate her,” he replied, offering me nothing else. No shit he didn’t hate her. He liked her. I knew he liked her as much as I did.

Hush trailed behind me as we entered her house. Sia stood in the center of a living room. Two couches sat on either side of a coffee table, and an open fire took up the back wall, a chair beside it. “I’ve only got two bedrooms,” Sia said and ran her hand

over her forehead. “One’s mine, obviously.”

“We’ll share.” I placed her bag down on the floor. I stepped back and put my hand on Hush’s shoulder. “We ain’t shy with each other, right, Hush?”

“It’s fine,” he said. I shook my head at Sia and sent her a wink.

“In that case, it’s this way.” Sia led us upstairs to two doors. She opened one. “My room is there, just opposite,” she said and let us through. A large bed sat in the center.

I turned to Hush and flashed him a huge grin. “Big enough to cuddle you in, at least.”

Sia laughed, and then clapped her hands. “Well, I’ll leave y’all to unpack. I need to check on my horses.”

She had barely taken two steps when I said, “Wait up. I’ll come with you.”

Her smile fell and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “My brother tell you to do this? Never leave my side? Because I’ll tell y’all right now, that ain’t the way things are gonna go down here. You can be here. Sleep here. But I do what I want, when I want. I know this ranch better than anyone.” Her cheeks burned with anger.

I held my hands up. “Whoa, no, cher.” I pointed at my Stetson. “Ranch kid, remember? I know you don’t know much about me, but I told you I grew up around horses.”

Her eyes searched my face. Then her shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, you did.”

I leaned on the wall beside me and stopped myself from smiling when I saw her eyes flash to my bicep, then back to my wide chest. I flexed. Bitch left me no choice.

A flush coated Sia’s cheeks, and I said, “So? You gonna show me the goods?”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. I stepped closer, and closer still, until I looked down into Sia’s big blue eyes. They were fucking huge at this proximity. “The horses, cher.”

Sia backed away, flustered. “It’s this way.” I fell into step beside her until we were out of the house. I heard footsteps from behind. When I turned, Hush was coming down the steps of the porch.