Something big moved nearby, bigger than the wolves.
I managed to open my eyes for a glimpse, and spied the first wolf lying on its side while dark liquid spread from under it. Glancing around warily, I spotted the second beast just as it made a leap for something large just out of my line of sight.
A muffled curse reached me, then a series of thuds and yelps ensued. The wolf raced away across the area in front of me, tail tucked and ears down.
"You still alive, Bane?" The preacher stalked around the tree, one hand clamped around his opposite forearm.
A rush of pure relief flooded me.
"Motherfucker, I told you those wolves were too close."
Instead of answering, he just cut me lose.
"Injuries?"
"
A bite, just above my knee. Hurt like the devil but I don't think it's too serious." I moved gingerly, restoring circulation and taking stock of all the bumps and bruises and scrapes that were suddenly throbbing and burning with a vengeance. The bite was negligible compared to the intense agony in my left hand.
Preacher shook his head and dropped his pack to pull out a field first aid kit. In just over a minute, he had a bandage tied around his own right forearm. He switched on the little LED headlamp he wore, and dropped to one knee before adjusting it to illuminate the shredded denim above my knee. Looking annoyed, he took hold of each side of the tear with a quick jerk, and ripped it further open.
"Now, hold still." After a quick look, he shook his head. "You need stitches, but I figure we shouldn't linger here. The rest of that pack won't be far away. I'm going to wrap it tight and get you out of here. I'll glue it shut back at camp."
"
Glue it?"
He unwrapped a thick gauze pad and placed it on the bite, and started wrapping a rolled bandage to hold it in place.
"It's a common and effective fix.
When he finished, I felt like my leg had a hot coal from the campfire tied inside that bandage. I took an experimental step and nearly fell on my face.
Without a word, the preacher drug my arm across his shoulder and helped me walk. It was rough, slow going and several times he stopped to let me rest. At one point, after I caught my breath, I asked the question that had been driving me nuts.
"
How'd you know to come back?"
"
Come back? Man, I didn't go nowhere. Well, not far. I stopped a hundred yards away and waited for you to grow a brain. Too bad the wolves interrupted the process." He started off again, forcing me to concentrate on staying upright.
Fine, my questions would wait.
Chapter Nine
I bit my lip in anger to keep from cussing as Lucian stumbled in the small tent, trying to get his pants up over his horrific injuries. He'd informed me of his midnight escapade even after the Preacher had assured me it was something he was forced to do for the Dom Wars game or we'd all pay a far heavier cost. If I had had a clue he'd done this, I would have never let it happen. Whoever heard of gluing wounds shut? And that hand would need to be watched.
Despite that,
selfish hunger erupted inside me at seeing the muscles along his torso and arms ripple beneath his silky skin. Silky white skin. I'd never guessed a white man could look so good. Tanned skin had always been my thing. Until Lucian. Delicious man that he was.
"
I want to teach you something."
The memory of those words made m
y clit throb. I slid my legs together with need at remembering what he'd done. Tormented me with those slow sexy strokes. I couldn't see clearly but what I could make out was just enough to make him look like some glowing white god. Feeling the ridges in his cock was unlike anything, and then when he slid his nails along my vertebrae I don't know what happened but holy moly, it was white, hot, and mind blowing.
"
Fuck, sweetheart."
I jerked my gaze up to his and found him staring at me, pained looking.
"What in God's name are you thinking about?" He shook his head. "No, God, don't tell me. We have to fucking leave and I'll trip over my dick if you tell me what I already know you're thinking, but heaven help me I can't take hearing you say it."
Wanting to take his mind of his obvious physical pain,
I smiled and pulled my legs back, sliding my finger over my extremely slick folds. He gasped, a look of incredulous fury on his face, jabbing a finger at me. "Stop it Tara. I mean it. That's so fucking mean baby," he hissed harshly before stooping and throwing a pillow at me.
I laughed and got on my knees, rubbing my breasts. He lunged
forward and embraced me to his naked torso then spanked me really hard. "OUCH FUCK!"
"
You so fucking deserved that, don't be cruel to me."
I shoved him away, rubbing the heat on my butt.
"I should punch you."
"
You already did!" He grabbed his dick, agony on his cute face again.
I bit my lip and giggled, finding my clothes.
"We're even but you spank me that hard again and I will make you sorry."
"
Promise, love?"
"
I do. Now get out before I dress in front of you."
He jerked his hands up,
gladly surrendering to those terms and hurrying out. I got dressed, my face soon hurting with the huge smile I couldn't suppress.
Wow.
I was so. Happy.
I came out the tent to the sound of arguing at the back of the
Hummer where Steve poked through one of the black duffels with the Gladiator logo on the side.
"
Figure it out?" Steve shrilled facing Lucian? "I don't want to wing this, we need a direct…plan." He karate chopped his palm.
"
Fine," Lucian threw up his hands with a shrug. "What you got?"
Steve sighed
and scratched his wrist with a rabid fury, then brightened with wide eyes when he saw me. "Tara, tell him we need a plan, a real one." He waved me toward them. "I mean we don't even know how we're going to get a
meeting
with these girls much less convince them they need to buy dildos from us." He snapped his head to Lucian. "Did you think of that? How will we even get an audience with those girls?"
Lucian looked at me like I had that answer.
"Ummm," How to establish a meeting with these girls, these…odd looking girls. "Can we… call and ask to present a business proposal? Maybe?"
Steve raised his brows.
"To sell a line of dildos at their toy company?"
"
Or open a separate business for adult toys," Lucian said, widening his stance and crossing his arms with a stubborn stance. "Still toys."
Steve gasped
once, then again while raking his nails along his neck. "And what do you think is going to happen when the media gets a hold of this business venture?" He dusted his hands together. "Bye bye family trusted name brand, hello Bo-bo the dildo blow up clown."
I bit my lip and looked at Lucian who lowered his head in erupted snickers.
"Ah see?" Steve said. "You can't even think about it without laughing at the stupidity of it. It's absurd, comically—ab-surd. And that is what we will face with these ladies if we don't have a very
clear
and
miraculous
plan of action."
"
Well, I got the miraculous taken care of," Preacher said from behind us at the campfire. "My most dire prayers go before you."
"
Aha!" Steve wheeled and pointed at him. "Even
you
know this is hopeless, I can hear it in your voice."
The preacher grinned
from his spot on the log. "With man this may be impossible. But with God…" he blew at the tip of a freshly sharpened arrow, "all things are possible."
Lucian turned to Steve and shrugged.
"I agree. We'll figure it out."
I held back a snort, shocked to hear the words out of his mouth. I knew Lucian was leery of the preacher but after seeing how he treated his wife, yes, his
wife,
I knew he was fine. All bark. No bite. Especially seeing that he'd saved Lucian's life. I was willing to forget for the moment he'd also been the one to put it in danger. But I didn't want to knock Lucian's protective instincts either. They were too funny. And sexy. And adorable. And since the Preacher seemed to fare no better than Lucian in injuries, it made it even more okay. He even seemed to glue his own wounds shut too. I was sure that was moronic.
"
What about financial angles?" I put my hands on my hips. "These girls may be money driven."
Lucian grinned and Steve
nodded with vigor, pointing at me. "Finally, somebody with a lick of sense. And unlike some of you people," he pointed at Lucian, "I was up all night figuring out just such an angle."
"
Really," Lucian said. "And how'd you manage that without internet?"
He gave him one of the weirdest smirky grins ever.
"I thought
a-head
that is how. I downloaded
off
-line materials to study for
la-ter.
" He clipped all his words with a sass that had me grinning and loving Steve more than ever.
Lucian nodded and slapped him on the arm.
"Good job man. That was fucking smart."
"
Damn right it was," Steve said, pulling out a square of paper and working it open.
"
Hold that thought, Mr. Steve," the preacher said standing, "time to saddle up."
Steve looked at all of us, back to panic.
"But what about the products, we haven't even selected which to present."
"
Bring the entire box. Select on the way." Preacher kissed Becca with a traffic-stopping dominance that left her looking like a flower after sustaining hurricane force winds then headed toward the car. Quickly recovering, Becca caught up to him and put a black cap on his head in reverse, making him look like the bigger twin brother of Vin Diesel.
On the way to destination humiliation,
Lucian and I went through the 'suggested toys' while Steve talked his sales angle. I had to hand it to him, he'd come up with a nearly flawless investment plan. I held up a strange item. If we could sell any of this
weird crap
! "Umm…what might this be?" I whispered to Lucian.
Lucian took the semi-large item still in clear plastic.
"Male latex enema pants? What. The. Fuck?" His face crimped in horror as though imagining.
"
Looks kind of like my Gramma's umm… thing she used to use to…"
"
Douche," the preacher helped loudly.
"
Dear Lord of Jerusalem in the third heavens," Steve whispered in horror at it. "Let me…find the product description for the unholy contraption. God help us but we'll need to know the comings and goings of all this debauchery to find the perfect angle."
We all stared at him, knowing he didn
't catch a single innuendo he'd just spoken.
He found it in the list and gasped.
"Oh, for Pete's sake you're kidding me! Pee in your butt?" His mouth hung open, his eyes huge with a mixture of confusion and horror. "That is…unequivocally…Isn't that…like… you get a
disease
from that!"
Preacher took the item from him
and opened the window. "Fucking bullshit," he mumbled, throwing it out. He jabbed a pointer finger at the box. "We're selling to a vanilla crowd, not freaky-fucking-town. Find suitable shit."
It w
asn't the first time I'd seen a hint of appreciation in Lucian's expression toward the domineering preacher. He'd probably be shocked by the similarities between them if anyone ever bothered to tell him.
Steve
's horrified gaze latched onto the box between us. Like a child needing to touch the dreadful thing to see if it were real, he slowly reached in and lifted up an item. We all watched him.
"
Heated…hot lips mastur…" He threw it down like a viper and covered his mouth with a hand then pointed at the box. "I thought it was a deformed penis," he rasped. "Like…somebody took a hammer to it before the silicone set properly. Saints-all it looks like an un-holy snot-ball from the devil's crotch."
The preacher let his laughter rip until we all went into a round of hysterics.
"I can't do this," Steve said above the commotion. "I'll never feel clean again, I'm already down on confessions, it'll take ten life-times to manage the penance for this. I have gambled my finances away, my family, and now my soul."
The
horror he felt at the atrocity of his imagined sins struck sense into me and I managed to reach out and console him. "Steve. Stop, this is not your fault, you're here to fix that, remember? You are going the extra mile to do that."
"
Into hell!" he hissed.
Thankfully everybody was quiet now.
"Steve," the preacher called. Steve didn't look his way and my heart lurched at his
tears.
Shit! "Steve!" preacher said louder. "Brother, look here."
"
I can't," he whispered, focusing his gaze out the back glass. "I'm a rotten failure," he whispered.
Tears leapt into my eyes at hearing
the normally sweet man curse that way.
"
What the fuck?" Lucian picked up an item. "Hey Steve, check this out."
He turned and Lucian tossed the opened contraption on him. Steve took one look and jumped out of his seat in hysterics, throwing
it across the car right into the preacher's face, who whacked it onto the floor.
"
Lucian!" I hissed, holding back laughter while he howled hysterically.
Steve was nearly on his knees on the seat.
"What is that?"
Lucian retrieved the horrific thing and held it up.
"Looks like the ugliest hairy vagina I've ever seen."
Preacher yanked it from his hand, opened the window and threw it out.
"Keep going."
"
Dear God!" Steve hissed, eyes wide as saucers still. "It was like that hand on The Addams Family. Only… a
vagina."
"
You guys are running out of time," Preacher said. "We're nearly there."
"
Okay, okay." I dug through the box. "Since we're selling to girls, let's go with girl toys."
Lucian rummaged through the items and quickly began taking several out and handing them
to me, calling out their names.
"
Wow," I mumbled. "You're…like a sex toy pro."
"
I'm pretty familiar with this junk."
"
Junk indeed," Steve whispered with hostility.
We finally drove up at the building and Steve looked at his watch.
"So, what's the plan?" Lucian looked around.
"
Oh now you want to know?" Steve hissed.
"
Um, it's kind of necessary at this point," Lucian said.
"
Well, I did secure a meeting with one of the sisters. Miraculously!" he added.
"
And?" I asked, when he didn't go on.
"
At one o-clock."
We all looked at our watches.
"In fifteen minutes," Steve helped.
"
Perfect timing, bro." Lucian patted his shoulder. "You got your speech ready?"