Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 19506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
“We’ll handle it,” Ridge insisted. “And Rider? Congratulations on finding your mate.”
“The club wasn’t such a bad idea after all, huh?” Rowdy asked as he grinned, obviously pleased with himself.
I half-nodded to both of them. All I had on my mind was taking care of my mate.
Chapter Four
Trey
I groaned at the pain in my side as my brain raced, struggling to remember why I was in pain in the first place. The fog slowly lifted, and I was struck with flashbacks of the accident; the deer in the road, the loss of control, and the crunch of the metal.
I opened my eyes, expecting to see the windshield of my car. But instead, I only found textured rock above me. Lost and confused, I sat up quickly, only to cry out when a bolt of pain shot through my torso.
“Take it easy,” a quiet voice soothed. When I looked towards the sound, I saw the man from the club - the one who had been chasing me, and contributed to my accident.
“Stay away from me,” I warned as he stood from his chair and took a step forward.
“It’s okay,” he replied, raising his hands in front of his chest. “I just want to help.”
“If you wanted to help, why didn’t you take me to a hospital instead of…” I looked around, finding that I was surrounded by rock in all directions. Am I in a cave? “Where the hell am I?”
“This is my home.”
Home? I suddenly realized that I was sitting in a bed that must belong to him. “Oh, fuck no.”
“But I did have a friend of mine examine you,” he added quickly.
“Let me get this straight; you took me to your home so that you and Dr. Feelgood could take turns…examining me?”
“No!” He half-yelled, half-growled, making me flinch, though I tried to mask it. “I apologize,” he said after clearing his throat. “I just can’t bear to think of someone else touching you like that. I swear to you that nothing unsavory happened. My friend is a healer, and he checked your injuries at the club. He said that you were okay beyond needing rest, so I brought you here to watch over you. If you’d prefer, I’d be happy to take you to a hospital.”
I didn’t have the money for a hospital stay. Besides, if I just required rest, I didn’t need a hospital stay. “I just want to go home.” As the words left my mouth, I wondered if I had a way to get there. “What happened to my car?”
“It was badly damaged,” the guy answered with a guilty look, “But I had it sent to a garage for repairs.”
“I don’t have that kind of money!”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m taking care of the cost.”
Part of me wanted to refuse his charity, while the other half wanted to thank him for it. I did neither, instead asking, “In exchange for what?”
“Nothing,” he replied quietly, appearing hurt that I’d even ask. “I just want to help.”
I knew better than to believe his innocent act; no one did a favor that big without expectation of repayment. And the way he’d chased after me earlier told me what he wanted. It came down to whether or not I was willing to pay.
I needed time to get my head clear and to think, so I told him, “If you want to help, point me to the pisser.”
“Of course.” The big man leapt from his seat, and took a step closer to me when I winced in pain as I stood up, but I waved him away. “The bathroom is the second door on the left.”
I could feel his eyes on me as I waddled down the hallway, keeping pressure on my ribcage with my hand. I’d never seen a home like this; the floors, walls, and ceiling were all carved from rock and polished smooth. It was as if instead of a ditch, I’d fallen into Wonderland…except rather than a white hare drawing me inside, a big ass man had kidnapped me.
That thought should have scared me much more than it actually did. The only thing I could figure was that I was either still in shock from the wreck and unable to process my fear, or that I’d accepted this fucked up reality because I had basically lived through it before.
I reached the bathroom door, which looked to be handcrafted from a tree trunk. When I pushed it open, I was surprised to find that there were actual fixtures inside the room instead of just a hole in the floor.
In fact, it had a gorgeous shower carved into the space, with a waterfall faucet hanging above it. How pipes and plumbing were settled into the rock was beyond me.
For fuck’s sake, am I seriously thinking about plumbing? I’ve got bigger problems here. And by that, I meant the six-foot-six behemoth in the other room who had leverage on me, and who was making me question the price of my self respect. Sure, the guy hadn’t asked for anything yet, but it was only a matter of time.