Page 20 of Drax (Iron Thunder MC 3)
It felt good being held by him like this. It had been over a year since he’d embraced me this way. Since anyone had embraced me this way…
No other man had even come close to making me feel how Drax did. Now, he hooked a finger under my chin and raised my face up to look at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a low strong voice. I nodded but was that really the truth? Was I okay? Was I really okay? It felt like I’d lost my brother. Like I’d actually lost him.
“I don’t think I can go to your Clubhouse. Eagle will go directly to Crash. They’ll be keeping an eye on that place all night long. Looking out for me to land up there.”
He nodded. He knew I was right. Crash wouldn’t be happy once he found out what Drax had done to Eagle. He was going to want revenge.
“We can go back to my place,” he suggested.
“I’m sure they’ll be keeping an eye on your place too. I’m sure Crash and his gang know exactly where you live.”
“Not my place…not my apartment. But the hideout.”
I looked up at him with my face glowing. I knew what he was talking about. The small studio apartment at the other end of town. The place we used to disappear to when we wanted to hide away from everyone else for a long weekend. It was our secret love nest.
What was surprising was that he still had it.
“Okay. Let’s go,” I said.
I was dying to see it again.* * *One more bike ride spent clinging to Drax, and I felt like I was drained of all energy to fight this. Fight this feeling of needing him. Wanting him.
I felt safe with him. When I was with him, I knew I belonged here. Was that really such a terrible thing to feel, even if we weren’t together anymore.
Ultimately, it felt like he was the only person looking out for me. The only person I could rely on.
We walked into the apartment and it felt like I was in some kind of time-warp. I looked around and saw that Drax hadn’t changed a single thing about this place.
The bed linen, the cutlery in the draining board, the two mugs for coffee on the kitchen counter…
I stopped still in the middle of the apartment and turned to him in awe.
“I didn’t think you would still keep this place after we broke up.”
He shrugged and started removing his jacket.
“I dunno. I guess I didn’t want to make any changes. Sometimes, I come up here to sit around and have a drink by myself, when I want to get away from the bozos.” He grinned and I grinned too. Then he walked over to the counter and started pouring water into two glasses from the faucet.
I hadn’t even realized how thirsty I was.
“It must be nice having a getaway like this.”
“It can be, I guess. But not if it keeps reminding you of someone else,” he added.
I could feel myself blushing. He brought the water over to me and I drank it thirstily. Then I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I looked up at him and saw he was watching me intently.
“You don’t have to worry about anything tonight, MB. They’re not going to find you here. Nobody knows about this place except the two of us. I made sure we were not being followed.”
I nodded. He had seen the doubt in my eyes.
“I don’t want to be afraid of my own brother, you know? I always thought I could trust him. We grew up together. I thought I knew him.”
“This life can change people. Power. Money. Authority. It can all have an effect on a man’s conscience.”
But it hadn’t changed Drax, had it? He was still the same man I had first gotten to know. He still had his morals and rules.
“I wish I could help him in some way,” I said.
I handed the empty glass back to Drax and he took it to the counter. Then I saw him opening the cupboard above the sink, looking in there for our stash. Vodka and whiskey bottles. I remembered we used to stash extras in there. He pulled a bottle out now. It was clearly untouched for the past twelve months.
“Drink?” he asked, and I knew I needed one.* * *Dawn was going to break soon. Out through the one window in the apartment, I could see the sky turning violet as we sat together on the couch. We’d been drinking. Only a little. We were talking a little too.
Drax wanted to know how my work was going and I told him about how I’d finally bought a space. I was going to turn it into my own makeup studio.
“I knew you would end up doing something like that,” he said.
