Page 45 of Link (Dragon Riders MC 1)
And now, I hope it brought Joanna some peace.
She trembled in my arms as I walked up the stairs. I made my way into the back bedroom, through the double doors that led into my personal space. I took her right into my en suite bathroom because I knew what would help relax her.
A nice hot bath overlooking the backyard I kept painstakingly tailored.
“Here. Let’s get you out of these clothes,” I said.
I set her on the edge of my granite bathroom countertop and her sniffling broke something inside me. I blinked back my own tears as I slid the pathetic excuse for a bikini off her body. She covered herself from me, as if she were ashamed of what she looked like. And just for that action alone, I wanted to slaughter Skeleton and his kind.
“Rose or honey?” I asked.
She sniffled. “What?”
I cupped her cheek. “I’m going to run you a bath, JoJo. Rose bubbles or honey bubbles?”
She paused. “Honey sounds interesting. You have bubbles for a bubble bath?”
“What? A man like me can’t take a bath once in a while?”
“I mean, I guess I just never pictured you in a bath.”
“Well, not all of us gruff biker guys take showers in the mud.”
She giggled, and that was enough for me. I grinned at her before I slipped away and prepared the running water for her. I made sure a towel was within reach. I told her to stay put while I went downstairs to get her a snack. I poured her a glass of wine and got her some juice so she’d have a choice. Then, I filled a bowl with fresh fruit and another bowl with sweet cream.
Then, I ventured back upstairs.
“So, I wasn’t sure what you wanted to drink. But I got you—”
“Wow,” she whispered.
I stood at the doorway of my bathroom with snacks in my hands. And I watched as JoJo sat perched in my tub. With bubbles slowly creeping up her body, she rested her arms on the edge of the claw-footed tub. Gazing out the massive window that lined that particular wall. It was tinted on the outside, of course. But it also provided an unimpeded view of the backyard.
As well as the sprawling acres I owned behind it.
“It’s beautiful,” she said breathlessly.
I walked over and set her snacks down onto a small table I kept at the head of the tub.
“I work hard to keep it that way,” I said.
She peeked over at me. “You do all of that to your backyard?”
I shrugged. “Once every three or so months I have someone come in and professionally manicure it. But I mow it. And water it, when it needs watering.”
“Is that a garden I see back there?”
I nodded. “Yep. That’s mine. I grow a few things here and there. Not during the colder months, though. For obvious reasons.”
“What’s your favorite thing to grow?”
I watched her take the glass of wine as I leaned against the bathroom counter.
“It’s a toss-up between all sorts of beans and carrots. There’s nothing like a fresh bean and carrot soup during the fall months. And I’m a beans and rice kind of boy, anyway.”
“Is this where you tell me you don’t eat meat, either?”
“Oh, no, no, no. Don’t get me wrong at all. I love me some meat. Steak. Chicken. Ribs. Pork. The whole nine. But my mother was also a southern woman, so I have an appreciation for the foods she grew up eating.”
She sipped her wine. “Hence the beans and rice.”
“Mhm.”
She sighed. “What’s going to happen to those girls, Link?”
I knew she’d be concerned about them. “My guys and I have a plan to liberate them.”
“But not tonight?”
“As many as they can grab tonight. And who we can’t get to, we’ll devise a plan to go after at a later date. The main goal was getting you out of there, though.”
I watched her eyes water. “I can’t imagine what my sister went through. I went through it for a few hours, and she went through it for—wait.”
“I know what you’re going to ask, and you don’t have to. I talked with Hope. I told her to stay safe. And once you want some privacy, I’m going to go give her a call and let her know how things went.”
She finally looked over at me. “Thank you. For everything.”
I locked my eyes with hers. “You don’t have to thank me for something like that. I love you. And I’ll always take care of you.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything. And when she turned back to look out over my backyard, I made my leave. I backed out of the bathroom and closed the door behind me, leaving it cracked ever so slightly in case she called out for me. I fished my phone out of my pocket and walked back down the hallway. I leaned against the wall, nervous that I hadn’t already heard from one of my men.
