Page 109 of Reins

How many? Children? Mothers? Fath—

“Ros? Baby, come on.” Cade helps me out of the seat.

Did we climb the stairs?

Where’s my shoes? By the door.

When did I get on the bed?

Cade crawls in next to me, pulling me against his chest, then covering my hand with his until our rings touch.

“Ros, can you feel me? I’m here.” His thumb traces mine, smoothing over the torn skin along my nail. “Tell me one thing. A single item that you’re thinking of.” His voice is a deep rumble against my spine.

Calming me.

“One thing?” I repeat in a monotone.

“Yes.” His fingers close over mine until only my index sticks out.

“Bomb.” The word drags out until the end disappears into the mattress.

His hot breath works down my neck when he exhales. “That is a big one.”

I love how his body molds around me. The heat melts away some of the ice that’s infiltrated my veins.

“Wade’s men are going over the rodeo grounds with a fine-toothed comb tonight and there’s guards posted. They’ll find anything if it’s there.” He shifts his hand until my second finger extends. “What’s the next one, baby? I know when there’s too many it’s harder to process.”

“Zeus,” I blurt out before I even realize it was next. “No. I mean…what happens to the house when they catch John and Eli?”

His thumb works along mine. “It’s yours, Ros. You’d be able to do anything you wanted with it.”

“I want to burn it down.” A visceral hatred for the building bubbles out of me.

How can I love the land I’d spend so much time hiding in but detest the prison at the center of it? It holds too many bad memories.

“The barn too where Zeus’s body is. That’s where Mama used to take me so the rest of the house wouldn’t be bothered if I screamed.” Telling him is getting easier.

He chose me, despite the terrors of the past.

Evelyn reminds me all of the time, honesty is the fastest way to healing.

It doesn’t make it pleasant.

Cade’s body curls tighter and his whiskers brush the shell of my ear. “I’ll bring the fuel, you bring the flame, baby. Whatever you want to do with that place, it’s yours to ruin, to sell, shit…even to rebuild if you ever wanted. Give it away. Nuke it. I’ll support your choice.”

My fingers weave to knit with his, pulling him around me like a safety blanket. “I love you,” I whisper. “What if I gave it to Black Gulch?”

His breathing stills. “Ros…” He draws out my name. “I don’t ever want you to feel as if you’re somehow responsible for what they did.”

Even he has gotten out of the habit of calling them my brothers.

They aren’t kin to me anymore.

“Maybe they can just use it until I decide.” That makes me feel better. “Yea, they can put cows up there or whatever they want. That way when we have kids, they’d have someplace here too. A way to belong.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “That sounds like a great solution.” His palm flattens over my belly, snugging me even more firmly.

That’s when I feel him hard against my ass.