“I’m sorry, but I thought you might be more comfortable fully covered.” Lord, his voice was inhumanly deep, but then again she reminded herself that this world was made up of men and women that were not fully human.
She lifted her hand and placed it lightly over her shoulder. He had since moved his hand back to his lap, and she didn’t miss the way he curled his fingers into his palms. “Yeah, thank you.” She felt her cheeks heat and just wished she understood why she felt this way about him. He was a stranger, a dangerous stranger, and one that she should be wary of given the life he led. Maybe not all motorcycle clubs were like this, but the Grizzly MC was definitely into sex, drugs, and violence. But they are also into helping women that need it.
“You should take those pills before the pain gets worse. I speak from personal experience that if it hurts bad enough and you wait too long the meds won’t help.”
She looked over at the circular white pills.
“Just take one if you’re worried.”
She grabbed one and turned to get a bottle of water, but Jagger was already holding it out for her. She popped the pill and tipped the bottle back for a long drink.
“You doing okay?”
She recapped the bottle and nodded at him. “Yeah. I just haven’t taken anything strong like that, and I’ve seen the way drugs change people.”
Jagger handed her a sandwich.
“Thank you.” She took a bite, but even though she did feel this connection with Jagger, there was this part of her that was still on edge, especially with the way he had acted less than twenty minutes ago.
“I make you uncomfortable.” It wasn’t stated as a question, but then again he was a shifter so no doubt he could smell her emotions, and lying to him was pointless.
She swallowed the bite of sandwich she had taken and choked on it a little, which only caused heat to rise to her cheeks. There was a small smirk on Jagger’s face when he handed her the water bottle again. After she had everything washed down she glanced at him again. “You do make me very nervous.” Sonya cleared her throat. She didn’t want to stare, but even watching Jagger grab the other sandwich and take a bite out of it was so masculine and arousing. You need to stop. This is crazy, the way you feel for this guy you don’t even know is insane, and you won’t be here much longer anyway. But her inner monologue didn’t do anything to help ease the pulse that beat in every single erogenous zone in her body. Who cared about a gunshot wound and pain when there was this gorgeous grizzly bear shifter who just happened to save her life, and made her feel something she hadn’t felt in a very long time…alive. Yeah, she had to be losing her mind, that, or the pain was making her delusional.
“You do know that when I said you were safe here I meant it,” he said after swallowing his bite and washing it down with some of the water.
“I know, but can you blame me?” He had to know how he looked to others: all intimidating and scary. But aside from all of that he had been nothing but kind to her. Taking in a woman that had been associated with a rival club wasn’t something she assumed the President of the Grizzly MC would have done, but he did, and because of him and his club she was alive and healing.
“No, I guess I can’t, especially not the life you’ve led for the last seven years.”
She watched him eye the sandwich, but he tossed it back on the tray and brushed away the on his jeans. A muscle under his stubble covered cheek jumped from the force of him clenching his jaw, and she hoped she hadn’t offended him in some way, because that was the last thing she wanted after everything he and his club had done for her.
“I’m sorry—”
The way he snapped his head around to face her and the look he gave her had her closing her mouth and widening her eyes.
“You never apologize to me, Sonya.” He sounded so angry. He exhaled, lowered his head and closed his eyes. He seemed so tormented, so conflicted right now that she wished she could ease his suffering, because she knew how that felt.
Without thinking, and trying to show some gentle support like he had when he brushed her tears away, Sonya moved closer to him and placed a hand on one of his wide, hard shoulders. He tensed right away at the touch, but he didn’t pull away from her. He rubbed his hands back and forth on his faded and grease stained jeans, and for the first time since being in his company she saw the ink that peeked out from the edge of his tee. Tearing her eyes away from his tattoos, and looking up at him showed that he was watching her.
“Did I frighten you back there?” he asked softly and tipped his head ever-so-slightly toward the door, but she knew he was referring to what had happened in the main room with the prospect.