"Ja. I've probably been called that a time or two."
"There's a lot to be said for one-night stands and keeping things simple." She kissed him quickly and slipped off him. "Are you hungry?"
The conversation became too uncomfortable. She wanted to know if he ever thought of having a relationship with her, considering she'd been living with him for a while and they got along great.
Maybe she mistook how wonderful he was to live with for him just doing his job. He'd proven to her that he put Slag first. That was the reason why he'd kidnapped her and kept her in his bedroom, only later to give her the freedom to wander around.
She fastened her jeans. In some ways, he still kept her under guard. He knew she couldn't step a foot in any direction without one of the members snitching on her.
While he'd told her she had the freedom to come and go if she made sure he or one of the members was along, she wondered how true that statement was. Had their relationship moved into trusting each other?
"Babe?"
She finished tying her shoe. "Yeah?"
"I said, 'A sandwich sounded good,'" he said.
"Sorry. I was thinking to myself and didn't hear you." She stepped to the door. "I'll make us both one, and bring them up here if you want."
"I'll come down in a few."
She walked back to him and kissed him. "Okay."
Leaving the room, she walked downstairs. Her mind wouldn't let go of the hope that he was keeping her here because he wanted her, not because she wasn't free to go.
She strolled across the room and out the front door. The Slag members outside, enjoying the nice weather, turned in her direction and then went back to what they were doing. She kept going toward the gate.
Dag lifted his chin at her approach. She gave him a small wave and stopped in front of him.
"I'm going for a walk," she said.
He pulled his cell phone out. "I'll check with Brage."
"No need. He said I could go." While he hadn't mentioned it lately, he had told her before that she was free to go as long as she told someone—and she was telling the prospect.
Dag opened the gate. "It's going to get hot."
"I won't be long." Adrenaline spurred her forward, and she walked the familiar path to the rental house Moroad paid for.
The sun beat down on her bare shoulders. Breathing hard, she slowed her walk, realizing she was racing away. As if the faster she left, the sooner she'd get her answer, she looked over her shoulder.
Nobody followed.
She stepped over the railroad track, looking both ways as she navigated the other rails. Brage hadn't come after her.
Trying to wrap her head around what his absence meant to her, she found herself standing in the yard of the rental house. It looked the same as when she'd lived there. Barren, rundown, and depressing, the house was an oddball within the city limits because of its location next to the train tracks.
Moroad Motorcycle Club probably stopped paying rent on it after finding out she wouldn't and couldn't help them.
She looked back at the clubhouse. Would Brage really let her walk away?
Her pulse thrummed loudly in her ears. Emotions clogged her throat. She swallowed, wanting to go back.
She wasn't ready to be on her own. Having never had someone care about her day to day living the way Brage had, she enjoyed being a part of his life. What would she do without him?
There was no question on if she could survive without him. She'd done it before, and she could do it again, but she didn't want to leave him.
He made her happy. She wasn't finished finding out more about him and his odd traditions. She wanted to sweat in the sauna with him and eat funny tasting cheese. She wanted to stay in bed with him and tease him until he laughed out loud. A laugh she'd memorized and held deep in her memories because she never wanted to forget how she felt when it happened.
A low rumble of a motorcycle broke into her headspace. She turned and found Brage stopping on the other side of the tracks. Elation filled her, and she wrapped her arms around her middle to contain the joy at knowing he came for her. He followed. It no longer mattered in what content he wanted her to stay with him but that he wasn't going to let her go.
Unable to hold her happiness in, she ran toward him, jumping over the rails, and skidded to a stop on the gravel in front of his Harley. He got off his motorcycle and grabbed her to him, squeezing her hard, reminding her of who she wanted.
He held her face against his chest. She buried herself in his beard, the size of him.
"You promised you wouldn't leave." His gravelly voice washed through her.
"Would you have missed me?" she asked against his chest.
He tilted her face up. His high cheekbones, heavy brow etched in frustration accented the pain in his blue eyes. "I miss you when your hands aren't on me. Hell, babe, I miss you when your thoughts drift away from me."
She shook her head. "That's impossible because I'm always thinking about you."
"Dinah..." He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "This is more than I planned."
She nodded. "I know."
"Don't walk away from me," he whispered.
He gave her no promises, no timeline for how long he wanted her, and no guarantees. His words were honest and heartfelt. That was good enough for her. It was all she needed in her life at the moment.
"I won't." She spread her fingers out on his chest.
A train whistle blasted the air around them. She jerked her gaze down the track. An engine came barreling in their direction.
Brage swooped her up into his arms. She wrapped herself around his neck. His gesture to carry her out of harm's way came as no surprise. He really
