Free Dark Paradise by Cassidy Hunter Page B

she was alone.

Chapter Nine
    The fire had died down, and she felt curiously bereft. She wrapped the blanket around her nude body and stood carefully, noting her weak legs. She needed another poe.
    Her stomach growled, loud in the warm, still day. Where had those damn men gone? She walked gingerly to her bags, awash in relief when she found Saint and Satan asleep in their holsters.
    She dragged on her clothes and boots, strapped her knives around her hips, then pulled her bag over her shoulders.
    “Where are you going, love?”
    She started at Elder’s voice and turned to see him and Mach staring at her, both of them holding a brace of game birds.
    “I thought you’d gone.”
    Mach tilted his head, frowning. “Gone?”
    She twisted her lips in a hostile smile. “As in split, departed, disappeared, fled, left me. Gone. Vamoose.” She waved. “Bye-bye.”
    Elder dropped his birds. “Honey…”
    Mach stomped toward her. “Stupid girl.”
    She backed up a step. “Huh?”
    He tossed his birds so they landed almost in the fire, then grabbed her by the shoulders. “We don’t leave you.”
    She pursed her lips. “I don’t care if you leave or not. I was just heading to the post.”
    He shook her hard, his unbraided hair falling to hide half his face. “We don’t leave you. You don’t leave us.”
    Elder stood beside Mach, his face proud. “We belong together, Cin. We chose you. You chose us. You don’t have to be afraid.”
    She licked her dry lips, squinting against the brightness of the sun. “I’m not afraid. I don’t care if you two walk away. I’ve been on my own for a long fucking time now, and I don’t even like company. So if you—”
    Mach shook her once more, then pulled her into his arms. “Stupid girl.” But his voice was gentle.
    She didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. She was almost ashamed at how her body melted against him, at how she reveled in his embrace. He was just so big, so warm, so safe.
    “You saved our lives, Cin.”
    She started at Mach’s voice, deep and rumbling against her ear. Rubbing her cheek against him, she smiled. “I know. You should kiss my ass forever.” Despite her offhand words, she didn’t want to talk about it. It made her uncomfortable.
    Who the hell had she become? Someone who had no inhibitions, who would do depraved things and like it? She shuddered in Mach’s arms, an image of Gemian flashing into her mind.
    Suddenly embarrassed, she pulled away from Mach and knelt on the ground, busying herself with her bag. She ignored the men standing silent and watchful.
    Mach knelt beside her. When he put his hand on her arm, she jerked away. Confusion wrapped around her mind, and she wasn’t sure what she felt, what she wanted, or what she was.
    The more she tried to stop thinking about it, the more vivid the images and the stronger her shame. And at the root of that shame was an insidious feeling of lust, a sneaky darkness that beckoned to her, whispering irresistible words that made her want to crawl in a dark hole and hide from herself.
    And maybe even worse than that were her blossoming feelings for the men. Their connection was strengthening—whether she wanted it to or not.
    “Cin.” Mach’s voice was stern. “Look at me.”
    She buried her face against her bag. “Just give me a minute, would you? Leave me be for a while.”
    But he was Mach, and would not leave her alone to wallow in her shame and regrets and furtive, coy need. He forced her bag from her hands and grabbed her chin.
    Elder stood behind him, his brows drawn down, his gaze holding concern and understanding.
    “Fuck you both,” she said. But her voice was mild and low, and she knew it was not these two men she blamed. Not really. It wasn’t even the fucking sick housekeepers.
    Elder knelt on her other side, and they wrapped her in a tight embrace. Silent and warm, they held her quietly, saying nothing until her rigid body relaxed and she controlled the threatening