Page 47 of Idaho

"Good. I'm glad they're having fun," I told her. There was no way to make my voice soft, but I gentled it as much as I could. Thanks to my PI, I knew exactly what these women had been put through during their time at the cult. The last thing they needed was any of us being too harsh with them. They were skittish enough as it was.

They were such a timid lot that the day I met with the installation crew, not one of them came out to speak to us. That was fine by me, I was just glad they hadn't mentioned anything to Rip or Sloane. Because the surprised look on my brother's face was worth almost as much as the joy on the women and children's faces.

"Santas, really? Does everything have to be over the top with you?" Lockout muttered.

"It's the only way I know how."

"Come on inside," Angie said, waving everyone toward the door.

I hung back, letting everyone go in before me. My eyes scanned the area, looking for any threats. It was a habit I couldn't break myself out of, so I didn't bother trying. Everyone made their way inside as I held the door open. There was a small room on the bottom floor of the apartments where we would set up hot plates and other equipment to make an easy breakfast for everyone.

"That was really nice of you. It reminds me of my father, in a good way. Every Christmas he does something like this at the orphanages. Sometimes he even dresses as Santa."

I looked down and found Eva standing next to me. Hush gave me a taunting grin as he walked into the apartment building. He was the last one in, besides Eva and myself. His eyes flicked from her to me as his smirk grew. "Just go inside," I muttered to him. His chuckle followed him down the hall.

"I can be nice," I said, answering her. "Though I won't be putting on a red suit."

"I've seen your way of being nice," she replied.

Images of her kissing me flashed into my mind. And now my cock is hard. Great. "You liked it," I told her with a wink.

Her cheeks flushed, making her even more beautiful than she already was. She was wearing a red sweater that made her dark hair stand out against it. Her green eyes were bright with excitement and happiness. This place wasn't exactly home for any of us, but I could see how happy she was to be here, and it made me want to give her everything she wanted in life. I blew out a breath wondering where that damn feeling had come from.

It was one thing to fuck a woman. And a whole different thing to want to bring her home and make sure she never wanted to leave. Especially after only two days of knowing her. It wasn't like me at all. No wonder everyone was watching us like hawks right now. Even though they didn't know me very well yet, except Static and Lock, they were already picking up on the fact that I was into this woman.

"Come on," she told me, "I'm starving." She walked away, leaving me standing there with my dick hard and my heart pounding.

I followed her inside and found everyone setting up. My little duchess didn't hesitate. She just rolled up her sleeves and started pitching in wherever she could. The woman had a heart of gold. It matched the hearts of the rest of the women my brothers had found. They were all priceless in their own ways.

"You willing to make the pancakes?"

Looking over, I nodded at my brother. "Definitely. Yours always end up disgusting."

"Not all of them," he muttered.

"For most people the first one turns out shitty," Static said, from where he was beginning to fry bacon. "It takes you about ten before you get in the groove."

"Fuck off," Lock said, but he said it with a grin.

He started cracking eggs into a mixing bowl. Hush was making sausage, while Ricochet and Smokehouse were making toast.

"Hey, Lock," Hell called out

"Yeah?"

"How many assholes does it take to make toast?"

Smoke and Ricochet's heads snapped up at the same time. "Shut the fuck up, Hell," Smoke shot back.

"Guys," Gwen told them, glaring at them. "Little ears."

We all looked over to the corner where all the kids were either coloring, or sleeping in a car seat in Sawyer's case, and shot her guilty smiles. "Sorry, Gwenny," Ricochet said.

Hellfire grinned at Smokehouse and continued his joke. "Two." He held up two fingers. "One to hold the bread down and one to hold his buddy's dic...," he hesitated when Gwen glared at him. "To hold the first guy's hand," he amended.

Ricochet laughed so hard he nearly dropped the slice of bread he was putting into the toaster. The women shook their heads, smiles on their faces, and went back to setting out condiments and paper plates.

Unable to resist, my eyes strayed to where Eva was working. She was reaching up and pouring containers of juice into a drink dispenser. Her sweater rose up, baring a sliver of skin to my view. My hand tightened on the spatula I was holding. I wanted to strip her bare and run my tongue over every single inch of her.