Page 51 of Hell Yes

And the wild part of her, the one that ran from home years ago, was still wild, still searching. Still not satisfied with the status quo. Experiencing sex for the first time opened up a new world for her. One that she was ready to embrace and explore. Nothing that felt so good, could be wrong. Could it?

After sitting in the bath for a half hour, she dried off and got changed.

“I can’t sit around here doing nothing,” she muttered to herself.

She was far more comfortable being active.

Instead of staying put, like Xander and Jesse had told her, Val took off for the bunker.

It was dark out now, so she grabbed a flashlight from Jesse’s kitchen and made her way there. She was pretty sure she knew the way at this point. After all, she’d watched them walk away, far longer than they realized.

The crunch of gravel and grass underfoot was the only sound around her. But the closer she got to the hunting shack, the more her instinct told her to be careful.

“Hands where I can see them!”

The shout came from Avery Hellion, aiming a shotgun at Val.

“It’s me, Val.”

“Jesus, what the hell are you doing here?” Avery yelled and lowered her weapon. “I could’ve killed you.”

“Xander and Jesse told me to stay put at the cottage but I can’t sit there and do nothing. What’s going on? Why aren’t they back yet?”

Avery motioned for Val to enter the bunker. “They were chasing down Krypt crew in one of our tunnels. Sonny used explosives to eliminate the threat around the perimeter of our property. Unfortunately, the blast seems to have affected tunnel two. Part of the ceiling collapsed and Xander and Jesse are trapped.”

Val put a hand on the doorframe to keep herself steady. No. The thought of those two men being injured or worse made Val’s blood run cold.

“We need to help.”

“Sonny and the crew are on it. Nothing we can do at this point.”

“How many Krypt crew did they get?”

Val still couldn’t say the word kill.

“Twelve of them breached our property and all were shut down. That leaves nine of their crew left.”

“You might be content to stay here and do nothing, but I’m not,” Val announced.

“To start with, I’m listening to direct orders from my father, the President. And I’m guarding this place, just in case. I’m not doing nothing. And second, if you can’t tell, I’m hella pregnant. I didn’t want to stay here at first, but now that I’ve had time to think, breathing in all that dust and shit from that tunnel wouldn’t be good for me or the baby.”

“Of course, I didn’t mean anything. I just want to do something. If I sit, I worry. If I act, at least I feel I’m making a difference.”

Avery nodded, her blond hair sliding out of her bun. “Trust me, I get it.”

Suddenly, another member of the crew appeared. Vanier. He was wearing the familiar H & H leather vest.

“This is Vanier, one of our prospects. This is Val. She’s staying with Jesse and Xander.”

Vanier gave her a knowing smirk. “Yeah, Dante just mentioned.”

Val’s face heated and Avery’s sharp glance made her feel like she was under interrogation.

“What’s going on?” Avery asked.

“Nothing,” Val replied.

Avery’s eyes dropped to Val’s neck, and she struggled not to fidget.