CHAPTER12
Sig
Ishook my head as I watched Rafe and Colby walk in opposite directions from each other. “He’s the one who insisted we take her,” I commented. “What’s he so pissed off about? Aside from always being pissed.”
Arsen’s gaze followed mine and we both watched Rafe wrench a new bag off the lean-to wall. He was getting lunch started, which meant I needed to get on the dishes or I’d get an ass chewing. We all had the chores divided up amongst us. We might not live by society's rules, but we weren’t slobs.
Arsen took Rafe’s work as his own cue and pulled a basin over to where he sat in front of the fire. He rose and began pumping water into buckets.
I’d begun to think he wasn’t going to answer my question when he spoke as he came back over to transfer water to the basin. “He doesn’t like the attraction he has to her.”
“Why?” I asked with a shrug. Who cared if he was hot for Colby. All three of us were, even if we weren’t talking about it yet. That conversation—along with the one regarding what we were going to do with her long-term—was coming.
“Thinks it’s a weakness.”
“That’s stupid,” I replied, as I grabbed our laundry bags and dropped them in front of Arsen.
Going over to the hut, I almost knocked, but then thought better of it. There was no privacy between us. Any of us. She’d have to get used to that. I walked in. Colby glared at me and clutched a towel to her body. She’d been about to wash herself with the rags. “Kick me over your dirty clothes. Arsen is doing the laundry.”
She blinked at me like an owl. “I can do them.”
“Nope. Give them to me.”
Sighing, she used her bare foot to kick over the t-shirt she’d been wearing and the clothes from the previous day. We’d already seen her naked, and wearing nothing but her panties and bra. She’d lose her modesty eventually. Fuck knew we didn’t have any left. There was no place for it here.
I grabbed her clothes and let the door shut softly behind me. Dumping the garments onto the dirty pile Arsen had shaken from the bags, I went over and dragged my own basin over to the fire and began filling it with water from the buckets he’d finished with.
We were silently washing our respective items—Rafe had taken a seat with his cutting board, dead birds, and knives—when Colby came out, looking freshly scrubbed herself.
My eyes bounced back and forth between Colby and Rafe. “This is like a telenovela,” I told Arsen in Russian. “Will they ever learn to live together? Tune in to find out.”
He chuckled and dunked a shirt in the sudsy water before running it over the washboard vigorously. I hated doing laundry and no one wanted me to cook. I was content with doing dishes. These had come from breakfast and normally I’d do them directly afterward—we all liked to keep a tidy camp—but I’d been too worn out to even eat. I’d slept like a fucking baby with Colby in my arms, once she’d settled down. We spent so much time in combat that I’d forgotten how much I missed the feel of a woman in my bed. I wouldn’t soon forget it, or her.
She watched Arsen and I work, then glanced over at Rafe. A loud rumbling noise brought all our heads up and twin pink spots highlighted her cheeks as her stomach growled loudly again.
Rafe gave her a slow, devious smile. Arsen had told me that Rafe was making her ask him to feed her. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. He was trying to bend her to his iron will. I was interested to see how long she would hold out. Rafe’s stubbornness was a thing of legend. He would let her starve just so that he could force feed her, if it came to it.
We worked quietly and soon the scent of roasting meat filled the air. Colby looked miserable, and I couldn’t blame her. Everyone sitting around this campfire knew the only way she was eating was from Rafe’s hand.
He was used to getting his own way. I sort of hoped she held out and made him work for it. Not that I wanted her to suffer, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to feed her and piss him off. I didn’t need that kind of headache. I just enjoyed watching her fight with him. None of us would allow her to starve to death, but I doubted her will would extend to that point.
I had the dishes dried and ready for lunch while Arsen was arranging the clothes he’d washed on a clothesline we’d hung out back. This was going to be our lives for the next week or so.
Going back to the market today had been a bad idea, but Rafe had insisted he needed to poke around and see what kind of a stir Colby had caused. I was pretty sure he’d just wanted to get supplies for her. We could have shared ours, but she’d be more comfortable having her own stuff. He’d never admit that, though. More likely he had arranged for a supply drop and used the market as a cover. Women’s BDU pants weren’t exactly a local item. Not to mention hygiene products with English packaging.
These were the kinds of things that showed that Rafe cared. He wasn’t the kind of man for pretty words, or fancy gifts, but he’d never let her go without the most important necessities. Food, water, safety, those were what he provided. Colby would come to realize this. Eventually.
Rafe dished out three plates and handed us ours. Colby sighed when she wasn’t given one. If she thought Rafe would give in just because she’d chosen not to eat breakfast she was sorely mistaken. Hiding my grin, I ducked my head and focused on my lunch.
“Ready for the explosions?” Arsen asked.
Colby glared over at him, but he’d spoken soft enough I was sure she hadn’t heard.
We both watched unabashedly as Rafe sat next to her and arched a brow. I bit my lips to hold back my laughter. I didn’t need a pissed off woman launching herself at me.
Colby held out her hand. Rafe just watched her, waiting. “This is stupid,” she said, exasperation clear in her voice. “You gave me that other stuff, just give me my lunch.”
“You’re right,” he said, voice almost a purr. “Igaveyou those things. Like I said, Pet. Everything you get will come from me.”