Chapter 5

• I looked from the horse to him. I didn’t have a lot of options. I wouldn’t get far with the chains on, and with the length of legs on the horse, I couldn’t outrun it. I turned and looked at Leone, he watched us, patience his only expression. Shifty people, I’d learned a long time ago, always looked impatient. I looked back up at Michael and nodded. “Okay. Just don’t drop me.” I looked back up at Hachi and rubbed my hand on his nose. “I don’t want to get stepped on.”
• Michael smirked, “I’ve never dropped someone before.”
• Leone snorted. “Not true, you dropped me on my face that time.”
• Michael looked over at him. “You deserved it.”
• Leone shrugged. “Maybe.”
• Moving cautiously, Michael backed the horse away from me, then swung up into the saddle.
• I stepped back. He looked even bigger sitting up there.
• “Give her a hand up.” Michael told him.
• With a nod, Leone dropped the strap for his own horse and came toward me. “I’ll just pick you up and set you up there.” He stopped and looked at me.
• I looked nervously up to where he’d be setting me. “You guys ever hear of cars? Safe metal things you ride in not on?”
• He grinned. “Little hard to drive them out here.”
• I looked around at the grass and sighed. “Valid point.” Nodding, I held up my hands. “No wandering hands, just lift me up there.”
• Leone lifted his hands. “Beth would blast them off if they even thought to wander.”
• I nodded. “Okay.” I was more nervous of being on the horse then being touched. He stepped in front of me and it suddenly dawned on me how big he was. When he grasped my waist, I tensed and held my breath until I was sitting in front of Michael, a lot closer then I would have liked. I looked down at the ground. Okay, maybe close was good so he could stop me from falling off.
• Hachi moved around a bit and I grabbed Michael’s arm like a sissy.
• “He’s just adjusting to the extra weight.” He rested his hand on my waist, holding me where I was.
• I nodded. “Tell him there’s a novice up here and to dance smoothly.”
• Michael’s mouth twitched. “He knows. I’m going to have to pull you closer, so you don’t bounce off.” He held his hand away from me, watching my face until I acknowledged what he said. Moving his hand slowly, he reached behind him and pulled something out. Holding his arm out away from us, he motioned to it with his head. “You can hold this knife and if I do anything out of line, you have my permission to stick me with it.”
• Leone snorted and got on his horse. “I didn’t get a knife.”
• Michael didn’t look away from me. “That’s because you would have stabbed me just for fun.”
• I reached and took the knife from his hand and looked at it. “Okay.”
• Michael looked at it. “Point it away from me so I don’t get stabbed if we gallop.”
• I looked down then turned it away from us.
• He slowly circled my waist, pulling me tight against his chest. “Lean into me and swing your legs over mine, so I don’t have to squeeze to keep you here.”
• I took a shaky breath and leaned against his hard chest. “How far are we going?”
• He jerked his other arm and Hachi turned. “Fifteen minutes.”
• Hachi started walking. It was the weirdest feeling, sitting on a creature as it moved.
• “Let me know when you’re ready to try something faster.” Michael said, his voice rumbling through his chest as he spoke.
• Leone was beside us, looking around.
• All I could think was that if I fell and Hachi didn’t step on me, Leone’s horse would.
• Leone pulled out his phone then answered it with a smile. “Hey, love.” He looked at me. “Bit taller then Paisley.” He grinned. “Everyone is bigger than you.” He nodded. “See you soon.” Tucking it back in a pocket, he looked at Michael. “I told Arius to get Victor to send a patrol out here. If this is where they’re landing it will make our lives easier.”
• Michael sighed. “If Autumn hadn’t called out, we would have ridden on by.”
• “I can’t believe they’re dumb enough to bring them here on our land.” Leone mused quietly.
• “It’s the last place we’d look.” Michael answered. He leaned back and looked at me. “Ready to try a bit faster?”
• I inhaled and blew out a breath trying to summon some courage. I nodded. “Sure, give him the gas.”
• He gave me an abrupt nod. “Hold on.”
• Gripping the knife in one hand, I made sure it wasn’t aimed at any body parts before I turned my head into his chest and squeezed my eyes shut. I was thankful it was dark enough so no one would be able to see my face and know I was being a wimp. Hachi’s stride increased and the first few bumps were alarming, then as I relaxed as I picked up the rhythm. Michael’s arm held me firmly against him, even though this was far closer then I was usually comfortable with, I was glad he held me in place.
• “You can see the lights up ahead.” He said quietly, leaning down by my ear.
• I turned and looked where we were going. There were a lot of buildings lit up. It was the best thing I’d ever seen after never having been out of the city, I was way out of my comfort zone without lights and buildings.
• I almost forgot I was on a horse until we rode into a yard and Hachi stopped. The lack of movement took me by surprise. Michael turned him and then released my waist. I looked to see about a dozen men standing there looking at me. Even from atop the horse, I knew they were as big as Leone and Michael. Where the hell was I that men were this big? I moved my legs and kicked, jumping down. I landed in a crouch for a second, then straightened up.
• A man with long black hair started toward me, then spotted the knife I held. He glanced up to Michael, questions in his eyes.
• “Don’t crowd her.” He told him.
• The man stopped and moved his hands out from his body, showing me they were empty.
• Hachi nudged my shoulder. “Thanks for the lift, boy.” I told him.
• The men moved, and a tiny redheaded woman appeared. “Give her some room guys, it’s bad enough when it looks like land of the giants when first seeing you guys.” They backed away. She turned and looked at Leone, giving him a quick once over.
• Releasing the reins, he went over and kissed the top of her head. “Stay out of her reach, Beth, she beat the holy hell out of two guys.”
• Beth smiled at me. “Good.” She glanced briefly to the knife in my hand, then motioned to a door. “I’m Bethany. Come in and let’s get those chains off you.”
• I looked at Michael quickly then to the door.
• “How did she get the knife?” The one with the long hair asked Leone.
• He smirked. “Michael gave it to her, so she could stab him if he got touchy-feely.”
• The dark haired one looked at Michael. “I don’t see any blood.”
• “Guess he didn’t get touchy-feely with her.” One of the others said.
• Bethany glared at them, “you guys aren’t…”
• “Hey, I heard—”
• A tall blond came out of another door to my left, I spun and crouched, flipping the knife into a defensive position.
• He threw his hands up. “Whoa, take it easy. I just came to talk to my brother, Michael.”
• Moving only my eyes, I glanced to Michael, he was side-stepping, moving in my field of vision. His hands were open and empty.
• “As much as Rafael deserves to have some woman stab him, I’d prefer it not be with my blade.” He held his hand out. “No one here is going to touch you.” He nodded slowly. “And you don’t need a knife to do damage.”
• I looked back to Rafael, he returned my look with a steady gaze. He was tense and ready, but there was no sign of impatience in his expression. Straightening slowly, I held the knife toward Michael.
• He extended his arm, his palm up and let me set it on his hand. “Let’s get those off you and get your injuries looked at, Autumn.”
• I touched my mouth, then shrugged. “Just a busted lip and bruised cheekbone. I’ve had much worse.”
• In the light I noticed how blue his eyes were, right now they were assessing my face with a look of anguish in them. He motioned to the door again, then snarled at the men standing near it. “Back up and give her space.”
• I looked to see all of them comply, leaving Bethany standing there alone. She gave me a soft smile and nodded.