His Brothers Wife Read Free Page B

whispered. “I’ve been in the hospital twice. Once for falling down the stairs. Once for falling while I was rock climbing. That’s what we told the ER staff—and they believed it! They believed my broken fingers were from closing my hand in the electric car window. Three times! And most of the other times I didn’t even go to the ER.”
    Disbelief and stark rage thundered through me louder than the storm outside. Bree shrank away at the sight of my face, probably thinking I’d strike her. Horrified that she’d be scared of me, I pulled her back against my chest. My face pressed into her hair as my muscular arms locked her to me.
    “He’s not gonna hurt you anymore,” I vowed. My hand continued stroking her back as she shook like a terrified bird. “I swear I won’t let him touch you again.”
    In any way. Chad would never hit her or sleep with her or—if I got my wish—even look at her again. I’d make sure he was erased from her life.
    “You can’t stop him,” she told me. “He’s my husband. He threatened to kill me if I ever tried to leave him. I don’t know that he’d actually kill me, but I know he’d hurt me. Badly.”
    “Do you want to be with him?”
    She bit her lip, and I saw indecision racing over her features. “No,” she finally said.
    “Then you don’t belong to him anymore.” If only you could be mine.
    Tentative hopefulness filled her eyes. “You’ll really help me get away from him?” 
    “Really.” The car rocked as the wind reminded us of the storm’s presence. “If this damned squall doesn’t screw things up.”
    “He’ll know you helped me.”
    I shrugged and put the car back in gear. The trees swayed ominously in the wind, and I wondered if the weather was more severe than I’d thought. After a half hour driving, I finally spotted a sign for a motel and pulled into the gravel drive. There wasn’t a light to be seen. Was it deserted? Please. It couldn’t be.
    The two of us were so strung out from tension, we just sat there and stared, neither attempting to get out of the car.
    “Are you ready to go in?” I finally said.
    She looked around at the group of small buildings. “Where are we?”
    “Some motel, I guess. Looks like a bunch of cabins—”
    “Looks like Bates Motel,” she interrupted.
    “Beggars can’t be choosers. Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe in the shower.”
    “Channing…”
    Oops . I gave her a lopsided what-the-hell smile as she stared at me, and fire started in my balls, crawling up my spine. For the first time, I saw need in her eyes—need for me. She wanted me.
    “We should go in,” I blurted. “The sign’s off, but maybe that’s because they lost power. I see cars so I don’t think it’s closed.”
    “It’s kind of out of the way for a motel,” she murmured.
    “All the better. Maybe it’s supposed to be a rustic getaway. With all the untouched nature around, I bet they get a lot of people just looking for a retreat.”
    Biting her lip, she looked at me again. If someone could caress a man’s cock with a gaze, she did.
    “Let’s go in,” she said suddenly. Without waiting, she opened the door and dashed for the largest building with “Office” painted on a small sign near the entrance.
    Quickly, I followed her while another surge of anger stoked within me. This was a fire I’d never seen, because Chad had nearly crushed her spirit. She still had it in her—that was evident in her willingness to go nose to nose with me. I couldn’t help considering her nose to nose in another way.
    The front door opened easily, with a chiming of an overhead bell. A young dark-haired man, wearing a nametag that said “Peter”, glanced up from the textbook he read by candlelight.
    “Hi,” he greeted us in surprise and pushed aside his book to look at the log in front of him. “Do you have reservations? Sorry, our computer’s down. Well, actually, obviously , everything’s down.”
    “No,” I told him. “We’re looking