Read Online PRIDE: A Bad Boy and Amish Girl Romance (The Brody Bunch#1) by Sienna Valentine - Free Book Online
Authors: Sienna Valentine
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I hated that I was having these feelings, but at the same time, I wanted to revel in them. Wanted to explore them. Wanted to find out what they meant and learn what might happen if I indulged them. The kind of sweet, succulent jolts that would run through me as a teen, and now as a young woman, were a taboo subject where I came from. The only time women were educated on “wifely duties” were when they were about to become wives, and then, as I understood it, they were only provided the vaguest of details.
I bet Reid had the answers to all my questions. And I bet he could provide those answers without uttering a single word. I swallowed thickly and raised my gaze to his face, memorizing his narrowed eyes, the look of concentration that pulled his jaw tight.
He lowered his finger from the trigger guard to the trigger. And then, as a parade of wooden ducks went shuffling to and fro across the booth’s back wall, Reid began to fire.
The rifle hardly made a sound, but I saw one of the ducks collapse. Reid pumped and loaded the rifle again, returned to his stance, and fired a second time.
Another near-soundless assassination. And after that, three more. Five shots, five “kills.” I stared in wonder. So did the carnival worker. So did several onlookers who obviously hadn’t expected to see Reid succeed, let alone rack up a perfect score.
“Jesus, dude,” the attendant said, followed by a disbelieving bark of a laugh. “I mean, holy shit. You some kinda ex-Marine, or something? Head of SEAL Team Six out for a night on the town?”
I wasn’t sure what most of those words meant, but Reid laughed, so it must have been a kind of compliment. “Nah. Just good at what I do.” He winked at me. “Besides, I couldn’t disappoint the lady.”
Now all eyes were on me. I felt a flutter in my chest that told me my heart was coming out of sync with the rest of my body. I shifted under the weight of their stares, surreptitiously pulling a few strands of hair out from behind my ears so as to hide a bit of my face. I looked to Reid, hoping he would save me, but he was pointing to the penguin I’d spotted earlier, eager to present it to me.
In just a short span of time, Reid had gathered something of a following. But not everyone was as impressed with him as I was.
“You’re a fuckin’ cheat!” I heard someone say.
Reid turned, raising an eyebrow at a man with a foamy cup of beer in his hand. He was waddling and swaying between the worst of the throng, a sneer on his pale lips. “Come again?” Reid said, though I was certain he’d heard him; the man wasn’t exactly using his inside voice.
I took a step back as the man surged forward, sweat beading on his upper lip. His short, mud-colored hair clung to his forehead and he reeked of alcohol, even at this distance. I raised a hand to cover my nose and mouth as he said, “You heard me, asshole. You’re a fuckin’ cheat. I been at that thing half the damn day tryin’ to score, but you just waltz up and claim a prize? No way. No fuckin’ way.” Now he was turning to the others. “He’s a fuckin’ plant. Some fucker they hired to make us all think we got a chance. These games are all rigged. He ain’t really that good.”
The din around me fell silent. Tension culminated in the air like rainclouds filling their bellies before a storm. The way Reid was looking at this man made my stomach flop and threaten to fall at my feet. There was an intensity in his mahogany eyes, something inhuman. Something animal.
And yet he kept that cocky grin plastered to his face at all times. I wasn’t sure which disturbed me more: the unspoken threat of violence hanging over us all, or the fact that Reid might be willing to commit it without ever flinching—without that smile ever wavering.
My palms were beginning to sweat, and when Reid said, “Step right up and let me show you just how good I am with a gun,” my heart leapt straight into my throat.
No. Not my heart. A
I hated that I was having these feelings, but at the same time, I wanted to revel in them. Wanted to explore them. Wanted to find out what they meant and learn what might happen if I indulged them. The kind of sweet, succulent jolts that would run through me as a teen, and now as a young woman, were a taboo subject where I came from. The only time women were educated on “wifely duties” were when they were about to become wives, and then, as I understood it, they were only provided the vaguest of details.
I bet Reid had the answers to all my questions. And I bet he could provide those answers without uttering a single word. I swallowed thickly and raised my gaze to his face, memorizing his narrowed eyes, the look of concentration that pulled his jaw tight.
He lowered his finger from the trigger guard to the trigger. And then, as a parade of wooden ducks went shuffling to and fro across the booth’s back wall, Reid began to fire.
The rifle hardly made a sound, but I saw one of the ducks collapse. Reid pumped and loaded the rifle again, returned to his stance, and fired a second time.
Another near-soundless assassination. And after that, three more. Five shots, five “kills.” I stared in wonder. So did the carnival worker. So did several onlookers who obviously hadn’t expected to see Reid succeed, let alone rack up a perfect score.
“Jesus, dude,” the attendant said, followed by a disbelieving bark of a laugh. “I mean, holy shit. You some kinda ex-Marine, or something? Head of SEAL Team Six out for a night on the town?”
I wasn’t sure what most of those words meant, but Reid laughed, so it must have been a kind of compliment. “Nah. Just good at what I do.” He winked at me. “Besides, I couldn’t disappoint the lady.”
Now all eyes were on me. I felt a flutter in my chest that told me my heart was coming out of sync with the rest of my body. I shifted under the weight of their stares, surreptitiously pulling a few strands of hair out from behind my ears so as to hide a bit of my face. I looked to Reid, hoping he would save me, but he was pointing to the penguin I’d spotted earlier, eager to present it to me.
In just a short span of time, Reid had gathered something of a following. But not everyone was as impressed with him as I was.
“You’re a fuckin’ cheat!” I heard someone say.
Reid turned, raising an eyebrow at a man with a foamy cup of beer in his hand. He was waddling and swaying between the worst of the throng, a sneer on his pale lips. “Come again?” Reid said, though I was certain he’d heard him; the man wasn’t exactly using his inside voice.
I took a step back as the man surged forward, sweat beading on his upper lip. His short, mud-colored hair clung to his forehead and he reeked of alcohol, even at this distance. I raised a hand to cover my nose and mouth as he said, “You heard me, asshole. You’re a fuckin’ cheat. I been at that thing half the damn day tryin’ to score, but you just waltz up and claim a prize? No way. No fuckin’ way.” Now he was turning to the others. “He’s a fuckin’ plant. Some fucker they hired to make us all think we got a chance. These games are all rigged. He ain’t really that good.”
The din around me fell silent. Tension culminated in the air like rainclouds filling their bellies before a storm. The way Reid was looking at this man made my stomach flop and threaten to fall at my feet. There was an intensity in his mahogany eyes, something inhuman. Something animal.
And yet he kept that cocky grin plastered to his face at all times. I wasn’t sure which disturbed me more: the unspoken threat of violence hanging over us all, or the fact that Reid might be willing to commit it without ever flinching—without that smile ever wavering.
My palms were beginning to sweat, and when Reid said, “Step right up and let me show you just how good I am with a gun,” my heart leapt straight into my throat.
No. Not my heart. A
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