Read Online Salvation by Stephanie Tyler - Free Book Online Page B

watching you win,” she corrected. “I don’t like seeing you get hit.”
    “And yet, it turned you on.”
    “Shut up,” she murmured, but she couldn’t deny it. “I guess all of this is part of keeping you comfortable,” she said instead, referencing the bed, the mirrors, the lingerie with quick motions of her hands.
    He shrugged, not disagreeing. “I don’t need the bells and whistles to make love to you, Luna. A sheet on the grass would work for me. Your bed in Defiance. The back of your truck, even.” He smiled at that, and she had to admit she’d pictured that scenario most often.
    They ate in comfortable silence, and she filled up on the simple, delicious foods. Some kind of stew, with potatoes and meat and carrots, good bread. Wine. Rice.
    She leaned back, full and sleepy. “I want a bath.”
    “There’s a tub inside. And hot water,” he told her, knowing how important that was. How rare it was. “You’ve got ten minutes before it’s only warm, but it never runs cold, unless that’s what you’re looking for.”
    He didn’t have to tell her twice. She was up and in the bathroom in seconds, his laugh echoing behind her.
    The tub was big and decadent and she felt guilty for half a second before turning the water to fill it. There were bath salts and bubbles, and maybe these were from Kammy too, because they were all new.
    She opened one that smelled like gardenias and put some in the water before she stripped down and lowered herself into the tub. She’d lived a lifetime between leaving Defiance less than twenty-four hours ago, and she wasn’t even close to being done.
    This was nothing like what she’d expected, and in the back of her mind, she was worried. But she pushed that away, enjoyed the bath.
    There was a big shower in the corner, and there was also a hose attached to the bath. Once done, she sprayed the rest of the bubbles off and dried herself with a thick, dark gray towel before wrapping it around herself.
    Bishop was done eating, was lying on the bed, reading. She grabbed a long T-shirt and pulled it over her head before dropping the towel. At the last minute, she put on a pair of black underwear with a pretty pink bow in the front. Because who said she shouldn’t accept any presents?
    * * *
    Luna was having her kid-in-a-candy-store moment, and Bishop was prepared to let her, for as long as it lasted. Whether it would sink in that she was stuck here for the rest of his yearlong commitment or if it really wouldn’t matter to her was yet to be determined. She was tired, buzzed and coming off a sex, food and hot bath high that he’d never interfere with.
    When he’d first gotten there, he’d trained, fought and fucked. Woke, ate in the local restaurants and began ticking off the days in his mind. He’d borrowed books from the enormous library—he had no idea where the hell Keller got all the damned books but he was grateful for something to pass the time.
    It was still about training, fighting and fucking, but in between, he hung out with Keller when invited, because he wasn’t goddamned suicidal. His first invite into Keller’s came as a surprise. The second, not as much and he wondered if Keller, for all the trappings, the wealth, the hangers-on, was lonely.
    Bishop had killed Keller’s son, Victor, along with several LoV members when he and Mathias rescued Jessa. It’s what got Bishop into this stint at Keller’s in the first place, and he remembered being stunned at Keller’s lack of anger when Bishop told him that he’d been the one to kill Victor. It had been luck of the draw, but he stood in front of Keller after Mathias had been sent back to Defiance and he’d told the man something Keller had already known.
    “I’m not surprised you told me, Bishop,” Keller had said. “You don’t have any fear. I knew that already. But I’m most interested in why you sacrificed to take Mathias’s place. He’s the one I wanted.”
    “I told you, I’m a better fighter,”