Chapter 11

CHAPTERELEVEN

Raid concentrated on the scenario his friend and Dungeon Master was reciting. He hadn’t been paying as much attention as he should to his Dungeons and Dragons game tonight. He and his friends played every Friday. Not everyone could make it each week, but they did the best they could.

Raiden knew this certified him as a nerd through and through, and he didn’t care. He loved the fantasy game, had a whole bio for his character, Bjorn Silverhammer, a dwarven life cleric. Although Bjorn was tall for a dwarf, being four foot eleven was so different from his real-life six foot eight that it always made Raid chuckle.

He also loved creating new characters when he got bored. His latest creation was a druid who could shapeshift into any kind of animal to help fight at Bjorn’s side. He’d named her Anise, and she was super powerful. It was ironic that the new character was as in tune with animals as she was…and that she looked an awful lot like Khloe.

He’d swear that he hadn’t planned that when he’d first dreamed up the druid, and it was a coincidence that she had such an affinity with animals and the real Khloe turned out to be a veterinarian.

Usually Raid could lose himself in the world of magic and fantasy. It was a way to forget what happened to him in the past and to be a powerful creature in his own right for a while. There were seven or so guys he played with each week. Sometimes as few as four of them were able to get together, but they always made it work. Raid preferred not to be the DM, but he had many scenarios written for when it was his turn.

At the moment, he and his friends had just finished a long and involved campaign, and instead of diving into another one right away, they were running a series of one-shots to give the DM time to prepare a new quest. One of his friends was explaining a situation and he needed to pay attention so he wouldn’t get killed. It would suck to have spent so much time and energy building his Bjorn character, only for him to get killed because he couldn’t stop wishing he was sitting in Khloe’s small apartment watching a cooking show.

“You’re in the grasslands and they go on and on for miles with knee-high seas of grass everywhere you look…except for you, Bjorn, the grass is up to your chest, since you’re so short. The land is partially civilized, with small farms and ranches here and there. Gnolls are encroaching on the farms though, and the civilians are worried. Your party comes across a battle. Dead humans and gnolls litter the area. Ravens can be heard overhead and hyenas are feasting on the carcasses. You come across a recent battle and the sounds of other carrion creatures can be heard over the moans of the dying, animals and humanoid alike. Everyone, roll.”

Raid rolled his dice and everyone read off their numbers. What happened next depended on what everyone rolled.

“There is a dying human gesturing to you,” the DM said. “What do you do?”

That was easy for Raiden. His character, Bjorn, was a life cleric, meaning he could easily cast a spell to heal the injured soldier. He did so, and the man explained that he was in charge of the army currently lying decimated around them. The man went on to say the gnolls attacked with no provocation, and all the hyenas turn into gnolls after feasting on the dead. He wanted help with the entire situation.

Raid smiled. The one thing he loved about D&D was the cause and effect of it all. It took critical thinking. It wasn’t just a “get to point A and go from there” kind of thing. A good DM had a thousand different scenarios and could even think of plots on the fly to keep the game interesting and ongoing.

For example, his group could help the man on the ground, but that could agitate the hyenas if they overheard. The gnolls obviously had an agenda, so figuring out their deal was extremely important. Raid was more than sure there was probably a huge camp of the gnolls nearby that they’d have to infiltrate. The hyenas were probably guarding it as well. This one-shot scenario was going to be a challenge, and it was just what he needed right now…as long as he could concentrate.

Raid listened to his online friends—men whom he’d never met in person but had clicked with while trying to find a new D&D group to join—banter back and forth with the DM as they did their best to convince the human to trust them and tell them his secrets.

But then a noise caught his attention, and Raid glanced behind him…

Straight into Khloe’s eyes.

For a moment, he was confused. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She should be at her apartment watching movies with Caryn and Drew. Hell, she wasn’t even supposed to know about his basement.

But there she was, sitting on his stairs, watching him with a small smile on her face.

Raid jumped up from his seat at the desk and strode toward her, panic welling inside him. “Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

“I’m good. Nothing’s wrong,” she said calmly.

It was the calm that registered in his psyche, and Raid stopped a few feet away from her and frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Khloe shrugged. “I tried to come up with some excuse, but nothing believable came to mind. Honestly, I was just curious about what you were doing tonight. I had all sorts of crazy ideas in my head, but I never would’ve guessed you were playing D&D.”

“How’d you get in?” Raid asked, trying not to combust from embarrassment right then and there. It wasn’t that D&D was something to be ashamed of. Hell, he could be out drinking and causing trouble. But he’d been made fun of enough in high school, in college, and even while he was in the Coast Guard that he didn’t make a habit of talking about what he liked to do in his spare time.

“The back door was unlocked. Which isn’t safe, Raid. You should be more careful about that.”

“Shit. You’re right. I was running late and Duke insisted he wanted to go out one more time before we came downstairs. I guess I forgot to lock it.”

Khloe gave him another small smile. “So you’re obviously an expert at D&D, huh?” she asked, gesturing toward his setup.

Raid nodded. His muscles were tense as he waited for a snarky comment.

“Will you teach me how to play?”

He stared at her in confusion for a moment. “What?”

“I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s okay. I’m sure it’s probably annoying to teach someone all the ins and outs when they have no clue what they’re doing.”

“No!” he exclaimed, slowly relaxing. “I’d be happy to…if you’re sure.”

“Raid, it’s obvious you enjoy the game. And sometimes, I feel like I don’t really know you at all. Learning a bit about the game could help me understand you a little better.”

He chuckled. “I’m not sure about that.”

“Should I call you Bjorn, like the guy on the computer?” she teased as she stood.

“Only if I can call you Anise.”

She returned his smile. “Anise? I like it. Is that another character in the game?”

Raid nodded as she approached him. “She helps out my character. I created her.”

“Is she cool?”

Completely serious, Raid said, “Super cool.”

“Awesome.”

Feeling as if he was in the twilight zone—he’d never had a woman he was attracted to show even the slightest interest in the fantasy game—Raid grabbed another chair and pulled it up to the desk in front of the computer monitor.

He introduced Khloe to his remote friends and while they continued to play, he muted his microphone and did his best to explain the basics of the game. He showed her the dice box and taught her what the dice were for and how they worked.

When it was his turn again, he could feel Khloe’s eyes on him as he rolled the dice that made the choices for his character, and hers, as to what to do next. The DM informed him that there seemed to be eight wild horses in the distance as they walked toward the fort the dying human told them about.

Raid decided to use Anise’s powers to try to befriend the horses. He was only partially successful, but one of the horses allowed Anise to mount it.

When it was the next person’s turn, Raid muted his microphone once more and turned to Khloe.

“I like this,” she said with a grin. “Does the DM have every little decision already mapped out?”

“Kind of. He has the main ideas but the dice and how the characters act both decide how they get places or even if they follow the plot point the DM has set up. Anything that goes off-script, he makes up on the fly.”

“It’s like problem solving and reading one of those choose-your-own-adventure books at the same time.”

Raid grinned. “Yup.”

“Okay, cool…now hush so we can hear what’s happening.”

The next three hours went by amazingly quickly. As time passed, Khloe got progressively better at the game. Her ideas and suggestions were spot on, and most of them were what Raid would have chosen to do if she wasn’t there. She seemed thrilled to have her own character and loved that she was able to talk to and control the animals in the game.

Around two in the morning, the game wound down and the guys all decided to call it a night. They’d been very gracious in welcoming Khloe, and they all said they hoped to see her at a game in the future.

As soon as the camera clicked off, Khloe turned to Raid. “So you do this every Friday night?”

He shrugged. “We try to. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, as the hardest part of playing is getting everyone online at the same time.”

“I think it’s cool. And fun,” she said, making Raiden fall for her all the more.

He never would’ve pegged her for a D&D fan. Granted, he’d done his best not to truly get to know her over the last year…and now he was kicking himself. He’d wasted so much time. Of course, a few months ago, she might not have been in the head space to even want to be his friend.

Just as he opened his mouth to tell her it was getting late and ask if she wanted to stay the night in the guest room, she yawned huge.

“I’m exhausted,” she said…but she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Any chance I can crash here?”

It was exactly what Raid wanted, but she was being a little weird about how she’d asked. She usually didn’t hesitate to speak her mind. She always met his gaze head-on, as if daring him to disagree with her about something. But right now, she was playing with one of the dice from the box and looking everywhere but at him.

“Of course you can stay,” he told her.

Her shoulders slumped as if in relief. Raid couldn’t believe she’d think he’d say no or tell her to go home. Something was obviously on her mind, and he wanted—no, needed to know what it was.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said a little too chirpily.

“Look at me, Khloe,” Raid said firmly.

She sighed, then turned his way.

“Talk to me,” he cajoled. “The Khloe I’ve gotten to know recently wouldn’t ask to stay. She’d inform me that because I’d kept her up too late, she was staying. She wouldn’t ask trepidatiously.”

“I…I just… JasonwaswaitingformewhenIleftmyapartment,” she said quickly, running all her words together.

“What?”

She sighed. “Yeah. When I left my apartment, he was in the parking lot. I drove around and finally lost him before I came here, but I’m nervous to go back now in the middle of the night. I can get out of your hair bright and early in the morning though.”

Raid didn’t think, he simply acted. One of his hands curled around the back of her neck and the other gripped her thigh, holding her in place. “First, I’m pissed that wasn’t the first thing you told me when you got here. Second, no way in hell would I let you leave right now after hearing that. And third…that asshole isn’t going to hurt you, Khloe. I won’t allow it.”

Instead of getting pissed at him being all grabby, she seemed to melt into him. She put a hand over his on her thigh. “Allow it?” she teased. “How are you going to stop him?”

“During the day, you’ll have someone at your side at all times. If not me, then one of the other guys. In a pinch, one of the other women will work. And no more sleeping by yourself at your apartment. If you don’t want to stay here, then I’ll come to your place. Eventually they’ll get the memo that you’re off-limits. If they don’t, I’ll have to persuade them otherwise.”

“Raid, if you get hurt because of me, I’ll⁠—”

“I’m not going to get hurt. And nothing they do is your fault. Nothing. Hear me?”

He was being overbearing, and Raid knew it. But this was important.

She stared at him for a heartbeat before dipping her chin.

“Where’s your car?”

“I parked behind your garage. I didn’t want them to see it from the street.”

“Good.” Raid stood, reluctantly dropping his hands from her. “Come on, let’s get you settled. Duke, wake up, you lazy bum…we’re going upstairs.”

The bloodhound lifted his head, grunted as if to complain about being woken up, then reluctantly got to his feet and padded after them.

Raid put his hand on the small of Khloe’s back as they headed up the basement stairs. He shut the door behind them and said, “I’ll let Duke out, you go on and get comfortable. You know where everything is. I can bring in a T-shirt for you to sleep in if you want.”

“Yes, please,” she said softly.

Raid turned and walked toward the back door before he did something crazy, like invite Khloe to sleep in his bed. He wasn’t good at this part of relationships. He had no idea how to let Khloe know what he wanted. He wasn’t even totally sure she was interested in him the same way he was interested in her. It was frustrating.

By the time Duke was finished finding the perfect place to pee, almost ten minutes had passed. Raid made sure the door was locked this time and headed down the hall. He grabbed a T-shirt from his drawer and headed to the guest room. He knocked on the door and heard Khloe’s voice from inside.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, obviously waiting for him.

“Sorry it took so long, Duke had to sniff a hundred spots before finding the perfect one to pee on. I brought you a shirt.”

She reached out for it. “Thanks.”

Raid tilted his head as he stared at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired,” she said with a shrug.

Raid didn’t believe her. He wanted to tell her that she could trust him, talk to him. But she seemed…remote. Lost in thought. So he smiled and backed toward the door. “You’re safe here, Khloe,” he said.

“I know. Thanks.”

That was about as definitive as could be. Raid left the room and shut the door behind him. He wanted to bang his head on the wall in frustration. Things were going so well when they were playing D&D…at least he’d thought so. Maybe he’d misread the situation, like he usually did when he was with a woman.

Sighing, he trudged to his room, left his door open a few inches so he could hear Khloe if she needed anything during the rest of the night, and got ready for bed.

* * *

Khloe did her best to get control of her emotions…with no luck. She was frustrated that Raid hadn’t even tried to make a pass at her. She’d loved his hands on her. He’d been so commanding and bossy…and all her girly parts stood up and paid attention. But then he’d backed off and hadn’t done anything remotely suggestive, not even so much as a kiss good night.

Now, alone in the guest room, she couldn’t sleep.

She also couldn’t help but tense up every time she heard a car pass on the road at the end of the driveway. Raid didn’t exactly live on the beaten path, so every single time, she thought maybe it was Jason or Scott coming to cause trouble.

After an hour, she was done. She’d never get to sleep lying here by herself. The only time she felt truly safe was when she was with Raid. Feminists everywhere, dead or alive, would be turning in their graves or shaking their heads at her, but Khloe didn’t care. She was an independent woman who was perfectly able to mow the grass, pay her bills, and feed and clothe herself. But she was no match for the Mathers—or her imagination, it seemed.

Throwing back the comforter, Khloe made a beeline for the door. She didn’t think about what she was about to do, she just did it.

She tiptoed down the hallway to Raid’s room and pushed open the door. The hinges creaked obscenely loudly in the quiet of the night, and she winced.

“Khloe? Is that you?” Raid asked.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she apologized.

“You didn’t. I’m awake. What’s wrong?”

Khloe shivered at the commanding tone in his voice again. Man, she was a sucker for Raiden when he went all alpha on her. Without answering, she shut the door behind her and walked to his king-size bed. She lifted the covers and crawled under the sheet.

Then held her breath, praying he wasn’t going to kick her out.

“Khloe?” he said again, this time in a softer, slightly confused tone.

“I can’t sleep. I keep seeing the grill of Alan’s truck coming right at me, making my leg throb. And every time I hear a car drive by, I wonder if it’s his brother. Can I sleep in here?”

Raid’s response was everything Khloe ever wanted and more. He reached over and pulled her across the bed. He turned her onto her side, then cuddled up behind her. Khloe was completely surrounded by Raid’s large, hard, warm body.

She immediately shuffled backward, getting comfortable in the cradle of his body. “I take it this means I can stay,” she said dryly.

“You can stay,” Raid said in a deep, gruff voice.

One of his arms went around her waist and the other shoved under her head, so she was using his biceps as a pillow. She was engulfed in his masculine scent, and she could feel the hair of his legs against her own bare skin. He wore a T-shirt, just as she did, yet lying here with him still felt extremely intimate.

“I told you before and I’ll tell you again, nothing’s gonna touch you as long as I’m around. And until those asscracks leave, I’m definitely gonna be around,” he vowed.

“Okay,” she whispered.

She felt more than heard his chuckle rumble through his chest. “You aren’t going to fight me? Tell me that you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself?”

But Khloe didn’t laugh. “That’s obviously not true, considering what happened before.”

“That happened because he’s a fucking coward,” Raid said. “No one with a shred of decency would do what that asshole did. If you’d had any idea that he was a psychopath, you would’ve done things a lot differently. Don’t beat yourself up for being taken by surprise. You won’t be so easily duped in the future.”

He wasn’t wrong about that.

“Raid?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for not being upset I crashed your D&D night. And thanks for sharing something you obviously love to do with me.”

He was quiet for so long, Khloe was afraid he wasn’t going to respond at all. When he did, he blew her mind.

“You’re the first person who hasn’t treated me like I’m a freak for enjoying what I do. I got so used to keeping that part of me a secret, it didn’t even occur to me to just come out and tell you what my plans were.”

“It’s okay. And you aren’t a freak,” Khloe said firmly. “I had fun, and if anyone in the future makes fun of you for liking D&D, let me know and I’ll set them straight.”

“Right…I’ll do that,” he said with another chuckle.

“Raid?”

“I thought you came in here to sleep,” he teased. “If you’re gonna talk all night, we’re gonna be too tired to hike tomorrow.”

“I did, but I’m a night person…and if I’m gonna open that emergency clinic, I need to get used to being up all night anyway. But I just want to say this one thing. I don’t know what kind of women you’ve been with in the past, but I like you just the way you are. Quiet and introverted most of the time, occasionally nerdy, but bossy and alpha when you need to be.”

His arm tightened around her, and she went on before she chickened out.

“I know things have changed really fast lately, but…I wouldn’t be here, in your bed, in your arms, if I didn’t want us to be more than just friends.”

Her heart was beating out of her chest, and Khloe had no idea what Raid was thinking. Was he freaking out that she’d read the situation wrong? Trying to figure out how to tell her that he wanted nothing beyond keeping her safe? That friendship was all he could offer?

“I wouldn’t be in this bed, sleeping so close to you, touching you, if I didn’t want us to be more than friends,” he said after a long, agonizing minute had passed.

That was all Khloe needed to hear.

She sighed and brought the hand resting on her waist up to her lips, kissing the palm, before finally closing her eyes.