I nodded. “So did Antonio whenever we went.” A wheeze, half of which was my wolf growling, escaped my throat, and I murmured quickly, “Keep talking.”
He did. Even though his voice was nearly shot to hell, he spoke of his home. His room growing up. His teachers at his previous school. His combat training from the age of four with his father, which explained why he was such a fierce fighter.
“It’s lighter up ahead,” Jack stated, interrupting Ezra.
Instantly, I peered around Jack’s shoulder. He was right. Sighing heavily, my whole body shook, and I muttered, “Oh, thank God.”
With a wee bite to his tone, Ezra grumbled, “I’m sorry. Was I boring you?”
My gaze shot to his. Narrowed green lights met my wide blue ones. “No. Not at all.” I shook my head. “I didn’t mean it that way.” It probably had sounded discourteous after he had saved my ass from going insane down here. “I liked hearing all of it. Promise.”
Haughtily, he sniffed once and looked away, clearly still irritated.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one affected down here. Needing my left hand, I finally tucked my gun away in the waistband of my cargos and rested my newly freed hand against his hard stomach, feeling his muscles flexing with each step he took. My hand was still trembling, but I rubbed his stomach soothingly and rested my head against him, listening to his heart beat strongly and healthily.
It took a few minutes, but I eventually heard him sigh, and he rested his cheek on top of my head once more, mumbling, “Sorry.”
I shrugged. I knew he was. Had known for a good minute when his heart rate changed and his body increasingly relaxed against mine. It had taken him that long to say he was sorry for snapping at me, which I thought was pretty humorous. “So am I, since it did sound ill-mannered. I really did like listening to you.”
He hummed deep in his throat, his vocal cords already healed. “Well then, I’ll tell you about the third car I wrecked.”
I blinked. “Third? How many cars have you wrecked?”
“Seven,” Vivian stated loudly, sounding miffed, unable to hold her tongue. “He’s a damn menace behind the wheel. Also, and not to be forgotten, three different insurance agencies have dropped us.”
A chuckle bubbled inside my throat when I heard Ezra’s heart rate speed up. “Seven?”
“Whatever,” he mumbled, ignoring my question. “Do you want to hear about the third car or not? It involves Com police. And it fits our current situation.”
“Oh, do tell,” I murmured, snuggling against him and sliding my hand across his stomach to his hip, holding snugly. “Does it involve a high-speed chase?”
Vivian’s chuckling wasn’t quiet.
Ezra grunted. “Only because I didn’t realize they were behind me.” His nose crinkled, and then he added quietly, “It made the news.”
Pearl, Jack, and I started laughing.
Over our racket, Ezra grumbled, “After I realized the Com police were there, I tried to pull over. But there wasn’t enough room on the side of the highway, so I,” he chuckled quietly, “made my own road.” He paused, and I glanced up. His eyes held mine. “You see, it was one of those two-lane highways: real thin, but with a steady stream of traffic. When I pulled off the main road onto a field, I didn’t take into account it had rained recently.” His features turned thoughtful. “It probably didn’t help much that I was driving a sports car.”
Vivian snorted, mumbling, “A hundred grand down the drain.”
“Anyway,” Ezra stated loudly, then detailed more quietly, obviously trying to stay focused on our will, “there was this tiny,” he paused, then, “it really was tiny,” his head shook, “hill that I went over. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I was trying to stop, and the tires were skidding and holding no traction on the soaked ground.” He snorted, chuckling. “And I went straight into a pond.” I snickered hard, imagining it as he continued. “I had to crawl out the window. The water was over waist-deep where my car had landed. I went to Com jail soaking wet.”
My lips curved. I had to ask. “How fast were you going that you didn’t know you were being chased by Com police with their sirens blaring?”
“I had the radio up too loud to hear them,” he muttered. Didn’t answer my question.
Vivian did. “One hundred and sixty-three miles per hour.”
“Fuck yeah,” Jack mumbled quietly. “That must have been sweet.”
Ezra’s lips twitched, and then he leaned forward, whispering air, “Not as sweet as the sixth car I wrecked. Remind me later to tell you about that.”
Jack chuckled, lifting his chin once in confirmation.
I smacked Ezra’s stomach, muttering harshly, “That’s dangerous.”
His chest puffed, and he rumbled, “I breathe danger.”
“Oh, good God, he did not just say that,” Pearl muttered.
“He did,” I snorted.
Ezra chuckled deeply. “I just like the adrenaline rush.”
I rolled my eyes grandly. “Never would have guessed.”
Jack wiggled his shoulders, grabbing our attention. “We’re almost there.”