Bounty's End (Bounty for Hire) by AJ Wiliams

flinched as the stone cold shout came from above. She watched as Thomas made his presence known by stomping down each step as hard as he could.
    “Thomas, buddy, we got her,” Anthony said as he walked past her.
    Placing her hand on boy’s arm, stopping Anthony in his tracks, Wen simply asked, “Would you have killed me?”
    She looked him straight in the eyes. Deep, dark blue eyes that held pain and suffering. He was lost, she thought to herself.
    “No, I wouldn’t have; I just didn’t know what else to do.”
    “Well, bud, you can think about that while in lockup,” Anthony announced as he started to put handcuffs on him.
    They started to move away just as Thomas reached her side.
    “Do you do drugs?” she inquired of the dark-haired boy.
    He answered, “No, I don’t. I hid the drugs because of my brother. He got them off of a cop, and was holding them, trying to blackmail the cop into leaving him alone. I told him that kind of shit was going to get us killed and I wanted it out of the house.”
    “Listen, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I would like to help you if you’d let me.” Her voice was soft and strong. Wen felt Thomas stiffen beside her as she looked into the boy’s large blue eyes as they widened. There were no words. Just a head nod as sadness filled his eyes. She watched as Anthony raised his eyebrow and shook his head.
    Wen sagged into Thomas as she watched the other officer and Anthony haul the boys away. She felt both his hands on her hips, very low on her hips.
    “I got you, baby,” he said, with those lips that were so close her ear. She nodded in agreement. She knew he had her, could feel the strength in his arms as they held onto her. She turned her body into his, taking in his warmth. Turning her face up, she could see those deep chocolate eyes staring down at her. Her breath caught, fearing that her lungs would explode from holding it in for so long.

 
     
    Chapter 12
     
     
    Thomas had been scared before, but somehow this felt… He wasn’t sure what this felt like. He knew that his heart rate was up; his blood pressure was about to spike, and the feel of Wen trembling in his arms made him want to beat the shit out of the little creep and the kid with him.
    It took everything that he had to hold back from smashing in the kid’s face. When Wen touched the kid with such kindness, it nearly did him in. He looked from Wen to the kid trying to see what made her stop him from leaving. He saw it then. The sadness and the utter disappointment. He knew those eyes. He had eyes that sad once when was a kid. Thanks to the Anders, his eyes never held the disappointment of not being loved, of never longing or wanting for anything. When they adopted him, he left all that behind him. If he could see that the kid’s eyes were sad, then Thomas knew that Wen saw it too.
    That made him love her all that much more. It was too soon to tell her that he loved her, especially after what had just taken place. Yet, that would not stop him from showing her that he loved her, that he cared what happened to her. She mattered, and she needed to know that.
    After they made their way up the stairs, Wen sat on the couch while he went into the kitchen make her some tea. He needed to get calm before going back to Alek’s place to deal with Keylee and the Hunter situation that was going to be coming to an end in a few hours.
     
    * * *
     
    Seeing the small steaming cup in front of her face, Wen looked up, taking in Thomas standing there with a small reassuring smile across his handsome face.
    Taking the cup into her hands, Wen’s gaze went to the steam rolling off the cup as she simply said, “Thanks.” From her peripheral vision, she watched as Thomas walked around her ottoman to sit beside her.
    “Asking if you’re okay just doesn’t seem right,” he grumbled as he sat down beside her.
    She could not help but laugh, because he was correct in his assumption. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop her