Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds: Book 1 in the Soldiers of Chaos series by A.A. Askevold

her face. She tried to cover it with indifference but she was way too late and she knew it from the smug look on his face. Her phone vibrated on the bathroom cabinet and Tex nabbed it flipping it open a smile beginning to form. "Hey Trace……. Yeah…… I'll let her explain……See you in five." Fuck. Just what she needed "You couldn't have warned him off so I could get a bit of shut eye in before shit came down on my head." Tex shook his head at her his semi smile going into full cheeky grin mode. She was gonna kill him and she made sure to communicate that through her glare. "Now I have to change out of this wet shit and you better get your shit together before Trace gets here" Tex slid his shirt over his head. Nikki's eyes ran hungrily over his chest and abs, the man was a god. She got in thirty seconds of ogling time, just enough to remind her body of what she was missing out on before he turned and walked away still grinning. Bastard.
     
    Nikki turned the water off and towel dried herself and her hair as best as she could. She avoided the mirror she didn’t recognize herself anymore and it wasn’t the scars, although they served as an ugly enough reminder in and of themselves, it was her eyes. They held many things all of them dark and ugly and that both frightened and thrilled her. She didn’t know if the others could see it in her. Tex and Trace they looked at her different but not in fear or disgust but with sorrow, regret and concern. Some of the other brothers looked at her like that, some looked at her with pride. Reaper, her father, looked at her like he’d never really noticed her before. He watched her from a distance whenever he was around. She could feel it and she didn’t know what to make of it. She was too fucked up to really spare too much thought for it anyway. She was still tired and she so did not have the energy to deal with Trace. She pulled out a pair of boy leg panties and a cami throwing them on then sliding into her bed. It felt good to be clean and lying down in her own comfy bed bit better than the couch she slept on last night although not that much better. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep thinking about those green eyes and the darkness hidden in them.
     
    Nikki felt her bed shift dragging her out of the dream she’d been immersed in. It was intense, a strange overwhelming swirl of pain, fear, vengeance, violence and green eyes. An arm went round her waist and fingers began sifting through her hair shifting her out of her dream. She winced when those fingers found the cut on the back of her head. "Baby Girl" Trace whispered then pushed her hair back into place pulling her into his body. He'd climbed under the sheets with her still clothed she could feel his cotton shirt against her bare shoulders and his jeans against her legs. He kissed the back of her shoulder and tucked his head behind hers his mouth at her ear. "You ok beautiful?" He kissed her neck just below her ear. The pain from her dream lingered and she felt on the verge of tears as she considered the answer to that question. She'd seen her mother butchered, nearly shared the same fate, been shot and cut, killed two men and almost been gang raped. She was not fucking ok, she would never be ok. She nodded keeping her eyes closed tight in an effort to stop the tears. "Nikki" he breathed again the sorrow and guilt in his voice clear as day. She shook her head to tell him he couldn't and shouldn't go there. He didn't listen.
     
    Trace turned her to her back gently both his hands came up to her face tilting it up so he could see her. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, if she didn't look at him she wouldn't have to see the emotion in his eyes and she wouldn't have to feel that shit out loud. "Nikki. Look at me baby" he said in his soft voice. Nikki shook her head again. Trace's lips touched her forehead, each cheek, her nose then finally came to rest against hers. "Open them up for me baby." She knew what he meant but