by Brook Wilder
I wasn’t dealing with an innocent woman here. I was dealing with a pro.
I rounded the corner and nearly ran into her in the process, a growl leaving my throat as I realized she had yet to put on a pair of pants. Thank God she was short and the t-shirt reached her mid-thigh. Otherwise the other guys would be losing their shit.
“Get out,” I growled, grabbing her by the arm. “All of you.”
“Got you good, Jax?” Mike chuckled, shaking his head.
“How blue are your balls now?” Logan yelled out as he opened the door, the room bursting into laughter.
I ignored them, dragging my prisoner back down the hall with her fighting me every inch of the way. She had embarrassed me in front of the guys, causing me more issues than good, and I was fucking tired of it.
Pushing her back into the room, I entered behind her and shut the door hard, breathing hard.
“You’re an idiot.”
She pushed against the bed, grabbing the pants and shoving her legs into them. “Me? You’re the one who kidnapped me, remember? Any person in my place would do the same thing.”
I growled, yanking the rest of the zip ties from my vest pocket.
“Get on the bed.”
To my surprise, she didn’t show an ounce of fear, her hard stare reminding me of Hector Blackwood. Hell, this probably was his daughter. Normally a woman would be in hysterics right now, and my balls would not be aching as badly as they were.
But this woman, she was challenging me head on. Hell, I could even appreciate some of her fight as long as I wasn’t on the receiving end.
“What is your name?” I heard myself ask her, curious.
“None of your fucking business,” she muttered as she climbed on the bed, holding out her hands. “Go on. Tie me up.”
My cock twitched at her sultry words as I stalked over and grabbed one of her wrists, bringing it over to slats in the headboard and linking a few together to tie it to the wood. Once I was satisfied, I grabbed her chin with my fingers.
“Tell me your name.”
She matched my stare with one of her own.
“You first.”
“Jax,” I answered, ignoring the softness of her skin under my grip. “Vice President of the Frontier Reapers and currently your damn kidnapper.”
She swallowed, and for a moment I thought she wasn’t going to answer me.
“Faye,” she finally bit out, pulling out of my touch. “Faye Blackwood, but you probably already know that.”
So, she was Hector’s daughter. A thrill shot through me and I stepped back, walking to the door.
“Stay here. If you rip the headboard off the wall, I will let the guys have their way with you next time. I’ll be back later.”
She sniffed as I walked out, shutting the door behind me. Part of me wanted to wedge a chair under the door to keep her in, but unless she tore a hole through the wall there was no window for her to escape out of.
No, her only route was through the living room, where I would be stationed.
After grabbing a beer from the kitchen, I collapsed in the chair, rubbing my sore crotch with my hand. Damn her. She nearly kneed my balls into my stomach.
With a sigh, I took a long draw off the cold liquid, resting my head against the chair. I wasn’t one to have a serious relationship these days, too devoted to the clubhouse to even think about my future.
There had been a time and place for a future, one that I hadn’t thought about in quite some time.
Four Years Ago.
I swallowed hard as I drove us out to the field, knowing it was the best place to see the stars this time of night. I was nervous, my palms sweating as I thought about what that night was going to bring for me. Hell, I was terrified.
Sarah sat next to me, her perfume filling the cab of my truck and causing my cock to harden uncontrollably. Well, that and those fuck-me shorts she was wearing. They would be in my floorboard before the night ended, that was for certain.
I killed the engine and grabbed her hand.
“Come on,” I urged, squeezing it gently. “Let’s go outside.”
She didn’t say anything but opened her door, and I climbed out of mine, walking to the front of the truck. The weather was perfect, the sky filled with thousands of stars and I touched my vest pocket, the bulge still safely nestled against my heart. This was it. This was going to be the rest of my life.
Sarah turned, and I was surprised to see a glimmer of tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, a nagging feeling pulling tight in my chest.
She shook her head, a sob escaping her chest.
“I-I can’t do this. I can’t be with you anymore.”
A cold dash of fear washed over me.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
We had been together for three years and everything had been going well enough for me to buy the damn diamond ring I was planning on presenting tonight. To her.
She hugged herself, refusing to meet my gaze.
“I don’t want to be with you anymore Jaxon. I’m leaving in a week and not coming back.”
The earth gave way under my feet and I felt my body go numb.
“You’re leaving? But, I love you.”
Sarah looked up, her eyes swimming with tears, her next words tearing my world apart.
“But I don’t love you.”
I jolted out of the memory and ran a hand through my hair, finding it trembling slightly. Sarah had been my first and last love of the female form; I had given up the ridiculous notion of love and shit the night she walked away from me. I refused to put myself through that pain again, to give myself up to a person only to have them crush me in the end.
Shit! What was I thinking about this? I had Hector Blackwood’s daughter chained to a bed and a chance to turn this war into our game and our game only. That was what I needed to focus on. She could stand naked in front of me again, but I wouldn’t budge. I was on to her, having learned that she was as tough as nails and full of feminine wiles to get me off my game.
Well, not anymore. The game was changing, and I was going to take the lead.
Faye Blackwood would never know what hit her.
Chapter 7
Faye
I should have never told him my name.
Fidgeting with the tie on my wrist, I glanced at the door, wondering how long he would stay away now that he knew my name. No doubt Jaxon had already dispatched his other biker friends to let my father know how I had screwed up and that they were holding a bargaining chip in their midst.
Would my father care? That, I did not know. My dealings with him hadn’t given me the warm and fuzzies that he was the type of man who was easily swayed.
A bubble of laughter escaped me, and I didn’t bother to smother it. Wouldn’t Jaxon and his club be surprised if he came back with the ‘that’s okay, you can have’ her speech? What would they do with me then? I wasn’t dealing with soft men around here. I was more likely looking at a dirt grave with a bullet in my head than being let go.
Slumping against the headboard, I wondered if I had made a mistake by coming here. I had been more than ready to meet my father, the man who had sent Moose but had virtually ignored me all of my life. I knew who he was from my mom, but I hadn’t expected him to act like he had, like he didn’t care.
“Suck it up, Faye,” I muttered.
I didn’t need a man who was going to hug me and make everything okay. I just needed someone to give me some money, to provide a roof over my head and some sort of future, even if it meant a biker gang. Would he protect me from the others?
Maybe my mom had been right after all about my father.
Four Years Prior.
I tapped my fingernails along the table as the front door opened, glancing at the clock. It was one in the morning, and I had an English test in a few hours. If I didn’t pass, I was going to be stuck in summer school.
I heard her as she stumbled against the wall, a giggle fill
ing the air, causing me to roll my eyes. Drunk again. Why was I even surprised anymore? That was where all the money was going to anyway.
“Faye? What are you doing up?”
Her eyes were bloodshot, her lipstick smeared, and she was using the wall for support.
“Mom, where were you?”
She let out a giggle.
“Who’s the mom now?”
I pushed out of the chair.
“Maybe I should go live with my father.”
She laughed harder, grabbing me by the arm.
“You think he wants you? You think he wants either one of us? Your father is an asshole, plain and simple.”
I pulled my arm from her, not caring when she stumbled in her heels against the wall once more.
“You don’t know that.”
A hardness entered her eyes, and for a moment she looked stone cold sober.
“Yes, Faye, I do. He might have sent that biker to protect you, but that’s only because he’s waiting for the moment that he can use you as a pawn. Hell, I should have run clear across the country with you when I had the damn chance.”
I left her, not wanting to hear about what she wished she had done. It wasn’t going to make this night or any night any better.
I shook out of the memory, disgusted with myself that I had even drummed it up. That was my mom, though, always walking in drunk and sometimes not alone when she came home.
If she came home.
The night they found her dead, she had been in an alley, clutching a bottle as if her life depended on it. The coroner said she had choked on her own vomit.
Sighing, I moved my shoulder the best I could, relieving some of the numbness that was settling in my joints. My mind actually kept drifting back to the biker that had put me here in the first place.
Jaxon.
What was his story? He seemed to be a leader around here. A gorgeous leader at that. Even though he had kidnapped me just as I was attempting to reconnect with my father, I could not ignore the fact of how hot he truly was.
And how my body reacted to him every time he was in the room. Ugh! I could not be attracted to him! That was crazy. So what if my hands wanted to touch him all over, feel the hard muscles of his chest and trace those tattoos to wherever they led?
As if on cue, the door opened, and the object of my thoughts walked in, holding a plate with a sandwich on it. He sat the plate on the bed, easily within my reach, and then leaned against the door, well out of my reach.
I eyed the sandwich.
“I don’t like the crust on my bread.”
He let out a strangled sound, and I could see that Jaxon was fighting a laugh.
“Are you shitting me?”
I wanted to cross my arms over my chest, but of course I couldn’t, so I just stared at him. I wanted him to know that he didn’t intimidate me in the slightest. “Um, no, I’m not. I really don’t like the crust on the bread.”
He gave me a half shrug.
“You can either eat it or not. I don’t fucking care.”
“You really don’t like me, do you?” I asked, ignoring the sandwich even though my stomach was eating itself. I hadn’t truly eaten in a day or two.
Another shrug.
“I don’t even know you. You are here for one reason and one reason only.”
I held up my handcuffed hand.
“Can I at least get this taken off? My shoulder is going numb.”
Jaxon arched a brow.
“And have you escape again? I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, exasperated. “Can you really blame me? I mean you did kidnap me out of the shower.”
“You were dressed.”
“In a robe.” I wanted to add that he had enjoyed it, but I really wanted to be released at the same time. “I promise. I will behave.”
Jaxon seemed to consider it, finally reaching into his pocket and removing a pocket knife.
“If you attempt to leave this time, I will let the guys have you.”
“Didn’t I give you my word?” I reminded him as he drew close.
My heart started a slow thud in my chest as he bent over me to reach the zip tie, his smell intoxicating. He was so close I could have placed my forehead on his shoulder and left it there, just taken a deep breath of this thing that was swirling around us.
Jaxon snapped the zip tie and abruptly moved away, tucking the knife in his pocket.
“Eat the damn sandwich. Don’t do anything stupid.”
I didn’t speak as Jaxon exited the room, waiting until the door shut before I exhaled. Oh, it was going to get even harder to remember that he was an enemy and not a tasty morsel waiting for me to sample him.
Chapter 8
Jaxon
“They jumped him. Beat him in front of his kids – his kids, Jaxon! Now I have a scared shitless wife and kids who think their daddy is gonna die.”
I blew out a breath, attempting to rein in my anger. I could hear Brendan’s anguish on the other end, torn between attempting to keep the peace and going for blood. Despite my direct feelings of what I wanted to do to the Blood Eagles, I knew that Brendan was still struggling.
“Is Lucas gonna make it?”
“Yeah,” Brendan sighed. “Thank God. A couple of broken bones and a bad concussion, but he held his own for a while against the two of them.”
“Good,” I answered abruptly, not letting Jaxon hear the emotion in my voice. “We have to do something. We can’t let this go on.”
“I know,” my brother replied. “Bring the girl to me tomorrow. I think you are right. I think we should use her in some capacity.”
“Will do,” I said, hanging up the phone.
It was high time that we started to show our true colors, the brotherhood that was out for blood and not some sort of pussy-wielding, rainbow-spouting biker club. If we didn’t, the Reapers would be wiped out before the end of the year.
Clearing my throat, I tucked the phone in my pocket and walked toward the bedroom where my captive was staying. I had been surprised by her boldness last night, but also concerned about the damn attraction between us as well.
So much so I had wussed out and allowed another biker to take in her food, with strict orders that she was not to be touched. But now, I had to see if I could glean any additional information from her. Anything that would help us get the upper hand on Hector and his goons.
I took the key from the hook near the door and inserted it in the lock, turning the knob slowly. It would not surprise me if she put up a fight, though the guys had stated she had been docile as a lamb each time they had gone in there.
Something was up. She was a smart girl, and I needed to remind myself of that.
“So, you decided to visit at last. I thought I was starting to smell.”
I closed the door and feasted my eyes on Faye, taking in her bare legs under the t-shirt she wore, the way her eyes flashed with interest as I positioned myself on the edge of the bed. Damn she was gorgeous, and my cock hardened painfully inside my jeans as I thought about taking her on this bed, hearing her screams as I pounded into her.
And I had no doubt she would be a screamer.
Focusing on the wall in front of me, I braced my hands on my knees.
“We almost had a fellow brother killed today, in front of his kids.”
She sucked in a breath.
“That’s horrible.”
“Yeah,” I said, turning to look at her. “He’s one of our own, and we don’t take lightly to those that prey on others.”
Faye’s eyes shimmered with tears, catching me off guard. What was she doing? I fucking hated when a woman cried. I wouldn’t have pegged her as a crier.
“I-I’m sorry. I came here to reconnect with my f-father, and he’s not the man I thought he was. H-he abandoned me and my mom when I was young.”
“Where is your mom now?” I found myself asking.
She looked away, and I saw a hint of real emotion cross her face.
Warning lights went off in my head as I watched her, wondering what she was playing at. Part of me wanted to believe her story, take her out of the mix selfishly and… well, protect her.
