How West Was Won (Haven, Texas Book 7)

by Laylah Roberts

“Baby girl, come here.”

  She glared at him again and moved to the table, sitting down. She winced as her still-tender ass came into contact with the hard, wooden chair.

  “Flick. Come. Here.”

  “I’m not in the mood for more torture.”

  He raised his eyebrows. Then he frowned. “I took it too far?”

  That surprised her. She just stared at him. He patted his lap. “You’re too far away. Come here. I promise, no more torture.”

  She stood and walked slowly towards him. He reached out and settled her sideways on his lap. He grasped her chin, raised her face so he could study her. There was something going on in his eyes. Something she didn’t understand.

  “I’m sorry, baby girl. I didn’t mean to push you too far. Sometimes, I make mistakes too.”

  Her eyes flared open as she gaped up at him.

  West could tell he’d shocked her.

  Under other circumstances, he might have found the look on her face funny. But he was too busy calling himself a dickhead. He needed to remember she had almost zero experience with any of this. He shouldn’t have added the no orgasm punishment on top of her spanking.

  He kissed her lightly. “Forgive me? I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  “How?”

  He turned her so her back rested against his front. Her legs dropped so they lay on either side of his. He spread his legs wide and reached around to cup her breasts. She groaned, arching into his touch.

  “By giving you as many orgasms as you desire.”

  He dropped one hand to her slick lips. He teased her clit, bringing her to a hard and fast orgasm. Shudders rocked her body, and he had to turn her and lay her on the bed so she didn’t jolt around too much. He kissed his way down her body, paying particular attention to her breasts, suckling on her nipples. Then he moved lower, down her soft tummy, until he lay between her legs.

  This time, he took her up slower, played with her, used light flicks of his tongue against what he knew had to be a sensitive clit.

  When she came, her body arched, her breath hitching, and her groans grew louder.

  Fuck, that was a beautiful sight.

  He reached over, grabbed a condom from his bag next to the bed. He rolled it on as he knelt between her open legs.

  She stared up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, the smile on her face held a wealth of satisfaction.

  “My baby feels better now?” He leaned in and kissed her before she could answer him.

  “Oh, yes, Sir,” she muttered as he kissed along her jaw.

  He shook his head. “Not Sir, West.”

  He could see she didn’t understand for moment, then her eyes lit up. The smile on her face grew bigger.

  “Yes, West.”

  He kissed her again. Long and slow and sweet. And then he proceeded to make love to her.

  17

  She came awake as something jolted her. She blinked through the dark, barely able to make out West’s features. But she could feel his hand grasping her arm firmly.

  “West?”

  “Someone’s here,” he said in a harsh voice. “Get my T-shirt on then wait here. Do not move from here. Understand me? No matter what, stay here for me.”

  As he quietly left the room, she pulled her shirt on, ignoring the twinge in her shoulder as she moved too fast. It was feeling a lot better, West made sure she did as little as possible with it, but it was still a bit tender.

  She sat on the bed, unsure what to do. She heard a scuffling noise then the sound of a gun being fired. She gasped and stood.

  West!

  “Felicity!” a voice barked.

  Her stomach dropped. Where was West? He wouldn’t want her to move. She stood and paced slightly.

  “Felicity! Get out here now! Or I shoot your man.”

  Oh, God! Snake had West? Without giving it another thought, she raced to the door and opened it. The moon was bright, providing enough light for her to see Snake standing several feet away. He held onto West’s upper arm and had a gun pointed right at his head.

  “Get back inside now, Flick!” West snapped at her.

  Was he insane? She couldn’t leave him. Snake had a gun on him!

  “Let him go!” she demanded fiercely. Her heart raced. West couldn’t die. She wouldn’t allow that to happen. She couldn’t live without him.

  “Flick, run!” West roared.

  “You run,” Snake told her. “He dies.” His voice was cold. Dark. She shivered.

  There wasn’t enough light for her to see West’s features, but she could feel his fury beating at her. She didn’t know how Snake had gotten the best of him. But she knew she had to do what she could to free him.

  “I’m not running. Don’t hurt him.”

  Her mind raced. Think, Flick.

  “Get your ass over here. Soon as you’re with me, I’ll let him go. Your brother wants to talk to you.”

  How had he even found them? The only people who knew they were here were West’s family, and they would never betray them.

  Not enough time to think about that, Flick.

  Panic made her feel nauseous. What was she doing?

  “Flick, I’m warning you,” West said in a low voice. “Go back inside.”

  “I’m coming.” She walked down the porch and onto the ground, wincing as her feet came into contact with the hard, cold ground.

  “For fuck’s sake, you’re in bare feet. Go and put your shoes on,” West demanded.

  Ridiculously, she wanted to giggle. They kind of had more important things to worry about than the state of her feet.

  “Come here, Felicity,” Snake demanded.

  She moved forward, nearly slipping. Which gave her an idea. God, she hoped she could pull it off without either her or West getting shot.

  “Flick, do not,” West told her. “Do you understand me? You come any closer and your ass is toast.”

  “Get over here, now.”

  She tried to time it just right. She was just a foot away when she deliberately stumbled, she tried to brace herself to minimize the impact against her shoulder as she went flying into Snake. As she’d hoped, he let go of West, instinctively reaching for her.

  West turned and smacked his hand down on Snake’s arm, the gun dropped to the ground. West grabbed her, flinging her away as he threw a punch at Snake. He caught the other man in the nose. But Snake quickly recovered, coming back at him. She had no doubt West could beat him, but he had her to worry about. She tried to keep out of the way of the two men fighting, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh making her stomach crawl.

  Then she remembered the gun, she got to her feet, searching around for it. There! She moved over and gingerly picked it up. She turned, only just then realizing the noise of the fight had disappeared.

  She gasped as she saw West standing over a prone Snake. His breath heaved in and out of his chest as he stared down at the other man, as though waiting for him to get up. Then he turned to her. He stalked towards her as she stood there, frozen. Reaching out, he grabbed the gun, switched on the safety before he grasped hold of her good arm. He bent down, his face mere inches from hers.

  “Do not ever, ever do that again. Understand me?”

  “W-what?”

  “What? What?” he roared.

  She flinched.

  “Fuck. Fuck.” He took a step back, taking in a long, slow breath.

  “West?”

  “Now is not the time, later,” he muttered to himself. “We need something to tie this asshole up. Then I’ve got to contact Alec. There’s some rope in the shed. Can you get it?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “Wait.”

  She froze and he came over and picked her up. He held her with one arm under her ass and carried her to the porch. “Go and put on some clothes and shoes first.”

  There was something wrong. She just couldn’t work out what. He’d gone from furious to cold and detached. He wouldn’t look at her. She knew he was angry at her, but he’d tamped i
t down. Trying to figure it out, she rushed inside and dressed. Her shoulder was so sore she had to hold in a whimper of pain as she pulled on some sweatpants. She didn’t bother to attempt to lace up her boots. She grabbed a flashlight and ran out to the shed, grabbing the rope and returning to West.

  He still didn’t look at her as he hog-tied a now groaning Snake.

  “I called Alec. He’ll be here in a few hours. I’ve got to go get dressed.” West looked from her to Snake. “He’s not going anywhere. You come with me.” He stormed inside and she walked slowly after him.

  “Um, West, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said curtly. “Need to pack shit up. We won’t be staying here any longer.”

  “Oh.” To her surprise, she felt sad to be leaving the cabin. “Can we come back some time?”

  He turned to her with a frown as he hastily packed his stuff. “Thought you hated it here.”

  “It’s grown on me. I’ve enjoyed being here with you.”

  There was a softening in his face.

  “West, I know you’re upset with me—”

  “I’m not upset.”

  He wasn’t?

  “I’m fucking furious.”

  Oh, right.

  He stood. “But right now, I can’t give in to that. I have to figure out a way to control it so I don’t fucking frighten you. So I don’t remind you of him.”

  She took in a sharp breath. She stepped forward, into his path as he was making his way towards the front door. “You never remind me of him.”

  “You get this scared look on your face every time I get angry. You think I’m gonna hurt you.”

  “No, I don’t.” She let out a breath. “All right, maybe I do but it’s not you. It’s not because I think you’ll hurt me. I wouldn’t be with you if I thought that. It’s instinctive.”

  “Well, I don’t like it. Which means I’ve got to rein things in for you. Right now, I’m holding onto my control by the skin of my teeth, considering I got woken in the middle of the night by some bastard who’d come to kidnap my woman. Then I let him get the jump on me, so I could take him down and, instead of my woman listening to me and staying where she was or fucking running like she should have, she decides to fucking offer herself up instead.”

  “Oh. You let him get the jump on you?”

  He glared at her.

  “Well, how was I supposed to know that? He had a gun on you!”

  “You should have done what I told you to, which was to stay inside where you were safe. You didn’t even have shoes on!”

  That seemed a weird thing to get angry about. “So that’s why you’re mad.”

  “Damn fucking right I’m mad. You do not ever, ever risk yourself for me. Understand?”

  “I didn’t know you let him get you. I thought he would shoot you if I didn’t do what he said.” Did he expect her to be a mind-reader?

  “He was going to shoot me anyway!”

  “I know, that’s why I deliberately tripped and fell into him.”

  West froze. “That was deliberate?”

  “Well, yeah. I was worried I wouldn’t time it right. Or that he wouldn’t release you and grab for me. But I figured I had to try because I knew he was going to hurt you.”

  He stared at her for a moment then he let out a bark of laughter. She jolted at the sound. He dropped his head. “It was deliberate. Jesus fucking Christ I thought we’d just gotten lucky. Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.”

  He raised his head then pointed at the floor in front of him. “Come here.”

  She walked over, not sure what was going through his mind. But then he reached for her, drawing her close, hugging her against his chest. She fell against him, her body trembling with aftershocks from what had just happened.

  “Hey. Hey. It’s okay, baby. I’m not mad anymore.”

  “You could have died,” she wailed.

  “But I didn’t. Sh. Sh. Come on, baby girl. I need you to be strong for me. Just a bit longer. All right?” He leaned back and cupped her face, running his thumbs over her wet cheeks. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  He kissed her lightly. “Come on, I’ve got a few questions I want to ask Snake before my brothers get here.”

  West stared down at the asshole lying on the ground. He was a big bastard. Dressed in dark jeans, a black T-shirt, and leather jacket. He’d set up his battery-powered lamp on the ground. For this, he wanted plenty of light.

  He glanced over at Flick and saw her shiver. He swore to himself. She had no business being out here. Fuck. When she’d come out earlier, while that asshole had held a gun to his head, he’d almost died. When she’d walked towards them, prepared to exchange herself for him, he’d nearly lost his mind. Only years of honing his control had allowed him stand there. And only because he didn’t want to risk fighting Snake and having him accidentally shoot Flick.

  If anything happened to her, his life would be over. And he knew then that what he felt for Lana had faded. He wasn’t sure if it had ever been as strong as what he felt for Flick. It had been teenage love, infatuation, it had certainly felt intense, but he wondered if that would have lasted. Her death had enshrined his love for her.

  What he felt for Flick consumed him. He would do whatever it took to keep her safe and with him.

  And, right now, what he needed to do was get a few answers.

  “Baby, I want you to go inside and lie down.” He studied her face. Too pale. And she was favoring her shoulder. Fuck. That fall had probably hurt her. “Take a few painkillers as well.”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m staying with you.”

  “Flick,” he said in a low, warning voice.

  She shot him a hard look. “I was the one he was going to take with him. I deserve to be here. I need to hear what he has to say.”

  Fuck. Unless he picked her up, carried her inside and tied her to the bed, he knew she wasn’t budging.

  “I need to get rough with him.”

  Snake made a low, growling noise. “I’m not breaking for you, motherfucker.” His voice sounded nasally due to his broken nose, and his eye was puffy and swollen.

  West smiled then crouched down. “Do you know who I am?”

  “You’re some country hick. You can’t do fuck to me.” Snake spat at him.

  “I might be a cowboy now, but once I was an enforcer for Tony Marceras.”

  He watched Snake’s eyes widen.

  “Oh, I see you know who he is. Good. That makes things easier. So, now you know I’m not fucking around. You came after my woman, and this isn’t the first time you’ve done that, is it?” He looked back at Flick. “He ever hurt you, baby?”

  “He wasn’t gentle,” she said in a tense voice.

  “Well, you’ll pay for that too. Do you know Brian?”

  “What?” Snake snapped. He didn’t seem so sure of himself now. Good. He shouldn’t be.

  “Brian? The guy who promised Flick he’d help her but, in the end, he betrayed her. Know him?”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “I sent some friends around to have a few words with old Brian, make him aware I didn’t appreciate him hurting my woman. He should be able to eat solids in a few weeks.”

  Flick drew in a gasp of air. He looked over at her. “Baby, I want you inside. Now.”

  She nodded shakily. Fuck. He closed his eyes briefly. He wasn’t that man anymore. He knew he couldn’t be that man again. Jaret was right, he’d had a taste of the sweet life and he wanted more. He couldn’t have that if he went back to who he’d been.

  But he also couldn’t have that unless his woman was safe.

  “We’re gonna have a little chat, you and I, and you’re going to tell me what I want to know.”

  Flick made herself busy packing up all their stuff, trying not to think about what was going on outside. She’d never condoned violence. So why wasn’t she out there stopping West?

  He should be able to eat solids soon.

  Had he rea
lly done that? Sent people around to beat up Brian?

  He’s doing something to get Snake to talk right now.

  But Snake would have killed West. Would have taken her back to her brother. Snake wasn’t a good guy.

  She jumped a foot in the air as the door opened. She stood there, watching as West walked in. He stopped in the middle of the cabin.

  “You think differently of me now? You can’t accept me for who—”

  He let out his breath on a whoosh of air as she launched herself at him. He caught her to him.

  “Easy, baby girl. You’ll hurt yourself.”

  “I know who you are, West Malone, and I love you no matter what.”

  “Thank fuck,” he muttered, holding her close. “Thank fuck.”

  They stood there for a long moment, just hugging each other. She leaned back to look up at him. “He tell you anything?”

  “After a bit of incentive, yeah.”

  She shivered. He ran his hand up and down her back. “Don’t worry, I didn’t have to come on too strong. He’s weak without your brother backing him up. Good news is, I got some answers. I know how he found us. He confessed to shooting Beau and that your brother sent him to do it.”

  “Really?” She pulled back to look up at him.

  “Really.”

  “How did he find us?” she asked.

  “Your locket.”

  She frowned, glanced down at her locket. “What?”

  “Your brother put a GPS chip in it years ago.”

  She froze. Her face looked pinched. In pain. “Oh, God. When he had the clasp changed! That’s how he’s always kept tabs on me. How he knew about Brian. All these years and I never suspected.” She let out a bark of laughter. “What an idiot I am.”

  “You are not an idiot,” he told her fiercely. “You loved your brother, looked up to him, and he manipulated you.”

  She swallowed heavily. “I feel ill.”

  “I know, baby. But soon it will all be over. Once Snake tells Jake everything, he can go arrest your brother.”

  “Unless my brother realizes what’s going on when Snake doesn’t turn up with me and runs. I have to go meet with him.”