Theirs to Protect: A Rough MC Romance

by Piper Stone

  Definitely not what I wanted. I took a deep breath, lowering the weapon even though I remained cautious. I’d known several badass women in my day, including some that could rip a man’s eyes out with fingernails alone. While the light barely illuminated the cab, I was shocked at her appearance, including the fact she appeared to be wearing a wedding dress. What in God’s name was she doing out here? I finally touched her shoulder with as much gentleness as I could muster.

  “Hey, lady. Are you okay? You nearly ran us off the goddamn road. You should be more careful. The roads are already slippery.”

  As she attempted to lift her head, a slight whimper rolled past her lips. She was shaking, likely from adrenaline as well as the frigid temperatures. Blood trickled down from a cut on her forehead, her mouth twisting as she attempted to say something.

  “Whoa, what do we have here?” Wade growled with far too much testosterone. His hunger was legendary, a man used to quenching his proclivities whenever he wanted. I could tell he was ready to rip off her white dress, exposing the delicious prize underneath.

  “Cool it,” I snapped, moving hair away from her face so I could get a better picture of her injuries.

  This particular stretch of road was desolate, the only one leading in and out of the closely knit community, a handful of cabins and villas nestled sparsely in the woods. The dress alone indicated a richer neighborhood where the people turned their noses up at rednecks and hillbillies living in the dense forests of a real Southern town.

  That gave me an instant dislike of her and there could be no trust. We had no way of knowing how far reaching El Capitan’s claws were. He’d been known to associate with several rich assholes who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty if it increased their wealth.

  While that would put him hundreds of miles away from his waterfront mansion in Miami, I knew better than most just how far reaching his network truly was. I studied the almost pitch-black sky. With the temperatures expected to drop below freezing, the roads were going to turn to shit.

  “What the hell is she wearing?” Dylan asked as he crawled into the passenger seat. “A damn wedding dress. Doesn’t appear she brought anything with her. No purse. No nothing. Maybe she didn’t like the caterer.”

  “Maybe she’s a runaway bride,” Wade teased.

  I gave them both a nasty look. “Can it. Miss. Can you talk?”

  “Mmm... I don’t... Where am I?” She twisted her body, her long fingers struggling to release the seatbelt as she lifted her head all the way, gazing at me.

  When I’d stopped, I’d anticipated some rich asshole in a tux, drunk off his ass and merely heading to another party. What I didn’t expect to see were two incredible haunting violet eyes, the kind that turned a man into a hungry beast. I was mesmerized by her beauty; soft lips meant for kissing, sun-kissed blonde hair, and the complexion of a china doll.

  I was instantly turned on.

  Fuck me. What the hell was I thinking? Yet I couldn’t deny my body’s reaction, my cock already coming alive.

  When she noticed the gun in my hand, she let off a scattered shriek, now trying desperately to get out of straps holding her down. “No. No!”

  “Whoa, she looks like she’s seen a ghost,” Wade said quietly as he began to search the car.

  “Take it easy,” I muttered, sliding the gun back into my jacket. “I ain’t gonna hurt you. Are you all right?”

  She took several scattered and shallow breaths, finally noticing my buddies. There was utter terror in those gorgeous eyes. “Help. Me.”

  “Yeah, we’ll call you a tow truck. Doesn’t look too bad.” When she snaked her hand around mine, squeezing my fingers, I had a cathartic moment, the protector mode I’d thought shoved into some six-foot plot of ground rearing its ugly head. The touch was electric, shocking the hell out of me. Emotions rushed to the surface as well as savage longing, a thirst that could never be quenched.

  Her exotic perfume wafted into my nostrils, the beautiful fragrance filling a dead man’s blackened soul. I could no longer breathe, my heart racing like it hadn’t in years.

  “No, I...” Her mouth twisted once again, her fingers digging into me. I felt her anguish, a paralyzing terror that rushed into me.

  “What?”

  “No. Please. Don’t call... anyone. Please. I’ll do anything you ask. Just... protect... me,” she struggled to say. “He’s coming for me and... And he’s going to kill me.” As her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her hand slipping away from mine, I made a ridiculous promise to myself, and one that might get me killed.

  I was going to hunt down the fucker who’d terrorized her.

  And make him pay.

  * * *

  “What in the fuck is wrong with you, bringing her here?” Wade challenged as he paced back and forth across the cabin floor. He was already on his second beer, his anger increasing.

  “What the hell was he supposed to do with her, Wade? Leave her out there for some jerkoff to find her?” Dylan huffed. “You heard the girl. She was being chased.”

  “Yeah? And the girl could be lying. We can’t take any chances right now,” Wade retorted. “You’re required to follow orders.”

  “Enough,” I snarled, pulling the glass of bourbon to my lips. “You’re both required to follow my orders so just stay quiet while I figure this shit out.”

  Dylan lifted his eyebrows, shaking his head.

  Yeah, I knew neither one of them appreciated the fact I’d been put in charge, especially given they’d been with the Hell’s Fury for a lot longer than I had. When they both hovered around the girl like hungry vultures, my patience was on the edge.

  “Why don’t you do something useful and get more wood for the fire?” I glared at Wade. He and I had never been friends, the week we’d spent in this wretched cabin not making it any better. However, he was one of the best men within the organization, his weaponry and tracking skills nearly legendary. Still, I refused to trust him entirely.

  Then again, he felt exactly the same about me.

  We’d remained alive following our guts and nothing else. I’d investigated El Capitan long ago, following his illustrious career. That had given me the kind of knowledge that had allowed us to fly under the radar, but my gut told me he’d increased his number of soldiers in his effort to hunt us down. Her appearance was far too out of the blue. Coincidences I’d learned a long time ago were never real.

  Wade glared at me with venom in his eyes. “Fine, Sergeant. What do you plan on doing with her? Keeping her as our plaything? Now that I wouldn’t mind.” His guttural snicker reminded me how abrasive he’d always been with women. Very few could stand him.

  “You’re an asshole, Wade. The girl is injured and you’re ready to feast on her like some slobbering fool,” Dylan snapped as he walked toward where I’d placed her on the couch, bending down and pressing his hand against her forehead. “At least she’s getting warmer and there’s no more bleeding, but I’m as curious as Wade is. What are you going to do?”

  “What I intend is finding out exactly what the fuck the girl is doing here in the first place. I don’t care what I have to do in order to get the information out of her,” I growled, shooting Wade a nasty glare.

  “That’ll work,” Wade answered, a sneer crossing his face. “But don’t forget women can be just as dangerous as men.”

  Tell me something I didn’t know.

  There was something incredibly mesmerizing about the girl, even though she was a flavor I’d never chosen before. She was far more beautiful than I’d been able to ascertain in the darkness, an air of sophistication and innocence drawing me in. With her blonde hair splayed out across the pillow I’d dragged from the bedroom, she also seemed far more fragile even than when she’d been bleeding in the car. And damn the wedding dress, like something straight out of a Victorian collection. While I might not know fashion, it was easy to see the dress was worth a pretty penny. Too bad it had been ruined during the treacherous bike ride back to the
cabin.

  Hell, we were all lucky we’d made it back in one damn piece. We were experienced bikers, but the weather had gone from bad to shit-kicking in a matter of thirty minutes. I had a feeling the weather forecasters had been wrong about the storm.

  I found it difficult to keep my eyes off her and even though the ugly dress covered almost every inch of her, the sight of her voluptuous body was enough to keep my cock throbbing. Even having her cradled in front of me during the ride in an effort to keep her warm and safe had proven to be difficult, my hard shaft pressing into her the entire time. The friction had nearly killed me.

  I forced myself to look away, instead staring into the fire. “You sure you rolled the car completely out of sight? If she is being followed, I don’t want the possibility of the asshole tracking us.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” Wade answered. “You really buying her story some guy is after her? Maybe she just got into a fight with her rich fiancé.”

  Sighing, I clamped my hand around the glass, ready to smash my fist into his face. “I’m never wrong about sensing out liars,” I said, locking eyes with his. “She’s telling the truth. Whoever the girl is, she was petrified some asshole would find her.”

  “That’s why she was driving erratically.” Dylan pulled the blanket up to her neck, tucking her in. I noticed how Wade snickered under his breath as he watched Dylan’s actions.

  Yeah, I knew Dylan was the softie of the bunch, had always been. He’d hand feed a crocodile if he thought the damn critter was injured. Still, he had valuable skills of his own.

  “Look. The truth is that we don’t know who she was running from and until we do, she stays with us. That’s my decision and one you’re going to accept. If she needs lessons to remind her of her place, then so be it.” My words seemed to boom into the open space and I was surprised neither one of them retorted. Maybe she was just the little princess girlfriend of someone who could actually do us some good, providing us with much needed cash. That would certainly make her valuable.

  I was a man who believed in bargaining. I was also the kind of guy who took what he wanted. Hell, yes, I wanted her, craved to thrust my cock into her tight, wet pussy. There was no reason other than those incredible eyes of hers, stripping away a portion of my armor. Shit, I was just exhausted, or maybe antsy. The girl had presented complications. We were ordered to sit and wait until the new buyer was ready, all the pieces put into place. That could prove to be more difficult given her appearance.

  I rubbed my eyes, laughing at myself. I had to think like an alpha. So what if she was freaking beautiful? I would use her as I did everything and everyone else.

  In my way. My command.

  My decision.

  “Wade. Tend to the damn fire. Dylan. See if you can find her something else to wear. I can’t stand the sight of that godforsaken wedding dress. Makes me sick. There’s no such thing as innocence left in this world.” I noticed out of the corner of my eye the guys gave each other a certain look. They knew how I was, my temper often rising to the surface without predictability.

  They had no right to judge me since they weren’t any better.

  After all, we’d been labeled brutal, even savage.

  Wade continued his hard stare for a few seconds, taking several pulls on his beer before slamming it down on the table right in front of her. “Fine. Have it your way, Crockett, but if this shit goes south, I’m kicking your ass.”

  I watched as he stormed toward the door, yanking his coat off the hook. The man was a ticking time bomb.

  The hard slam reverberated into the room, pissing me off even more. “Asshole.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s likely saying that about you,” Dylan said quietly as he walked toward me, still keeping his distance.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means that you made a strange decision even for you. And impulsive. We can’t give a shit about anyone but us. You heard what Hawk told us.”

  “Yeah, I heard,” I said half under my breath. Hawk had been the leader of the Hell’s Fury for almost twenty years. While our particular MC wasn’t the largest in the country by far, we were considered the most influential.

  And the most powerful.

  Men not to be fucked with.

  Even the man in charge of the largest drug-dealing cartel on the East Coast kept a wide berth from our organization, as if there’d been an unspoken treaty. Hawk had merely been lying in wait for the right time, hitting the Cuban bastard where it would hurt the most.

  This had been an entirely different kind of action, something he’d planned for several months. Our sacrifice of living on the run for a couple of weeks would cement all our futures in the club.

  And all because of revenge that had fermented in Hawk’s mind for a half dozen years.

  “Jesus. I’m no fool, Crockett. All you have to do is look at her, including that big rock on her finger and you know that whoever she is running from will use extraordinary measures to find her. If what she said was true, that this guy is gunning to kill her, then there isn’t an ice storm that’s going to keep him from finding her. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready for a bloodbath. We had enough of that where we came from.”

  I took a deep breath, her delicious fragrance still infiltrating my system. “What I know is that we’re required to keep our asses in this cabin until we get the call the buyer is ready. Now, do you want to go against Hawk’s command? Would you like me to call him and tell him you’re wavering on following his orders? Or my command?”

  “Damn you, Crockett. You know I’m loyal to our club. I also have as much at stake as you do.”

  Yeah, I doubted that. I’d never talked about my past. In truth, only Hawk knew even some of the details about where I came from. To the other members of Hell’s Fury, I was some hotheaded construction worker with a penchant for violence. What they didn’t know wouldn’t get me killed.

  “All right. Then if we want to get back to our fucking lives, then we need to find out what the hell the little lady is hiding. Depending on what we learn, maybe we can get some money out of her.”

  “What about the special package?” he asked, his eyes glistening.

  I snarled, shaking my head. “It’s safe, but if she even attempts to look for it, we kill her. We protect it with our lives.” Our duty had been considered an honor amongst the rank and file.

  Steal from the asshole in order to drive him straight into hell.

  I was beginning to second guess my decision to accept Hawk’s offer. If this shit went south as Wade was concerned about, there would be no recourse. One or all of us would be dead. I’d made the impetuous decision hoping it would eventually land me the coveted VP spot. I’d been with the biker club for four years, the only place that I’d felt comfortable since my life had fallen apart. While I’d enjoyed being the sergeant at arms, memories of my former life had been crowding in more and more. Ah, fuck that. We’d been paid to do a job and that’s what we were going to do.

  At least the forbidden fruit that had been offered to us would keep us entertained. That’s the only way I could think about this... gift.

  He craned his neck, his eyes searching mine. “Okay, then what are you suggesting, that we use her as blackmail? Do you really want to cart her back to some ass-wipe who might hurt her?”

  “I thought you didn’t care.”

  Dylan let out a strangled huff before walking away. “You can be such an asshole sometimes yourself, great leader. I don’t care about her but as you said, the risk might not be worth the reward.”

  I tapped my hand on the mantel, studying the licking flames. I’d built a portion of the cabin with my bare hands, enjoying the hard work and the solitude. I’d even planned on living here one day, although I was beginning to wonder whether or not that was actually going to happen. That was my concern. I had to focus on the here and now. All three of us had been through hell and back, barely getting away with our lives.

  Whether or not the ot
hers realized it, we already had nooses around our necks. I took another look at her, watching as her chest rose and fell, lips that were blue when I’d carried her into the cabin now a warm rose in color. The shimmer on her cheeks made my balls tight as drums. I wanted this girl for some insane reason. In fact, I didn’t want to let her go, no matter the circumstances. There was no logical or sound reasoning left in my mind.

  All I could think about was keeping her.

  Fucking every tight little hole.

  Shoving my cock into her wet mouth.

  Even spanking her rounded bottom if necessary.

  Christ. I’d turned into some prehistoric monster hungry to mate.

  When was the last time I had ever cared about a woman? I took my time trying to formulate a directive that would make sense.

  “What I’m suggesting is that she must have money or at least access to it. If she wants our protection, that’s fine. But everything comes with a price.”

  Dylan let off a strangled sound, pretending as if he was choking. “You got balls, my man. What if the dude ready to capture her has power and influence? Hell, what if he’s connected to the same asshole we’re hiding out from?”

  “I seriously doubt that Domingo is following some chick running away from a wedding to a rich asshole. That’s not his gig. He might live in a mansion, but the scum he has working for him are basic pigs from a trough. They wouldn’t know how to engage with the rich and famous.”

  Domingo Salizare was a pig, but one with revenge on his mind.

  He laughed. “What? You don’t think some of the pretty boys driving Ferraris haven’t branched out into other, more lucrative ventures? I’ve never taken you as a fool, Crockett. That’s one reason you were able to convince me to go in on your dangerous heist. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. The girl could be anybody, including Domingo’s main squeeze.”

  As always, Dylan was the voice of reason. He was right. If she didn’t have money initially, perhaps we would wait until her fiancé made his move. Besides, even though my desires were brutal in nature, I reminded myself that I had the upper hand.