He stood up so fast, the chair rolled away from him to crash into the wall. She jumped, and her heart accelerated with a slight thrill that shot down to her pussy. Wetness flooded her panties from his forceful display. “Am I dreaming this?”
She shook her head. “No. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
He didn’t say anything, not for a long moment. His blue eyes stayed frozen upon her face. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move. She almost thought he didn’t even breathe.
“Who let you in?” he finally asked.
It was not the romantic words she was hoping for. He simply sat there, staring at her, and it made her a little nervous.
“No one,” she replied and hugged herself in a protective gesture. “Am I bothering you? Should I go?”
“Don’t you dare fucking move,” he said tersely. “I’ve been picturing you across from me for eleven years. I’m trying to determine if I’m hallucinating and if I am, I don’t want the fucking antidote.”
Her heart melted. She knew exactly how he felt.
“It’s me, Chadwick,” she whispered, and opened her arms. “I’m standing right here in front of you, but I was hoping for a hug.”
Faster than lightning, he bolted from behind his desk to scoop her up into his massive arms. He pressed her into him, holding her tight as he bent over her smaller size and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His breath was hot upon her skin, sending shock waves of awareness down her body. He’d pinned her arms so she couldn’t hug him back, but it was okay because being in his arms was all she’d dreamed it would be.
Perhaps it was a horrible cliché, immediately falling in love with someone by a single touch. She and Chadwick may have known each other before, but that was practically a lifetime ago. A previous existence where gold existed over the rainbow, and hearts and flowers could solve everything. Instant love was nothing but a terrible plot device for movies and books. But as she stood within his embrace, her body remembered him. Her heart tapped out his name in perfect harmony. And her soul… Christ! For the first time in eleven years, her soul felt whole. She didn’t know any other word to use to describe how she felt except for love.
She already dreaded the day Billy caught up with her.
Finally, after several moments, he let her go and took a step back, although he kept his hands on her shoulders.
“What do you mean no one let you in?”
“Don’t be angry with the boy at the gate door,” she said. “But you need a different security system.”
“Hmm,” he replied. “I’ll be pissed at him later. Right now I can’t stop looking at you. Or touching you. I’m afraid if I do, you’ll disappear on me.”
“I had to see you,” she murmured as she raised a hand and traced the sharp angle of his face. He closed his eyes and melted into her touch. Time had given him an edge he hadn’t had as a boy. The man before her was sexy, handsome, and he made her body ache for him in the most basic of needs.
“Dear lord, Abbott,” he said softly. Achingly. “I’ve missed you. Where’ve you been?”
“Everywhere,” she said simply. “But I’m here now.”
“Yes.” He opened his eyes and she gasped at the fire that leapt from their depths. He cupped her face with his palms and tilted her head up. A predatory gleam caused her hands to shake, caused her body to shiver with anticipation. He ran his thumb across her lips and she saw his eyes followed the gesture. It made her half wonder if he prolonged her anxiety on purpose.
Abbott didn’t think she could take much more of the sweet torture, caught in the purgatory between heaven and hell. She yearned for his kiss so much it was like a painful ache in her heart. She could barely breathe, barely think. He had such a wicked touch she felt like she was falling, so she closed her eyes tightly, needing to block him out a little to regain her footing in the world.
“Look at me,” he commanded in a gruff voice.
Helpless, she obeyed, and her gaze fell upon his mouth. Unable to stop herself, Abbott reached up and touched his face. His lips. With her thumb, she traced over the perfect line and they parted ever so slightly to kiss the pad.
He moved his hands from her face to run down her arms, her waist, to settle on her hips and pull her body firmly into his. His tightened his fingers. They were so close nothing could come between them, her softness melting into his hardness. Now she was no longer nervous. No longer scared. This was Chadwick, the man she’d loved for all her adult life. Time might have romanticized him in some regard, but nothing could explain the rush of sensation as he looked at her with an equal mixture of lust and love. She wanted this and knew he wanted it too.
She sank her fingers into his hair. “Kiss me,” she whispered.
He moved one hand around to her ass and pulled her up just as he grabbed the back of her knee and brought it up. She wrapped it around his waist and she felt his cock, big and rock hard, against her pussy.
His mouth brushed hers, lightly. So soft. Her eyes fluttered closed and she waited. Again, feather-like against hers, teasing until she wanted to scream with need. And then he kissed her. Claimed her.
Abbott encircled his neck with her arms and lost herself in the sensation of his drugging kisses. Everything crackled with electricity, a force that drove out all thought except for the one that wanted this moment to last forever. She kept her arms around his neck tightly because, honestly, her knees were wobbling so much she wasn’t sure she could stand on her own. So she clung to him as he made love to her mouth. The world stood still as time completely ceased, and they were the only two people in the universe. Taking on a grinding, seductive life of its own. His fingers dug into her ass, holding her in place as he ground his dick against her femininity. The only thing separating them were a few items of clothes. The thought caused an ache deep in her belly, made her pussy lips swell with want. She was so turned on all she could think about was having his big cock plunge into her until they both spiraled out of control.
When they needed air, they broke the kiss and simply stared at one another, labored panting echoing around them. Did the wonder she saw in his eyes reflect what was streaming inside her? She’d thought nothing had changed but she’d been wrong, something monumental had changed between them. The teenage girl crush she’d had on him had morphed in a very adult, very sexual way. The riot of feelings surging through her could never have been experienced by a young girl because she wouldn’t have known what to do with them. They were scary enough now.
“Wow, lady,” Wick murmured. His gaze landed back on her mouth.
“I was about to say the same about you,” she said a bit breathlessly.
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. The rapid beat of his heart let her know he was just affected by their kiss as she’d been.
“I haven’t heard from you a few days,” he said. She loved how his voice rumbled through his chest. “You haven’t been on Chitchat.”
“Had to make my way here,” she replied. “Been traveling by bus, so no Internet.”
“I wish you’d have told me where you were. I would’ve come and got you.”
“I don’t ever reveal where I am,” she said. “Not online.”
He pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “You know you can’t run anymore. You know I won’t let you.”
“It’s safer if I do.”
He frowned. “I can protect you.”
“I meant it’s safer for you if I do,” she corrected.
“Wait. You’re concerned with my safety?”
She nodded.
He chuckled. “Oh sweetheart, you never have to worry about me being safe. I can take care of myself.”
“Even you can’t stop a bullet aimed at your head,” she said. Why couldn’t he understand this wasn’t a game? That she wasn’t hiding just for the hell of it? Anger, pain … they reared their ugly heads and made her break out of his grasp. “You think I haven’t tried to get help? That I haven’t aske
d someone to help me? You think I like always being on the run? You don’t know anything, Chadwick!”
“Okay,” he said calmly. “Then tell me.”
“It’s better for you if I just disappear.”
“Oh no,” he said harshly. “You are not leaving here. Not without telling me what’s going on and who you’re running from. You came back here for a reason. You snuck into my compound for something, Abbott, and now it’s time you told me.”
He was right. Maybe all along she’d been unconsciously heading back to him, tired of always looking over her shoulder. Tired of running. Pretty soon, she’d be out of places to run to, and besides, it didn’t work. She firmly believed there wasn’t any safe place anymore. Abbott’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“The truth is I’m done running,” she whispered achingly. “If he finds me, so be it.”
“Who?” he snapped.
“Billy Walker.”
He looked at her blankly for a moment, and then the memory must have clicked into place because he snorted in derision.
“The computer nerd I graduated with?” he asked.
She nodded. “I came to see you a few days after you left for basic, only I didn’t know you’d left. You never called me again.”
He closed his eyes briefly in remorse. “Oh shit. Abbott, I never meant to hurt you like that.”
She threw him a wry smile. “Eric told me you were gone, and the worst part was that you hadn’t even said good-bye. Never even told me you were leaving. I hated you in that moment and from that anger, Billy wormed his way into my life. Everything was great at first. I thought I’d found someone to replace you.”
He winced at that.
“But then little things began to change.”
For a moment, those little things came back at her. The first time he’d smacked her. Nothing too hard, or serious, but it had been enough to shock her. The first time he’d actually hit her, right across the jaw, knocking her unconscious. When she’d woken up she’d been naked in bed, with an aching face, and with the smell of stale cum lingering on her body.
“I’m glad you found me on Chitchat,” she said. “You left a message and I stared at it for a long time before I replied. I couldn’t take the chance, you see. At least, I thought I shouldn’t take a chance but eventually, I had to talk to you. And I’m so thankful I did.”
“What did the mother fucker do to you?” Wick demanded. “Don’t say nothing because I can see something on your face.”
“Typical abuse at first,” she said matter of factly. “Just like every sob story out there of abused women.”
“Don’t say that shit,” Wick said harshly. “I would never hit a woman, no matter what. And if I found out any one of my club Brothers did, I would string them up by their balls. Real men don’t hurt women or children.”
“That’s not a sentiment shared by some men,” she replied. “The abuse escalated and I ran. I thought I was safe, but after I had settled into a new life and a new job, Billy showed up. He threatened not only me but my co-workers. So I ran again. And again. And again. Until I realized he would never give up. He would always find me. I had to stop doing legitimate work and find places that would pay under the table. Cleaning bars. Walking dogs. Whatever I could find that would give me enough money to put food in my belly and buy a bus ticket when Billy showed up.”
“Fuck, Abbot.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s killing me to know he hurt you. That he’s hurting you now even as you stand here in front of me. How’d he always find you?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “He just does. And I know eventually he’ll show up here, in Stevens. And that’s when I should run again.”
“No,” he snarled. “Like you said, no more running. That asshole shows up here I’ll put a bullet between his eyes.”
“You won’t even know he’s here,” she said sadly. “Until it’s too late.”
“Don’t give me that shit. You’re safe here, with the Forgotten Rebels. My Brothers will protect you. I will keep you safe.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him all her secrets, to reveal all the mistakes she’d made with Billy. If she did, he would look at her differently, and she couldn’t bear to watch the love fade from his eyes into disappointment. Or disgust. She’d rather be dead herself. So she didn’t say a word as he pulled her back into his arms to hug her. Abbott closed her eyes and leaned into his embrace, savoring the moment as she wondered how she’d ever gotten so lucky to find Chadwick again. People may not believe two teenagers could fall in love, but that’s exactly what happened, and now, even after all these years, she loved him still.
And because of that love for him, she was willing to stay for a while. She had no other choice. She didn’t have the strength to walk away before she’d made new memories, ones that would hold her for the rest of her life. Because no matter what Chadwick said, or the assurances he gave her, she was a marked woman. If Billy caught up with her, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. A life for a life. He’d promised her atonement one day, and she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to follow through with his promise.
But she wouldn’t take Chadwick down with her. She wouldn’t be responsible for his death, or the death of the people he cared about. They’d been talking online for a while, and she’d come to know how much his club meant to him. She’d rather put a bullet in her own head before bringing harm to them.
She really hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.
Chapter Four
It had been a long time since he’d been back in Stevens, Missouri, but Billy would recognize the place anywhere. Nothing had changed. Not the one streetlight in the entire town, not the burned-out mechanics garage that had once belonged to the Forgotten Rebels, and not the run-down desolation that seemed to cling to everything. It had been too small twelve years ago, and it was even smaller now.
His skin itched and he needed a fix. He started his car and headed out of town, turning west onto Country Road Z. Nothing but farmland as far as the eye could see. It all pissed him off. He’d had plans when he’d been younger, ideas to make a shit ton of money using the only weapon he’d had … computers. For a while he’d had a game plan and was actually seeing a profit, until that cunt Abbott had destroyed his concentration. She’d taken away the only thing he’d ever really cared about, and by damn he was going to make her pay. Come hell or high water, he wouldn’t rest until she’d paid with her own blood.
He pulled up to the old abandoned farmhouse, the one the kids had used as party central back when he’d been in school. He cut the engine and got out from behind the wheel. The building hadn’t changed much. It was just as ugly and run down as when he’d last seen it, but it would serve his purposes. He reached into the backseat and slung three computer bags over his shoulders, careful not to jostle them too much, and marched inside the dilapidated structure.
The interior wasn’t much better, although someone had added a couch and coffee table at some point. Debris was everywhere, the remnants of people drinking, fucking and shooting up. A glass bong lay discarded in a corner. Broken needles littered another corner. Used condoms and empty foil packets lay draped like badges of conquests. He’d had several of his own conquests behind these walls, mainly from girls who’d gotten too high or too drunk to put up much of a fight. Now this was the castle he wanted to bring Abbott to, give her the humiliation of being fucked over right before he made her beg for death. By the time he was done with her, she’d know the true meaning of suffering and loss.
He scraped off the dust and garbage that was on the coffee table and set up his computers. He had to fix the electricity problem, which would be a snap to hack into the local power plant. Once he had it going again he’d be set to fuck up the motorcycle club Abbott had run to for protection.
She had no idea just how good he was at screwing things up for people.
****
“Everyone, I’d like for you to meet Abbott,” Wick said, pulling her forwa
rd. She stood like a prize mare on display while a dozen eyes watched her. “She’s under club protection. My protection. So no fuckery, got it?”
The men greeted her with appreciative smiles while the club women sized her up as competition. She knew all of them by name because of her long Internet conversations with Chadwick, but it was still surreal to meet the people behind the names. Abbott didn’t even mind the women’s lack of hospitality because she’d probably feel the same way had the positions been reversed.
The clubhouse was bigger than she imagined it, more like a large two-story farmhouse, although any type of homey feeling had been obliterated with beer signs, Harley-Davidson memorabilia, and posters of naked women. A pool table was in one corner and a bar in the other. Chairs of all shapes and sizes were stuffed all over the place and a black leather couch had been pushed against one wall.
“You hungry?” Wick asked. “Thirsty?”
A dozen plus eyes watched her, and she felt like they were judging her. Did they know about her? About her past with Chadwick? Or how she had a crazy stalker chasing her, determined to administer his own brand of justice?
“Abbott?” Wick asked.
“Uh, yeah,” she muttered. Anything to get away from the stares.
He took her hand and led her from the big party room, past the bar, and into the back, where a kitchen was set up.
“Sit,” he ordered and pointed to a table. “I’ll make you a sandwich. Beer okay? That’s about all we have.”
“Fine,” she said as she sat at the table.
She watched him work to make her a sandwich, putting the layers together like they’d been doing this forever. It made her sad. If things hadn’t happened like they had, perhaps they would have been doing such a domesticated act for the past eleven years. The reality of the situation struck her hard and all she could do as he laid the paper plate filled with food in front of her, was stare at his face.
Wicked Man (Forgotten Rebels MC Book 2) Page 3
