Command (Storm MC #7)

by Nina Levine

  As he moved to make sure the door and windows were locked, my hands turned sweaty and my heart raced.

  Not again.

  Being locked in here with him caused memories from yesterday to flash through my mind and I tried to hold back the feelings of nausea.

  I need to fight him.

  “What do you want from us?” I demanded to know.

  “I want to make Scott Cole hurt. I want him to bleed his pain. And I figure the best way to do that is to take the one thing he treasures the most in the world, away from him.”

  Dread sliced its way through me.

  He’s going to kill me.

  Scott can’t save me now.

  My fear paralysed me and I stood rooted to the spot when what I should have been doing was formulating a plan to get out of here.

  “Fuck you!” Scarlett screamed as she lunged at him.

  Unprepared for her attack, he stumbled back as she lashed out at him with her arms and legs. She clawed and kicked him, and for a moment there, I thought she might have a chance against him, but in the end his strength outweighed hers, and he pushed her off.

  When she landed on her ass on the floor, he threatened her, “Do that again, bitch, and I’ll kill you first.”

  Oh, God. He’s going to kill both of us.

  She spat at him, and he hissed his anger at her while bending over and punching her in the face. I watched in horror as he hit her hard, causing her blood, bruises and pain.

  I need to distract him.

  “Why do you hate Scott so much?” I begged to know while I continued to think of a way out.

  His crazy eyes sought mine. “That motherfucker destroyed nearly everything I’ve worked for over the years. I had it all mapped out, and Marcus went along with it, and then Scott came along and got rid of Marcus and refused to honour the deal I had with Storm. So now I’m going to take it all back and I’m going to take his club, too.”

  “Are you deluded?” He had to be. To take Storm, he’d have to kill nearly every member because I was pretty sure they weren’t about to just hand it over to him.

  He slapped me and the sting of his palm radiated pain down my face. “The only person here who is deluded is you, bitch, if you think you’re going to make it out of here alive.”

  I decided to try and call his bluff. “Scott’s on his way, you know. He just rang me and said he knew you were in town and that you would be coming to the house. He knows you’re working against him.”

  His body stilled, but only for a moment. “You’re full of shit.”

  Yes. But it’s worth a shot.

  “No, I’m not.” I stood straighter, challenging him.

  He advanced on me, his face a mask of rage. “Don’t fucking lie to me!” He towered over me and I shrunk a little. Bourne was a large man, and I had no doubt that if he wanted to, he could take me out with very little effort.

  I had to be all in or all out. Shaking my head, I said, “I’m not lying. Call him and suss him out if you think I’m full of shit.” Anything to stall him.

  Staring at me for a long moment, it seemed like he finally decided I might be telling the truth. He pulled out his phone, but right before he could make the call, a loud banging sound came from the back of the house.

  Bourne’s head snapped up and he shoved his gun in my face. “Stay here.”

  I nodded my agreement as I gulped back my fear. “I will.” My shaky voice seemed to please him and he grunted as he stalked away from me.

  My legs collapsed underneath me and I let myself fall onto the couch.

  Please let that be Scott.

  “What the fuck?” Bourne yelled in the kitchen, and I prayed again that it was Scott.

  “You didn’t expect me, did you?” It wasn’t Scott, but I was pretty sure I’d heard that voice before, even though I couldn’t place it.

  “This has nothing to do with you, King,” Bourne raged.

  “I’d say it has everything to do with me considering I’m the fucking president of the mother chapter.”

  “You don’t want to mess with me,” Bourne threatened.

  “Fuck, Bourne, how dumb are you? Your ego is about ten sizes too big for you, and that there is your main problem. Come and play in my playground with the big boys and you’ll see how truly little you are. Only reason I haven’t dealt with you yet was that I had other shit to take care of for my own club. But I was hardly going to let Scott deal with you when I wanted the satisfaction of slicing the neck of the man who tried to double cross me.”

  I stood in the doorway between the lounge room and the kitchen and watched their interaction.

  Bourne’s eyes widened at King’s statement. “How…how did - ”

  King cut him off. “How did I know you double crossed me? I told you, I play with the big boys and not much gets past us. I’ve got contacts everywhere and they kept me informed on what you were up to.” He leaned in close to Bourne. “I fucking run half of Sydney’s drugs and I’ve actually got a good relationship with the crew that run the other half. We don’t take kindly to men who try and steal that shit away from us.” His gaze flicked to me and I flinched under it. King oozed darkness. “I also don’t fucking like it when you threaten women. That deserves a little extra pain.”

  I watched as King pulled his knife out and stabbed at Bourne’s dick.

  Oh, God.

  My hand flew to my mouth as Bourne’s blood-curdling scream filled the house. His face scrunched up in pain and he bent at the stomach as blood soaked through his jeans.

  I experienced a mixture of horror and satisfaction, and it felt wrong to be kind of satisfied at his pain, but after being threatened by two men in the last two days, I was all for them hurting.

  King grabbed hold of the back of Bourne’s neck and dragged his head back up. He held him so that his neck was exposed and I sucked in a breath when he placed the knife blade against his skin.

  Running the blade lightly across his neck, he drew a small amount of blood. “Did I ever tell you how much I love the sight of blood? Other people’s blood. That shit turns me on.” He pressed harder against Bourne’s neck, drawing more blood this time. “Fuck, I could cut patterns on skin for hours.”

  Bourne whimpered under King’s knife, and that only served to excite King more while he continued to draw blood.

  And then King’s phone rang, and it seemed to jolt him from his blood lust. “Fuck,” he muttered. Eying me, he asked, “Anything you wanna say to him before I kill him?”

  I pulled my shit together and closed the distance between us. Looking King in the eyes, even though he scared the hell out of me, I said, “Thank you, there is something I want to say.”

  His mouth spread into a smile. Lifting his chin at Bourne, he said, “Go ahead, gorgeous. Have at him.”

  I turned to Bourne and slapped his face. Hard. Twice. “Fuck you, asshole, and the horse you rode in on.”

  King’s smile twitched and I was certain he was trying not to laugh. I raised my brows at him. “You said I could say anything.”

  He nodded, barely containing his laugh. “I did.”

  “Well, that was what I wanted to say.” I stepped away from Bourne.

  “I see what Cole sees in you,” he murmured.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment. And now I am going to leave you to do whatever it is you’re going to do, but can I ask you a favour?”

  He chuckled. “Do I have a choice?”

  “I’d prefer not. Can you do this somewhere other than near my kitchen table, please?”

  His smile finally turned into a laugh. “Only because you used your manners,” he said with a wink.

  I watched as he hefted Bourne up and led him out the back door. Bourne’s neck was a masterpiece of cuts and blood, and I figured King was about to make a huge mess. And that didn’t even bother me. I liked the fact he was ridding the Earth of another piece of shit.

  “Harlow?” Scarlett’s groggy voice floated in from the lounge room and I hurried in th
ere to make sure she was okay.

  Kneeling next to her, I said, “How much pain are you in?”

  She held her face. “On a scale of one to ten, I’d say a motherfucking eleven. That prick deserves everything he gets. I’m sorry I pretty much passed out, but damn, he hit me hard.”

  “I slapped him for you.”

  “You should have fucking punched the cocksucker.”

  “God no, I didn’t want to hurt myself in the process.”

  She laughed and shook her head at me. “You’re a fucking princess, but I do kinda like you.”

  “Harlow!” Scott came barrelling through the front door at that moment, a look of sheer horror on his face. When he saw me, he stilled, and stared in surprise. “You’re okay?”

  I stood and wrapped my arms around him.

  Home.

  He’s my home.

  His strong arms held me tight and then he ran one hand over my hair. “I’m taking it from the blood on Scarlett’s face that Bourne has been here, but where is he now?”

  “King took him downstairs.”

  His brow furrowed. “King is here?”

  “Yeah, he saved our lives, Scott. If he hadn’t turned up when he did, Scarlett and I would be dead by now.”

  “Fuck.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and then pulled his face back to find my gaze. “I think this is the last of all the shit. I think Bourne was the one behind everything.”

  If I knew my man well, I knew he was itching to get downstairs and help King, so I jerked my head towards the back door. “You should go and see if King needs a hand.”

  He bent his face so he could whisper in my ear. “You know me too well, sweetheart.” When he shifted his face away from mine, his concerned eyes took mine in. “Seriously, though, are you okay?”

  I exhaled. “Surprisingly, yes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sick of being threatened by assholes, and I was terrified of him, but I’ll be okay.”

  And I would be.

  I had Scott and it looked like this might be the end of all the bad stuff that had been bringing the club down.

  We’d stuck together and gotten through it, even when it felt completely overwhelming at times.

  We can get through anything so long as we stick together.

  18

  Scott

  Two Days Later

  It had been two days since we’d taken out Bourne and finally put to rest all the problems Storm had been having. Order had been restored and questions had finally been answered. And I’d told all club members to take a few days and spend them with their family.

  It was a sunny January afternoon and I was sitting on my back deck, beer in one hand, my woman in my lap with her tits pressed up against me, and her lips on mine. Order definitely had been restored.

  I ran my hand over her ass. “I’ve missed this,” I said when she ended our kiss.

  “Missed what?”

  “Making out with you, without a fuckin’ care in the world. Storm’s had so much shit going on for so long now, that I can’t remember the last time I could dedicate so many hours to this.”

  She gave me one of her sexy grins. “I’ve missed it, too.”

  A memory flashed in my mind and I chuckled. “Do you remember that three date policy bullshit you tried to pull on me when we first started seeing each other?”

  Her grin lit up her face. “I do, and I’ll have you know you are the only man I ever broke that policy for.”

  “Maybe I could bribe you into marriage the same way you tried to bribe me into sex.”

  “What would this bribe entail?” She tried to plant another kiss on my lips, but I pulled my face away to deny her that kiss.

  “I’ll give you a kiss if you agree to marry me.”

  She slapped me playfully on my chest. “Worst marriage proposal ever, Scott Cole!”

  I laughed. “What? I was only copying the bribe you started us with. I distinctly recall you trying to bribe me with a kiss in exchange for sex.”

  Leaning in close, she whispered, “I would have done anything to get you to have sex with me back then.”

  I brushed my lips across hers before whispering, “And I would do anything to get you to be my wife now.”

  She took my hand and placed it on her stomach. Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke. “Can you feel that?”

  “Feel what?” I wasn’t sure what she meant. I knew she was referring to our baby, but I couldn’t feel it yet.

  “Your heart is in here. I get to carry you around with me all day, every day. You might not get to carry my heart, but it’s completely yours. Always. I’ll marry you and be your wife, but a piece of paper doesn’t make any difference to the fact I’m already yours.”

  Her words meant the fucking world to me.

  How the hell did I get so lucky?

  “Are you one of those women who wants the full wedding?”

  “All I want is you. I don’t care how that happens.”

  That was all I needed. “I’ll take care of the wedding.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “You really are a big softie underneath all that hard exterior, aren’t you?”

  I kept hold of her gaze. “I’ll own that for you. But only for you.”

  Her face came to mine and she took her time as she kissed me. I could have spent eternity kissing Harlow. Her lips were soft and addicting as they took charge of that kiss, and when her tongue swept across mine, I groaned as my dick grew harder than it already was.

  I was just about to pick her up and carry her to our bed when a throat cleared and my mum said, “Sorry to interrupt you two, but I brought a casserole over for your dinner. I’m just going to take it inside and put it in your fridge.”

  After she left us, Harlow’s lips curled into a smile while still on mine, and she murmured, “I love your Mum, but this is the worst timing.”

  Before she could move her face away from mine, I murmured back, “Yeah, but now you don’t have to cook that pie you were gonna make for dinner, so I can spend that time fucking you instead.”

  “That wasn’t just any pie I was going to make you. In fact, it wasn’t a pie I was making, it was Sex In A Pan.”

  “What the fuck is Sex In A Pan?”

  “It’s a cake made with ingredients you can rub all over your body, so I figured we could actually make it together…”

  Her eyes glazed over with desire as her voice trailed off and I decided I couldn’t wait until later to have her. I needed her now, which meant I had to get rid of my mother.

  A minute later, I stood in my kitchen staring at Mum as she rifled through our fridge. “What are you doing?”

  Her head popped up so she could look at me. “It’s your rubbish day tomorrow so I thought I’d clean out your fridge. Saves you doing it when I know you’ve got other things you’d rather be doing.”

  Harlow moved behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She pressed her face against my back and muffled her soft chuckle.

  “Mum, we really appreciate everything you’ve been doing for us over the last couple of days, but there’s no need.” She had almost suffocated us with kindness and I couldn’t figure out what her actions were all about.

  And I really need you to leave now so I can fuck my fiancé.

  She waved me away. “I don’t mind doing it. I love helping you.” Her voice cracked a little when she added, “I can’t imagine not being able to do these things for you.”

  Clarity hit me. “I’m not going anywhere,” I said quietly.

  Her eyes found mine and I took in the rapid rise and fall of her chest, and her teary eyes. “I know,” she whispered, “but everything that’s happened just reminded me of how dangerous club life can sometimes be.”

  Harlow let me go and I knew why. I walked to where Mum stood and embraced her. “I love you,” I said. Words I hadn’t said to my mother in far too long.

  She sobbed quietly in my arms and I knew this wasn’t only about her worry for me – this was for all the time
we’d lost over the last couple of years. We’d lost each other for a while there, but we’d weathered the storm and come out stronger for it. She wiped her eyes and looked up at me. “I love you, too.”

  I smiled.

  Everything’s going to be all right.

  She closed the fridge, grabbed the bag of rubbish she had, and said, “I’ll take this out for you and then I promise I’ll leave you guys alone.”

  Yes.

  If I were a praying man, I would have sent a fucking prayer of thanks up to heaven.

  Harlow made a strange noise behind me, and when I turned to see what was wrong, she scrunched her face up at me and nodded her head towards Mum.

  “What?” I mouthed.

  “Ask her to stay for dinner?” she mouthed back.

  Fuck.

  I bent so I could say quietly, “That’s gonna cut into my time with your pussy. You sure you’re good with that?”

  She smacked me lightly on my chest. “Just ask her, Scott! She obviously wants to spend time with you.”

  I flattened my lips. “For fuck’s sake…the shit I do to keep my women happy,” I muttered. Turning back to Mum, I said, “Stay for dinner.”

  Harlow had been right to insist Mum stayed for dinner. As soon as the words left my mouth, she hit me with the biggest smile I’d seen on her in a long time. “Sounds good,” she agreed and then left us to take the rubbish out.

  I dragged Harlow to me, pressing her body tight to mine. “I was thinking we should get married on Saturday.”

  Her jaw dropped open. “That’s only four days away!”

  “My point exactly. I want to marry you as soon as possible and I figure a Saturday is the best option for everyone to be able to make it.”

  “We need to lodge a marriage application form or something to get married, Scott. And I think that has to be lodged a month before the wedding.”

  I grinned. “Good thing I already lodged one.”

  “What? How? Did you forge my signature?”

  “No. I was able to sign it and lodge it, and so long as you sign it before the wedding, we’re all good.”