Burned: Devil's Blaze MC Book 2

by Marie, Jordan

  “Hand me the keys, Katie.”

  “I told you I’m not—”

  “Drop the fucking act. In case the handcuffs didn’t clue you in, sweetness, I’m not buying. Now hand me your fucking house key.”

  She looks at me. If looks could kill, I’d be toe-up, six feet under, pushing up daisies. She slams the key in my hand.

  “Sabre, Latch, go check the rest of the house. Find Beth,” I order, tossing the key to them. I barely look at them, my eyes are glued to… Katie. Jesus, everything she told me was a lie.

  “Bethie’s not here,” she announces with a look of pure triumph, which irritates the fuck out of me.

  “Then we’ll find her, sweetness. Just like I found you. Fuck, you can’t even keep your lies straight. I’m sure there’s something here that will lead us to her.”

  Something flashes in her eyes, which aren’t green anymore. They’re more gray, and it’s irritating how much more I like that, even when it hits me that the emotion in her eyes right now is hurt. What the fuck does she have to be hurt over? I didn’t lie to her and I sure as hell didn’t sneak out on her.

  “You won’t find a thing. We’re good at hiding from Colin and Matthew. You aren’t the first assholes he’s sent after us,” she growls, jerking against the handcuffs.

  “Jesus, you’re so fucking out of your head. Do you have any brains in there? Sorry, sweetness, we’re not here on behalf of the fucking Donahues. Your sister nearly destroyed my brother. The only reason we’re here is revenge.”

  Her body jerks as if she took a heavy blow. My eyes jerk up to hers and the pain in her gray eyes is huge. I see it and I’m pretty sure I could glimpse into her soul, then it’s just gone.

  “Your brother is a fucking asshole. I have plenty of brains.”

  “Whatever you say,” I tell her, tired of the conversation. I can’t believe the woman who I spent one of the best fucking nights of my life with is Beth’s sister. I can’t believe she has Donahue blood, and the thing that really, really pisses me off the most right now is that my dick is hard and already wanting another night with her, even while she’s standing there with hate coming off of her in waves at the mention of Skull.

  “Nothing in here, Torch man, it’s been cleaned out,” Sabre says, returning.

  “Told you,” Katie hisses.

  “Check her bags,” I tell him, ignoring her—which was a mistake. I was looking over the property wondering if something here might give away some clue as to where Beth might be, when I hear a weird noise. I turn back around to see Katie stomping something. When she moves her leg I can see the broken pieces of her cellphone.

  “Whoopsie,” she says, then flips me off. “Guess I got a few more fucking brains than you were planning on.”

  How can a bitch piss me off and then turn me on all at the same time? I’m going to fucking set her ass on fire later tonight. The thought only makes my cock throb harder.

  “Cute, honey, but quit trying to mess with the big dogs,” I tell her, bending down to pick up the ruined phone—and yeah, I might have jerked her arm a little harder. “I can get everything I need to know right off your SIM card,” I tell her, already sifting through the broken pieces to get to the part that contains the things I need to get her account info.

  “Golly gee, Torch, I know I don’t have any brains or anything, but did you know they make burn phones that don’t even use SIM cards these days?” she asks in a saccharin-sweet voice that makes my hand itch to show her who’s in charge.

  “Katie, I’m warning you…”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. You’ve ceased to exist now,” she says, not bothering to look at me and, instead, peering off in the distance over my shoulder.

  Her words serve as a dare, and I’ll pick up the challenge. Oh, she’ll know I exist… and soon.

  I’m doing my best to act cool, but inside I’m freaking dying. How did they find me? It took me thirty minutes to walk back to my car this morning. I was in so much pain that I felt I had to come home and grab my gear and shower. I wish I could go back. I would have jumped in my Jeep and hit the road. Fuck everything else. If I don’t show up today at noon or get word to Bethie, then she’s going to freak. I’m not sure what Skull would do to her, but after the cruel note he gave her when she was having his child, I don’t trust the motherfucker not to turn her straight over to Colin. Wasn’t that Colin’s last threat? Did we force him to seek help from the one man who hated Bethie as much as he did? What right does the asshole have to hate Bethie, anyway? He’s the one who cut out her heart with a dull spoon and left her to bleed to death. It’s been two years and Bethie still grieves, walking around like a shell of the woman she used to be.

  “Let’s go,” Torch growls, pulling me along by the handcuff. I stumble hard and nearly fall before he rights me. His touch burns through my clothes. I pull away from him—or at least try. He doesn’t let me, and thanks to the way he has me chained, I can’t.

  “Go where?”

  “My bike, sweetness. Time to report back to your brother-in-law.”

  “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I don’t have one of those.”

  “Oh trust me, sweetness, you do,” he says, and I’d love to knock the kinky look off his face.

  “What about my stuff?” I ask him, annoyed.

  “You won’t need it.”

  He’s wrong, so wrong.

  “I do! Torch, I can’t leave my things behind.”

  “I’ll buy you whatever you need. Now get on the fucking bike,” he orders.

  His tone left no room for argument, but I try. “There’s things in there you can’t buy. At least let me have my damned clothes!”

  “I can buy clothes,” he returns, his eyes going over me. I know he notices his t-shirt when he gets that twinkle back in his eye that he had last night. I curse myself for wearing it. I don’t want to smell him on me now, not even a little bit. Right now, I’d like to gut him. Well, almost. “Nice shirt,” he says. “It fits you.”

  Asshole. He’s not talking about the size; he’s talking about my Brazilian wax. The dirty talk he gave me last night about loving the fact that he could see my release all glossy on the lips of my pussy doesn’t feel hot today. It feels like just one more reason to kick him in the balls. The shirt he has on today hasn’t escaped notice either. If I wasn’t scared and pissed, I would laugh.

  “I could say the same. Let me go and you can work on finding your next pet,” I huff.

  “Oh, but I’m not ready to give up on the one I have,” he says, and that cocky look instantly changes into one fueled with lust.

  “Too bad. I’m off the market,” I grumble, getting on the fucking bike because it’s become clear that he’s not going to listen to anything I say. I wince when I step on, putting all my weight on my bad leg. I’ll be lucky if I can walk tonight, but I’ll be damned if I complain to him.

  “We’ll see about that,” he says, getting on in front of me. I do my best not to touch him. He jerks his arm while he wraps his hand on the handle bar. I’m forced to stretch to allow it. I fall forward, using my free arm to brace on his back. “Wrap your other arm around me and don’t give me any flack, sweetness. It’s dangerous enough to ride like this. You make me fuck up my bike, I’ll take it out on your hide and you won’t like how that feels.”

  I do what he tells me, wanting to suggest we take my jeep. I don’t. I know he wouldn’t listen. I look over my shoulder when the three of us pull out of my old driveway. I watch until my jeep completely fades out of sight. I can’t stop it when the tears escape. All I can do is promise myself that I will dry them up before Torch ever gets to see them.

  Katie beats on my chest and yells at me when I pick her up. She pulls against her restraints and that shit stings, but I figure if she can handle it, I can. I sit her down beside my bed in the motel. She looks at the rumpled sheets and blushes. It’s things like that that confuse the hell out of me and make my dick throb.

  I undo the handcuffs and she si
ghs with relief, rubbing her wrists. I let her for a moment. Her eyes look overly bright. She has a reason to be upset, but I don’t want her crying. I’m starting to fucking hate this job, but I didn’t make this situation. Beth did by running away from Skull and keeping their child hidden… if it even is his child. She’s told so many lies, who’s to say the baby isn’t Colin’s? I’d never mention that to Skull. There’s just so many things about Beth and her delicious handful of a sister that doesn’t add up.

  “About time! I need to go to the bathroom!” she growls, spitting fire at me. God’s truth, it should be illegal for a woman to have as much fire as she does inside. She’d wear a man out if he tried to take her on fulltime. Good thing I’m not that stupid. I don’t do fulltime ever, no matter how intriguing a bitch might make the prospect seem.

  “Too bad. I got shit to do. You’ll stay here.” I see the light bulb go off in her eyes. Does she think I’m dumb enough to leave her behind unwatched? Did I make it so easy for her last night that she thinks I’m a sucker? I’ll have to work harder now. My dick is practically nodding in agreement. Jesus, maybe it was better when he went a couple of months without pussy.

  “What kind of business?” she asks. I could talk with her all day, but I’d rather go get shit done and “speak” with our bodies later. I grab her wrist and bring the red area to my lips. Then, I kiss the underside, letting my tongue dance along the delicate veins before kissing it again with my lips. I look at her and her breathing has changed slightly, her eyes watching me, the gray color so fucking stormy-looking my balls tighten with need.

  “All better?”

  “What?” she asks, distracted. I like that she can’t hide her reaction to me. Even if she tried, her body would give her away. Right now, her nipples are so fucking hard they could almost cut through my t-shirt.

  This is going to piss her off more, and I’ll have to work overtime to get back between her legs tonight, but it can’t be helped. I use my other hand to grab the cuffs I had put in my back pocket and then, before she has time to react, I connect one of them back to her wrist.

  “What are you doing??” she screeches.

  Oh yeah, I’m going to have to come at her with my A-game to get that pussy tonight. I take her hand and kneel down on the floor. It takes some doing, but I latch it against the metal railing of the mattress frame.

  “Sorry, sweetness. Honestly, I am, but I can’t trust you not to run away.”

  “I can’t even stand up! You can’t leave me like this!”

  “You can lay down and watch television. You’ll be fine until I get back,” I tell her, situating her on the bed despite her protests. Then, I put the remote control beside her.

  “You can’t do this! What if the motel catches on fire? You could kill me!”

  “I’ll be gone an hour, tops. You’ll be fine,” I tell her, annoyed when her plea manages to make me actually worry.

  “Don’t do this, Torch. If you leave me tied up alone, I will hate you,” she whispers, her voice deadly still.

  “One hour, sweetness, that’s it. Behave now,” I tell her trying to keep my voice light while dismissing her. I need to know more of Katie’s secrets, I think, but not right now. I open up the door to find Sabre and Latch waiting not so patiently.

  “Are you ready?” Sabre asks.

  “Yeah, in just a minute.”

  “Torch,” Katie shouts from the bed. “If you leave me like this, I will scream until the police come!”

  “No one will hear you, but hey, go ahead. It’ll give me a good reason to gag you next time,” I respond.

  She screams. When I turn around to tell her that she just bought herself punishment, the remote control comes whizzing at my head. I barely have time to duck before it shatters against the door frame and busts, falling into pieces like it was confetti.

  Sabre and Latch laugh their heads off.

  “I hate you, you limp-dick motherfucker!!” Katie screams louder. That only makes Sabre and Latch laugh harder.

  “That was your last chance,” I tell her. “We’ll see how limp you think my cock is when you’re choking on it tonight.” With that, I slam the door on her screams.

  Sabre and Latch are still laughing. Hell, I think Sabre’s laughed so hard, the asshole has tears coming out of his eyes.

  “This trip back to Kentucky ought to be fun,” says Latch. I ignore the motherfuckers and jump on my bike.

  “Hey, Torch. Before we head back to that spitfire’s house, let’s run by the pharmacy we saw in town.”

  “What the fuck for? You know Skull’s waiting for a report.”

  “Aye, that I do, brother, but I’m more worried about your dick. Maybe they can find you some little blue pills to help you out with your problem. I’ve never needed them, but I hear they can work wonders for men like—”

  I start up my bike to drown the motherfuckers out. I’m going to kill them, then give Katie something to scream about later.

  I lie here in shock. I can’t do much else. I hate the feeling of being tied up and having no control. Being abandoned. It’s a feeling I’m more than a little familiar with and I fucking hate it. The fact that Torch is the one to do it this time is just salt in an open wound.

  I spend a few minutes trying to calm my breathing. I hate that being confined makes me panic. There’s nothing I can do about it, though. There’s just been too much water under the bridge.

  To get my mind off of it, I concentrate on the things I need to accomplish. I need to get a message through to Beth, and that’s not going to be easy. I need her to keep running. She’ll want to come after me, but I can’t risk the fact that Colin might get his hands on her, or worse, Gabby. There’s a phone in the motel room. I could call Beth’s cell. I figure that they may have the number monitored, though, and I have to decide if it’s worth the risk. Can I pretend to fall under Torch’s spell? Maybe if he thinks I’m sewn up over him, he’ll relax his guard enough so I can escape, or at least get a message out. Would that be safer?

  I feel panic nipping at my heels. I should have listened to Bethie and fucking ran. No dick, however spectacular it is packaged, is worth it. I let myself forget that with Torch and I fell for his pretty eyes and the promise of fun he offered. It was fun, but at what cost? It sure as hell won’t have been worth it if it destroys the two people I love the most in the process. I don’t know what Torch’s club and Skull’s endgame is. If Colin is to be believed, he wants his child and, in return, he’s going to turn me and Bethie over to him. It pisses me off. Skull pushed Bethie out of his life in the most brutal way possible. What right does he have to come back and destroy her further after all this time? The only thing important here is Bethie.

  With that in mind, I reach over and pick up the motel phone. I hope and pray I’m making the right choice.

  “Hello?” Bethie’s voice comes over the line.

  “Bethie, it’s me. I need you to listen.”

  “Katie! Where are you? You were supposed to check in before you reached—”

  “Stop. Bethie, this phone isn’t secure. Listen to me because we have to hang up quickly. I don’t know if they can trace you and I’m not taking the chance. Skull’s crew showed up at the house and they have me—”

  “I warned you! Okay, Gabby and I will turn around and—”

  “No! That’s exactly what they want. You know what the next step in our plan was. Do it. I’ll bide my time and get away from them. I’ll be in touch.”

  “Katie, I don’t like this! I could—”

  “You could listen to me,” I cut her off. “This isn’t about me—or even you anymore. We have to keep Gabby safe. So go through with our plans, understand? I’ll contact you the minute I can. Destroy this phone like I showed you and switch to your back up. I’ll use that number when I get free. Do it now, Bethie.”

  “Katie…”

  “Just do it. I have to go now.”

  “Okay,” she whispers, and I hate that I can hear the tears in her voice. “I
love you bigger than outer space,” she whispers.

  “To the moon and back,” I tell her, then hang up, praying I didn’t stay on the line too long.

  I stare at the receiver for a while afterwards. I need to figure out what my next step is and I need to know if I’m strong enough to play Torch, because it will take a lot of playing to get out of this mess. I will get out. I don’t have a choice. I will do it…

  For Gabby.

  “What do you know, amigo. Your woman’s been using the phone,” Latch says, but I tune him out. I’m still pissed at him and Sabre. They’ve been laughing enough at my expense. Today, for the most part, has been a total bust. We went back to Katie’s and ransacked the place, but didn’t find anything else. I grabbed her jeep and we went by the local bike store and bought a box trailer. I can’t trust Katie not to be stupid with my bike, and I need to keep her cuffed to me the whole time. Okay, that last part might not be necessary, but it sure as fuck makes me feel better.

  I also went through her shit and there was next to nothing in there. I’m not so sure what she was throwing a fit about. The only thing I found that might hold any value for her was a picture of Beth and Gabby. Gabby was in a high chair and her little face was covered in cake. Beth was crouched down beside her, smiling. She looked beautiful, but she looked so different from the Beth the guys and I remembered. There was a sadness in her now that echoed even through the photo. One thing was clear: she loved her daughter, and though I doubted it, after seeing the photo, I am more inclined to believe that Gabby is Skull’s. The little girl looks too much like him. I snapped the photo with the camera on my phone and texted it to Skull. He didn’t respond, but then I didn’t expect him to. It’s been almost two hours, and I know Katie will be pissed. I would have been back on time, but she pissed me off, so I’ve been chilling in Sabre and Latch’s room for the last hour. I had hacked into the motel’s system and checked out the phone calls placed from my room. I was sure Katie would contact her sister; it’s almost disappointing that it would be so easy. I get the number and write it down. Then, I switch to my software and set about trying to triangulate the signal for Beth. I’m surprised when that doesn’t turn up a hit.