He glanced from me to the guy out cold on the floor. “You do that?” Then he narrowed his eyes and moved in closer. “The motherfucker clocked you?” Anger heated his face.
“Glancing blow, he’d have smashed my face to bits if he’d clocked me.”
“We need to call the police.” Larry, the younger security guard, glanced nervously at Gator.
Gator gave a single shake of his head.
“No, we don’t. You two.” I pointed to Larry and Janet, our receptionist. “Go upstairs and take a break. I’m locking our front door, for now. No police, hear me?”
Both nodded.
“Jed could you give me a minute.”
He nodded and walked into the back hall.
“What do you need?” I suspected he needed to take the guy.
“Don’t know the details.” He ran a hand over his shaven head. “No police and we need him out of here. Can we take him to your truck?”
“Can you carry him?” I glanced at Gator. “Here are my keys, I’ll follow in a minute.”
He stared at me as if he wanted to ask questions, but he just nodded. He lifted the still unconscious Spike in a fireman’s carry and I led him to the back door.
Jeb stepped up beside me, worry creasing his lined face.
“Please take care of the cameras then get someone else to cover up front for a while.” I clasped his arm.
He’d worked for us over twenty years and Daddy had dealt with more than a couple hot heads off the books. “You got it, Ellie, just like your daddy.” He left for the security offices.
I walked up to the truck and heard Gator talking on his phone.
“She was tucked inside, I went for a piss break.”
Then silence.
“She knocked him out, and he had a gun.”
Then silence again.
“Got it. Sorry, brother, I had no idea he’d walk into the fucking business.” Head hanging low he hung up. “I will take you home, and if it’s okay, I’ll borrow your truck for a bit.”
“That’s the plan, then.” My face pounded with pain and my headache was building fast.
Gator got behind the wheel and I let him. Alternate endings played through my brain. I didn’t want to think of other scenarios where I didn’t kick the gun out of his hand. I’d acted on instinct and training, now that it was over, my body had the jittery let down of an adrenaline overload.
“How’d you take him out?” Gator glanced at me.
“Karate, I’m a black belt, let’s just say I’m badass.” I tried to make him feel better.
“Good thing, because I fucked up.” He wore his guilt plain for me to see.
“You’re one guy, you did your job and things went sideways. Can’t be the first time?” I grinned over at him. “Last time things went sideways for me, Rebel came running, shooting his gun at the guy choking me out.”
“Yeah?” A hint of a smile showed on his face.
“Yeah, and he didn’t even know me then. It’s how we met.” I chuckled, and tried not to replay the conversation in the diner that day. I had wanted him, even then.
Gator pulled into my driveway and I pressed the button for my garage door. “Leave the keys in the mailbox, I may be asleep. See ya later, Ali-Gator.”
He flipped me the bird.
Inside, I went straight to the freezer for a pack of ice-cold peas then I hit the cabinet for some pain relievers. With the peas pressed to my face I checked the front door to be sure I’d locked it before I headed upstairs.
I changed into one of Rebel’s T-shirts before I slipped under the covers and fell asleep.
* * *
I woke with a start, the low light said I’d slept away most of the day. Then I heard footsteps on the stairs. I eased open my nightstand and drew out my bedroom gun, small caliber but it’d put a hole in someone.
When footsteps continued toward me, I moved to the side of the door where whoever came through wouldn’t see me.
Gun aimed, I held my breath. Rust-colored hair registered first. Exhaling, I lowered my gun. “Goddammit, Rebel, I could have shot you.”
His wild eyes met mine, he took me in and smiled wide. “I see you’re feeling better.” He took the gun from my hand and set it on the dresser. “You worried me.” He stalked back to me.
I opened my mouth to yell some more when his lips crashed into mine. Hot, furious and full of need. He clasped my wrists above me as he ravaged my mouth. I wanted to touch him, to rub my hands all over him, but the bastard wouldn’t let me go. I pushed my body into his, sucked his lip into my mouth and bit down. He groaned before he picked me up and carried me to my bed.
Dropping me onto my bed, he stripped, but his eyes never left me. I started to take my shirt off.
“That’s mine. I’ll do it,” he barked.
I’d never seen him like this and I didn’t know what had created the beast before me. But I knew he was more animal than man right now.
Naked, he prowled forward until he straddled me in bed. Intensity radiating off him, he jerked off my shirt before sliding my panties off me.
Then he just stared down at me. Chiseled perfection all the way down to his rock-hard cock, there wasn’t an ounce of softness in him right now. He excited me, I wanted him to take me, to own me.
“You’re mine. Understand me.”
I nodded.
“Say it.”
“I’m yours.”
Satisfaction, raw and unchecked, settled into his expression. He kneaded my breasts with strong hands that promised pleasure and a little pain. I arched into his touch.
“He bruised you. Hurt you.”
“I kicked his ass.”
His nostrils flared but he didn’t speak. He reached over and grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer. “Put it on.”
I caressed his cock as I rolled the condom over him. His eyes fluttered closed when I cupped his sac. Then he moved down me, a single finger slid through my seam before he plunged deep until I held all of him inside me.
Holding himself up with his arms, he thrust into me, hard and deep every time. “Mine.”
I reached up to his shoulders, digging my fingers into him, needing to feel him with every part of me.
He shuddered and drew closer to me, moving faster and faster inside me. “Come now,” he commanded me.
My body, already amped up from his possession, lit up at his words. I was on the edge, so close, but I wasn’t giving up that easily. He’d have to force my orgasm from me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rebel
I stared into her blue eyes and lost myself completely. She’d been hurt because of me but she was the only thing that could stop the panic digging out my insides.
Seeing her, knowing she was safe. Feeling her, knowing she was mine.
Twelve days since I’d tasted her and I never wanted to stop, but my body had other ideas. Each stroke tightened my body, priming me for the release I tried to hold at bay.
“I said come.”
“Make me.” Challenge sparked in her mesmerizing eyes. She pulled me under, I had no choice but to surrender. I dipped to her sweet mouth, lips swollen from my kisses, and claimed her. I showed her my need in that kiss, the desperate need that had churned in me for days, then turned into this primal force driving me now.
She quivered and moaned into our kiss and she squeezed me tight when she climaxed. I drove hard, needing her to know I owned her body and soul. I could have lost her today, but I hadn’t. She was alive and quaking under me. Her mouth slid past my lips and she bit my neck. I lost the last thread of control, coming hard with her name on my lips. Her body under me but she owned me, body and soul.
“I missed you, Rebel,” she sighed before her eyes fluttered close. Asl
eep again.
She’d almost died because of me. I moved away long enough to dispose of the condom before I crawled back in bed with her. I drew her into my arms and held her. While the danger wasn’t eliminated yet, it was almost over. Tonight I’d protect her while she slept, but tomorrow I’d have to finish business.
* * *
Elle woke me, trying to slide out from under my arm. I opened one eye and watched her ease her way out from me. When she’d almost made it, I pulled her back to me. “Where do you think you’re going?”
In the bright morning sun, her left cheek had turned blue mottled with purple. White-hot rage burned through me again.
“I need to get ready for work.” She turned to face me.
“No you don’t. I told your assistant yesterday that you were home safe and would be taking off today.”
“You did what?”
“You heard me.” Damn, I’d slept better last night than I had in days.
A slow, sexy grin spread across her face. “Are you spending the day in bed with me?”
Fuck. I couldn’t do that. I had to end this shit so she’d be safe. I sighed.
“Don’t bother.” She threw my arm off her. “You don’t need to make up excuses.”
She stormed across the room to her dresser and pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. “Go. The sex was great. See ya next time.” She didn’t even look at me as she threw daggers into me.
“What the fuck?” I sat up in bed, not sure when I’d lost the thread of our conversation.
“Nothing.” She left the room before I’d made it out of bed. I threw on my clothes and hurried downstairs after her.
“What’s up with you?” I stopped midway across her kitchen.
Pain and sadness riddled her face.
Like a punch to the gut, pain radiated in me. Had I caused that pain?
She turned away from me. “Nothing, you have stuff to do and I apparently don’t.”
I crossed to her. “Elle, what’s this about?”
“Look, no harm no foul. It’s just a sex thing.” Dead eyes stared up at me.
“You’re mine. This is more than a sex thing.” No way she was evading me.
“When...when did we make that deal?” Anger turned her eyes icy. “We made the marriage deal, but you didn’t divorce me.”
“The Angels, it isn’t safe for me—”
“We made the sex deal, but that’s off now.” Her words were clipped and short, dagger thrusts. “I think what we got is a guilt thing.”
I stepped back. How had she come up with that?
“We were done, I get that.”
I was far from done with her.
“Then, I get hurt, you feel guilty. But really, I don’t need you to save me anymore.” Her eyes bore into me. “You can be done with me and that’s fine.”
“That’s not fine. I’m not done with you.” I threw my own daggers. She’d tied me in knots for days and now she dismissed me. Not hardly.
“Why? Do you love me? Do you want to spend forever with me?”
I did. I couldn’t. Fuck. I turned away from her.
“Say something.”
What was there to say? Nothing. It had to end, better now than later. “I care for you.” Hollow words, not the ones she deserved.
“Ha.” She marched up to me, getting right in my face. “I’ve known Gator a handful of days and I care for him.” Her face overflowed with emotion—passion, spirit, anger—transforming her. “But I loved you. Now that deal is done. All our deals are done.”
I opened my mouth to say the words. I loved her, I’d never love anyone but her.
But she didn’t want my world, wouldn’t be bound by it, so I gave her the only thing I could. “All deals done then.” I walked out of her house, leaving my fucking heart on her kitchen floor.
* * *
I don’t remember the drive home, I found myself at the clubhouse sitting at the bar staring at liquor I couldn’t drink because the shit with the Angels wasn’t over. Likely the guy Elle had taken down would tell the Bandits where his friends were, but until I got the word from Charlie I had more important shit to do than drink myself stupid.
Sometime later my phone rang. “Yeah?”
“Hey, compadre, it’s over, everyone is accounted for.” Charlie’s happy voice sounded so foreign. “You still in Dallas, I’m partying tonight.”
“Nah, I’m back home.”
“Tell that girl of yours thank you from me.” He said the words that broke my last reserve.
“She’s not my girl.” I hung up and retrieved the whiskey. I planned to drink until I passed out, then wake up and repeat until this shit no longer hurt so fucking bad.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Elle
The door banging shut signaled the end. I bit my hand and willed myself to be strong, but the first sob worked up over the lump of regret in my throat and burst from me, bringing a storm of tears. I sank to the floor in front of my sink and sobbed, huge ugly heaving sobs.
Gone. Gone. Gone. Nothing would ever feel right again. My love for him—the stupidest mistake of my life—had broken me. I sucked in a breath and tried to let the pain drain away—the pain of my cheek, my pounding head, my raw throat were nothing compared to the pieces of my shattered heart cutting into me with every breath.
His face played on repeat in my mind, not only had I sent him away, I’d devastated him too. He’d refused to say the words, but I’d seen the love shine in his eyes, the same love I saw when we’d made love, then he shoved it away from him. Rejected it. Rejected me and walked out of my life.
But I’d achieved the most important goal, I’d given him back his life. I’d sworn to let him go, well it had turned more into a shove out the door, but I’d kept my word. My principles did nothing to ease the emptiness he’d left in me.
My tears dried up, but I remained on the floor. Standing required energy, walking to my bed was more than I could contemplate. I curled onto the floor, the cold tile against my uninjured cheek comforted me. I closed my swollen eyes and the sting was another reminder I was here, miserable and alone.
The doorbell rang, I ignored it. Two more quick buzzes. Whoever it was, they weren’t going away. Was it Rebel? A small kernel of warmth glowed inside me.
Someone leaned on the doorbell and pounded on the door at the same time. Time to answer that door. I gathered all my energy and step by step, I climbed up from the floor. Staggering like a drunk, I made it down my hall to the front door.
Gator stared back at me through my peephole. Unlocking the door, I threw it open.
“What happened to you?” Gator barked and strode into the house past me.
“What do you need?” Forming each word became a monumental effort. I’d known deep inside it wasn’t him. He’d never be at my door again. The ache became a primal pain, growing stronger with each breath.
“Rebel.”
His name sliced me.
“The trouble with the Angels is over. I’m heading back to Barden.”
Of course, he’d want me to know I was safe. There was the guilt again. I nodded when Gator kept staring at me.
“What happened? Did you and Rebel fight?” Gator frowned down at me.
“That’s over too.” Three words, each a nail in the coffin of my dead heart. I moved past him toward the steps. I could make it to my bed. I would. I wasn’t falling apart again, especially not in front of Gator. “Show yourself out.”
One step, another, each one consumed my focus.
“Elle.”
I didn’t have the ability to turn back, so I focused on the next step and the next until my bed loomed in front of me—my safe haven. I sank down into my bed, cocooned in my blankets. Tears leaked from my closed eyes. I hoped oblivion c
ame soon.
Chapter Thirty
Rebel
The pain still ripped through me with every breath I took. I grabbed another bottle of whiskey and drank, sooner or later the pain would go away.
The door opened behind me but I didn’t bother to look. I still hadn’t drowned the pain. Right now I wished I was a masochist because then I’d be in heaven.
“What’s up?” Jericho sat to my left and Dare sat on my right.
“Drinking.” My words slurred. Then why the fuck didn’t my pain go away.
“Why?” Dare looked at me then grimaced. “How did you fuck it up?”
“She had to go, she wanted to go, I let her go.” I drank down the whiskey and the second bottle was empty but the pain blazed bright.
“I’ll get you another.” Dare moved behind the bar and handed me a new bottle.
I drank and drank until I didn’t even remember my own name. I woke, reached for a bottle and drank myself unconscious again.
I was on a binge and I didn’t see an end in sight. I stumbled into the shower, threw on some clothes and headed back to the bar in the main room. People were here today. Fuck, was it Sunday? Probably. I got a few bottles of whiskey before slinking back to my room. I wanted to see no one, talk to no one, be no one. I finally understood why Dare had spent all those months drunk on his ass when he and Mama had split up, it was the only way to survive without your heart.
“I can’t have her,” I shouted to the room.
“Can’t have who?” Viper walked in the door.
Fuck Viper, anyway. He didn’t know shit about living without his heart. “Fuck off.”
“Can’t. I got babysitting duty today. You are, I quote, ‘not supposed to get piss-ass drunk before Dare shows up.’”
He picked up the three bottles of whiskey from the floor and carried them out of the room. I still had the one bottle so I didn’t worry, besides there were more out front.
By the time Viper came back, I’d drunk half the bottle. He snatched it out of my hands.
“Give that back,” I hollered but stood and headed for the door.
“Do you know what day it is?” Viper blocked the door.
Bail Out Page 25
