Torch (Tarnished Souls MC Book 1)

by Dusty Lassetter

  Slowly rolling over, onto my other side, I try not to wake Taz as I adjust my body. The slow rise and fall of his chest helps to reassure me he’s alive. This is something I’ve come to do a lot. While his body is shutting down, sleeping, in hopes to heal from its many wounds, I lie awake. It’s too hot to sleep, and when I close my eyes I see Slasher’s golden brown ones staring back at me. Making it impossible to do. I’m not sure what game he is playing anymore. If I were any other woman would he have raped me by now? This may not come as a shock to most of you, but I am a virgin. My dad’s over protectiveness has helped keep my innocence intact, despite my many attempts to change it.

  Taz’s fingers start to twitch, drawing me from my thoughts. I’ve noticed he only does this when he’s in a deep sleep. Maybe dreaming of all the women he’s had. Remembering a time when the slightest nod of his head would have several of the whores running. I know this to be a fact, because there were several times I had to force myself to stay put. Not that he would have selected me to be the lucky one for the night. Trailing my finger across his lips, I try to imagen what it would feel like to have them on mine. Would he be a slow, sensual, kisser, or a rough, take what’s mine, kind? I’ve seen the way he takes other women, but would I be different. Sometimes I think I see him looking at me, like he’s having to restrain himself. Then it’s gone, just as quick as it occurs, and I begin to think I just imagined it.

  “Serenity…” Taz says, triggering my response to act nonchalant. I pull my hand back just as he is opening his eyes. Green irises, barely visible, questioning my fast movement. In a move, only I have mastered, I force my eyes to look at anything and everything that isn’t him, pretending to be lost in thought. Growing up this is what I would do, when I wasn’t sure whether I was caught or not. My dad always assumed I was innocent, so now this is my go to move. I’ve been told it makes me look as if I’m hurting or sick. Recently someone mentioned it made me look constipated, not my finest moment, but some habits are hard to break.

  “What are you thinking about?” Taz asks, allowing me to relax knowing my fingers got away with their shameful wondering. Deciding it’s safe to give him my attention, I peer into his eyes. I sometimes joke that Taz has a superpower. When he looks at you, it’s like his soul is beckoning yours, but everyone always argues that it’s just me.

  “I’m having a hard time remembering.” I answer. I couldn’t come up with a good lie, so playing dumb will have to work. There is no way I’m going to admit to thinking about his luscious lips, slamming down on mine, taking my mouth by force until I beg him to do the same with my body. Nope. Not going to say that. Not here, not now, not ever.

  “Hmmm…” He mumbles, “I’m not sure I believe that.” He finishes, moving his body in a way that causes him pain. His jaw clamps down, lips tighten, as he attempts to keep from being vocal. It amazes me that he still tries to be strong despite all his injuries. I’m shocked he can still move at this point, really I am. The bruises and cuts covering his face, arms, and neck would have any other person fighting back tears.

  “Are you alright?” I ask, having nothing better to say. Knowing he will lie, and I will continue to let him think I believe him. When he doesn’t answer, just nods his head, my mind is screaming at me to get verbal confirmation. His face hasn’t changed its expression, other than to turn ashen. My gut is telling me there is something seriously wrong, but I’m naturally paranoid. It’s hard to decipher whether it’s a real emergency, or not. Because to me all health issues are. My debate comes to an end when he sits up, coughing uncontrollably.

  “Taz… Are you alright?... You’re scaring me.” I say, sitting up beside him, rubbing his back. He doesn’t acknowledge my touch, just continues to hack up a lung. After he has managed to calm himself down, he removes his hand from his mouth. With a feeling of dread so strong it leaves me motionless, I stare at the red stains left on his hand. Blood is coating his palm and fingers, proving to me that something is very wrong.

  “Ohh my god, Taz.” I say, my voice breaking. By this time, he would wrap me in his arms, while whispering reassurances in my ear. Instead his body falls back to the floor, landing like a ton of bricks. I rush forward to catch his head just before it hits the floor. Adjusting my legs, I’m able to get them underneath him, allowing Taz to use me as a pillow.

  “He’s going to be okay.” I say out loud. “He’s not going to die, because you won’t let him.” At this point I’m sure I look like a crazy person, but I can’t find the strength to care. Keeping one of my hands on his chest so I can feel his heartbeat, while the other runs it’s fingers through his hair, I continue with my chant. “He’s going to be okay. He’s not going to die because you won’t let him.” Time ceases to exist. I manage to keep my panic at bay, talking to myself. The slow steady rhythm of his heart helps. Like a zombie, no emotions to be felt, I hold Taz as his breathing starts to change.

  “He doesn’t look too good, Princess.” I hear, Slasher, say. I recognize his voice from all the others because it plays in my head, on repeat, as I try to fall asleep. I hadn’t heard him come down the stairs, so his statement startles me. My body doesn’t jolt from the surprise, knowing it could hurt Taz, so Slasher has no way of knowing he’s scared me.

  “He needs a doctor.” I whisper, instinctively allowing my body to position over his in a protective stance. Slasher watches my movement, his eyes light up with joy. He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met, and that worries me. He is unpredictable, unstable, and pure evil.

  “I agree. He looks like he could use some medical treatment.” Slasher states, kneeling, close enough for me to smell his cologne. The sweet, spicy, smell will forever be etched in my brain as something disgusting, for however long I have left to live. “I wish there was something I could do to help.” He mocks, “but you have not been a very good girl. I usually find myself pleased with your obedience, but you allowed him to hurt my men, Princess, that’s not something I can easily forgive.”

  Staring into his golden eyes, knowing he is without a doubt leading me into another one of his games, I know I have no choice but to play along. Slasher is trying to convince me I should’ve controlled, Taz, but I know he doesn’t believe that. All bikers are the same in that aspect, they don’t let women control them.

  “I’m sorry, Slasher.” I say, hoping he can’t detect the hatred in my voice when I apologize. There is no telling what he will do if he thinks I’m not being sincere.

  “No you’re not, Princess.” He declares, “but you will be if you don’t give me what I want.” My mind instantly fills with disturbing images.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and sadly that is not what I was talking about. While I would love to be your first, there are more pressing matters I need to worry about. If I were to do that, I have a feeling you wouldn’t give me the information I want.” He laughs out. I’m not sure whether he is laughing at the look of confusion on my face, or his own statement.

  “I bet you’re wondering how I knew you were a virgin?” He questions, trying to reach his hand out to run his fingers across my cheek. I jerk my head out of reach, causing the smile on his face to grow. “You see, I’ve never been to turned on by unexperienced women. I prefer someone that knows how to suck a dick just as good as she knows how to ride one. You looked more frightened the first time you sucked me off than you did waking up in this shit hole.”

  “Maybe because I was forced.” I spit out, interrupting his useless speech.

  “You weren’t forced, Princess. You were given a choice, it’s not my fault you whored yourself out for someone doing a lousy job of protecting you.”

  “He’s only one man, trying to take on you and your puppets.” I shout, getting irritated by the mere mention of, Taz, not being good enough. His eyes narrow, obviously not liking my tone, “are you suggesting I can’t defend myself?” He asks. I don’t bother replying, nothing I say at this point will help the situation.

  “GET UP.” He roars, rising to his full height. �
��I was trying to do this the less painful way, but I can see that is going to get me nowhere.” He orders. Just like that I have turned him into the hateful psychopath he really is. When I don’t immediately follow his instructions, Slasher, walks forward and grabs me by my hair. In a shocking move, Taz, opens his eyes before bringing his foot forward. The hit, Slasher, takes to the jaw isn’t strong enough to do much damage, but it surprises him. Letting go of my hair, he stumbles back, shaking his head.

  “TAZ.” I holler, as he too stumbles to his feet, using the last of his strength to reach, Slasher.

  “She doesn’t have to say it.” Taz grinds out through his teeth, “I will. You will never beat me one on one, ASSHOLE.”

  “You can barely stand, let alone fight me.” Slasher starts to mock him. “When I’ve finished kicking your ass, I’m going to fuck your woman in every hole she has, as you watch. Your little princess will never be the same again.”

  Taz doesn’t bother replying. Staggering forward, Slasher, lands a punch to his side. Taz able to send one of his own to the side of, Slasher’s, mouth. Forcing his head to jerk sideways, lip instantly splitting open, blood now running down his chin. Slasher licks it away, with a grin on his face. Taz, faster than expected, doesn’t give him much time to recover. They exchange blow after blow, both of them refusing to give up. That is until the door upstairs opens, and someone can be heard running down the steps.

  I see one of, Slasher’s, soldiers take a gun from his side, aiming it at both the men. “We have company, Boss. We need to get you out of here.” The man hollers. Slasher shoves Taz forward, “shoot him.” He commands.

  “NOOOOOOO” I scream, racing forward. When Taz’s body falls to the floor, shortly after a bang that causes my ears to start ringing, I lose it. Seeing the blood run from a hole in his chest, sends a fresh wave of terror through my body that ends all sensible thinking. Fists flying, legs kicking, teeth biting, I barely acknowledge Slasher trying to pick me up. He just gave the order to kill someone I love; I’m not allowing him to leave here alive.

  “Just leave her man.” I hear a voice say. With a low growl Slasher stops my assault long enough to whisper in my ear. “I’ll see you soon, Princess.” His tone oozing confidence. With a hard shove, he tosses me to the ground. I land on my side, hard, Taz’s shirt, he gave me to wear, soaking up the blood that is now surrounding him on the floor. Rushing to my knees, noticing he’s not breathing, panic starting to take over, I do the only thing I can. Tilting his head back, opening his air way, I start to give him CPR. Just like I learned in school, I give thirty chest compressions before checking the airway and giving rescue breaths. The tears I’ve tried to hold back are now freely flowing, mixing with the crimson that is covering both the floor and my jeans.

  “Serenity….” I hear someone say, but I continue to do my compressions, ignoring whoever is in the background. “Someone call the paramedics, NOW..”

  I bend down, breathe into his mouth, just to rise again. “One, two, three, four….” I count, never realizing I’m doing it out loud. My arms start to burn, my chest is heaving, and the hollowness in my own chest starts to get worse. I have no way of knowing how long I’ve been down here, trying to save his life, but I know one thing. I can’t live in a world where he doesn’t exist, I refuse to.

  “Serenity, baby, you need to move.” I hear a familiar voice say. Right now is not the time to let insanity take hold, my dad isn’t here. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Serenity. Don’t let Taz die. Then an unsuspected touch to my shoulder, has me screaming, “ NOOOOOOOOOO,” before my brain registers that my dad really is here. Kneeling beside me.

  “The paramedics are here. Let them do their job.” He states. Turning my attention to the men in uniform I move out of the way, just enough for them to squeeze through. They begin to talk amongst themselves, going over all his injures, while taking over CPR. I silently sit, watching, until my father takes me into his arms. “Let’s get you home, Princess.” He states. My stress filled mind doesn’t allow me to keep my emotions under control, anymore. It’s like I know I can finally have my break down, and be safe. Pounding my fists on his chest, trying to break free from his grasps, I began to scream. “DON’T CALL ME THAT. NEVER CALL ME THAT.”

  “She’s in shock.” Someone hollers. When I’m able to get free, I look down to notice there is no, Taz, just a puddle of his blood left lying where his body was. Gazing around at the familiar faces that belong to the club members, I can only imagen what I look like. Blood covering my clothes, hair nasty from sweat, sticking to the side of my neck, and tears trailing down my face.

  “WHERE IS HE?” I start to shout, needing to know what happened. Looking down in confusion I reassure myself he was just here, being worked on by paramedics, now he’s gone. I’m not crazy.

  “Serenity, he’s on his way to the hospital. The paramedics took him.” My dad says, trying to take a step towards me. I know, deep down, I’m not in any danger, not anymore, but I’ve completely lost all sense of reality. “DON’T COME NEAR ME.” I holler, placing my hand up to stop his forward motion.

  Mia takes a tentative step, now standing beside my dad. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she silently asks him to let her try. With a nod of his head, she takes another step forward. Leaving space between us, knowing that is what I need.

  “Serenity, we need to get you out of here, okay. I know it’s hard, I know what you’re feeling, but it’s not safe here.” She says, looking into my eyes, letting the truth ring through her voice. This is my friend, someone that has experienced this before. She is someone I can trust to be on my side.

  “Take me to him.” I demand, not able to say Taz’s name. It’s not needed, she knows who I am referring to. I see the sympathy enter her gaze, as she opens her mouth to say something.

  “We need to take you home first.” My dad demands, before, Mia, can continue. Causing me to bring my attention back to him. My body is tired, my mind is strained, and the shock of what just happened is starting to ware off. Relaxing my shoulders, I do what Slasher would have me do. Dropping to my knees, I bow my head. “Please…” I start to beg, “please. I’ll do anything you ask, just bring me to him.”

  “What is she doing?” Someone questions.

  “What he had her do. Beg for what she wants.” A female voice replies.

  “Serenity, I’ll take you to him.” My dad whispers, closer to me then he was a moment ago. “You don’t have to beg, Princess.” The nickname has me glaring up at him. “Don’t call me princess. That’s not my name.” I state, rising to my feet. With a crowd of people watching me, I stagger up the stairs, having no choice but to believe my father. He said he would take me to see Taz. That’s the only thing allowing me to place one foot in front of the other.

  Read on for a sneak peek into Tearing Away, the first book in my Fatally Flawed Series. Available on Amazon.com

  Prologue

  Candice

  The sounds of screaming wake me up once again. My dad must have come home angry at the world, deciding to take it out on my mom. He has always been a violent and cruel man but the fights are getting worse. I used to be able to drown out the noise by listening to my MP3 player. Now the walls shake from my mother’s body being tossed around and beaten for a mistake she probably never made. Everything seems to set him off, even when we try not to give him a reason for his flying fist and loose tongue. The neighbor may have looked at him wrong or someone back talked him at the local bar he frequents. It never matters the reason; the outcome is always my mom’s screams and his evil laughter.

  Making my way toward the living room, the noise gets louder and the shadows grow on the wall adjacent to the dark hall I am currently hiding in. The looming figure of Christopher Price is shaking my mother with his meaty paws and large frame. He has lost all control and let the monster take over completely. My body shakes as my feet inch forward trying to get a better view. My heart is pounding and my palms sweat. I can feel the fear running through my vein
s, making my senses come alive. The board under my foot creaks as I peer around the corner and my heart drops into my stomach. My mother never allows him to hit me, always taking the blows, but he is uncontrollable tonight. Call it intuition or a gut feeling, I just know everything is about to change in my world. I should run.

  Why am I not running?

  Chapter 1

  Candice

  Most teenagers are out of bed and ready for their first day of senior year before the suns bright rays reach the sky. Well I am not most teenagers and the sun’s light is just a reminder of the dark secret I keep hidden. I roll over and moan as I hear a soft tapping coming from the other side of the door.

  “Candice honey, are you up?” My Aunt Stacy whispers through the crack in the now open door.

  “Yeah” I rasp, my voice still filled with sleep.

  It has been three months since I moved in with my distant Aunt and Uncle. For nearly four years, it was just foster homes and state homes for me throughout the great state of Texas. When they finally found the only living relative of my mother Lacey Price, I was on a plane to Florida the next morning. I never knew my mom had a sister, but according to Stacy, she left for Texas with my dad and never kept in touch with her family.