I stumbled forward in the heels but caught myself with her hair. We both fell to the ground, but it was over before it even began. Grey pulled Blondie off of me while another biker pinned me against his chest.
“You want me to deal with this one, Pres?” The man’s grip tightened around my chest and I moved up onto my tiptoes, trying to get a full breath. My shirt had slipped another button in the tussle, leaving my bra on display for the entire bar.
Grey’s eyes dropped down to it and his jaw clenched. “Celia, I’ll ask you again. Why are you here? I’m surprised they didn’t tell you at the door, but you paid your debt, you didn’t need to come back.” Blondie crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk and reclaimed her spot by his side.
“You ruined me and now…” My voice cracked, but I kept my chin high and eyes locked on his. “Now, you’re acting like I’m not important to you.”
He ran a hand over his beard with a laugh. “Princess, ain’t no one that’s important to me. And if you’re looking to place blame, why don’t you start with your old man? After all, he’s the reason you’re no longer pure or whatever the fuck you country club assholes call it. Get her out of here!”
“No!” I fought the biker as he began dragging me toward the exit. “No, you listen to me, you rapist prick!”
I wanted to take the words back as soon as Grey’s eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. His hands clenched into fists at his sides and I tried to calculate where he was most likely to hit me as he stalked over.
“I just meant… I was a perfect daughter and great student and you’ve r-ruined that.” I hiccuped softly.
Another man stepped forward with a grin. “I’ll take her. Teach her some respect.”
I turned to Grey and began shaking my head. “I came to talk to you.”
He looked at the man and then back to me. “Remington, you sure you can handle this? She’s got claws.” He touched his neck and grinned.
My mouth went dry, and I fought against the desire to pass out. He was going to hand me over to anyone who wanted me. Just like he’d threatened to do before.
I couldn’t remember why I’d felt the need to see him again. I’d thrown myself back into the lion’s den in the hopes of convincing the pride male not to maul me.
I opened my mouth only to close it. Nothing I said was going to make him change his mind about things. Remington’s large hand closed around my bicep as he hauled me back toward the bathrooms. Grey remained where he was, scowling.
“What did Pres call you?” The biker side-stepped into the bathroom before pushing me up against the stall. His hand closed around my throat when I stayed silent, squeezing lightly. “I asked you a question.”
I didn’t care.
His hands moved down to shed the remaining buttons on my shirt before tossing it aside. Still holding me by the throat he dropped his mouth to the outside of my bra and looked up with a grin. “You could’ve given me your name and made this easier.”
I smiled and shook my head because they were all the same—using threats to get what they wanted. I realized the mistake I’d made when his teeth sank down painfully over my bra at the same time his grip tightened.
“Get—off—me!” I used both my hands against his one, but it only made him squeeze harder until the corners of my vision began to blur.
His mouth moved off my breast and curved up into a cruel smirk. “Gonna leave teeth marks all over you.”
I raked my nails down the side of his face and he released my throat long enough for me to slip around him. I didn’t even make it to the door before he managed to get his arms around me.
“Shouldn’t have done that, sweetheart,” he panted against my ear before forcing my cheek up against the grimy tile on the wall.
“Let me go!”
He popped the button on my jeans with one hand and began working them down over my hips. I waited until he let go of me to reach for his belt before pushing off the stall and into his body.
The shove caught him off guard and he stumbled into the sink before coming after me with a growl. “Goddammit, little girl. I’m gonna enjoy this now!”
My chest heaved up and down as I eyed the distance to the door. Remington caught me by the hair and dragged me over to the sink, turning the taps to full blast before forcing my face down toward the base. The drain closed and the water that had been cascading down the sides of my face began to flood my nostrils.
“Struggle, sweetheart. It’s only making me harder!”
I opened my mouth to scream, but it filled with water, drowning my pleas. I frantically gripped the side of the basin, using every bit of strength I had to lift my head, but it was useless. The biker outweighed me and showed no signs of letting up.
I blindly clawed the backs of his hands as he ripped my panties down to where my jeans were bunched around my knees and forced my legs apart. Unable to hold my breath any longer, I desperately inhaled water, before feeling him move off of me.
My head was pulled up, and I gasped and spluttered before my vision cleared enough to see my reflection. Remington was gone and in his place was Grey.
Blood coated his face, and he was panting, yet he never took his eyes off of mine. I gripped the sides of the sink again as my body began to shake, letting the sobs take over.
He pulled me back against his chest and brushed the soaking wet hair off my forehead. “Why the fuck would you show up here?”
I coughed again. “You.”
Grey nodded and reached down between us, deftly undoing his belt buckle and zipper. “Take your jeans off.”
“What are you doing?”
The smirk he gave me in response only looked menacing against the backdrop of blood. “Givin’ you what you came for.”
Was it?
I bent down and met Remington’s wide-eyed stare with a gasp. His throat had been flayed open, flooding the floor with blood.
“Got what he deserved,” Grey casually noted as I removed my jeans and the remnants of my torn panties.
I agreed, still unnerved by the sight of a dead man lying at my feet. His hand moved between my legs and I watched his reflection in the mirror.
“You saved me.”
“And here I thought I was a rapist asshole,” he murmured against my ear.
I held his gaze in the mirror and shook my head. “I shouldn’t have said that. I was angry.”
“Yeah? Well, so am I.” He lifted me easily in his arms and pushed into my body with a single thrust. I groaned in a mix of both pleasure and pain before letting my head fall back on his shoulder.
He was right.
It was what I’d come for.
In fact, I’d never wanted anything more.
“You keep seeing me as the good guy, princess.” He rolled his hips forward, and I cried out, my inner muscles clamping down around him. “I’m not your protector and I’m sure as fuck not your friend.”
His teeth came down on my shoulder. “Celia…” Hearing my name on his lips pushed me over the edge with a clenched jaw and stifled moan.
“Open your eyes, Celia. I’m fuckin’ you, do you hear me? It’s not the other way around.” I obeyed and met his dark stare in the mirror. His eyes were filled with victory; taking pleasure in the knowledge that he’d won.
I’d willingly signed over ownership of my body just to hear him growl my name.
“I hate you,” I whispered. “I hate what you’ve turned me into.”
The muscle in his jaw flexed. “You waltzed into my bar and disrespected me, little girl.” His nostrils flared as he forced himself deeper. “You were a debt; do you hear me? Your daddy fucked up, and I took you as payment. This don’t mean shit.”
I tried and failed to keep from coming again as he tore me apart physically and emotionally, but if anything, the orgasms became even more intense.
His hand came up to rest against the base of my throat and I scratched and clawed at him as tears blurred my vision.
“That’s it, princess.
Fuckin’ fight me.” His hands dropped to the back of my thighs and my knees moved up to either side of my breasts as he lifted me. “You’re going to watch me fuck you either way.”
I wanted to defy him and keep my eyes on the floor, but curiosity took what little sanity I still possessed and ripped it from my hands.
The angle left nothing to the imagination, and I watched, mesmerized, as he buried himself in me. My body dripped around him and he let out a low growl before his thrusts turned shallow. With a roar, he squeezed my thighs and my teeth sank into my lower lip to keep from screaming as I followed him over the edge.
He stumbled back against the side of the stall and I slid down his body onto unsteady legs. “Grey…” I paused to catch my breath. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes remained closed and his chest rose and fell rapidly. “Get the fuck out of here, Celia, and don’t come back. This ain’t a place for a girl like you.”
“Please,” I protested. “Just hear me out.”
His eyes flew open. “Did I fuckin’ stutter? I said to get the fuck out. There’s not a goddamn thing for you here. You were a debt… a fucking debt, Celia!”
Coming here had been such a mistake.
I’d been a fool to think that he might’ve cared for me.
I scrambled to get my clothes on, tucking the heels under my arm as I fled the bathroom barefoot. Molly met me in the hall and this time, no one tried to keep us from leaving.
It wasn’t until we made it to her car that the evidence of mine and Grey’s encounter ran down my legs and I realized something else.
He hadn’t worn a condom.
Chapter Ten
Grey: 1989
I’d been trying to forget Celia Cross for two weeks.
One encounter with me should’ve been enough to keep her safely tucked away in the suburbs, but then she’d shown up in my bar. With her fuck-me heels and blazing green eyes, all my plans went to shit. Even her old man had taken the hint and quit his habit, cold turkey.
No one had the balls to defy me, yet Celia had done it more than once and with a goddamn smile on her face. She was a challenge that I wanted to fuck into submission. I’d been stupid enough to think that I’d get her out of my system; if anything, her reappearance had only made me crave her more.
She was so fucking perfect.
It didn’t matter that I was surrounded by willing women, Celia had left me with a constant hard-on. I’d jacked into the panties I stole from her more times than I could count, but it was nothing like being inside of her tight cunt.
God help any fucker who had similar thoughts.
As a prospect, Remington had shown promise, but that didn’t matter once he put his goddamn hands on her. I told myself that she’d decided her fate when she disrespected me in front of my men.
The friend she’d shown up with had stood near the bar, nervously wringing her hands and stealing glances toward the bathroom. When I approached her, she’d stumbled over a bar stool backing away from me.
“Why’d you bring her?” I’d demanded.
“She wanted to see you. I didn’t mean for her to act like this. It’s just—she was so nervous, so I gave her a few drinks. I guess she’d never had one before—”
My hand shot out and connected with her shirt. “You got her drunk and brought her here? That sound like a good fuckin’ idea to you?”
She’d shaken her head rapidly. “No—no sir. I can take her home if you’ll just—”
“She’s paying the price for your stupidity, kid. Remember that.”
Of course, Celia had never had a drink before. She’d been a fucking saint before my men picked her up. In all honesty, Remington was just doing me a favor. He’d fuck her and then she’d be gone for good.
Everyone would move on.
A motherfucking win.
Then I heard the sound of her body hitting the wall and swiped my shot glass into the floor with a roar. The bottle of tequila met a similar fate when she cried out in pain. I no longer gave a fuck that it was fight night or that I’d willingly handed her over to a prospect.
Comedian, of all people, was the one who saw it for what it was. “Girl got under your skin, Pres. You can either sit out here and keep fuckin’ shit up or you can go in there and get fucked. Personally, I prefer the second.
“Losing Remington ain’t gonna be some great loss to the club. The guy’s a fuckin’ pussy. Are we really supposed to believe his daddy named him Remington because he came into this world packing? What a load of horse shit!”
I’d planned on fucking him up and taking back what was mine, until I walked in to that bathroom and realized that he wasn’t trying to fuck her, he was trying to kill her. Remington had looked up with a grin as he held Celia’s face underwater, while struggling to get his cock out of his pants.
“She won’t mouth off to you again, Pres,” he’d stated proudly. “In fact, she won’t mouth off to nobody ever again.”
I returned the smile and moved behind him. “That’s funny, because neither will you.” His mouth had fallen open in shock as I tugged his head back and ran the blade across his throat.
In my rage, I’d nearly taken it off completely. The blade had gone in so deep that he hadn’t even had time to bring his hands up. He just fell back to the floor with a gurgle.
I’d yanked Celia up and let out a rough exhale when she began coughing up water. Wet hair clung to her forehead and mascara ran down her cheeks, but I swear to God, when she saw me, her body instantly relaxed.
I had no fucking idea how to take care of a woman. When she began to cry, I’d just done what I’d been dying to do since she’d walked in.
Hold her.
The cups of her bra had been yanked down, thrusting her tits up against my forearms and that, coupled with the feel of her bare ass nestled up against my dick fucked any plans I had of letting her go.
I’d been so preoccupied with getting inside of her that I forgot the one thing I’d never gone without. And, as sick as it was, fucking her bare was something I wanted to experience again.
“There a reason why we keep showing up here day after day, Pres? We thinkin’ of a little after-school recruiting?” Bear frowned at the building.
“Thought I told you that you could fuck off.”
So, I’d been following her for a week.
Nobody made me feel like she did.
The bell rang, and I sat back on my motorcycle, watching for her familiar dark hair as students began exiting the building.
I’d broken into the school office a few nights ago to look through her file.
Celia had undersold herself that night in the bar. She wasn’t just a great student; she was the goddamn valedictorian. So fucking smart that they’d let her skip a grade and graduate early.
It got my attention.
Why the fuck had she come after a nobody like me when she had her entire life going for her?
“If you’re sure you got this, I’m heading back to the clubhouse.” Bear revved the engine on his Harley, and I waved him off before resuming my search for her.
I’d been showing up while my guys were busy sleeping off the night before. Nobody else needed to know what I was doing.
As usual, Celia was one of the last ones out the door. She was wearing another dress with bell sleeves. This one was cream with a pale pink sash and it showcased her curves like a fuckin’ dream. I couldn’t take my eyes off her tan skin, soft tits, and hips that were built for my hands.
Some prick in a letter jacket came up and slung his arm around her shoulders and she grinned as he said something in her ear. I gripped the handlebars and resisted the urge to break the kid’s face.
“She’s gotta get to the library, asshole,” I growled, as if he could hear me. That was her routine—on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Celia studied at the library. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she hit up a record store that just so happened to be located next door to my tattoo parlor.
At least she had for the last we
ek.
She shook her head and hitched her book bag up on her shoulder with a frown. The prick laughed and said something else and her head dropped.
I lit a cigarette and watched as the group of guys the kid had walked out with made their way over to give him high-fives before heading my way.
I checked to make sure that Celia had gone on before asking, “Something funny?”
Their heads shot up and Letter Jacket took one look at my bike before smirking. “You here for your whore? I think I saw her go that way.”
I was off my bike and hauling him up by the collar of his jacket as he turned to point. “You don’t talk to her, you don’t fuckin’ look at her. You so much as breathe in her direction and I will find you and castrate you in front of your buddies here. We clear?”
He nodded quickly, and I dropped him onto the pavement before climbing back onto my bike. “The same goes for the rest of you fuckers too.”
My Springer Softail roared to life, and I left them to piss their pants while I went in search of Celia. I kept her in my sights but stayed where she couldn’t see me.
She disappeared into the library and I parked a few buildings down, ready to wait the two hours it normally took her to study. Celia’s mother would then pick her up and drive her over to Saint Mary’s for evening confession.
Every single night.
Ma had been sleeping with Angel for years behind my old man’s back and she’d only attended confession once a week and then quit altogether after losing the baby.
Celia’s ma must’ve felt that I’d damned her soul to Hell.
The door to the library opened, and she reappeared, checking up and down the street before crossing. She’d never done this before. I blew out a ring of smoke and hopped off my bike to follow.
It had rained the night before, leaving behind cooler weather and humidity so thick you could cut it with a knife. Celia dodged a puddle and checked her surroundings again before slipping past a rusted gate to the cemetery.
I waited until she sat down beneath a large oak tree before stepping out of the shadows. “Celia.”
She startled at the sound of my voice before looking up at me coldly. “Grey, what are you doing here?”
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