CHRIS

by Becca Fanning

  He grimaced. “Feral ain’t the word.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. When he pulled back, there was blood on his jaw and chin. The sight of it had her closing her eyes. “You were glorious,” he whispered, and her eyes flared wide this time.

  “Glorious?” she choked in astonishment. Whatever she’d expected to hear, it hadn’t been that.

  “Yeah. Glorious. You’re the momma of my cubs, Ava. What you just showed me was like a match to a bonfire.”

  “It was...” Her mouth worked. “I was horrible.”

  “You were perfect. They cornered you.”

  “I-I k-killed,” she stammered.

  “They shouldn’t have attacked. We both know what their intention was, baby. They’d have held me down, dragged you into that van, then done God only knows what to you.”

  She shivered. “I know, but that doesn’t make what I did right.”

  He shook his head. “You were acting in self-defense.”

  “So were you, and you hurt them, yeah. But you didn’t kill.”

  Chris sighed. “I’m sorry this, us, had to start this way.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, her voice shaky. “It’s nobody’s fault save that stupid MC. What the hell did they think they were doing?”

  “Trying to get leverage.” He shrugged. “You’re prize property from the outside looking in. The Prez’s only daughter? A valuable commodity.”

  “I’m a person,” she breathed, horror leaching into her tone. “I’m not an asset.”

  He pulled a face when she reared back from him. “You’re not an asset to me. You’re my mate. You’re my other fucking half, so don’t make out like my words were my truth. They’re just a truth. A nasty one, granted, but let’s face facts—you’re not an idiot, Ava. You know I’m exactly right with what I’m saying.”

  She firmed her jaw. “This is insane.”

  “You’re telling me. It used to be like this all the time before.” He shook his head. “I’m too old for this shit, and I’m a cub in comparison to some of the brothers who lived during our more ‘notorious’ times.”

  She pursed her lips. “I can’t believe this is what life used to be like for The Nomads. How did my mother accept my father when she knew what he was?”

  Chris frowned down at her. “Ava, I was exactly like your father. Does your mate bond have prejudice against my past? Or doesn’t it give a fuck?”

  “You can’t say that. You’ve done nothing but hold prejudice against me because of my age.”

  “That doesn’t make it right. Tit for tat is never the smartest way for any relationship to work, is it?” he chided, clicking his tongue at her. Satisfied when she blushed a little, he said, “If you have a problem with your father’s past, then you have one with mine too. We’re cut from the same cloth, Ava, we just choose to wear it differently now.”

  She peered up at him. “Have you killed anyone in human form?”

  He clocked a brow. “Does it matter?”

  Her bottom lip trembled. “Yes. I just killed three men in my other form and it feels like my soul is stained with it.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “I can’t believe I did that.”

  “Well, you can find comfort in the fact I haven’t killed anyone in human form that wasn’t about to hurt me first. ”

  “Self-defense?”

  He nodded. “Twice, sadly enough. One in a bar fight. I was trying to break it up and one dick came at me with a knife. I managed to turn it around back on him. Another during a deal that went wrong. Firefight. They were shooting at us, I shot someone down too.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Oh my God.”

  “It is what it is,” he said sadly. “Not my finest moments, but I never did it for the joy of being a sick fuck and ending someone’s life. I’ll be honest and say I can tell you the exact details of their faces and forms because I still see them as clear as day. The first was over fifty years ago, the second, thirty years ago.” He grimaced. “What happened today was an aberration, and I pray to the Goddesses you’ll never be put into that situation again where your She Bear will have to defend you both, but you did something incredibly brave today, Ava. You might not believe it, you might not believe me, but you did. You protected us both, did your bit in trying to keep us from harm from a bunch of morons who stupidly didn’t do any reconnaissance on us.” He shrugged. “I’m not saying they deserve exactly what they get, but they kind of do.” He squeezed her arm. “Now, we need to get out of here before your father storms over and demands we return to the clubhouse.”

  She tensed at his first mention of leaving this place, but commenting on Mars immediately had her jumping to her feet.

  His lips twitched at her instant reaction.

  She strode over to the bike, and it was only then he saw the sight of her. “Jesus,” he hissed under his breath. She was covered in blood.

  He peered down at himself. He wasn’t much better. With a sigh, he moved over to his bike and said, “We need to wait.”

  She frowned at him. “But you just said...”

  “Yeah, and then I looked at you, then I looked at me. We’re covered in blood, babe.”

  “Shit,” she hissed under her breath as she stared down at herself.

  He grabbed her arm and tugged her back to the shelter of the trees with one arm, and with his free hand, he reached for his cell and in the same message he shared his location with Kiko, he wrote:

  Don’t Tell Mars YET. Bring Extra WATER. We’re Covered In BLOOD. Bring Extra Clothes TOO.

  He sent off the text, waited for the notification it had been read, then received a thumbs up emoji for a reply.

  “Kiko’s coming with some brothers.”

  “He hasn’t told dad?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “Good. I still want to go to Houston or wherever you intended on taking me.”

  “I know,” he murmured, leaning over to kiss her temple. “We will. We just need to get changed first.”

  She grimaced. “How can I argue with that? Look at the state of us.”

  He laughed. “I’m pretty proud of you, all considered. You’re freaking out far less than I figured you would.”

  “That’s because you constantly underestimate my maturity.”

  He laughed again. “Touché.”

  Her smile was weak, but she shot him it regardless. If that was the only benefit to come out of today, then she couldn’t say it was worth it, but she could say that it helped ease things for the pair of them.

  And that was exactly what they needed.

  She was well aware they were in for a period of transition; she just hoped their version of transition didn’t carry on in the same vein as the last thirty minutes.

  Chapter 5

  With the wind blowing through her hair, for the second time that day, she had to admit she was feeling better now that she was on the back of Chris’s bike and had new clothes on.

  Getting changed behind a tree wasn’t her finest moment, but hell, she had to accept what had happened this afternoon or let it eat her up.

  She Bears were renowned for being vicious. It was why their families and their mates went above and beyond to protect them, cosset them. If they shifted overly, the She Bear wouldn’t get tamer‒ she’d only get worse. Something nobody wanted.

  Shuddering at the idea of that rapacious beast being let out on the loose more frequently, she tightened her arms about Chris’s waist and peered over his shoulder at the sight of Houston in the distance.

  They lived close to the city but she rarely had any desire to visit save for going to attend meetings at the MC’s number of different businesses. Even then, and only if it was vital she’d be there to translate some figures or statistics.

  It was weird to think that she approached the city unmated and would be leaving it fully bound to her mate.

  A smile creased her lips at the thought. One that pleased her immensely.

  Bears usually
found their mates amidst humans. She Bears were so rare that human females were practically the only source of mates to be found. She Bears, on the other hand, would never find a human male. They could only mate with another Bear. Probably because of their inbuilt defense mechanism.

  Only another Bear could curb a She Bear. Case in point today.

  Only Chris getting in her face, roaring at her and growling until she backed off had made her realize she was safe and could retreat.

  She shuddered at the thought, and tried to switch her mind off those terrifying moments where she’d been utterly out of control.

  Never in all her life had she felt like that before. It was more of a nightmare than she could ever have imagined.

  When Kiko had arrived at the layby and had taken a look around, he and Chris exchanged a low conversation, one even her excellent hearing hadn’t been able to catch. There had been a lot of grimaces, a lot of pulling faces down at the wash of blood on the asphalt. Each glance had made her feel worse, so much so she’d had no choice but to retreat to the dense thicket of trees and use them as shelter to get changed and washed in the bottles of water Kiko had brought.

  It had done a basic job, but now she couldn’t wait for a shower.

  When they pulled up in the city twenty minutes later, deep downtown, she peered up at the building he’d decided to stop by.

  Doormen stood at the door, as did a valet behind a booth.

  When they climbed off the hog, all three staff members shot each other a look.

  She knew exactly what they were thinking.

  Trash.

  They probably didn’t realize that with the investments she’d made alone, she was worth over two million. The MC didn’t pay her, so she’d found other side jobs to get some money together, enough to make a small stake. Then, she’d played the stock exchange and as she had talent for it, had won big. Granted, it had taken a hell of a long time, but time was all she’d had for way too many years.

  Her personal wealth was probably on par with Chris who, with his expertise, was paid substantially by the MC. She highly doubted he hadn’t made investments either.

  “Sir, you can’t park your vehicle here.”

  “It’s a hog,” she told the doorman sweetly. Then, pulling her wallet out of her purse, she said, “What’s the matter? Is my money not good enough for you.” She flashed the credit card that she had only recently just signed up with; it cost a fortune to maintain for a year, a fortune she could afford, but with so many perks it had been a delight to sign up.

  Granted, one of those perks was flashing it in snobs like these guys’ faces. Because at the sight it, all sleek and shiny black with matte stripes inlaid with gold, the doorman’s eyes widened before he clicked his fingers at the valet.

  As Chris handed the keys over, he gritted out, “Scratch her and you’ll pay for the damages.”

  With his cut, Chris presented an impressive figure. He often wore it like a vest, over an Oxford shirt and slacks, covering it with a sports jacket for meetings. Today, however, that thin veneer of elegance had been thrown away thanks to the gore covering it from the Spiders Venom attack. He wore a white tee and jeans now, heavy boots on his feet which made him look so fucking sexy, and like such a meat head biker that she could kind of understand why the valet gulped at the threat in his voice.

  In his shirt and slacks, he looked like a businessman with quirky taste. An eccentric.

  Now, he looked like exactly what he was; a rider for an MC.

  With his size and evident muscular strength, he was impressive to behold and he loomed over the snobby staff by a good half a foot. They had to peer up at him and tilt their heads back for Christ’s sake.

  The door swept open for them, and they headed toward reception. It was a fancy hotel, one of those boutique ones that had quirky aspects to it rather than a clinical feel.

  The desk was a huge mass of glass and mirrored surfaces which reflected the seating areas which consisted of chaises lounges in unusual patterns, armchairs in equally as zany designs, and low leather sofas. Sleek coffee tables were loaded down with pretty orchids in huge glass bowls or huge craggy stone ores.

  She took it in with a singular glance and strode toward the desk with her arm tucked into Chris’s.

  “Was that a Paisley Executive card you flashed at the doorman?”

  She grinned up at the astonishment in his voice. “It was.”

  “Doesn’t that have like a forty thousand dollar a year maintenance fee?”

  “Yep. But their perks are astonishing. Well, they are if you have a life.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She shrugged. “Free spa access. If you travel, access to the VIP lounges. Shit like that. Free meals at swanky restaurants.”

  “Why did you never take advantage of that before?”

  She shot him a look. “Why do you think? I had no one to go with. But to be fair, they only just invited me to apply.”

  “So it’s true? It is by invite only.”

  There was a trace of a pout in his tone. “They didn’t ask you?” she asked with a grin.

  “I’d have flashed it at those snobs too if I had been invited.” He shared her grin and bussed her forehead as they came to a halt at the desk. When the receptionist gave them a similar once over, he sighed. “Best get the Paisley out, babe. Otherwise they might stick security on us.”

  As she spoke, Ava’s accent was neutral. Not one twang of Texas filtered into her vowels thanks to way too many wasted hours spent on elocution lessons.

  But, being around it, she could speak it like the native she was. Deciding that was the perfect time, in total Texan twang, she murmured, “Why, darlin’, I think we’d like the penthouse suite for the next few nights.”

  The receptionist, in her air stewardess uniform complete with a pencil skirt, simple shirt and scarf tied around her throat, coughed. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  “Are you sure, darlin’?” She slid the card along the glass counter again. “Don’t you think my card will go in your little machine there?”

  Chris snorted when the woman choked as she looked down at the high-roller’s only card.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m sure it will fit.”

  “You see that it does,” she retorted, her tone cooler now, making the woman flush. “Is everyone such a snob in this damn place?”

  “No, ma’am. I must apologize if that’s your first impression,” came the reply, less insolent and definitely embarrassed.

  Hell, it wasn’t like she could admit to discriminating against them because of what they wore and the cut Chris was sporting.

  She knew it wasn’t ladylike to rub it in the woman’s face, but hell, she wasn’t feeling very damn ladylike.

  Chris chuckled, and with the arm he’d tucked around her waist, he used to pull her tighter against him.

  “Behave,” he murmured into her hair.

  She pouted but nodded, watching as the receptionist clicked a few things on the screen in front of her and within a flash, the card was back on the desk.

  Most people didn’t use credit cards anymore. They’d been obsolete for a long time. Only the wealthy needed them.

  And, odd though it was, she was a part of that gang.

  “Here’s the entry code to your bedroom, ma’am. If you require anything, please don’t hesitate to contact us.” She cleared her throat, then eyed them. “Do you have any bags you need help with?”

  “Help won’t be necessary,” Chris rumbled. “But thanks anyway.”

  The woman nodded, flushing at the look of amusement on his face. “Well, it’s the left bank of elevators. You’re on the top floor, and you’ll need the code to access the room.”

  They nodded their understanding, and traipsed through the lobby to reach the elevators.

  A few minutes later, they were walking into their home for the next few days.

  It was large, spacious, everything she’d expect from a hotel such as this one.

/>   A baby grand piano sat next to a clear pane of glass that overlooked the city and stretched the width of the room.

  The panorama was insane, but it didn’t impress her as much as the piano.

  She headed straight for it, her fingers trickling over the keys, enjoying the notes that rang around the salon. It was pitch perfect, but more than that, the room was set up perfectly where acoustics were concerned.

  “I didn’t know you played the piano.”

  She closed her eyes as she tinkled with the keys, but they flared open at his statement. “There’s plenty you don’t know about me.”

  “I doubt that,” he immediately denied, making her snort in amusement.

  “Mr. Bighead.”

  He smirked. “I know plenty. Not everything, granted. Like the fact you somehow have an account with Paisley. Explain how that works to me again, because I know for a damn fact the MC doesn’t pay you. It’s something we often argue about in Council.”

  Her brows rose at that. “But let me guess, Dad always vetoes it because Goddess help the MC if I suddenly get some cash in my pocket and decide I want freedom.” She huffed out a breath, then let all her fingers clash with ten keys. The discordant sound had her grimacing at the aural abuse. “I’ve had freedom for years. Financially, at any rate.”

  “That’s what I don’t understand,” Chris argued. “How’s that possible when you spend all your time working on MC projects, and yet you get paid nothing?”

  She shot him a look. “You really don’t think if I’m smart enough to do what I do, that I can’t somehow make up a way to earn money?”

  “The only thing that makes sense is you’re on the take from the MC earnings, but you’re not a thief, Ava. So that doesn’t make sense.”

  “Wow,” she told him lightly, gaze returning to the keys as she began to play again. “It’s nice to know what you think of me.”

  He grunted. “Don’t turn this around. You know I wasn’t saying that.”

  “No? What were you saying?”

  “I was asking where you got your money from?”

  She jerked a shoulder and swept her fingers into a staccato tune. “I used my brain, of course. I got a job online. Saved up some pin money. Bought stocks and shares. Nothing too complicated.”