“You’re all right now, Nikki. You just rest now, okay?”
Darkness pulled at her again . . . that welcome darkness that this time, she fully embraced. She was safe now, here in Seth’s arms, in the back of Padre’s car on the way to the Steel King’s compound. She would be safe there. But the same couldn’t be said of Stacey. Somehow, she had to find Stacey. Only she had no clue how.
14
Nikki
When she next opened her eyes, she was lying in a warm, comfortable bed. Nikki woke slowly, lethargic, her legs shifting slowly beneath the sheets. She felt . . . naked. The bed shifted, and she turned her head to find Seth lying beside her, fully clothed on top of the blanket, his eyes closed in slumber. Oddly, it seemed that he subconsciously sensed her waking up. He blinked his eyes, and he was staring at her, studying her, not quite sure if she was truly awake or dreaming.
“Hey,” he said. “How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been run over by a truck, and then by a bus,” she commented wryly. She tried testing her body, shifting her arms and legs, making sure everything worked. The light in the room seemed soft, and to her surprise, she saw that he had somehow managed to open one of the windows, allowing a semi-cool breeze to sift into the room.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Most of the day,” he shrugged, rolling over onto his side, bracing his head in his uplifted hand. “You hungry?”
“A little,” she admitted.
“Why did you do it?”
She knew what he was asking but didn’t want to answer. Sensing her reticence, he brought his other hand up and stroked side of her face, his thumb tracing the outline of her eyebrow, then her cheekbone, the tip of her nose, and her lip. He traced his finger around the bottom contours of her lip and she opened her mouth, touched the tip of her tongue to his thumb . . . Her blood pounded, her pussy clenched, and in seconds, Seth was pressed against her, his cock already hard and ready against her thigh. She didn’t move. Didn’t resist. Just laid there and allowed him to feel what he wanted to feel, stroke what he wanted to stroke, gently squeeze where he wanted to squeeze.
His hand brushed away the covers, and she lay bare beside him, her skin tingling as he gazed at her body, her breasts, her pussy, then back again. Just the way he eyed her breasts prompted her nipples to harden and pucker. She allowed him to touch her, anywhere he wanted. She relished his touch, his touch making her forget everything else . . . God forgive her . . . even, albeit briefly, what to do about Stacey.
She squirmed beneath his touch, and he chuckled softly as he leaned over and nuzzled her neck, just below her ear. Goose bumps erupted on her flesh, spreading from her neck to her toes. Ever so slowly, those lips and the gentle nipping and kissing moved downward over the mounds of her breasts, sometimes merely caressing but sometimes kissing the soft flesh around the nipples. Desire thrummed through her body, and then his lips enveloped a nipple and gently suckled. She felt the swell of heat in her sex, the moistening in her pussy, already contracting with impatience and desire.
Nikki sucked in a breath as he nestled his body closer, hot and firm against her skin, one warm palm settling on her breast, cradling it like it was a valuable treasure . . . but then his thumb brushed over the nipple, instantly sending a hot white bolt of desire through her body. His thumb continued to circle around her nipple, then brushed over it, encouraging it to swell even larger, sending bolts of electricity through her body as his thumb tweaked and brushed up against it before settling on merely circling. She couldn’t help but tense and squirm some more, and she lifted a hand to place it on top of his. The moment she did, he removed his hand.
“Let me. You just lie still . . . ” he grinned. “Save your strength.”
She made a face but God, the tingling in her body coupled with the delicious sense of lethargy he provoked made it difficult to argue. Her breasts ached for his touch. Could she generate enough self-control to keep her hands still? Her body? Right now, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around those broad shoulders of his and pull him closer, to feel his heat from head to toe and everywhere in between. She inhaled as his hand left her breast and explored downward, skimming along her stomach, then her lower abdomen, and then lower, his touch light and teasing . . . gentle, careful not to place too much weight anywhere, as if she were so fragile she might break.
She lay as still as she could. Torture . . . it was pure torture. He slowly explored every inch of her skin, as if he’d never felt a woman’s skin before. This was no frantic coupling, no wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am fuck. No, this was lovemaking, as it should be.
His hand ventured ever lower, tracing the contours of her waist, her hip, then moved inward, inching lower. Her body in flames, pulsing with desire, the blood pounding in her veins and ringing in her ears, she couldn’t help the groan that escaped her lips as she whispered his name. She froze and held her breath when his hand cupped her sex and explored her wetness. She felt his cock harden against her thigh. She longed to reach down and wrap her hands around his rock-hard shaft, but she didn’t. She couldn’t risk him stopping. Not now. In spite of her determined efforts to maintain control, she almost lost it . . . more than once, anticipating every move of his hand, those strong, long fingers, caressing her lower lips, dipping inside, a finger wiggling, that thumb now circling her nub, prompting more moans and gentler writhing.
He slid two fingers into her wet slit. Oh, God, her internal muscles contracted around his hand and Seth chuckled again, but even that sounded strained to her ears. His cock pulsed against her thigh, and she took a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that he desired her as much as she desired him . . . his fingers deep inside, his palm caressing her clit, pressing down as he rubbed.
God, she needed more and lifted her hips and rolled them against that palm, encouraging those fingers to go deeper. They did. She cried out when his fingers slowly slid out and then back in again. It took every bit of willpower she had not to reach for his cock and feel his hardness in her palm.
“Oh, God, Seth . . . faster . . . go faster.”
He obliged, his fingers sliding in and his thumb applying a bit more pressure, his palm circling as he rubbed over her slit and nub . . . seconds later she felt the waves of her climax build and he kept up the pace, looking up at her while she gazed at his face, his pupils dilated. Her hands gripped the sheet beneath her, but she managed to force herself to remain still, to let him do the work . . .
“Seth—” she bit her lip as she tipped over the edge, her body convulsing with the force of her orgasm, contracting, contracting, sending delicious waves through her body, shuddering in his arms as he pulled her closer . . .
Gasping for breath, she was trapped by a deep state of relaxation as a slow smile spread across her lips. He kissed her neck, then the corner of her mouth, then her lips, the kiss deepening. His tongue dipped inside her mouth much like his fingers had dipped into her pussy moments before. Then he leaned back, smiling down at her. She stared into his eyes. What was he thinking at this very moment? He said nothing. She didn’t either. She reached for his cock, but he stopped her with a gentle brush of his hand.
“I’ll take a cold shower,” he grinned. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She sighed, feeling as if she could sleep forever. After several silent though not awkward moments, he spoke again.
“You’d better not do that again, Nikki,” he said softly.
Do what?
“You can’t run away from me. I want to help you. Whatever you need, whatever’s wrong, I can help you. You need to trust me.”
Trust? Such an easy word to say, but a lot harder to accomplish. Trust. Could she trust him? Should she? She wanted to go home. But what was home without Stacey? Could she ask him to help her? Would he? Would the president of the club even allow it? She chided herself. No, this was something she had to do for herself. By herself. Foolish as that might be, she couldn’t take the risk of asking for help. If he
knew what she planned, he might seriously lock her in this cabin in the middle of nowhere and throw away the key. Most of all, though, she knew that she couldn’t soften her feelings for Seth “Sticks” Sterling.
15
Seth
“Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?”
Seth turned away from the window overlooking the compound and toward Levi. Their president stood near the door, arms crossed over his chest, his tone sharp with frustration. “I guarantee you, Levi, I’m going to find out.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Levi muttered. He turned to Grady, standing nearby, leaning against the wall on the other side of the window, a smirk on his face. Anger surged within Seth, and for a moment, his own annoyance goaded him to wipe the smirk off Grady’s face. “What?” he challenged. “What do you expect me to do, Merc? Beat it out of her?”
Grady’s grin widened, and he tipped his head, slicing through the tension building in the room.
“What have you been able to find out?” Levi muttered, stepping to his couch and falling into it. The cushions released dust into the air as he gazed at the dark television.
Seth didn’t like it when the television was off. Off meant Levi was upset.
“Not much,” Grady shrugged.
Seth frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I found a couple of articles that your girlfriend—”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Seth interrupted. Of course Grady would take the opportunity to take another dig at him. “She’s just—”
“A quick, convenient fuck?”
Seth took a step toward Grady, hands balled into fists.
“Knock it off, both of you,” Levi snapped. “It doesn’t matter,” he continued, turning toward Grady with a glare of warning. “What kind of articles?”
“Some lame articles in a local Albuquerque paper with Nikki’s byline.” He shrugged. “That took a little doing, since you never got her last name, which is Bascomb, by the way. She writes lifestyle, you know, like local happenings. I started with Googling her, found people on their images section, found her—a photo that looks several years old but close enough—and then followed that trail back to the newspaper. She’s got profiles on a bunch of journalism freelancing sites. When I first saw the she had a profile on one of those job sites that listed openings for news reporters, I thought she was an investigative journalist.” Levi and Seth listened quietly as Grady continued. “That might be a good angle, but it didn’t pan out.”
Levi frowned. “How could a lifestyle writer be caught up with the Jokers?”
“Well, maybe she hangs with them.”
Seth turned on Grady again, annoyance surging within him, hands instinctively balling into fists. “Are you seriously trying to suggest that that woman in my cabin would deliberately allow herself to be treated that way by those assholes? Possibly raped, sold as a sex slave only God knows where, or even killed? What the fuck’s the matter with you?”
Grady returned his angry glare but then stepped back and shrugged again. Damn it. Right now, Seth would prefer the old Grady back again. That way, he’d have an excuse to take a swing at him. Grady opened his mouth. “I think at this point, Sticks, we have to explore all the possibilities. On paper, she looks like a goody-two-shoes. So you tell me. How does a goody-two-shoes end up with the Jokers? It was a question I had to ask, and one you should be asking, too.”
Levi sat up, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “What are you getting at, Merc?”
“I’m getting at the possibility that she’s not everything that she seems.” He held up his hand to interrupt Seth, who’d taken another step forward, his expression darker than before. “Just listen to me for a minute, will you, Sticks?”
Seth paused, deciding. Finally, tension thick in the room, he nodded, and with a sigh, returned to the window, his left shoulder leaning against the sill. Why was he so upset? Why did he care what Grady thought of Nikki, or what Levi thought for that matter? She wasn’t his girlfriend, and he had no ties to her other than a couple of quick romps in bed. Why was he so defensive? But he knew. He had questions of his own. As far as he was concerned, it was alright for him to ask those questions, but for anyone else to have suspicions? He shook his head. No. Nikki was his to deal with and his alone.
“What if . . . what if she’s a plant?”
That, he wasn’t expecting. The same thought had crossed his mind right when he’d first laid eyes on her, but he’d dismissed it almost immediately. She was too vulnerable, too damn good for that. He jerked his head from the view out the window back to Grady. “A plant? Plant for what? For whom?”
“The Jokers,” Levi said, leaning back in the corner of the couch, crossing one leg over his knee, a contemplative expression on his face. “It’s something to think about.”
Seth frowned. “To what purpose?” He glanced at Grady and then Levi, staring at him with a lifted eyebrow. “Oh, you can’t be serious. This is fucking stupid. You’re thinking that she’s a spy or something, spying on us? What the hell would the Jokers even care what we’re doing?” He grunted in disgust, shook his head, and returned his gaze out the window.
“Maybe she and I should have a little talk,” Levi suggested. “Sticks, bring her over here. It’s time we got this straightened out once and for all.”
Seth stiffened, glancing between Levi and Grady. What he should do is take Nikki to the nearest bus station and send her on her way. This was ridiculous. “You can’t be seriously considering that,” he said. “What purpose—”
“Are you telling me that you honestly believe that the Jokers would kidnap somebody simply for seeing a chop shop?” Levi asked. He didn’t wait for Seth to answer before he continued. “I don’t. That’s what stupid. Ever since you brought her back here, the thought that she knew something has been niggling at me . . . that she knows something and she doesn’t want us to know. So I have to ask myself, why?”
Seth started to protest, but Grady interrupted.
“I could understand all this if she’d been writing an exposé on gang life in Albuquerque or something, but she’s not. She’s not even on social media. I mean, she’s got a couple of profiles up, but nothing earth-shattering and very few followers. Whoever she is, she’s private. She doesn’t put herself out there.”
“Bring her in here, Sticks.”
Seth glanced at Levi, still shaking his head, glowering. This was fucked up, thinking that Nikki was a mole or something. He didn’t want to believe it. Then again, he too had questions, none of which she seemed inclined to want to answer. Why?
Levi stared at him with the lifted eyebrow. Grady stepped to the door, opened it, and toed it open. With the glower, Seth left the room and clomped down the wooden stairs and out the building, shaking his head and muttering under his breath. He made his way toward his cabin, a myriad of thoughts racing through his mind. Who the hell was Nikki Bascomb really? What could he do to make her trust him, to tell him the truth? He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was in trouble, but he couldn’t help her if she didn’t tell him, damn it.
Would she still be there when he opened the door, or had she found another way to slip out? No, that wasn’t going to happen again. Levi had a couple of guys watching the cabin. If she even so much as stepped outside without one of them accompanying her, Levi would know about it in less than a minute.
He opened the door and stepped inside, surprised to find Nikki sitting on the couch, foot bouncing nervously on the floor, arms crossed over her chest, a deep frown marring her forehead. She barely spared him a glance and then returned her gaze to the opposite wall where the television screen sat dark and silent.
“Levi wants to talk to you.” She didn’t move, didn’t look at him, but he couldn’t help the tightening in his jeans as he watched her. God, she was something else. Something he wanted to take into the bedroom and explore to his heart’s content.
Without sparing him a glance, she shrugged. “Big fuc
kin’ deal.”
He stood by the door, watching her, saying nothing. If he just outwaited her, she would continue. She did, reluctantly turning to look at him.
“I want to go home, Seth. I don’t want to talk to Levi, and no offense, but I don’t really want to talk to you either. I want to go home. I need to go home!”
“I understand that, but—”
“Do you?” she asked, her voice low but harsh with disbelief. “Maybe you don’t have a family that cares about you, but I do.”
“You don’t know anything about me, Nikki,” he said quietly. “Nikki Bascomb.” She snapped her head in his direction, the blood draining from her face. Why? What did she—
“I know your kind, Seth. And I can imagine you caused your poor family nothing but grief—”
His stomach lurched as her comment brought a swell of unpleasant memories. He took a step toward her, anger tightening his gut. She turned to him, a sneer twisting her lips. Taunting. Why? What the hell was wrong with her? Was she purposely trying to piss him off? Hot or cold, she had no in-between.
“Unlike you, I belonged,” she continued, anger shoving common sense out the window. “I had a sense of belonging, with my family. Now look at me, held captive—”
“You’re not exactly a captive, Nikki.”
She continued as if he’d said nothing. “Held captive by a biker gang of all things.”
“We’re not a biker—”
“What would you know about family?” she continued, her voice growing more stringent and mocking. “Do they even know where you are? Do they care? Or do they worry about you? Are they somewhere, their hair turning gray, waiting for word from you, wondering where the hell you are?” She rushed on, her face flushed red with emotion, her eyes glassy with tears. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. I belong to a family that cares about each other, and right now, I promise you, they’re worried sick!” Her voice broke. “So please, let me go! Let me go back home! I won’t tell anybody what happened here. I promise!”
Confession Page 11
