by Cameron Hart
I give him the location, and he grunts in acknowledgement. Men. Such fragile creatures.
He mumbles something close to a goodbye. My gut twists with the sudden fear of something happening to him. I don’t want the last thing I say to him to be bitchy.
“Wait, Slash?”
He sighs. “Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
“Always, sweetheart.”
He hangs up, and my gut untwists a little bit at his nickname for me. My nerves got me all worked up and I lashed out at him, which, again, isn’t like me. I always remain professional, cool under pressure. I guess I’ve never found anyone who rattles me quite like Slash. It’s a good and bad thing. He brings me more peace than I have ever known but losing him would absolutely destroy me.
✽✽✽
My team and I pull into the Chaos clubhouse, and immediately I can tell something is wrong.
Nothing looks out of place, there are no strange vehicles, no strange people lurking, nothing but the same old building with the same old people inside. But I know. I feel it. Something is terribly off.
I get out of the SUV just as the rest of my team is piling out too.
“Hang back for a second. I need to go in and check something out, I don’t want these guys getting spooked with all the law enforcement.”
I get a few strange looks and a questioning glance from my boss, but everyone agrees to let me go in first.
Once inside, I see River talking with some of the younger guys in the club. He sees me and nods at the guys he’s sitting with, dismissing himself before heading in my direction.
“River,” I say once he’s within ear shot. “Is everything—”
I’m cut off by a flash and deafening roar. My body is slammed into the ground, knocking the air out of my lungs. The scene plays out in slow motion. The clubhouse is a mess of rubble with a few fires scattered about. All I can hear is a steady, piercing ring in my ear.
I’m momentarily paralyzed, the pounding in my head indicating I hit it pretty badly during the impact. But then my training kicks in. There was a bomb.
I knew it was a fucking set up.
The missing pieces fall into place. Whatever confrontation they had earlier with Chaos prompted us to move the timeline up. They knew we’d go after Victoria. They fed her a line to get the most senior members away from the club so they could attack. Fuck.
No time to worry about that now.
Sound starts filtering back in. Screams mixed with gun shots. I have civilians I need to get to safety. I push my battered body off the ground. I know I’m going to be sore, stiff, and bruised, but the adrenaline is kicking in now and I can barely register and pain.
I crawl over to the bar and see Liv covering Mia with her body.
“Come on, let’s get you two into the back,” I yell over the noise surrounding us.
Mia has unshed tears in her eyes, trying to be brave, but scared all the same. Neither Liv nor Mia appear to be hurt, which is a small miracle. I cover for them as we shuffle our way towards the back.
I try convincing Liv to stay back with Mia, but she wasn’t having any of that. Instead, she helps me find and gather up Beth and Claire. I take them both back with Mia while Liv argues with Stacy, trying to convince her to get to safety as well instead of whipping out her gun and fighting alongside the guys. Gotta love her spunk, that’s for sure.
Once everyone is safe, I make my way out of the back door, hoping to reconnect with my team and figure out a plan to get this mess under control. I’m sure they are handling it well, but I need to be in the loop too. I left my walkie talkie in the car, seeing as I thought the dangerous part of our mission was over.
I keep my back pressed to the side of the building and my gun drawn out in front of me. Before I can register what’s happening, an arm snakes out from behind the corner of the building and grabs my wrists, swinging me forward and knocking the gun out of my hand. He pulls my back to his front, wrapping one hand over my mouth while squeezing my wrists behind my back with the other.
“This the bitch that tried to set us up?” The guy yells over his shoulder.
I take the opportunity of his slight distraction to bite down on the hand over my mouth.
“Shit!” He screams, dropping his hand.
I snap my head back and connect with his nose, hearing a satisfying crack before he drops me. Once free of him, I scramble towards the fleet of SUV’s, where my team is taking cover, no doubt assessing the threat and planning for the most efficient way to bring this under control. The guys at Chaos are keeping things at bay for now, but we’ll need to act together to minimize the damage. Who knows if they have another bomb or not? We’ll need to get the scene cleared as soon as possible.
I’m snagged again before I get to the cars, however. This time by two huge bikers from the Devil’s Knights, one on either side of me. They lift me off the ground, even as I twist and kick to get out of their grip.
“Feisty one, isn’t she?” One guy says to the other. They both give a sickening laugh and try to haul me away.
“She’ll go for a pretty penny. Who doesn’t want to fuck a cop?” The other one sneers.
Oh hell no. That is not happening.
“You motherfuckers are going down!” I spit at them. The heel of my foot connects with one of their shins, but he twists my arm, tightening his grip.
“Keep fighting, little lady. We like a challenge.”
I open my mouth to say something else, but then I hear the roar of motorcycles. Thank fuck. We could use all the backup we can get.
Thing One and Thing Two keep dragging me away, but I see Slash running towards me. God, I’ve never played the part of damsel in distress, and I’ve never wanted to depend on anyone to save me, but I can’t deny the fact that I feel safer now that he’s here.
“Look who it is,” Thing One cackles. “The infamous Slash.”
“Let her go, take me instead.”
“Sorry, you won’t sell like she will. Actually, I suppose there might be a market for you…”
Slash steps forward, but Thing Two pulls out a gun and puts it to my head.
“Keep coming, boy. And neither one of us will have a cop to fuck.”
Slash snarls, faltering a bit, trying to figure out his next move.
“I’m ok, Slash. Be smart about this,” I say, trying to break through the fog of anger I see gathering in his eyes. People ruled by anger don’t make smart choices, and right now more than ever I need him to have a clear head.
His eyes snap to mine and soften. I know I need to keep up my strength, but my body is growing weary, crashing from the events of the day.
“Does your girlfriend know about Spider?”
Slash’s face grows pale. What about Spider? Why does that matter?
“You think she wants to be with someone related to a monster like him?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I can’t keep quiet, gun to my head or not.
“You’re one to talk. From where I’m standing, you’re the monster selling off women.” I’m trying to sound tough, but even I hear the weakness in my voice, my words slurred as I fight off the spots in my vision.
The man grunts and digs the barrel of the gun deeper into my temple. That kicks me into high alert again.
“Careful there, doll. From where I’m standing, I have the upper hand here. Might want to shut that pretty mouth of yours before I have to shove my cock in your throat to keep you quiet.”
Slash growls again, shaking with the need to fix this situation.
Thing Two addresses Slash again. “You know, we’d consider taking you on as a business partner. You could replace your dear old brother Spider, may he rest in peace.”
Oh, shit. No wonder this case means so much to Slash. Spider was his fucking brother. God, he must feel somehow responsible for bringing this kind of evil into Sausalito. His eyes flicker to mine for a brief moment. I’ve never seen him look so stricken, so completely broken.
I get a second wave of energy and catch Slash’s eye. I flick my gaze towards Thing One, trying to communicate that I can take him if he covers for me with Thing Two. He nods his head. It’s almost imperceptible, but I see it.
With synchronized movements, Slash and I work together against the two men. He knocks the gun out of Thing Two’s hand at the same time I’m hooking my foot around Thing One’s leg, dropping him to the ground. Slash gets off a shot, hitting Thing Two in the leg, while I straddle Thing One, grabbing his hair and smashing his head into the pavement till he passes out.
I crawl off of the body and try standing, only to crumple to the ground. Somewhere in the distance I hear Slash’s voice calling my name, but it sounds like I’m underwater. The last thing I remember is strong arms cradling me, and then everything goes black.
Chapter 13
Slash
I’m pacing around the hospital waiting room, going out of my fucking mind. The cops and the rest of Chaos were able to get control of the situation shortly after Kennedy collapsed. The Devil’s Knights who attacked us are either dead or in custody.
By the time the guys and I realized we were played, things were already out of control back at the clubhouse. I tried calling Kennedy with no response. Dom called River with no response. Finally, Carter called Liv, who told us about the bomb and the attack. She was with the other women in the back room, taking cover.
I hoped that Kennedy was in there with them, but I knew she wasn’t, even before I got there. I knew my little warrior would be in the middle of battle, slaying the dragons.
Seeing her being manhandled by those two dickheads was my breaking point. I wanted to put a bullet in their heads, but then Kennedy reminded me to be smart. Normally, that sort of comment would have pissed me off, like it did earlier in the day when she basically told me the same thing over the phone. But right then, it’s what I needed to hear.
The fucking bastards had to go and bring up Spider. Part of me wanted to keep that from her forever, but I knew it’d come out eventually. I had hoped to make her fall in love with me first, so that she’d have a harder time leaving me when she found out I shared the same DNA as a monster.
We didn’t get a chance to talk about it though. After going ape shit on the other guy who had a hold of her, she tried standing, but fell on the ground. I gathered her up in my arms and held her close. I’ve never known fear like that. I could feel her taking shallow breaths, but everything else about her made it look like she was dead. Her skin was almost grey, the gash on her forehead still bleeding. Her body hung limp in my arms as I scooped her up and carried her over to an ambulance parked nearby.
I tried climbing in after they loaded her, but the EMT stopped me, saying I wasn’t family. Fuck that. She was my family. But I didn’t want to delay her getting to the hospital by having a fight, so I backed off and followed them to the hospital on my bike.
They still won’t let me see her. I’m about to punch a fucking hole in the wall.
Just then, a nurse wanders into the waiting room. “Uh, Mr. Slash?” She asks tentatively. I’d laugh at being called “Mr.” but I need to see Kennedy and I need to see her right the fuck now.
“Yeah,” I grunt.
“Officer Martinez is awake. She’s been asking about you. Room 218.”
I don’t even stop to thank her, I just run down the hall towards the patient rooms and search wildly for room 218.
When I find it, I take a minute to collect myself. I’m on edge, the fear and anger still hot in my veins. That’s not what she needs right now. After taking a few deep breaths, I open the door and brace myself for seeing Kennedy. Will she be pissed that I didn’t tell her about Spider? Will she be disgusted? Will she hate me?
Only one way to find out.
I look up and see Kennedy fully dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed. She tilts her head up, meeting my gaze. I don’t see fear or anger or disgust. I see relief.
“Slash!” She cries, getting up off the bed and running into my arms.
Fuck, I’ll never get tired of holding her. She nuzzles her head into my chest as I slide a hand up her back and massage her neck.
“Take it easy, baby, shouldn’t you be resting?” I whisper into her hair, although now that she’s in my arms, I’m not letting her go ever again.
“Fuck resting, I just need you,” she sobs.
She needs me.
“Are you crying, sweetheart?” I tease, knowing she never admits to her tears.
“Damn right I am!” Well, never mind, then. I chuckle and tighten my hold on her. “I passed out before everything was over. I didn’t know if you were ok or not. What if I lost you? Fuck, Slash. What if I lost you?” She repeats.
“Shh, baby, I’m right here,” I try soothing her, but truthfully, I’m feeling just as desperate, just as thread-bare as she sounds. What if I fucking lost her? I’d never recover.
“You’re ok?” She sniffles.
“Yeah, I’m ok now that I have you here in my arms. You scared the shit out of me.”
I gently cup her neck where my hand is resting and pull her head back so I can get a good look at her. There’s a bandage over the gash on her forehead, which appears to be the worst of her wounds that I can see. I kiss away the tears drying on her cheeks, and then trace my lips down her jaw and chin before gently brushing them across her soft mouth.
She sighs and melts into me even more.
“Can you take me back to my motel? I’m tired and I hate hospitals.”
“Nope.”
Kennedy jerks her head back, but then winces.
“Careful, sweetheart.”
“What do you mean, nope?”
I grin. “I’m not taking you to your motel. You’re coming home. With me.”
“You have a house?”
“Yup. With a bed and running water and everything.”
“Oooh, fancy,” she giggles.
“God, it’s good to hear you laugh, baby girl.” I dip my head down to nuzzle into her hair, breathing her in.
✽✽✽
Half an hour later, Kennedy is checked out of the hospital and I’m just pulling up to my house. It’s not much – a little three bedroom ranch style house on the edge of town, but I have a feeling Kennedy will make it more of a home just by being there.
I get off the bike and turn just in time to catch Kennedy as she stumbles off.
“Shit, baby, I knew we should have waited for Carter to come pick us up in his truck.”
“No, no, I’m fine. I like riding your big, fat… bike,” she winks, remembering my line the first time I took her for a ride.
Kennedy takes a step towards the house, but sways.
I don’t wait for her permission, I just scoop her up in my arms and carry her into the house, also not unlike that first night I gave her a ride. She curls up into my chest and I hold her close as I walk us straight back to the bathroom.
“Do you think you can stand up for a shower?” I ask, setting her down on the counter.
“Mmhmm… Under one condition.” She gives me a devilish grin, making my cock jerk.
Not tonight, buddy.
Kennedy needs to rest, and I’ll always give her what she needs.
“What’s that?”
“You join me.”
I groan and tilt her head up to capture her lips with mine. I pull away all too soon, not wanting to get too carried away while she’s still hurting. Kennedy pouts and then grabs my shirt and pulls me back into her.
“Kiss me like you mean it,” she whispers against my lips.
I do as she says, thrusting my tongue inside of her hot, wet mouth and swallowing her moans as she meets me stroke for stroke. I nibble on her bottom lip, dragging it through my teeth before pulling back.
She’s panting, her eyes still closed. Kennedy smiles. “That’s more like it,” she laughs.
“Let’s get you in the shower,” say as I start lifting her shirt off of her body.
Soon we’re bo
th naked and stepping into the warm stream of water. I take a minute to look her up and down, trailing my fingers over a few scrapes and bruises. Each one pains me and reminds me that it could have been so much worse.
Kennedy gathers up my hand and kisses my palm. It’s probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever done to me. She places my hand over her heart, the steady beating pulling me back into the present.
I kiss her forehead and then rest mine there.
“Kennedy,” I whisper. I don’t have any other words. I can’t think about how this day could have ended. It didn’t feel real, none of it, until this moment. I feel like the whole day, all of the fears, the anger, the relief, all catch up to me at once. I’m impossibly tired, and I can only imagine how exhausted she is. But fuck, I need this. Need to feel her skin on skin.
“I know,” she whispers back. She gets it. She gets me.
After a few minutes, I grab a wash cloth and load it up with body wash. I carefully run it over her soft curves with one arm, as the other holds her up by pressing her against me. The poor girl can barely stand, she’s so worn out.
I turn her around so her back is against my front. She leans into me while I massage shampoo into her hair and then rinse it out, repeating the process with conditioner.
When I’m done washing every inch of her, I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her back into me. I press soft kisses on her temple, her shoulder, and the back of her neck.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“Any time, baby girl. Let’s get you in bed, ok? I think we both can use some rest.”
She nods, and I help her out of the shower, gently drying her off. Without getting dressed, I scoop her up in my arms and settle us down in my bed before pulling the covers over us. I still need to feel her skin on skin. Need her warmth. Need to remind myself we’re ok, and we’re here.
Kennedy adjusts herself so she’s snuggled up to my side, resting her head on my chest. I wrap an arm around her and rub her back.
We’re both quiet, but not sleeping. I’m physically exhausted, but my mind is still racing. I wonder if it’s the same for her. Finally, she breaks the silence.
