Zook

by Bex Dane

  Zook (Men of Siege Book Two) © 2019 by Bex Dane.

  All rights reserved. The scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without written permission from the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author's rights.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, persons, or locales is coincidental.

  Published by Larken Romance 2019

  Cover by Elizabeth Mackey Designs

  Proofreading by The Book Wyvern

  Zook (Men of Siege Book Two)

  "She sucked in my kisses like she'd been underwater without air for hours and my lips were an oxygen ventilator. Whatever she needed, my mouth provided."

  Can the prisoner set the princess free?

  Zook

  My second chance at life is going better than I expected.

  Got a job doing construction where my boss doesn't care about my criminal record.

  A beautiful girl is teaching me to read and write.

  Man, I'm falling hard for Cecelia. The Ivy League brunette with big brown eyes goes wild when I kiss her.

  But she's hiding some kinda secret from me.

  She lets me in to the point I think we're soaring, then slams on the brakes.

  She says her family has a hold on her that terrifies her.

  She's letting fear win.

  But I'm not afraid. Whoever I have to fight to make her mine, I'll do it.

  Cecelia

  If my life were different, I'd be Zook's girl.

  I'd fly away with my sexy cowboy and never return.

  But I'm a bird in a cage, owned by a royal dictator who will slaughter anyone I get close to.

  We can only steal our intimate moments.

  Because if we're caught, Zook's as good as dead.

  Zook is a full-length standalone novel with a guaranteed happy ending.

  "Suspenseful, heart-wrenching, smooth flowing, page-turning."

  "Well written with great characters and hot steamy sexiness!"

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  Contents

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Want More Zook?

  "Birds never sing in caves." — Henry David Thoreau

  Chapter 1

  Boston, Massachusetts

  Zook

  "You might want to take off your hat, cowboy." The bouncer at the door of Siege nightclub handed me my Idaho identification card and took my last twenty bucks.

  I adjusted my straw hat and gave him a tip of my head. "I'd just as soon keep it on. Thank you."

  He opened the velvet rope blocking the entrance and let me pass.

  Siege nightclub assaulted me as I stepped inside. Deafening music, flashing lights, wall-to-wall people, stuffy air. Not my scene at all. I just needed to find Tessa and then I could get the hell out of here.

  All the men there looked like her husband, Rogan. Buzzed hair, obscene muscles bursting out of tight T-shirts. Swagger all over the place.

  The camouflage splotches and brown nets on the walls made it feel more like these men were here to hunt, not unwind with a drink after work. The second-story balcony provided an ideal viewpoint to survey and pick off prey, and there seemed to be plenty of willing female victims on the dance floor.

  Showing up here was dangerous. Tessa's husband hated me. But I'd spent the last twenty-one months in prison feeling bad about the pain I caused her, so I needed to talk to her tonight. Tell her I'm sorry. See if she'd forgive me.

  None of the women looked like her. If she wasn't here, I'd wasted my first four days of freedom and spent all my money on a cross-country bus trip for nothing.

  A pair of brunettes at the bar distracted me from my search for Tessa. One of them, the one wearing far less fabric, crossed her legs and flashed her thigh at two guys walking past. She was good-looking, and it might have worked if she hadn’t jammed her straw up her nose instead of taking a seductive sip.

  I chuckled as she banged her forehead on the bar. Poor girl. Taking it hard she totally blew her attempt to snag some attention. Her friend rubbed her back and talked in her ear. Must be nice to have your biggest problem be worrying about your lame-ass moves in a nightclub.

  The music changed to some kind of rap song, and the girl perked up like a prairie dog. She tugged her friend to the dance floor and coaxed her to sway her hips.

  Her friend stared up at the ceiling and drew my gaze to a girl suspended in a glass box. She looked dreamily at the box like she wished she could dance up there. Good to have goals, I suppose.

  A jarhead approached them and blocked my view. I took the seat the girl had been sitting in and snagged one of the full drinks they'd left behind.

  Some fruity shit, but after four days drinking nothing but bus-bathroom sink water, it was like Gatorade after a sweaty workout.

  I wiped my beard with the back of my hand and resumed my search for Tessa.

  The girl's friend, the one wearing the longer dress, broke out of the crowd and caught me drinking from her glass.

  We locked eyes.

  She glared at me like I was a criminal. Which I was, but still… it bothered me.

  The navy-blue dress she wore seemed as out of place as these corduroy pants from back on the farm. She looked like a librarian in a jungle full of hunters. The women here had wild hair with jumbo curls. Her hair stayed where she'd carefully combed and pinned it back. A classy girl. And by the way she pegged me quickly as a bad guy, a smart girl. Staring at her made my gut stir like a worm digging into a stash of cornmeal. I didn't like the way she looked at me. I wanted her to see me as worthy.

  Worthy of what?

  Her acceptance.

  Her touch.

  Her heart.

  A man worthy of her kiss...

  Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. She wouldn't lower her standards to be with a convicted felon who steals drinks in bars and can't write his own name. No. A girl like her could never be mine.

  Chapter 2

  Her head pivoted as she looked around for someone to save her from me. Don't worry, princess. I won't hurt you.

  Her eyes blew wide one second before a strong hand hit my bicep and another gripped behind my neck.

  My forearm twisted around the one gripping mine and I ducked, wrenching myself out of the hold.

  I turned to find Rogan glaring at me.

  What? You think I can't fight? You're wrong. Learned a few things in prison. First lesson is never let someone get you from behind.

  Rogan lunged again and I blocked his right hook, but his left arm snaked behind my head and yanked me into a choke hold. My straw hat tumbled to the ground as he squeezed my neck between his barrel-like forearm and his elbow, hard enough to hurt, but no
t hard enough to cut off my air supply or break my neck.

  Fighting the pain, I managed to land a series of punches to his ribs, but it was like hitting a steel wall. Right about now I could use Gustavo or Destry at my back, but I had no one. I rode alone tonight, and Rogan had me pinned.

  Another man grabbed my free hand. Twisting it behind my back, they pushed me out of the bar and through a side door.

  The chilly September air blasted my face as we emerged into a narrow alley, dark except for a few lights mounted on the brick wall. I stopped fighting for a second, letting them think I'd given up. They relaxed their grip on me, and I took advantage by kicking one guy in the ribs and elbowing Rogan in the face. That gave me the second of distraction I needed to break away again.

  The other guy pulled a gun and aimed it at me. "That's enough."

  I spit on the ground and swiveled my gaze back and forth between the gun and Rogan. We stood in a tense triangle, our chests heaving, the cold air turning our breaths to white smoke.

  Rogan held his chin where my elbow nailed him. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

  "Fuck you!" I eyed the gun still pointed at my chest.

  The girl from inside came through the side door, my hat clutched in her shaking fingers. She stopped to pick up my hat? And followed a brawl out into the alley? Not smart.

  Rogan squinted at me. "If you're here to talk to Tessa, you're shit outta luck. She ain't speaking to you."

  "Get that fucking gun off me, Rogan."

  "Hands up. We'll check you for weapons. Then I'll lower my firearm." The other man, the one with darker hair, spoke with a deep, no-bullshit tone.

  I looked to the sky and raised my palms to the level of my shoulders. Rogan moved in and patted me down. He nodded at the man holding the gun who inserted it into a holster at his hip.

  The tension in the alley dropped a notch as we all loosened our defensive stances. I exhaled a ragged breath into the cold night air.

  "Rogan!" Tessa burst through the side door. Glittery cursive letters over her breasts bounced in the tight black Siege T-shirt she wore. Pink sparkly heels shuffled up to Rogan's side. Still pretty. Always was.

  "Go away, Tess." Rogan didn't take his eyes off me.

  "No. Is that Zook? Zook Guthrie?" Tessa's eyes grew round as she took me in. Apart from the disheveled clothes, the Zook she saw now was nothing like the Zook she knew. I spent every second in prison pushing my body to the max. Sit ups, push ups, running in place. Getting stronger and bigger. I was hard now. All softness gone. "Oh my gosh, Zook. What's going on?"

  "Saw him messing with her drink." Rogan tipped his head toward the girl who looked like a librarian.

  She took a tentative step forward and squeezed the hat so tight, I saw the top collapse. "He didn't mess with my drink."

  Whoa. Didn't expect her to say that. Expected her to rat me out. Rogan wrapped his arm over Tessa's shoulder and glanced down at my hat in her hands. "You know him?"

  "No. I don't. But I saw him. He moved the drink aside, but he didn't tamper with it."

  This was technically true because I didn't mess with it, I drank it. Not sure why this girl felt she should lie for me though.

  "Here's your, uh, hat." She shook the hat out, trying to get its shape back and held it up for me.

  I reached out slowly to take it. She stared into my eyes, urging me to play along. Close up, she was even prettier than I first thought. Big brown eyes, glowing skin, a killer body. God, I'd give anything to have her go back inside and not watch this. What she'd seen already was humiliating. Now she was lying for me.

  "Thanks." I ran my hand over my hair before popping the hat on.

  "I'll ask one more time. What's your business here?" Rogan asked me.

  "I'm looking for my parents," I admitted, looking at Tessa.

  "They ain't here," Rogan replied.

  "No shit? Aging religious freaks from Idaho don't hang at the Camo Club in Beantown?" Rogan grated on my last nerve. I wasn't gonna hurt her. Just talk to her.

  "Watch your mouth, asshole, or I'll remove you myself," the man who had pulled the gun said. "I own this damn joint, and I'm not liking your attitude." He turned his attention to Rogan. "Fill me in. How do you know him?"

  Rogan's gaze moved to the man who asked the question. "This is Zook Guthrie. Tessa knew him growing up in Idaho. He went to prison for assaulting her and another woman a few years back. Got a call he was being released, but I didn't expect him to show up here. I'm guessing he wants to reconnect with Tessa. That ain't happening." He turned to look at me. "She's my wife. You don't need to talk to her."

  "He said he's looking for his parents, not me," Tessa said.

  "And I said they ain't here."

  Tessa put her palm flat on Rogan's chest. This seemed to calm him because his jaw relaxed, and the fire in his gaze dimmed. "I can help him."

  "He's a fucking criminal."

  Ouch, that hurt. It was true but hearing Rogan say it like that stung. Tessa and I had been close once. We were there for each other when no one else was. And even though it sucked to hear him talk about me like that, I was glad she had him. He clearly loved her and would protect her, which is exactly what she needed. She'd made life good for herself. I needed to do something similar with my life; I was just two years behind her.

  "Tessa," I said and she turned to look at me. "I'm sorry. About what happened. I never shoulda let it get that far." Felt good to finally say it to her.

  Her eyes softened like she'd found a lost puppy. Pity. For me. I hated that look all the time but even more when it came from Tessa. She knew me. We had the same story. She shouldn’t pity me. "It's okay, Zook. You were caught up in my father's web just like all the others on the compound. You deserve a second chance. We all do."

  That was nice of her to say, but, "I still shoulda put an end to it before you got hurt." This thought haunted me most nights in my cell, wishing I could tell her how much I regretted what went down.

  Rogan nailed me with a dubious stare. If he wasn’t here, I could talk to Tessa more, but we had an audience. I wanted to get her alone and tell her that if I had known the FBI was planning a takedown, I would've given them the info they needed earlier and she wouldn't have had to go undercover into the compound, putting herself at Jeb's mercy. Luckily, Rogan was there in the background and made sure she didn't get hurt.

  "If y'all got this handled, I'm going to return to my office." The man who'd pulled the gun stepped back toward the door we'd come through.

  "We're good. Thanks, Dallas."

  The man he called Dallas stopped at the pretty girl who had followed us out. "You alright, ma'am?"

  "Yes, I'm fine."

  "Would you like me to escort you back into the club?"

  "Actually, I'd like to stay here if that's alright."

  Her voice was timid and shaky. Why would she want to stay out here in the cold? It was sorta like a train wreck. Maybe she couldn't look away.

  Dallas nodded and returned to the club.

  "I don't know where your parents are, Zook. But I can look for them for you," Tessa continued.

  That was all I wanted. The reason I came all this way. To make contact, make amends, and make sure they're doing okay. "I'd appreciate that. My mom, if she's still in the Brotherhood, I wanna help her get out." From what I'd heard, people still followed Jeb from prison. He controlled the congregation from behind bars. I couldn't stand the idea of my mom suffering like she did before.

  "I understand. Give me your contact info and I'll let you know."

  Oh, hmm. Contact info. Shit. I shuffled my feet and glanced at the girl. "I'm in transition right now."

  Tessa frowned and her voice grew concerned. "Do you have a place to stay?"

  "Yes," I answered belligerently. The subway terminal counted as a place to stay.

  "You know," Tessa continued, more casually, "Got a small school set up in Idaho for the boys from the compound."

  Damn. Tessa always got on me about
learning to read. "Don't start, Van." My voice came out tight. I did not want to talk about this here. In front of Rogan and the librarian. There were some things we shared she should keep private.

  "I go by Tessa now," she shot back.

  She'd always be Van to me. "I know. Still. Don't start."

  "Don't start what?" Rogan asked.

  My eyes passed over the girl again. She was listening with her ears perked at full attention. I muttered under my breath. "Fuck." Now she knew my greatest weakness. I needed schooling.

  "Come by here tomorrow morning, Zook," Tessa pleaded. "I'll tutor you."

  Oh man, Tessa offering to tutor me didn't sit right. Never did. She was damn persistent too. Always trying sneaky ways to teach me to read. She had even given me her journal and told me I had to learn to read to see what it said. I still hadn't read it, but I planned to. Soon.

  Rogan's arm tightened around her shoulders. "No, babe. Not him."

  "I'm not holding a grudge against him. He didn't hit me, and he was forced to do what he did. He's not a bad guy. He's good. He needs my help."

  As she spoke I stared down at the ground. "I don't need no help. I just wanna find my parents."

  "Why don't you call Destry? I saw him on—"

  Oh hell no. My head came up and I shot her a warning glance. "I'm not speaking with Destry."

  "That's a shame. You boys were so close."

  A wince of pain passed through me. Tessa was scoring me deep with every word. Hearing Destry's voice in my head had become normal for me, and being apart from him, well, I missed it. Some pretty negative voices had taken his place. "Listen. I gotta go." I turned to the girl and tapped the brim of my hat. "Thank you for my hat. My apologies if your evening was ruined."

  "No. I'm glad I could help clear this up." She had a gentle, smooth voice. Pretty and classy. Just like everything else about her.

  I threw her a wink and a smile and she looked away. Shy. Cute.

  "Come to Siege tomorrow morning, Zook." Tessa's repeated request drew my gaze from the girl.

  I stared her down and gave her as much "drop it" in my eyes as I could manage. "Bye, Tessa." I turned and walked toward the exit of the parking lot.