by E. C. Land
“What the fuck?” This bitch was crazy. Staring at the images, she’d had some of me from high school at the football games. Some of them are from gigs. Others are just random.
“Tanner, Bishop and Jackson just pulled in the driveway,” Hunter calls out.
“Good, send them back here,” I call out, not taking my eyes off the wall.
“You got it.”
As I continue to scan over the images, I find one that’s alarming to me. It was the day I married Alexis. Only in the picture I’m not holding my wife in my arms but Lori.
This bitch needed to be in the looney bin. She fuckin’ photoshopped herself into a picture that should have been special for not just me but Alexis. Now it’s tainted by something vile. Maybe once I have my woman back, we’ll have a vow renewal. Something special, rather than just the vague memory of us getting married when we were nineteen.
“Tanner,” Bishop greets, letting me know he’s in the room.
Tilting my head slightly, I find him and Jackson both looking around the room with a grimace on their faces. “Bishop. Jackson. Thanks for coming.”
“No problem. We’re gonna have to call the police in for this,” Jackson grumbles.
“No need for calling the cops, this just became club business,” Twister seethes from the doorway to the room.
“Twister, you know we’re gonna have to,” Jackson says, reasonably.
“Not happenin’ man. This shit has to do with the club,” he snaps and looks around at the pictures. “Sick fuckin’ bitches.”
“What’s going on?” I demand.
“Chaz showed me a picture when we got here, said y’all didn’t know who the men were in the picture but we fuckin’ do. Don’t worry about the bitch out there dead. I’m sure she got off easy with only a bullet in the head. If it were me or one of my brothers, we’d have handed her over to Ally or one of the other ol’ ladies to handle,” Twister states.
“Who are the men?” Bishop asks.
“Dragon’s Fire MC.” My stomach drops at the mention of the MC. I hadn’t heard that name since the shit went down with Connors and her ex.
“Fuck,” Jackson yells.
“You got that right, Jackson. Good thing is two out of three of those men are dead. One died with three bullets to the chest and one to his head for what he did to my sister. The other died with the rest of his men that were at the clubhouse the day Lo–man was taken. Now let’s get out of here. Gadget’s already working on finding Alexis,” Twister states.
“If we don’t call the cops, we’re gonna have to take care of this shit,” Bishop mutters.
“Got it covered. Brass and Red will be here in a few to handle it,” Twister responds as he glances from Bishop and Jackson to me. “We’ll find her, Tanner. Remember, we take care of our own and she’s one of us just as you are.”
Nodding, I run a hand over my face. “When we find her, I want the fucker who took her,” I declare as I drop my hand and hold the president of the Devil’s Riot MC’s gaze.
Grinning, Twister holds his hand out. “You got it brother,” he states.
Shaking his hand, I nod. “Let’s get out of here. If I see any more of this shit, I’ll fuckin’ flip. This bitch wasn’t just trying to ruin everything I had with Alexis, she wanted Alexis’ life it seems. What the hell is wrong with these bat shit crazy women? I’m tired as hell of the bullshit drama. All I fuckin’ want is to live my life with my wife at my side finally without any bullshit.”
“Don’t worry, Tanner. You will have that and so will she. Meet us at the clubhouse and we’ll see what Gadget has found out and go get your woman,” he says clasping a hand on my shoulder.
Following him, I begin to think of all ways to torture the man for taking Alexis. Taking my harmony. For that he’ll die slowly. I don’t care how, but no one will take the light from me. Never again. When Alexis is back in my arms, I’m fuckin’ cuffing her to me.
Chapter 18
Alexis
Groaning, I try to roll over to my side, only to find I’m unable to. Both my arms are stretched out above my head and my legs are spread wide. Opening my eyes, I lift my head and stare down my body in horror. Somehow, they’d gotten me not only in this room while I was unconscious but naked.
Please do not let them do anything to me.
Let Tanner find me soon. I don’t want anyone else to touch me but him.
I mean Tanner has to know I’ve been taken by now. He was on the phone with me when I’d dropped it when Matthew shot Lori in the head.
“You finally decide to wake up, sweetheart?” I tilt my head to the side at the sound of Matthew’s cackles and find his beady eyes roaming my naked body.
“Let me go, please,” I murmur even though I know it won’t happen.
“Why would I want to do that? I have you right where I’ve wanted you for years. I’ve dreamed of you positioned like this for so long. For me to be able to do what I want. To touch you wherever I want. And to put my mouth wherever the fuck I want.” Bile rises and I have to swallow it in order to keep from choking to death at Matthew’s words.
Matthew saunters over to the bed and places a knee on the mattress as he climbs up to lean his upper body over me, bracing himself with his hand on the other side of me.
If I could bury myself further into the bed, I would be beneath the thing. As it is, I’m unable to move away from Matthew as his lips come down on mine and he thrusts his tongue forcefully into my mouth. I try to turn my head to make him stop but he uses his free hand to grip my chin keeping me in place.
His groans make my stomach tighten and fear rises within me. I’m helpless in this moment, and I only did this to myself.
A knock at the door interrupts him from going any further when he releases my mouth.
“What?” he demands, and the door opens.
“Prez, need you in the other room. Got some intel we need to go over,” said the man filling the doorway. Well maybe man isn’t the right word to use for this guy he looks more like a damn mountain he’s freaking huge.
“I’ll be right there,” Matthew states before turning his attention back to me. “Be ready when I get back, sweetheart. I intend to make you scream tonight.” With that he storms out of the room.
I guess what they say about club business coming first is true and right now I couldn’t be happier in a situation like this. It bought me a little bit more time to figure out a plan. If there was even one to come up with that is.
“Don’t worry, Alexis. Tanner will come for you,” I tell myself.
“That dick ain’t gonna do shit, sweetness. You’re Prez’s and I can’t wait for him to give me a turn. Prepare yourself. Him and I share everything,” the mountain of a man laughs from where he was still standing. How did I not realize he was still standing there leering at me?
I start to shake as his words sink in. They intend to share me.
No. No. No. This is not happening to me. It’s just a dream.
Mountain man steps closer and closer to me while licking his lips.
“Mountain, leave the girl alone for now. You can play when Prez and you have time. We need you in church,” a voice comes from the now blocked doorway. I recognize it as Spark’s voice. I guess he must be the reasonable one around here and my best bet at getting someone on my side.
Without a word Mountain, leans forward putting his nose directly in the crook of my neck and inhales as he cups one of my breasts with his other. “Damn you smell just as good as she did, and I can’t wait to sink my cock in you.”
“Mountain,” Spark snaps.
“Comin’ VP. Just getting a small taste of sweetness over here,” Mountain sneers as he stands back to his full height and storms out of the room past Spark.
Spark steps into the room and closes the door. “I see the look in your eye, sweetheart and don’t think you can make an ally out of me because that’s not something I am to you. You’re a pawn in a war, nothing else. I could give two shits about whether o
r not you live or die. However, I won’t see my brothers lose track of what needs to be done. Got me?”
I nod my head in defeat and Spark opens the door back up. Once he steps through, he slams it closed behind leaving me to my own thoughts.
“Please hurry Tanner,” I murmur as tears fill my eyes. Letting out a shaky breath, I try my best to keep the tears from falling. Staring at the ceiling, I let my mind wander to somewhere else. Somewhere where Tanner is and I’m in his arms. I don’t want to be anywhere else but with him.
I want him and I to have a family together. To have a family Christmas like I used to have with my parents before they died.
I can all but see a little boy who looks just like his daddy, sitting on the floor grinning as Tanner handed him a present to open. A little girl who beams at the sight of her daddy holding her in his arms.
God, I want that so much.
But I don’t know if I’ll ever have that. Not now at least.
I have to find a way to survive this if I will ever get out of here. There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to ever let Tanner be with me again if it goes further than it already has. It’s bad enough those men have seen me like this. I don’t want them to do anything else.
They do. It’s game over and I won’t be able to handle it. They might as well kill me at that point because Tanner will never look at me the same. And if I’m honest I’ll never be able to look at myself the same.
Chapter 19
Tanner
“Do we have anything yet?” I ask for what seems like the hundredth time as I pace the room waiting for Gadget to find something.
Anything.
Having to wait is driving me absolutely nuts. I need to find Alexis before something horrible happens to her. Not knowing if she’s okay is killing me.
Feeling as if I couldn’t protect her is hitting me in the gut like nothing else ever has.
“Gadget’s working as fast as he can, Tan,” Horse says as he motions for me to sit.
“Horse, man I can’t sit down. I’m going fuckin’ nuts right now not knowing where Alexis is,” I mutter.
“Know the feeling. Been there. It’s not fun and I don’t wish it on anyone. When Flame took Kenny, I flipped my shit. My brothers were the ones to keep me sane. Tell you this though, you’ll get her back and when you do, don’t let her see anything but love for her. Otherwise she’ll think all sorts of bullshit in her head about you not wantin’ her anymore,” he says, his gaze moving from me to his ol’ lady who’s sitting at a table with their three kids.
It’s crazy how this woman who all but helped the band get a start out there with being our first real gig is a mom. Chaz, Hunter, Lex, and I have always seen her as family from the moment we met her. She immediately spoke to us and that was that. She became part of the group and that won’t ever change. Shit the woman is one badass saint. You don’t mess with her unless you want to end up with an arrow in you.
We all know about it. Well anyone who hangs around the club. Kenny has a wicked aim when it comes to shooting a bow and took out a guy with it once when there was a threat at the club house.
Hell, all the women of the club are. Especially Ally, that woman as quiet as she is, is the most dangerous one of them all. She ended up stabbing a bitch to death. Then again that bitch deserved it.
“Found them,” Gadget finally calls out.
“Where?” Twister asks before I do.
“An hour from here. Seems the Dragon’s Fire MC are rebuilding from what I’ve gathered. And the President, Bleeder, is also none other than Matthew Leonard Tucker, Alexis’ stalker.” My vision turns red at the mention of the guy’s name.
Motherfucker.
Now I know who he is and this isn’t good.
“I remember him now. He was a year or two ahead of us I think in school. He was always getting into fights with someone. And didn’t he get arrested for beating the shit out of the football coach after being caught forcing freshmen to suck him off?” I ask, glancing at Hunter, Chaz, and Lex.
“Yeah I remember that shit. The coach was in the hospital for a month before being released. He still walks around with a limp,” he states.
Shit.
“Well, Bleeder was released a little over a month ago right around the time Alexis started getting harassed,” Gadget informs us.
“Do we know how many are with him?” Horse asks.
“Not sure but they can’t have many. Most of them are dead.” They all need to be dead. Or they will be after this.
“Izzy,” Twister calls out as he stands from the stool he’d been sitting on.
“Yes,” she asks calmly, but anyone who knows her could tell she was worried.
“We’re leaving Brass, Striker, Red, and Wolf here. I want you all to go pick a room to stay in and stay there until we’re back.” Nodding her head, Izzy reaches up and kisses him.
“Okay. But you better be careful. I don’t want to get a call saying you’ve been shot. Besides you have to be home in time to tuck both Mercy and Troy into bed,” she says.
“You got it, Baby. I’ll be back in time.” Nodding his head, he kisses his ol’ lady once more before motioning for all of us to follow him out of the clubhouse.
I hope one day I have what these guys have with Alexis. Just have to get her back first.
Opening the door to my car, I climb in and start the engine ready to follow them to our destination. Reaching into the glove box, I grab my own gun and check to make sure it’s loaded.
Lex climbs in the passenger seat, a grim expression crossing his face. “Let’s go get your woman back, man,” he mutters, reaching behind his back to pull his own gun out of the back of his jeans that he’s always carrying. Everyone sees Lex as the laid back one of the band but that’s not the case. He’s been through enough shit and seen enough that he hides the truth from everyone, rarely letting anyone see the real him. Besides those close to him.
As the club pulls out of the parking lot of the clubhouse, I put my car in gear and follow. Chaz and Hunter, in Chaz’s car, are behind me.
Without taking my eyes off the road, I do something I never do. Pray. Pray that Alexis is okay and I get to her in time. I don’t want to live my life without her.
“Hey Tan, you remember that one time when Melody wanted to put a show on for everyone at the house?” Lex asks.
“Yeah, I remember,” I say, clearing my throat. I know what my brother’s doing but fuck if it doesn’t hurt. I remember that day just like I remember everything to do with Alexis.
“I’d been ready to bolt when that little girl tried to put makeup on me when Alexis came in and convinced Melody of doing a show with her and letting the rest of them watch,” he chuckles.
I grin at that because Alexis can’t carry a tune for anything but her niece, she stood in front of everyone and sang songs. Right after though she’d left the house. I didn’t see her again for days on end. We all knew it was because she felt embarrassed about all of us who are musically talented having to endure her singing.
For me that hadn’t been the case and all I wanted then was to continue to hear it. Shit, I want that even now. Alexis might not be able to sing worth a damn but she’s an amazing woman who doesn’t deserve to be in this mess.
“She’ll be okay, Tan,” Lex rasps and I nod in agreement.
“Damn right she will be. After this bullshit I say we take a much needed fuckin’ vacation,” I mutter.
“Hell yeah. Beach week?” he suggests.
“Naw, I’m thinking of the Bahamas.” Somewhere far away from here to relax and not worry about a damn thing for a week or two.
“Sounds good to me. We’ll talk to the others when we get back and figure out how to make it happen,” Lex says.
Nodding, I go back to focusing solely on the road, ready to have my woman back in my arms where she belongs.
Chapter 20
Alexis
“Wake up, my sweet, Alexis.” I scream out as the blade slices into my inner th
igh. My efforts to feign sleep is pointless. Matthew is going to do what he wants no matter what and I guess that includes using his knife on me.
“Fuck, Prez seeing her like this has my cock throbbing,” Mountain groans as he moves to stand closer to me.
“She’s a beauty isn’t she,” Matthew rasps. “I’ve waited a long time for her and now we get to share her.”
“Yeah. And once we take out those Devil pussies, we can share the one who got away from your uncle.” Who is he talking about?
“Damn straight, Alexis and Kenny will make the perfect assets to the club. Breed them with purity,” Matthew spews his insanity.
“I don’t give a damn about breeding that bitch Kenny. I simply want to rip her open with my cock and hear her scream as I fuck her to death,” Mountain says as his eyes gleam over me.
“Too bad we know she’s fertile and able to carry a child,” Matthew shrugs, his eyes fixated on my body.
“We’ll see, until then let’s have some fun with this one here.” I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of letting them hear me scream or protest.
During that time, they left me alone. It’s the only thing I could come up with considering I have no way of getting free and finding a way out of here.
“Let’s see how many times it will take to get sweet Alexis here to scream before we fuck her,” Matthew chuckles.
Bile rises in my throat and it’s all I can do to keep from puking. What did I ever do to deserve this? I’ve done my best to be good to everyone around me. Yet I’m always the one getting the short end of the stick.
As Matthew brings his knife down to slice my skin again, Mountain starts touching my skin. Tweaking my nipples and pinching my skin.
The two of them work simultaneously as one does one thing the other does something else just as horrifying.
