Page 5 of Chaos Bound
Holt had learned that lesson the hard way. If life went according to plan, the Sinners would have beat down Viper’s door the very day Holt sacrificed himself to save Evie’s life. .
“I’ll take care of the guard,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel in the least. “Just stay out of my way.”
“How are you going to jump him when you can’t stand?”
“I’ll lean.” He braced himself against the wall and willed his legs to push. “Help me up.”
Naiya came up under his arm and helped him up. “This is the last time I’m doing this until we get out of here,” she said. “You smell worse than my grandfather’s socks, and that’s saying something because he boasted he only washed them once a year.”
That sound again—laughter—erupted from his throat. Naiya looked up and smiled.
“I was worried about you for a while there. Thought maybe they’d done your head in. Viper likes his little mind games. He twisted my mom when she young, and she was never the same again.”
Holt frowned. “Viper… your dad?”
“God no.” Naiya recoiled. “One of the Jacks is my dad, but my mom never told me which one, and I don’t care because I want nothing to do with them. I don’t think she ever knew. I honestly don’t understand it. She didn’t want to have a baby. She told me all the time that I ruined her life, her body, her status in the club… I mean, if you’re life’s ambition is to be an MC sweet butt and your currency is your body, why not make the guy wear a condom so you don’t get pregnant? No glove. No love. That’s my motto. Well, it would be my motto if I slept around…”
Sex. She was talking about sex. He hadn’t thought about sex since the day Viper imprisoned him in the dungeon. In the daily fight for survival, sex was the least of his concerns. But now that she brought it up, a woman with her looks and that lush body should have men falling over themselves to be with her. Maybe she had a man. But then where was he? If she had been his, no fucking way would he let Viper near her. And if Viper did get his hands on her, he’d be moving hell and earth to get her back. Like he would have done for any of his brothers. Like they didn’t do for him.
Lucky for the man who had her. Holt had long given up hope of ever being with a woman again after what Viper had put him through. And Holt loved women. He loved their softness and their curves. He loved the musical lilt to their voices and the silk of their hair. He’d been with many women, but he’d never had a woman of his own. Not since he’d failed his sister, Lucy. Not since the day she died. Even if he got out of here, that torture would never end.
“You okay?” Naiya touched his cheek, bringing him back to the moment.
What the hell?He had to focus. They had one chance to get out of here and one chance only. And it was all up to him.
“Maybe I should stab the guard.” She ran her finger along the flat of the blade. “We learned all about stab wounds in one of my courses at college. Did you know that if the direction of the force is perpendicular to the skin, then it’s considered a stab wound? But if the direction of the force is tangential or parallel to the skin, then it’s considered a cut wound? If we want to slow him down, we’ll need to stab.” She made a thrusting motion with her fist. “Rather than cut.” She drew the knife down, and Holt jerked away.
So, she was smart as well as pretty. “You ever kill someone, darlin’?” The more he talked the worse he sounded. Hoarse, rough. So unlike himself. But then all he’d used his voice for over the last three months was screaming.
“No.” Naiya paled, looked away, her hesitation belying her bravado. “I just… read about it. And study it. Death, I mean. And crimes leading to death. So really, it’s just theoretical. And I was just thinking about wounding him, not killing him.”
His tension eased the tiniest bit. Okay, maybe she wasn’t crazy, but she wasn’t living in the real world if all she did was read and study about death, or if she thought she’d have enough control to stab an enraged man without killing him. She certainly didn’t have the life experience to put her plan into action.
“Can’t let you do it.” Holt tightened his grip on the dagger. “If it goes wrong, you’ll never get over it.”
“You’ve done it? Killed someone?”
“Yeah.” Holt shrugged, feeling neither shame nor remorse. Like her, he’d done what it took to survive. First as a member of a street gang in Laredo, Texas, and then as a full patch brother in the Sinner’s Tribe. He didn’t enjoy killing. But if it came down to his life or the lives of his brothers, he had no hesitation pulling the trigger. “And I’ll do it again.” He gritted his teeth when his legs trembled, protesting their use after so many months of inactivity. “You gonna scream and give us away?”
“Do I look like a screamer?” Naiya let out an irritated breath. “I just offered to stab the guy. I’m not about to start jumping around and waving my hands in the air whimpering that I can’t deal with the sight of blood. I lived in Black Jack party central from when I was nine years old. I saw all the things parents are terrified their kids will see. You name it, I was there. I just can’t handle the dark. But other than that, I don’t even scream when I see spiders or mice. In fact, I keep them as pets.”
“Pets?”
“I’m messing with you, Holt.” Her lips turned up at the corners. “Defense mechanism. Inappropriate humor. Maybe ’cause we’re in Viper’s dungeon and he’s about to send his brothers down to kill you and chain me to his bed. And you’re weak and beaten down and can’t stand, and even if we get out, we still have to get through the yard and away from the clubhouse without a vehicle. But at least we have a plan. Things could be worse.”
“Worse?”
“We could be naked.”
He couldn’t help it. His gaze travelled down her body, drinking in her curves, the crescents of her breasts beneath her black tank top, her narrow waist, full hips, and long lean legs. He imagined her naked, soft creamy skin beneath his palms, dusky rose nipples begging for his touch. His cock stirred, and for the first time he wondered if Viper hadn’t broken him after all.
Naiya swallowed hard and dipped her head, and her sudden shyness aroused him even more. “Definitely worse,” she mumbled.
He heard footsteps outside the door, the rattle of keys.
The door opened. Just a crack, and then wider.
TWO
