Page 55 of Chaos Bound
“Yeah.” She shivered, and he lifted her off the table and wrapped his arms around her. For the longest time they stood, looking out over the city. They were safe up here where no one could find them, but nothing good awaited them below. Death. Destruction. Jail. The loss of all her dreams and everything she had worked for since the night she’d left home.
“I don’t want to leave here, Holt.” She leaned back against him, sinking into his solid warmth. “I don’t want you to go after Viper and the Sinners. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Holt tightened his arms around her waist. “I was kinda thinking that myself. When I left that dungeon, I was prepared to die for revenge ’cause I had nothing to live for. I never imagined I’d wind up here. Now I got you, and I want to keep you safe. I don’t feel like the same man who walked out of that dungeon, but I’m not the man who went into it either. Only thing that still makes sense is that Viper’s got to die.”
“When I was standing in the cemetery saying good-bye to my mother,” Naiya said, “I never imagined I’d wind up here, either. I thought after the funeral I’d go back to my normal life.”
Holt cupped her breast, gaze it a lazy squeeze. “What was your normal?”
Naiya shrugged. “A steady partner, a good job, friends, and maybe one day a house and if I could get over my issues, kids. Now I’ve lost Maurice and my job opportunity. I can’t contact my friends or access my bank account. I’ve only got the clothes on my back, and I can’t go home because I’m on the run from Viper. I’ve committed crimes that mean I likely will never work in a crime lab. But I’ve had sex—real sex, and I’ve met someone who makes me feel safe and who makes me laugh and makes me eat donuts in bites. I’ve lived more in the last week then I’ve lived in the last seven years. How can I go back to my regular life?”
“How can you not?” Holt released her abruptly, leaving her bereft. “There’s no future with me.”
She turned to face him. “There is if you go back to the Sinners and hear them out.”
“Not gonna happen.” His face tightened, and his lips pressed tight together.
“Holt.” She reached out to touch him, but he was already walking away.
SIXTEEN
TANK
To Ella’s credit, she didn’t even look scared when Tank kicked in her door.
Nor did she look surprised. In fact, she seemed to be waiting for him.
And that just pissed him off even more.
“Goddamnit, bitch.” He kicked over her coffee table and yanked her off the white leather couch. Her white-silk dressing gown slid softly over her body, the front gaping wide, revealing the crescents of her lush, creamy breasts, and the barest shadow at the apex of her thighs.
Tank forced his gaze away, focused on his anger. “What the fuck were you thinking saying that on the fucking news? Now the fucking cops are gonna think the Sinners did the hit on the Black Jacks up in Still Water. The ATF will be all over the clubhouse with warrants coming out their wazoo.” His voice rose to a shout. “Jagger’s going to go out of his fucking mind, and he’s gonna come for you.”
He didn’t know if Jagger had seen the news, but no doubt he would get word about it soon. Ella had been up in Still Water, reporting that the police had found two Black Jacks down by the lake, the victims of what they believed to be a biker-related shooting. Ella had referred to “a source” who had suggested the murders had been carried out by members of a rival MC, the Sinner’s Tribe.
Ella tilted her head to the side, and the silken strands of her hair brushed over his hand. “Hello, James,” she said coolly. “Nice to see you again.”
Tank drew in a ragged breath, inhaling the rich, sultry scent of her perfume. All his blood rushed to his groin and he cursed inwardly.Son of a bitch. He was here to deal with this fucking mess, not fuck the woman who threatened to bring down his club.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You put my club at risk.” If she’d been a dude, he would have resorted to violence. Punches. Kicks. A few broken bones. Then he would have pulled out his weapon. But he couldn’t hit a woman. He saw no point in using his strength against someone weaker than him, despite the fact his dad had not hesitated to use his fists on Tank.
As if she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, Ella smiled. “I was helping you. I did a little digging, talked to a couple of my friends in the police department. It looks like the dead biker’s bike might have been the same bike you saw at the gas station. I checked the gas station video on your phone when you were sleeping and made a few notes. The bike you saw matches one of the bikes on the list forensics drew up from a partial track on the main road and was registered in the dead biker’s name. If the Jacks tortured your friend, it makes sense that he would go after them. He is a Sinner after all. So it was a win win for both of us. I got a story, and you got your man.”
“I told you no story. You’re gonna get me kicked out of own fucking club. Now sit the fuck down so I can think.” He paced her living room as she settled on her couch. How could he get out of this? If Jagger kicked him out of the club, he wouldn’t have any support if he went after T-Rex, and what would he do without his brothers? Where would he go? The club was his goddamned fucking life.
“James…”
“Don’t call me that,” he barked. “Name is Tank.” The name the club gave him when he’d earned the cut, not because he was built like one, which he was, but because he’d stolen a tank from an army base one night on a drunken dare from T-Rex just so they could take pictures of themselves in a tank. He’d taken a lot of heat from Jagger for his stupidity, but he wouldn’t have traded that moment for anything. He still had the selfie he took of him and T-Rex, leaning back on the tank, grins on their faces, beers raised in a “fuck you” salute.
A selfie she had probably seen when she went through his phone. What else had she seen and how the hell had she unlocked it?
“Okay… Tank.” She crossed one leg over the other and her gown slid up revealing the creamy expanse of her thigh. Fuck, she had nice legs. And nice tits. But then he knew that about her ’cause he’d watched her that night T-Rex warned him away. He probably knew more than that about her, but damned if he could remember their night together.
“I didn’t mean to get you into trouble with your club.” She loosened her belt, letting the gown fall to the sides of her hips. Now he could see her cleavage, the soft skin of her stomach, and… Fuck. Her pussy was bare. Tank bit back a groan. Nothing he liked better than smooth, soft, bare pussy.
“I didn’t disclose my source, and really, you didn’t give me the information. I deduced it. And I might be wrong. Maybe it was a drug deal gone bad, or a mafia hit, or even another club. If the Sinners weren’t involved then you have nothing to worry about.” She trailed her hand down her body, between her breasts, parting the white silk until she got to the juncture of her thighs. Her hand rested on her mound, her fingers dangling over what he most wanted to see, hiding it from his now throbbing cock.
Christ. She was like one of those mythical Sirens who lured sailors to their deaths. He couldn’t tell whether the pounding in his veins was fury or lust. No wonder T-Rex had warned him about her. And Banks. He had to get out, and yet he couldn’t look away. Something niggled at the back of his mind. A question. There was a question he wanted to ask her, but he couldn’t remember what it was.
