Page 155 of Malice and Surrender
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay then. I don’t know because I don’t have a lot of experience to know. I don’t have much experience because of something that happened to me when I was fifteen. No, I don’t want to share what happened, but I can tell you that every girl is different, and what I like doesn’t mean that the girl driving by would be the same. Does that help?”
He tapped the pen off his chin. “So how do I find out what a girl wants when she refuses to tell me?”
I wasn’t sure I should answer this question, but I did anyway. “Why doesn’t she want to tell you?”
“I have her locked up. I must think on this some more,” he said, like he hadn’t just admitted to kidnapping and possibly being a serial killer or something. “Snake is at the clubhouse. He usually goes there to fuck the sweetbutts. Have a good day.” Bush man jogged down the stairs and then stopped. “Oh, by the way, Snake’s favorite position is the reverse cowgirl.”
Smiling, he jogged off around the corner of the house. It was official I was going to kill Snake. The initial shock of the strange encounter was quickly wiped away as his parting words registered in my brain. My fists clenched as I marched down the stairs and walked around to the clubhouse.
The gates were closed, but a guy was sitting in a small metal booth that looked like it had been shot at more than once. Not very comforting.
“Yes,” he said.
“I’m here to see Snake. He was expecting me. I’m Raine,” I said and planned on punching him in the face when he walked out thinking he was going to tell me to go away, but instead, the guy looked at a sheet and opened the gate for me to walk in.
“Front door and then up the stairs,” the guard said and left me to find my own way.
Walking past the long line of motorcycles was intimidating as hell. It was the visual confirmation that Kai really was a badass in a motorcycle club. I mean, I knew it, but it was different knowing it and understanding it. Pulling open the door, I could hear the music and the sound of television as well as the yell of someone who was overly excited.
The smell of stale smoke wafted down at me, and I suddenly wasn’t so sure I wanted to walk up those stairs and find out what he was doing. If I saw him with someone, it would break my heart. Nibbling my lip, I put one hand on the railing and closed my eyes for a moment to gather my courage. I needed to know. I couldn’t leave without knowing, and I’d be pissed off with myself for not finding out the truth.
With each step, my blood pressure rose a little higher. Just as I got to the top step, I saw Kai sitting at a bar where two girls were openly flirting and touching him. He didn’t push them away, he didn’t stand up and yell I’m taken and my bottom lip trembled as I turned to walk away.
As I looked down the stairs, my body shook with a crippling sadness that quickly morphed into a wild rage. I’d never been this angry, but when I thought about all the pretty words and promises. The lies he said so easily in the motel and how he tried to convince me to just be with him. How he said how much he loved me. A fire erupted in my chest.
A fury stormed up from the depths where I kept all my pain and loss stored. I wasn’t turning away again. My body shook as I turned around to step up the final few stairs into the clubhouse.
Kai’s eyes locked with mine, and I wanted to destroy the world. I wanted to rip it apart with my bare hands. I was done being hurt.
Done.
Raine
“Let go of me!” I yelled as Kai’s hand gripped my bicep. “I hate you and your stupid lying mouth.” I yanked hard on my arm—it felt like it was in a vice grip—but Kai’s hand was unyielding.
“It wasn’t what it looked like,” Kai said, and I pointedly looked down at his belt, partially hanging open.
“Is that so? And just how stupid do you think I am?” I could feel all the eyes in the room silently watching us like we were the best soap opera in town. Some had glasses halfway to their mouths, while others sat wide-eyed like they were scared to move or breathe, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care if they saw me kick his ass, either.
“Okay, I know this looks bad, but I swear I wasn’t going to fuck her. I was just telling her to get off me.”
I shook my head.
“Excuse me if I don’t believe you. Now let go of my fucking arm and stay away from me. I should’ve known this would never work, but I was stupid and fell for all the crap you spewed.”
“Tink if you’d calm down for a second so I can explain,” Kai said. I could tell he was getting angry, and a part of me wanted him to be as angry as he made me.
“Why so you can feed me more lies? I never should’ve trusted you. Jace said you’d pull some shit like this.” Kai’s lip pulled up in a snarl at the mention of Jace’s name, and a thrill shot through my body as he jerked me close to him. “I guess I should’ve believed him instead of defending you.” Part of me knew that I was poking at a bear, and yet…I couldn’t stop myself.
“Fuck this,” Kai said, his voice rough. He let go of my arm, and my heart stupidly sank, but it was short-lived as he grabbed me around the waist and tossed me over his shoulder.
As if on cue, people started taking bets on who would win. Money was passed around while odds were shouted. This was crazy.
“Let go of me, you asshole,” I yelled and smacked his ass.
“We’re done when I say we’re done,” he said. “All of you get the fuck out of my way,” he growled. I couldn’t see who he was talking to but knew it was whoever was on the couch as he unceremoniously dropped me on my back.
I should jump up and run for it, but instead, I stared up at him as he towered over me. My mind and body fought over what I wanted. Kai glared at all those watching the show. “Spread the word. If anyone ever touches Raine Eastman, I’ll cut your fucking hands off. She is mine. If anyone ever touches me again, you’ll have to deal with her, and next time I won’t stop her. Understood?”
