Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“Probably, but I don’t care.”
We go quiet again, but it’s not the awkward kind.
“You know he’ll probably kill me for talkin’ to you.”
He says it in a way that makes it seem like he’s completely unbothered by it.
“Or me,” I point out.
“Maybe we need to be the ones to shoot first,” he teases.
He leans his body in, just enough to push me off balance, making it look like a joke, but his hand steadies me at the waist and stays there. His thumb does a slow drag across the scar, right through my shirt. I suck in a breath, unable to pull away, to say anything, to even move.
I want to be smooth, to make a joke, but nothing comes out, so I just stare at him, daring him to let go. He doesn’t. Instead, he leans in so our lips nearly touch, and his breath ghosts over my skin, hot and completely unfair.
“Kael,” I whisper, almost begging him to stop and yet, at the same time, begging him to go on.
“Gotta taste you, darlin’. Just once.”
God dammit.
I’m the one who moves first, or maybe he does, but either way, our mouths crash together like nobody is watching and nothing we are doing is wrong. His hands are everywhere, my face, my back, tangled in my hair and pulling like he just can’t get me close enough.
I don't think. I don't stop. His tongue is rough and possessive and it tastes like the kind of trouble you don't recover from. My moans against his lips do nothing to slow him down, and I can’t seem to stop myself from pressing my body against his, as close as I can get, feeling every hard ridge of his body against mine.
I need to stop this.
It is wrong.
I pull back, quickly, nearly falling off the seat.
“I can’t,” I whisper, my stomach twisting. “I’m not ... this isn’t me.”
He opens his mouth to answer but is cut off by the sound of gunfire.
We both freeze, but only for a second. Kael moves fast, pulling me down to the ground behind the table as another shot cracks the peace apart. We land hard, tangled, breathless.
“Stay down,” Kael growls, looking over the table’s edge. More shots, someone screaming in the distance. The fire at the heart of the club is chaos, shadows running everywhere.
My whole body is pumping with adrenaline. Kael tugs me up, and we crouch-run for the nearest concrete wall, bullets whining somewhere behind us. My ears ring. My heart thuds angrily against my chest.
“Someone is shootin’ at the club.”
My heart skips a beat.
Then I hear the scream.
Female.
Kael grabs me when the gunfire stops and pulls me toward the sheds, and that’s when we notice two men at the front gates, holding Mera, a gun pressed to her temple. My stomach twists as I stare at the scene before me, the men all standing, Wolfe’s face twisted with rage, nobody moving.
“You fuckin’ move and I blow her brains out,” the man roars.
Kael’s grip on my arm tightens. “Fuck,” he breathes, low.
“Get all your men out here,” the second man bellows. “I want to see every fuckin’ club member or she dies.”
Wolfe, fists clenched by his sides, barks, “Everyone out here. Find them all. Now.”
“I gotta go,” Kael hisses. “Fuck.”
I turn to him, my heart racing, but I know what I have to do. “I don’t. I know you don’t know me, but do you trust me?”
His eyes scan my face. “Yeah.”
“Then I need a gun.”
He reaches around behind him, no hesitation, and hands me his gun. I shake my head. “No. I need a bigger gun. A rifle.”
“Kael,” Wolfe roars. “Out here.”
Kael looks stressed, his face tight.
“I know you have guns, Kael. Give me one.”
“Fuck,” he barks, then turns and disappears into the shed.
He returns a few minutes later with a rifle, handing it to me. “I gotta go. I don’t know what you’re plannin’, but fuck, be careful.”
He curls his hand around the back of my neck, pressing a kiss to my forehead, then he’s gone.
Now, it’s up to me to fix this.
And fix it, I will.
7
I lock myself in the storage shed and breathe, just once, to steady my nerves. The rifle Kael handed me is heavy. My hands know how to move around a long gun, it’s almost muscle memory. The click of the safety, the cold black of the barrel. I check: loaded, round chambered. Through the windows of the shed, I study the scene. Wolfe’s men assembling in the open, the two men out front barking threats, Mera’s red hair clenched in the fist of a stranger who hasn’t lived long enough to hate the world properly.
I do quick math, making sure I’m in the perfect position. The men are screaming for their guns, and the MC boys are tossing weapons out, but they want more, they want their stash, the ones they are selling. Zane looks ready to charge regardless, but Kael, posted just behind a line of barrels, holds him back with a quick snap of his fingers. I can’t hear what’s said, but I know he isn’t going to risk Mera’s life.