Betrayed (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 2) (9 page)

‘You get one life, Izzi. One. And you know how quickly and cruelly that life can be taken away sometimes. You’ve still got yours. And you need to live it your way. Don’t make it one you regret, darlin’. Please – don’t do that.’

She quickly lets go of me as the door opens and a few of the other girls come piling in, and the room suddenly fills with chatter and laughter and I watch as Cora flicks some invisible switch, pulling herself back to the bright and confident woman I know as she greets the others, slipping into their conversations like she’d been there from the beginning. But I don’t feel like hanging around here anymore, so I head back out into the bar.

Loud, heavy rock music fills the air and I lean back against the wall and just glance around the place for a minute or two. It’s almost full again, of bikers and the women who want to be close to them, and I know I don’t really want to go out there and be with those people who make up my world now. I just don’t feel like it tonight. So I get a beer from the bar and resume my position at the back of the club, looking out instead of joining in. And that scares me just a little, that I’m slowly distancing myself from this life I’ve been given. My second chance? Do I still believe that?

I down a mouthful of beer and take another look around the bar, and then I see him. Zeb. My husband. My protector. My keeper? He strikes an imposing figure as he strides over to a group of Soldiers all gathered around the pool table, slapping a few backs and drawing laughter from most of them as he leans in to tell them something they’re obviously finding amusing. He’s one hell of a hot-looking bastard, I can’t deny that, and as I continue to watch him I feel my stomach react; flip over like some infatuated schoolgirl’s. And then I remember last night and the look in his eyes and the reality takes over.

I glance down and wonder if I should go. I’m not really in the mood to hang around here now, I’ve been at
Six
for most of the day and I just want to go home, order in pizza and watch some TV. And I want to do that alone. I think I just need some time to readjust, all over again.

‘Hey, princess.’

His voice makes my head shoot up and his eyes meet mine and I don’t know what to think now, because his eyes aren’t cold and dark anymore. He’s back to the Zeb I fell in love with. Or maybe that’s just the Zeb I
want
to see. Have I really just blocked out the kind of man he really is? Because I
know
the kind of man he really is. And that’s the man I married. ‘I’m not in the mood, Zeb.’

‘You don’t want my company?’

‘I don’t want
anyone’s
company. That’s why I’m going home, alone.’

He frowns, and his eyes narrow slightly. ‘You don’t want me to come with you?’

‘I don’t want you in my bed tonight, no.’ And I don’t. But it wasn’t until I said the words out loud that I realized I meant them. I really do just want to be alone tonight.

‘Baby, I’m sorry, OK?’ He reaches out and gently cups my cheek, his actions and the tone of his voice so at odds with who he was last night, it’s confusing. Because the second his hand connects with my skin I feel my insides flutter. ‘For being such a jerk last night. Mack he just – he winds me up sometimes, ‘cause I see the way he…’ He drops his gaze as my hand on his wrist lets him know I don’t want to do this again. I’m tired. Or am I just scared I’ll give myself away? ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispers as he looks back up, his eyes once more meeting mine. ‘Because I love you, Izzi, and the last thing I want to do is scare you. I want to protect you, baby. That’s all I wanna do.’

Does he? I don’t know what to think anymore.

‘I don’t want us to fight, princess.’

I throw him a wry smile. ‘Come on, Zeb. You know we’re going to fight, it’s what we do.’

He smiles too, and I pull my hand away from his wrist and his thumb lightly strokes my cheek as his mouth gently lowers down onto mine. And I fall into him, let his arm around my waist pull me closer because he’s my husband. I gave myself to him and now I have to commit to that role and I will, because I do love him. It’s just a kind of love I can’t really explain.

‘But after every fight comes great make-up sex, right?’ he grins, and I laugh quietly as my mood starts to lift and there’s a part of me that wishes I hadn’t said anything to Cora now. Or maybe it was a good thing, that I got all that off my chest. Maybe I needed to do that.

‘That’s usually how it works, yes.’ I grip his T-shirt and pull him closer, kissing him again, a little harder this time, a little longer and deeper until we’re so close together I feel every inch of him against me. And then he pulls me into the room behind the bar, kicks the door shut behind him and pushes me gently back against it, and all the time our mouths are still joined and I feel my stomach dip and dive all over the place. Because, yeah, I want him now. I want him so bad I’m wriggling out of my panties before we even attempt to come up for air.

‘Take it all off,’ he murmurs, his mouth resting against mine, his hand already unzipping my skirt. ‘I want you naked, baby girl.’

I smile and pull my T-shirt off, tossing it aside before I let my skirt fall to the floor, kicking it away so that I’m left in nothing but my knee-high boots and he steps back from me, his eyes scanning me up and down, slowly taking it all in and I shiver. It’s like all those negative thoughts that had come forward to confuse me just melted away the second he kissed me.

‘Touch yourself, darlin’.’

Is he controlling me? Yeah, he probably is. To some extent. But I think he also knows that if I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t. But I do. I want to do it. So I drop one hand and slide it between my legs, moving them slightly further apart, gasping quietly as my fingers find a warm wetness. My other hand runs over my breasts, my nipples hardening against my palm as my fingers continue to stroke myself. And I hear him groan, but my eyes are closed because this feels good, it’s nice. It’s what I need. I can already feel every muscle in my body relaxing as I slide two fingers inside myself, and my knees buckle slightly as I push further in, and I’m gripping myself tight, tensing up as I feel the wave start to take hold. And I drop my other hand, finding my clit and rubbing it gently as I finger-fuck myself to a screaming climax, my legs almost giving way as it floods my body and I cry out, moaning quietly as it starts to subside. And then I feel him take hold of my wrist and pull my fingers out, replacing them with his own, and I flinch as he touches me because I’m so sensitive down there. And my clit’s throbbing, it’s still swollen and hard and I cry out again as he nips it between his thumb and forefinger.

‘My turn.’ He growls the words out as we swap positions, and I watch as he leans back against the door and unzips himself, freeing his rigid cock and I smile again, dropping to my haunches, my legs wide open, which draws another deep growl from him. ‘Jesus, darlin’, just do it, OK? Before I fucking come, ‘cause I ain’t all that far off.’

I reach out and take his cock in my hand, my thumb lightly grazing the tip, wiping a drop of pre-cum away and I lift my hand and lick it off, the salty, sour taste of him filling my mouth. And then I lean forward and run my tongue over him, teasing him, making him crazy and I like that I at least hold a little bit of power here. But I want him in my mouth as much as he wants to be there, and when I finally take him, the relief is felt by both of us. I cup his balls as I pull back and forth, his groans loud and deep as I squeeze and lick and all the time I can feel myself getting wet all over again. I slide my hands around his thighs and cup his ass, my fingers digging into his soft flesh as he starts to thrust harder, his cock slamming against the sides of my cheek. And then I feel his body stiffen for a second before he unleashes a fountain of cum into my mouth, his fingers buried in my hair, pulling at it gently as he continues to come down my throat. And I take him, I swallow every mouthful down because that’s my job. This makes him happy, it keeps him calm. This maintains the order of things.

When he’s done he pulls out of me and I stand up, wiping my mouth with my forearm and he grins as he yanks his jeans back up, although his cock was still rock hard. And then his arm circles my waist and he pushes me back against the desk, his hand between my legs forcing me to widen my stance before he sinks to his knees and I moan quietly as his tongue licks me all the way from my ass to my clit, his fingers pulling me wide open. The shiver that wracks my body is intense as it takes hold of every nerve ending, invading every cell as his tongue travels all the way along my slit, and I’m so wet, and he’s so warm, and as he pulls me open again, exposing all there is to see, I feel like I’m going to explode. But then he pulls away and stands back up and the frustration swamps me. My clit’s throbbing to the point of pain, and I want him inside me so bad I can’t even think straight, but he’s teasing me mercilessly now. His hand rests on the curve of my waist as he leans in to me, his mouth on my neck, his breath warm on my skin as he murmurs filthy promises to me and I hope he’s going to keep every one of them. But all that does is make me even more frustrated, I’m almost crying out for him, begging him to take me. And then he turns me around and I cling onto the edge of the desk as the anticpation burns through me, another shiver tearing up my spine as his hands splay out against my ass, pulling me apart, and I bite down on my lip as I hear him unzip himself; feel his cock hard against my thigh as he leans in to me, his mouth catching mine in an unexpected kiss before he pulls me back against him. I close my eyes, my fingers gripping the desk tighter as I feel him slowly push into me, and I’m so wet it’s a struggle to keep him inside at first, but as I take him deeper and our bodies pick up a rhythm I feel him filling me up, and I clench my muscles tight to keep him there.

I push back against him, arching my back and he clings onto my hips, his fingers digging into me, his thrusts fast but gentle and I’m riding the wave as a white-hot heat starts to build, unfurling slowly until it reaches my belly. I let go of the table with one hand, reaching down to help my climax along, finding my clit and stroking it lightly at first, applying more pressure as I feel the heat start to sear my core. But he gets there first, exploding in a barrage of hard, fast spasms, each one rocketing out a torrent of warm cum. I feel it, splashing violently against my walls, and it causes my own climax to take hold and I cry out loud as it washes over me, every inch of my skin prickling and burning and it’s beautiful. But I’m done now. I’m worn out, my body’s had enough. And as he pulls out of me and winds an arm around my waist, gently pulling me up, I fall back against him and close my eyes. It’s like a strange kind of peace has taken over. Everything’s quiet. Everything’s calm, and I reach back and thread my fingers into his hair, a warm, almost comforting shiver coursing through me as he kisses my shoulder, his lips trailing over my skin so lightly they barely touch it.

‘I love you, Izzi.’

I keep my eyes closed as his hand rests against my stomach. I love him too. I do. When he’s like this I know exactly why I married him. So, yeah, I love him too. And I know that, despite anything else I thought I might be feeling, I’ve got to give this a chance. It’s the safest option. It’s the
only
option…

Chapter Seven

Mack

It’s taken me three fucking days to get here, and despite all that time on the road with nothing but my own thoughts for company, my mood’s still a crappy one. I usually don’t mind a road trip. Gives me time to think straight, away from the pressure and the responsiblilities, but this time – this time all it did was give me more time to think about something I want, something I still don’t know if I can have, and a life that’s rapidly spiralling out of my fucking control. I need to work out who the fuck I am before I lose my shit completely. So this – I’m ready for this. And they better fucking believe it.

I pull the bike up outside the clubhouse, and the lack of Harleys parked out front surprises me. That fucker better not be out on a run ‘cause if I’ve had a wasted journey…

I head inside, and it’s all quiet. No music playing, no trace of anyone around, but as I head further inside I hear the sound of a radio playing somewhere out back.

I lean back against the bar and take a look around. Nothing seems to have changed since I last saw this place. It was once my castle, my fucking kingdom, I owned this fucking club. And now I ain’t even sure I want it. I ain’t sure about anything no more, except what I came here to do, and I don’t intend this to be some long, drawn-out event. I intend to be done and on my way home by the time night falls. I ain’t staying here any longer than I have to.

I hear footsteps coming from the kitchen and I walk towards it, taking Duke completely by surprise as I throw him back against the wall, pressing my gun to his temple.

‘Jesus fucking Christ, Mack. What the fuck…?’

‘I ain’t gonna hurt you, Duke, as long as you play ball and tell me where the fuck that piece of shit Odi is.’

‘I don’t…’

I push the gun harder against him, because I ain’t in no mood for games. ‘You
know
where he is. And if you don’t, you know someone who does. Right?’

‘I ain’t no grass, Mack.’

‘But your President is. Was Odi the one who ratted me out to Viper? Told him I was in Albuquerque?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mack…’

‘Yeah, you do. You know, and you’re gonna tell me the whole fucking story, Duke, or I blow what few brains you have all over this fucking wall. You listening to me?’

‘Mack, if I say anything…’

Man, I knew this one would roll over and talk in a heartbeat. And I wasn’t wrong. Which is good, because I really didn’t want to hurt anyone but the bastard who deserves it. Rats are vermin, they’re a poison this club don’t need. ‘Was Odi the one who ratted me out, Duke?’ I pull my finger back against the trigger and push the cold metal into his temple, but I can already feel his body relax. He’s gonna talk.

‘I can’t… Yeah. OK, yeah, it was him, but Mack, please…’

I keep the gun raised, but I pull my finger away from the trigger as I stare at Duke. He needs to know I’m fucking serious. I ain’t come back here to piss about. ‘Good. Now we’re getting somewhere.’

‘He’s gonna kill me, Mack…’

‘He won’t have the fucking chance. So keep talking, Duke. ‘Cause I ain’t heard nearly enough yet.’

‘I think he’s… I think he might be at
Laney’s
, and man, he’s pissed at you for taking Cora away…’ He sees the expression on my face, and he knows I don’t give a shit what Odi thinks about me bringing Cora to New Mexico. ‘When you and Izzi…’ He takes a deep breath and I once more give the gun a little shove, and he flinches slightly, but he’s gonna keep talking or I’m gonna get impatient. ‘He said you were distracted, by her. By Izzi. That she changed you, made you weak, I mean, you know that, Mack. He told you that himself. But he – he saw that as a chance. To take over.’

‘Take over?’ I narrow my eyes and stare into his.

‘He wanted to be President, said he always had done. He kept bragging way before Izzi turned up here that he was gonna be President one day. That he’d find a way to bring you down and take over…’

‘And none of you fuckers saw fit to tell me what the hell he was doing?’

‘We didn’t think he was serious. You know Odi, he can be all talk sometimes.’

‘Jesus!’

‘But when Izzi turned up, and all that shit happened, he saw that as his chance to move in.’

I really had taken my eye off the ball but I ain’t got time to beat myself up over shit I should’ve been concentrating on. I know I was distracted. I know Izzi fucked with my head, she changed me. And I ain’t fighting that no more. I’m accepting it. And I’m dealing with it.

‘You gotta believe me, Mack, I didn’t know he’d gone to Viper, not until we heard what Izzi had done. I didn’t know shit about that, none of us did. It was only then that we knew he’d been serious…’

I look right into his eyes. Maybe he ain’t lying, about that, anyway.

‘Him and Viper, they’d struck up some kinda deal. Viper told Odi that if he told him where Izzi was, he’d finish you, too. Then Odi could take over here, and they’d start doing business…’

I’ve heard enough. I’m done here. Duke’s served his purpose, but I ain’t completely stupid. I know his loyalties still lie with Odi, no matter what he’s just told me. So I go back over to him, and rest the gun between his eyes. ‘You tell him I’m on my way, and I’ll find you and end you too. You got that? You ain’t done me no wrong, Duke, but I ain’t playing this time. Odi’s dug his grave. You don’t want to be digging yours.’

‘What the fuck happened to you, Mack?’

‘Shit happened, Duke.’

I pull the gun away and tuck it into the back of my jeans as I leave the clubhouse and climb back on my bike.

Another half hour I reckon, and I’ll be on my way back to New Mexico.

Zeb

Mack’s been missing for days now, and while I don’t give a shit where he is – he ain’t here, which puts
me
in charge, and I’m good with that – Izzi does. She cares, a bit too much, and that ain’t sitting right with me. She shouldn’t care where the fuck our President is, he ain’t worth it. If he don’t come back that’s only a good thing in my eyes. I can take over this place and we can finally start doing the kinda shit that’ll really make us some money.

‘Zeb? Have you spoken to Sam? About where he thinks Mack might be?’ I turn to see Izzi walk into the clubhouse, all long legs and pretty face that seems to have lost that hard edge I spent months creating. It’s like she’s deliberately trying to shed that skin we taught her to wrap herself in; like she’s starting to become someone else. Someone I ain’t sure belongs here, in this world. And, Jesus, man, that scares me.

‘No. I ain’t spoken to Sam. Nobody knows where Mack is, no-one seen or spoken to him in days.’

‘Have you tried calling some of the other chapters?’

‘Izzi, darlin’, I ain’t got time to track down our errant President ‘cause, sweetheart, I’m too busy doing his fucking job. So quit with the whining, OK?’

Yeah. Pushing her away, that’s really gonna help.

‘Aren’t you worried about him, Zeb?’

‘No, Jesus…’ I don’t fucking need this shit. ‘Izzi, baby, why the hell are
you
, huh? Why are
you
so worried about him?’

‘He’s your family, Zeb…’

‘He’s been my family for all of five fucking minutes, and you really think any of that shit means anything to me? That man is trying to get you back in his bed, Izzi –
that’s
my concern. So if he don’t come back, that makes my life so much fucking easier.’

‘For Christ’s sake, we’re starting
this
again?’

‘You don’t think that’s what he wants?’

‘What he wants and what he’s going to get are two completely different things, Zeb. And you can mistrust Mack all you like, waste every ounce of energy on that, I don’t care. I don’t. But you don’t trust
me
…? Yeah. I’m getting kind of tired of this now.’

‘Hey. Hey, come on. Come here, Izzi. Come here, please.’ I gotta pull this back, ‘cause she’s been trying so hard to be the good wife; the old lady she needs to be. I got myself one beautiful, young, hot-as-hell woman by my side but she needs to understand the consequences should anyone try to take her away from me; should she feel the need to stray.

‘I don’t want another apology, Zeb, because they all mean shit.’

‘Just come here, will you? Christ! You’re hard fucking work sometimes.’

Yeah. She needs to know.

I lay a hand on her hip and pull her against me, kissing her slightly open mouth, feeling her breathe into me and I know – I know there ain’t no-one taking this woman from me. I’d kill for her. Literally. And she needs to know that.

‘He tries to take you, Izzi, and I kill him. You got that, darlin’?’

Her eyes bore deep into mine, and they’re cold and hard now but she knows this is real. This ain’t no game. She’s starting to play by the rules I need her to play by, she’s starting to understand. She’s starting to realize there ain’t always second chances around here.

‘And you…’ I trail my fingers lightly down over her cheek, running them over her parted lips and I want to fuck her so bad my cock’s freakin’ aching. ‘You even talk to him in a way I don’t like, and I kill him. I put him down, I get him out of the picture and out of our lives, and I can do that in a fucking heartbeat. You know I can.’

‘Bastard,’ she whispers, and I smile and slide a hand down until it cups her tit and my thumb grazes her nipple and she groans quietly. ‘I fucking hate you,’ she breathes, and I laugh quietly as I push her back against the wall, and I don’t care who’s around, I’m taking my girl right here, right now.

‘You don’t know how much of a bastard I can be, darlin’.’

‘Show me,’ she murmurs, and I ain’t gonna hang around. I’ve torn her panties from her and her legs are wrapped around me before either of us have got time to take another breath. And I pound into her like the bad girl she knows she can’t be no more. Not for anyone else but me. She needs to be a good girl now, and she knows that. So I continue to thrust hard into her, slamming her back against the wall, her cries just feeding my urge until I’m coming inside her so fast I actually feel my head start to spin. And she keeps those beautiful legs wrapped around me as I close my eyes and rest my head against her heaving tits, listening to her heart beating like crazy, her fingers buried in my hair.

‘You’re my girl, Izzi. You got that yet?’

She unwraps her legs from around me and I gently put her down, but I keep her close.

‘You’re mine.’

‘I know.’

And when she looks up at me her eyes are warmer, calmer, and I think she gets this now. She ain’t got time to be worried about Mack Slayer. ‘I love you, Izzi.’

‘I know. I know you do. And I love you too, Zeb.’

I take her hand in mine and squeeze it gently, bringing it to my mouth and kissing her fingers, rubbing my thumb over her wedding band. ‘That means something, baby. Remember that.’

She kisses me slowly, and this relationship we have, it’s still fucked-up and wrong on so many levels, but I think we’re finally starting to get somewhere. And as I watch her walk away, I feel a surge of something real and dangerous rise up from the pit of my stomach. Something I know I ain’t always gonna be able to control…