Condemned and Chosen (4 page)

A guttural growl fell to the room as Chuck narrowed his eyes on Romy. Apparent wisdom stamped its place in his masculine expression. Hard and angular, his muscles tightened as Romy took a sharp breath and fought to contain the lust enveloping her.

Milky wet desire left her pussy clenching. Heat oozed through her channel as she watched her mate reach inside his slacks and give himself a good tug.

She grabbed hold of Molly’s chin then and held her firmly to her. Peppering her lips with quick kisses, she imagined her hand stroking Chuck’s cock, her fingers wrapping around that hard wedge of male flesh, as he breathed the sweetest of promises into their fiery kiss, a kiss that would leave their tongues fencing, dueling for control.

At the thought, she clutched Molly’s torso and applied enough pressure to turn her. Then, she bunched Molly’s hair in her hands, determined to give Chuck the kind of show he’d never forget.

Better still, she’d give Molly something to remember.

Framing Molly’s face with the vixen’s blonde locks curled around her fingers, Romy initiated a bruising kiss, thrusting her tongue greedily between the swell of Molly’s parted lips.

Their tongues twirled and fluttered. Molly closed her eyes in the middle of several moans and whimpers.

Molly was enjoying herself, and Romy was a damn good actress.

Enjoying the leverage she’d gained, she kicked up the heat with grinding motions that left Molly struggling for her next breath. If only Chuck was there in front of her. If only her father hadn’t warned her she’d encounter women like Molly, women who not only had the power to destroy her and the others, but also had the will.

Blood didn’t run through Molly’s veins. Pure evil existed there. Romy could taste it.

Their kiss turned more carnal and Romy used her feet to part Molly’s. She brought her knee forward and mashed against Molly’s cunt, rotating her leg from left to right as Molly ground out an erotic rhythm. Writhing against her, Molly threw her head back and yelped like a woman who was enjoying a little bit of hers and a whole lot of somebody else’s forfeited pleasure.

She clawed at Romy’s shoulders and Romy threw her leg forward, giving Molly room to ride out a good old fashioned dry grind, the kind of humping that made Romy think of an old bitch in heat. “That’s right. Go on. Ride me, Molly.”

As Molly turned reckless, her crude movements became more absurd as she sought pleasure, some semblance of satisfaction. Romy’s own body wept for pleasure, desperate for relief. Her breasts were heavy, fuller than she’d ever noticed. Her nipples burned, throbbed for one man’s lips, her mate’s first intimate touch.

Seconds later, Molly collapsed to the carpet. She reached for Romy between ragged breaths. “Come here, lover.”

Instead of honoring Molly’s request, Romy glared down the bridge of her nose, admiring Molly’s outer beauty while resenting the gal she’d tried to hide under a gorgeous made-up exterior. She was a shell of a person, a woman without honor, a gal with true malice driving her.

Romy remembered her father’s words then and held onto them. Before she’d left for Safe Mountain, he’d said, “As dire circumstances turn into dreadful conditions, think of the concentration camps, Romy. Always remember that the art of survival in these times will lie in your ability, no one else’s, to safeguard and protect what you covet as your own. Your life and the lives of those you care about could very well depend on how well you master the art of deception and the ease of maneuvering around those who are wearing one mask when they face you and another disguise when they keep company with those who are only interested in orchestrating your demise.”

Romy wasn’t sure what extremes Molly would’ve gone to prior to this shared moment between them, but now they were on an even playing field, one where Romy would always know the game and the score. She would keep Molly close, while giving her sporadic doses of pleasure, but the true connection she’d seek would remain out of reach. Pleasure’s promise would entice her. It would hold her hostage, but the high ransom she’d soon demand would never be paid.

Chapter Six

“You can’t wash that kind of dirty off your hands,” Chuck said, watching her through narrowed eyes as she scrubbed her face and hands for the umpteenth time.

Romy turned off the water faucet and focused on his reflection in the mirror. “Why did you send her away?”

“I can have her come back if you want,” he teased, thumbing the air over his shoulder.

“Just give me a minute, and I’ll send Brice to fetch her.”

“Fetch,” Romy muttered, drying her hands on the racked towel. “Now that’s a befitting word for Molly.”

“Agreed.” He studied her thoughtfully wondering why she’d ever agreed to the whole Molly fiasco. “Though you could’ve fooled me. For a minute there, I thought you were gonna go down on her.” And if she’d headed southbound, he would’ve lost it. The thought of Romy’s mouth pleasuring someone, anyone but him, made him sick to his stomach.

“Eww.”

The delayed response left him to believe she wasn’t entirely against the idea.

“Going down on a man turn you off too, darlin’?” He watched her. “Careful. That
is
a trick question.”

Romy tilted her head to her shoulder and smiled. “You think I don’t know
that
?”

His light mood shifted when he realized--not just realized but concentrated on the fact she hadn’t answered him. “Answer me sub.” He bracketed his arm around her waist and held her close enough for her to feel the firm shape of his rigid cock.

“I haven’t gone down on a man before.” She bowed her head then and kept her eyes lowered.

He blew out a hard breath, appreciating her goodness, cherishing it like a gift, but mad as hell because Molly had her way with his mate, his little Romy Nichole. Had Molly spoiled her in some way? Had she tarnished Romy’s innocence, the purity he might have first enjoyed for himself if that traitorous bitch hadn’t greedily declared her intentions first?

Nuzzling her neck, he whispered, “You make me feel alive, Romy. I knew when I first saw you there was something special about you, but knowing you belong to me now is a gift, a gift I’m not sure I deserve.”

Romy shifted against him, lightly shimmying her hips.

“Careful, sub.”

“Don’t you want me?”

He left a trail of kisses up and down her slender trunk, loving the way she pressed against him, but desperate to rein in that control. He longed for restraint as much as he longed to take her in his arms and make love to her, just rock right into her sexy little body with slow and easy strokes.

“I’m your mate.”

“Yes.” He tucked two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up. “And you will be honored, adored, and loved, Romy.”

“What if I want to be honored and adored, loved even, only by you and no one else?”

“I didn’t make you play with Molly.”

“You wanted it and you didn’t try to stop me.”

She might as well have slapped his face. Did he detect resentment in her voice, regret even? The last thing he wanted was to shoulder the blame for his mate’s guilt.

“Don’t do that,” she whispered, turning away from the mirror. She looped her arms around his neck. “I wanted Molly.”

“You did?” He wasn’t excited or turned on by her confession. In fact, he was convinced she was lying to protect him. Sure, he’d been turned on, horny as hell really, while watching the two women, but afterward? He’d wanted to kill Molly because she’d touched his mate. She’d kissed and caressed the one person who belonged to him!

“Would you like to know why?”

He took a step backward and placed some distance between them. “Tell me.”

“Some people believe The Great Age of Innocence will eventually lead to the Grand Age of Despair. Men like my father, for example, believe the MC will only be able to protect the young and untouched for a little while.”

“Why is that?” Her father was a foolish man if he thought the MC would ever let someone threaten what he and his club had fought to save.

“You can’t protect us forever. Someone will find us sooner or later. Someone with power and position will be bought off and lead outsiders to the mountain.”

“And you think that someone is Molly?”

“She has too much control. I don’t know why, but I’m smart enough to know what she’s been given—power.”

“You can’t give someone power, Romy. Power is something you steal away with when no one is looking.”

“Then you looked the other way for far too long.” She cupped his cheek. “You have some choices to make and until you’re prepared to make them, I’ll keep Molly in check.”

“How do you propose to do that?” Understanding what she had in mind, he shook his head. “No. It won’t work.”

“Why not?”

Rage settled in his bones as he thought of Molly straddling his woman, riding her with a strap-on or pleasuring her with probing fingers or a searching tongue. “You’re my mate.”

“And as your mate, I’ll have a responsibility to you and the club.”

“One you will only honor if I give you permission!” He dragged his hand through his hair and paced. Harnessing his temper, he quietly added, “You don’t have a choice here.”

Romy never budged. “From what I’ve seen and heard, you don’t have a better option. I can keep Molly in line.”

“By what…fucking her?” He snorted at that. “You have no idea how insatiable that little bitch can be.”

“No, but I’m sure you do.”

Her tone took him aback. “Watch it.”

“It’s true,” she continued. “And the fact that you’ve slept with her, several times I’m sure, doesn’t bother me.”

“It doesn’t.” He wasn’t asking, just processing. Most of the mated females were jealous and protective of their mates. Then again, he hadn’t slept with Romy. He hadn’t staked a claim and made her his. Perhaps that was the real problem. She’d had a quick fling with Molly and because he’d allowed it, his mate was now attracted to someone else. Unwilling to accept his woman was attracted to another, he made up his mind.

Chuck would show Romy why fate had brought them together. She would be his perfect partner in life and he would not only love and protect her, but he would honor and keep her. “I will not share you.”

Romy’s nostrils flared. Her eyes glazed over and for a moment, Chuck wasn’t sure what to make of the rapid change of demeanor.

“You’ll share me, just as I’ll share you and when this is over, we’ll know the sacrifice was worth it.”

For a split second, the average man—complete with his carnal desires and explicit fantasies—trumped the committed Alpha raging within. He thought of two sexy and desirable women in his bed, one with her head bouncing over his cock, and the other riding his face. Romy would throw her head back and scream out his name while he drove his tongue high inside her, loving the way she undulated above him, riding and grinding as he brought her extraordinary pleasure.

At the thought, he pressed down on his cock. A guttural growl of ownership slipped from his lips and he stalked her then. “You’re playing with fire, Romy. You’re too green to know it yet, but what you’re introducing to our relationship isn’t what I want for you.”

“It may not be what either of us wanted, but it’s the only way.” She caressed his cheek.

“Don’t you see?”

“I do, but you don’t.” He turned his lips to her palm and flicked his tongue over the fine lines etched in her hand. “Molly isn’t easily played, Romy.”

“And neither am I.” She smiled sweetly. “But lucky for us, she doesn’t know it. And when the time comes, she’ll never know what hit her.”

Chapter Seven

Romy and Chuck had just reentered the bedroom when a pounding knock fell upon the door. “Open up, man. We got a problem.”

“It’s Brice.” Chuck squeezed her wrist in passing. A second later, he greeted Brice with a snarl. “This better be important.”

“I figured life and death ranked as significant enough to disturb you.” He glanced at Romy. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“Let me guess the problem,” she said, noting the look of surprise on the men’s faces. “I may be Chuck’s mate, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a mind of my own.”

“It’s Molly,” Brice said, ignoring her and address Chuck.

“Bingo.” She smiled at Duke and Levi, two of the MC’s bad-asses, as they entered the room unannounced. Known for their strength and coveted for their intelligence, the men were often called out as the MC’s secret weapons. After she’d been initially introduced to them, she’d only spotted them once. Responsible for guarding Safe Mountain’s woods, Duke and Levi remained in the shadows unless there was an emergency.

Apparently a woman’s temper tantrum qualified.

“Where is she?”

Brice frowned. “Am I missing something here?” He directed his question to Chuck.

“Since when does a woman speak out of turn?”

“Excuse me?” Romy was appalled.

“Not now, sub,” Chuck said, obviously determined to save face in front of his men.

He could call her out as his sub because she had full intentions of one day wearing his collar to prove it, but he could not, under any circumstance, dismiss her with a wave of his hand.

“When it comes to protecting the women here at Safe Mountain, I want to be kept in the loop.”

“Romy Nichole.” Chuck nearly roared out her name. “Why don’t you run down to the kitchen and grab us a few drinks. I’ll take a beer. You can have a bottle of water or something light.”

“Well, damn.” She grinned at the men. “Might as well get this over with.” She walked around them, slammed the door, and faced them again.

Three of the four looked amused. Chuck, on the other hand, gave new meaning to the word
pissed
. He clenched his balled fists at his sides and his face turned bright red. To make matters worse, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, a head which he shook a few times as if to ward off an unexpected transition.

Brice stepped in front of Romy and pushed her out of the way. “Get a grip on that temper, man. You’ll hurt her!”

Romy had heard the stories. One of the Northwestern packs had a few women running around with scarred skin and marred faces because they’d been standing too close to their mates during a sudden transformation.