Hostage (Predators MC #3) (24 page)

“
Y
ou sure
you don’t want me to stay?” Alec asked, coming back into the room after he had checked out her upstairs.

Penni placed her makeup case on the small, round table in the area off the living room. “No thanks. I’m just going to bed and sleeping for a week.”

Penni locked the door after Alec left before going to the pantry and pulling out a bag of duck feed, shoving three scoops into a large baggie.

Going outside, she walked through the small neighborhood. It was only a short walk to the lake that faced the back of her condo. She could have easily climbed over the wall, but she had no desire to get stung if there were any stray bees that had been missed by the college when they had come to remove the hive. She would wait to check out her backyard when she wasn’t so tired.

She would feed the ducks first. Then she promised herself the sleeping marathon she had told Alec about.

There were several people around the mini-lake. It was barely ten in the morning, and the lake was secluded, but many in the community liked to sit there and eat their lunch.

The peace stole over her as she fed the ducks. Penni then sat on one of the benches under a large, shady tree when the bag was empty.

Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes, letting the shadows hit her eyelids. She stretched her hands, reaching out and letting the peace and tranquility invade her soul.

“I’ve never seen you sit still.”

“Go away.” Penni didn’t raise her eyelids. She had no intention of seeing Jackal’s face again.

She felt him sitting down next her on the bench.

“I’m not going away. I’ve been take caring of your ducks for weeks now; the least you could do is look at me.”

Penni snapped her head up. “Colton’s been taking care of them.”

“Colton did it until I got back in town. I’ve been doing it for the last three weeks.”

“I’m back now, so you won’t have to do it anymore.” Penni tried to sound grateful yet failed miserably. She waved him off with a shoo gesture.

Jackal shoved his hands into his pockets. “How’s Genny doing?”

With a disgruntled sigh, she answered, “Good. She moved in with one of the backup singers who needed a roommate.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t offer for her to move in with you.”

“I did. I think she wants a fresh start without being reminded of Treepoint every day. Shade said that Hennessy is back in Colt, Arkansas.”

“Yeah, he left the same day we did. The DEA and the Mexican police arrested those who orchestrated the attack on The Last Riders’ clubhouse. Viper said the Mexican authorities were relieved to bring the cartel up on charges and arrest them.” Jackal’s skeptical tone had her finally looking at him.

“You don’t believe them?”

“The cartel had too much power to have gone unnoticed for as long they did. They have to have someone in their pocket, shielding them.”

“At least they’re too busy now to give Hennessy anymore trouble.” Penni gazed at the lake, unable to look at him any longer.

“Lucky, Shade, and Cade are going to make sure there won’t be any chance of them escaping justice this time. They’re trying to get them extradited to the United States.”

“What about the Unjust Soldiers?”

“There aren’t any left.”

“I’m glad. I don’t like Hennessy, but he was trying to help out a friend. That, I can understand.”

“You’re going to give Hennessy a break and not me?”

“I’m not going to talk about what happened.” Penni tightened her lips, forcing back the volatile words she wanted to spew at him.

“You’re not ready to talk about it yet?”

“No.” Penni jerked her gaze back to the lake.

“Okay.”

A duck waddled to the edge of the water with her seven ducklings following her, popping into the water one after another.

“Why did you stick so many forks and spoons in the ground?” Jackal pointed at one of the utensils buried in the dirt.

“How did you know they were there?” Penni asked sharply.

“Busted my front tire on one.”

“That’s why,” she chided. “Motorcyclists and bicyclist ride on the grass. Two months ago, someone ran over and killed one of the baby ducks.”

“Oh. Why not just post ‘no riding on the grass’ signs?”

“Like that one?” Penni pointed at a sign on the wooden pole a few inches from them.

“I didn’t see it.”

His contrite expression had her thawing her frosty behavior toward him.

“Most people don’t. I tried to get them to post larger signs, but the HOA that established the lake doesn’t want to spoil the natural beauty of it. They only recently started putting cameras on the light poles and posted signs so people would know they were being watched. So having to make a bigger sign telling them to stay off the grass has them dragging their feet.”

“Why the cameras? Are people stealing the ducks to take them home?” Jackal joked.

“No. Someone is killing them. The last one was right before I left. They killed a swan. It was horrible. Swans mate for life. Its mate kept swimming around, calling for it.” Penni swallowed the painful lump in her throat at the memory of it.

“Damn. Which one?” Jackal asked, staring at the lake.

“Why? Are you going to tell him you’re sorry?” Penni barely held back her laughter.

“Don’t give me that crap. I know you know which one it is.”

Penni nodded toward a spot where a beautiful swan was gracefully gliding along the water not far from where they were sitting.

“See? I know you.”

Jackal’s complacency had her looking away, her smile dying.

“You don’t know me at all. You don’t know that I felt like an outsider in my own age group, that I couldn’t measure up to my mother’s expectations on how I should act. The only time I felt alive was when I was doing something that could have gotten me hurt.

“When Shade came to visit, he could make the emptiness go away. Then he would leave again, and it would start over. He used to take me to a park a couple of miles away from our home, and we would stare out at the lake.

“He taught me how to breathe, Jackal. How to breathe in and out until I could feel my heartbeat in my chest. I finally understood the difference between being alive and just existing.

“Shade felt empty inside, unable to connect to others. I did, too, but to a different extent. I felt too much. It was as if I were living my life running a marathon, and I could only do so much to accomplish everything I wanted.

“One day, I talked a little girl who lived next to me to walk to the lake with me. It was near a freeway. My mother noticed us missing from the backyard and found us near the onramp. My mother couldn’t understand why I’d done it. Shade did.

“When he moved to Treepoint, I saw a light I had never seen in Shade before. One night after Lily had become my roommate, I saw him sitting outside our window, so I went outside to talk him to him.” Penni took a deep breath before continuing her story. “I saw in him pain, a pain I never believed he could even feel. He couldn’t stand being separated from Lily, and they weren’t even a couple yet.

“I missed their wedding, but saw a video of it. His face … God, his face. It was like nothing I had seen before. He was happy. Shade was happy. Love and joy shined in his eyes. It was if he had found all the answers in life I had been searching for.

“Then, when Lily was almost killed by a stalker of Shade’s, she couldn’t bear that she was responsible for someone’s death. She was in a coma, and the doctors thought she would be too traumatized to pull out of it. Shade stayed by her side; he wouldn’t leave her. They said he kept calling for her over and over. He called for her until she came back. Like the swan, Shade would call for her. Lily is Shade’s soul mate.”

Penni took another breath before looking at Jackal. “I won’t take any less for myself. I have to find my soul mate so I can finally stop running. I thought I could make Train love me, but I couldn’t, and finally, after all these years, I know now I never loved him. If I had, I would have stopped running long before now.

“Penni, you never stood a chance of being with Train.”

“Wow. That hurts. I know I’m not as attractive as most of the women he’s been with at the club, but I’m not exactly puppy chow, either.”

“The way you look isn’t the issue. Babe, you were mine when I saw you flip me off as you came out of the hotel.”

“You kidna—”

Jackal covered her mouth with his hand, cutting off her words.

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Jackal removed his hand when she tried to bite him.

“No.”

“I can live with that … just like I’m going have to live with you seeing me with Raci.”

“Yes, you are!” Penni snapped. The fury that had subsided over the last three weeks flared again. She stood up to stare down at him. “You want to know something funny? I forgave you for kidnapping me. I forgave you for leaving me at the rest area. I even freakin’ forgave you for the duct tape you put on my mouth when I called you a spineless needle dick for kidnapping me. I forgave for you for all of that, but what I can’t or won’t forgive is you being with Raci.”

Penni began walking away from him.

“You can keep walking away from me,” Jackal raised his voice when she didn’t look back, “but you’re still going to hear me call after you. I love you, Penni. No matter how many times you don’t want to hear me say it, I love you.”

Penni began running as fast as she could. She had heard the aching pain in his voice. With every beat of her stuttering heart, she heard him calling to her.

She opened her front door, slamming it behind her before sinking down onto the carpet.

A whisper filled the silent house. “Jackal.”

“
Y
ou still moping
? Brother, you’re taking the life out of the party.”

“I haven’t seen anything cramping your style. How was the bitch with the Mohawk?” Jackal’s sarcastic question sailed over Stump’s head.

“She was confused, but she isn’t anymore,” Stump gloated, throwing himself down on the old chair next to his.

“I bet she never wants to fuck another man.”

“Why should she? She just fucked the best one,” Stump boasted.

“Brother, you make it hard to be a man.”

“I know.”

Jackal ground his teeth together, hoping the girlfriend of the bitch who had sneaked into Stump’s bedroom shoved Stump’s dick down his throat. The bastard would probably enjoy it, though.

“Where is Max tonight? He was supposed to go on a beer run when he got off.”

“He’s working tonight. He wanted to finish the bench for Lily. There’s a delivery truck going near Kentucky, and Shade’s meeting it to pick it up.”

“If it takes much longer, we’ll make him get his ass home instead of bringing the beer.” Stump started to get out of the chair. “I might as well go get it myself.”

“Max just came in the door.” Jackal saw Max was empty-handed.

Stump looked around the room before narrowing his eyes on him.

“What’s up?” Jackal said, already beginning to get up as Max came toward him. By the look on Max’s face, something was wrong.

“I passed by the area where Penni lives, and I saw cop cars. I couldn’t see what was …”

Jackal didn’t wait to listen to the rest, already running out of the clubhouse with Stump and Max a step behind him.

Jackal gunned his motor, driving toward Penni’s house. It was ten minutes away, and each minute, he told himself Max didn’t know if the cops were at her house or at someone else’s home in her neighborhood. He made it to the street before hers, the one that led to the community lake.

Dammit, to reach her condo, he had to go that way, and it was blocked off at the lake.

Jackal parked his bike, taking off toward her house. Jackal was intending to satisfy his curiosity then go back to the clubhouse when he saw the cops weren’t at Penni’s. They were down by the lake, and as he reached it, he saw detectives taking reports.

Two women were standing near a rope, blocking anyone from coming closer.

“What happened?”

An older woman turned to look at him sadly. “Someone killed several of the ducks, swans, and their babies.”

Jackal’s stomach recoiled at the thought that someone could do such a senseless act. He had to get to Penni and tell her before she found out. He didn’t see her with the rest of the bystanders.

He was walking away when he saw her crouched down by the shore of the lake, her brown top blending in with the tree she was under.

He raised the caution tape so he could slide under, and a cop tried to stop him.

“I’m with her.” Jackal pointed at Penni, and the cop let him pass.

Jackal broke into a run as he drew near. She was sobbing, trying to soothe the large bird lying limply in front of her.

“Let’s go.” He tried to pull her to her feet.

“Who would do this?” she cried out, shrugging away from his touch.

“I don’t know, but I promise I’ll find out.”

“Is the vet here yet?”

Jackal bent over the bird, seeing it was the one she had showed him the other day that had lost its mate.

“Is that him over there?” There was a man the cops were escorting under the tape.

Penni turned to look, nodding and waving the man to hurry.

He did hurry his pace when he saw her.

She moved out of the way as he examined the swan.

“Can you go to my car and bring me a cage?”

Jackal followed the vet’s directions to his van, deciding to bring two of the cages in case there were more birds that could be saved. He hurried, and it wasn’t long before he was placing the cages next to the dying bird.

He reached down and lifted Penni to her feet. This time, she didn’t resist him, burying her head in his shoulder.

The vet placed the swan in the cage. “I want to check the other birds to see if I can help. The police want me to bring the rest to my office so I can tell them how they died. Could you drive this one to my office? My partner should be there.”

“Yes,” Jackal answered. “Penni, stay here, and I’ll get your car. Where are your car keys?”

“In my house, by my front door. But my house is locked from the front. When I heard the police cars, I jumped over the back wall.

“It doesn’t matter. I have a key to your house.” Jackal took off, coming back in a matter of minutes.

Penni got in the front seat as he loaded up the cage. He didn’t think the bird would live, but he wanted to try for Penni.

As he was getting in the car, he saw the vet coming toward him with the other cage.

“I found three ducklings that need to go, too.” He shoved the other cage in the back seat.

Penni gave him the directions to the vet’s office then said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Jackal did a U-turn, driving toward the office on the other side of town.

“He’s not going to make it, is he?”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart.”

The waiting vet came out of the office as soon as they pulled into the parking lot.

Jackal tried to talk Penni into leaving, but she refused, sitting down stubbornly on one of the waiting room chairs. Therefore, Jackal sat down next to her, taking her hand in his.

Twenty minutes later, the vet came out and told them the swan had died, but the ducklings hadn’t been harmed.

“If I hadn’t been watching television, I would have heard who did it,” Penni said later as Jackal drove them back to her house.

“Babe, whoever did that was fucked up. You could have been the one hurt for trying to confront someone with that kind of anger. Whoever did that was in a killing rage, using the ducks to make them feel better.”

“That’s sick.”

“Yeah.”

“The police are taking the video tapes. I hope they catch whoever did it.”

“Me, too.”

Jackal parked her car in the driveway then walked her to her door. He opened the door to her condo, expecting her to tell him to leave, but she didn’t. Instead, she went into her kitchen to make coffee.

Jackal leaned against the refrigerator. “If you drink that, you’ll be awake all night.”

She turned off the coffee, staring down at the coffee pot. “Let me have my key back.”

Jackal turned and opened the refrigerator, taking out two waters. “No.”

“I don’t want to argue with you tonight.” Her voice broke.

“Tonight was the first time I’ve seen you cry. The last thing I want is to make your night worse, but I’m not giving the key back. I need it.”

She slammed her hands into his chest, pushing him back against the refrigerator. “You didn’t care that you fucked Raci instead of me, so why do you care about a stupid key?”

“I didn’t fuck her—”

“You touched her. I saw you. Your dick was hanging out. I might have interrupted her, but you were a second away from screwing her.”

“No, I wasn’t. If you saw my dick, you’d know I wasn’t.”

She stared him in confusion, her hands dropping from his chest.

“I couldn’t have fucked anyone with that limp dick. The only reason Raci didn’t notice was because she was trying to get information out of me.”

Penni backed up until the counter stopped her. “You touched her …” He saw the pain in her eyes.

“Yes, I touched her, knowing you would probably find out and hate me. I hated myself, but I gave an oath as a Predator, and I kept it, even though it was going to fuck up things between us. An oath isn’t easy to keep. Men have died for generations to keep them. Should I have let Ice or Max been the one to do it? Grace is dealing with her mother’s death, and Max has only been married less than a year.”

Her aghast expression answered his question.

“Using one of The Last Riders wasn’t an option,” he continued. “It was a setup to find out who was betraying the club. Should I have let Stump do it? He would have fucked her and told her what we had planned. Hennessy would have been suspicious. Cruz would have beaten it out of her. Cade could have, but Fat Louise is pregnant. Stud could have, but if that bitch of a wife of his found out, she would’ve—”

“Jeez.” Penni shook her head, stopping him. “So you’re the go-to guy when the Predators need a dirty job done?”

“Yes.”

Penni raised her hands in the air. “What do you want me to do? Accept that you’re going to fuck a woman if Ice orders you to?”

“No. I told him I won’t do it again.” Jackal gave her a twisted smile, hiding how painful it had hurt him to make that ultimatum. “I told him no, that even if it meant I’d have to walk away from the Predators, I would.”

Penni gave him a trembling smile. “You said that?”

“Yes.”

“You said that even though you didn’t know if I would take you back?”

“Babe, there was never any doubt that you were going to take me back.”

Penni started walking around the kitchen huffily, and Jackal braced his hands on the counter.

“You’re my soul mate,” he told her.

“You think you can convince me that you believe in something I know damn well you don’t?”

“What makes you think I don’t? Who else do you think would put up with your crazy ass? You almost shot me! When haven’t I been there when you needed me? Who else were you ready to jump into bed with? Who else would I walk away from the Predators for? Not … one … woman … but you. Only you.”

Penni walked back over to him and laid her head on his chest. “I don’t know what to do.”

Jackal placed his hand on the nape of her neck, tilting her face up to his. “That’s a start. I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is not being a part of your life.” He kissed her as he had never kissed her before. “I couldn’t fuck another woman when the only one I want to fuck is you.”

He stroked her tongue with his, pressing his flush against hers. His dick was so hard he shuddered when he ground his cock into her pussy. If she were wearing anything other than her tight jeans, Jackal didn’t think he would have been able to stop from releasing his dick to fuck her right there.

Penni began kissing him back, burrowing her hands under his T-shirt to run them across his waist then reach around to the small of his back.

Jackal lifted her onto the counter before pulling down her blouse, baring the lacy, pale blue bra. He pulled her breasts out of the cups, sinking his mouth onto one taut nipple.

“I want to fuck you so badly!” he groaned, blowing his heated breath over her wet nipple.

“I didn’t mean I was going to make up my mind tonight.” Penni circled her thighs around his hips.

“I’m not going to fuck you tonight after what happened, and I have to work for Henry tomorrow night. That gives you two days to make your mind up.”

“If I don’t, what then?”

“I’ll make it up for you.” Jackal tugged her legs down, unsnapping her jeans. He took the jeans and wispy panties off, dropping them to the floor.

She curled her hands over the countertop, licking her bottom lip. “What are you doing? You just said I had two days—”

“Helping you make up your mind.” He buried his face in her belly, tracing her belly button with his tongue. “Your body is so hot. It makes me want to do everything nasty I can think of to you.” Jackal caressed her flesh until he reached her pussy, spreading her legs wider.

“Like what?” she croaked.

“Like this.” He used his thumbs to part the lips of her pussy, sucking her clitoris into his mouth.

“Oh, God …” Penni moaned. “What else?”

He lowered himself to his knees then blew on her shiny bud. “I’m going to make your pussy cry for me.”

He licked the length of her cunt then drove his tongue into her pussy. Penni reached to the cabinets above her head.

“You taste like peach rum.”

Her moist pussy was almost pushing him to his breaking point, but he wanted this time to be all about her.

He searched for the spot she was the most sensitive. When he found it, she started whimpering.

“That’s not as good as my dick is going to feel.”

“It’s pretty good now,” she panted.

“Only pretty good?”

“You like to talk too much,” she complained, bringing her hands to his hair to push him back down.

“I thought girls like that shit.” He placed his hands on her hips so she didn’t fall off the counter.

“I’m not most girls.”

“No, you’re not.”

Jackal used his tongue to torment Penni’s pussy, sliding in and out of her then lashing her clitoris before sliding back inside. Her wetness spread, making it easier for him to slip deeper inside her pulsing muscles, driving him on, becoming drunk on her taste.

“Say my name,” Penni moaned. “Say my name,” she repeated.

“Penni …”

“Jackal … if you ever fuck around on me again, I’ll kill you,” she moaned.

He took her warning seriously. The woman didn’t do anything in half measures. She was all in … or she was away. Jackal wasn’t going to let that happen.

Her throbbing pussy was the only one he needed, the only one he couldn’t live without tasting. And right now, it was convulsing, nearly making him come as she shattered on his tongue.

When she sat on the counter like a limp doll, he pressed kisses on her belly then each of her breasts then on her waiting mouth. Then he helped her off the countertop and back into her jeans.

He shoved her panties into his back pocket.

“Give those back.”

“No. I’m going to put them in my nightstand.”

She blushed, reminded of what she had kept in her nightstand before he had destroyed it.

“Are you going to cut them up, too?” Her mouth was still wet from his kiss.

“Fuck no,” Jackal teased. “You probably don’t want to know what I’m going to do to them when I get home.” He plucked at the front of his jeans, trying to ease the material from strangling his cock.

“That’s definitely TMI.”

“You can have them back in two days.” He walked to her door. If he stayed much longer, he would be using her pussy to ease his aching cock instead of her panties.