ROUGHNECK: A DARK MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE (14 page)

I
didn’t have
any fight left in me. This psychopath was going to do what he wanted with me. No one could save me. Hale didn’t even know where I was. How could he do anything?

“Those are cute panties,” Dirty said.

He’d taken his belt out of the loops and bent it around his fingers.

“You know, pink
is
my favorite color…”

It took everything I had to keep from throwing up on the floor. My body was too beat and tired to fight back anymore. I backed myself into a corner and shivered uncontrollably.

“What are you going to do to me?” I said, weakly.

“That’s it… your just gonna lay down and take it? I heard you had a little more fight in you than that.”

The sick bastard got off on me trying to stop him.

“You’ll pay for this.”

“Is that right? Are
you
gonna make me pay?”

“Roughneck will. He’ll slit your throat if you touch me.”

The mere mention of his name seemed to change Dirty’s mood.

“He won’t do shit. He knows the cost of playing the game. In fact, he’ll be lucky if I let
him
live. There’s no place in my club for a punk like him.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said. “You’re scared of him. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Shut your whore mouth!”

He swung the belt, lashing me across the legs. I denied him my cries, even though it stung like crazy.

“You’re afraid of what he’s gonna do to you,” I continued. “You may be able to do what you want with me right now, but you know there’s going to come a day when you pay.”

“I said, shut up!”

He pinned me to the bed and dropped a heavy knee on my belly. I couldn’t have fought him off if I wanted to.

“I was gonna be gentle with you,” he said. “But now I’ll have to punish you for running that goddamned mouth of yours.”

He made me sick. I tried to shut the world out as he pawed at my neck. I couldn’t completely ignore the clammy texture of his hands.

“C’mon, bitch. Try to get away. I like when they have some fight in them.”

“Do what you’re gonna do,” I said, quietly. “You’re gonna suffer for it.”

He cursed and kicked at the floor as he ripped at the strap of my tank top. It tore from my arm, leaving only my bra between the two of us.

The room was cold… both in temperature and atmosphere. I couldn’t imagine a more appropriate setting for the terror that was about to befall me.

My mind started to drift as he pushed his jeans down to the floor. I tried to think about different things, but my mind kept going in one direction. Hale. He consumed every thought that passed through my head.

At first, I focused on his actions… how he’d taken Jared under his wing… how he’d helped me search tirelessly to find him when he skipped town.

The way he made me feel…

As the mongrel on the bed drew closer, the realization struck me like a ton of bricks. I
did
have something to fight for.

Dirty didn’t see the light come back into my eyes. He was too busy playing with himself, trying to make something happen.

I had plenty of fight left in me, and even though he was bigger and stronger, he was in for the battle of his life.

“You’re a hot little number.”

He leaned in to kiss me as he fumbled for my chest. I held my ground for as long as I could stand it to let him get close enough.

When he opened his mouth, his eyes closed, and that was my cue.

I lunged forward, the crown of my head aimed directly for the center of his face just the way I’d seen Roughneck do it back in the bar. It worked like a charm. I connected with the bridge of his nose, creating a horrendous crunching noise.

The blow sent him reeling backward. He was caught completely off guard.

“Ow! Fuckin’ bitch!”

I jumped to my feet, unsure of my next move.

Dirty climbed to his feet and stumbled in a circle around the room. His nose was a faucet.

“You’re gonna pay for that one.”

I searched desperately for a weapon. The only items of any substance were the boots he’d kicked off so happily. I picked one up and launched it at his head. It missed, but the sound of it clattering off the wall got his attention.

He dropped his hands from his ailing face and charged me like a bull. I jumped back on to the bed and just avoided his swooping arms.

I ran to the door and tried the handle. I saw him lock it, but I still had to give it a shot. The door rattled in its frame, but didn’t swing free. It was too big and heavy to bother trying to force it.

Dirty turned to face me, his hands planted on his hips. The blood from his nose had slowed to a drip. A look of frustration crossed his face.

“You just made things a whole lot worse for yourself, darlin’.”

He swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I thought you wanted a fight, you sick fuck.”

He laughed.

“You’re not man enough for me anyway.”

I was going for broke.

Red flushed his face as he grew violently angry again. His emotions swung wildly, in the style of a true narcissist. I darted for the bed again before he moved.

I was able to yank the small mattress of the frame and position it between us. There were two small handles on the side that allowed me to hold it, kind of like a shield.

“What do think you’re gonna do with that… smother me?”

“I’ll use it for whatever I need to. Right now it’s doing a pretty good job at keeping your sick hands off of me.”

Dirty cocked his leg and swung it at the mattress. His kick landed right in the center, opposite my stomach. It sent me flying backward into the wall. I bounced off and tumbled over the mattress. I landed on it, facing him from my back.

“How about now?”

He advanced cautiously on my position.

“I bet your biker friends would laugh in your face if they knew how much trouble you had getting such a little girl under control.”

I needed to keep him talking.

“They might not think you’re so tough.”

“Yeah. Whatever. No more games.”

He pointed to his crotch.

“Get to work.”

He stood over me, expectantly, his pathetic manhood on display.

“That’s not gonna happen.”

He’d far underestimated the amount of fear he’d put into me.

The unmistakable “click” of a bullet sliding into a chamber sounded from behind his back. He raised his hand to the side to show me what he had. He must have fished it out when I was recovering from the kick to the stomach.

The dim light from the bulb glinted off the chrome handle. He angled it back and forth so it would dance across my face.

“Quiet again… that figures.”

“You’re not gonna shoot me.”

“Are you sure about that? Because they’re gonna come looking for you eventually. That’s the way Roughneck is. And he’ll bring your brother in if it gives him a chance to find you. He won’t need proof that you’re alive. He won’t be able to help himself.”

“That’s bullshit,” I said. “You’re bluffing.”

“Really? Why don’t you try me?”

He pointed the weapon directly at my face. I flinched at the motion.

“Aw, not so tough, anymore. That’s okay.”

I crab walked backward on my hands and feet. When I bumped into the wall, I scooted for the corner.

“Where ya going?” he said, nonchalantly. That sickly playful tone had returned to his voice.

“I’m getting the fuck away from you,” I snarled.

He stepped off the edge of the mattress, leaving nothing but a few feet of floor space between the two of us. He grabbed a handful of my hair and held the gun to the opposite side of my head.

I needed to think clearly, but I couldn’t. My brain was frantic. If I tried to pull away, he’d almost definitely shoot me. He was that disturbed. I closed my eyes as he dragged me forward.

The rattle of the door knob brought me out of my panic. Dirty snapped his head around and we both watched the opposite corner of the room. The door swung open with a heavy groan.

“Hey man, they’re here. Your daddy said to let you know.”

It was a short, chubby biker with a too-tight jacket. It didn’t matter. I seized the opportunity.

It was my turn to kick. I flipped my hips to get as much force behind the blow as I could manage. My bare toes connected with the center of Dirty’s ball sack.

I dipped out of the way just in time to miss the muzzle flare. It was the second time in less than eight hours a gun had been fired near my head and I didn’t plan on sticking around for a third.

When Dirty toppled over backward, I jumped to my feet. I had to get out of the room before he regained his composure. He’d surely kill me if he got his hands on me again.

My feet moved like the wind. I heard the gun skitter across the floor behind me as I bolted for the door. Dirty must have dropped it so he could tend to his battered balls.

I prepared for the fight of my life against the big biker blocking my exit. He would be too big to shove out of the way, so I’d have to be agile enough to get around him. Thankfully, he wasn’t standing directly in the doorway.

“Get that bitch,” Dirty groaned from the floor.

The big guys stood there slack-jawed and unmoving. When the instruction finally registered, I was almost by him. He reached out with a slow hand, but it was easy to duck. I delivered a sharp elbow to his big belly for good measure.

“Oof.” He shouted, stumbling after me.

I turned the corner and desperately tried to remember the way they had brought me in. Maybe it was the state I was in, but everything looked the same. I needed a window. Anything, really, that would help me get my bearings.

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway.

“She went this way!”

There was a set of stairs to my left. There was no way I was putting more distance between myself and the front door, though, so that was out. It looked like all empty bedrooms and closets behind the other doors.

Make a decision, Addy!

I had to go. I sprinted toward the stairway. It looked like the building wrapped around to another section of rooms. Another hallway started to my right. I figured it was my best shot.

“Where the hell is she?!”

This time it was Dirty’s voice. I had no doubt I could get away from the other one, but Dirty was faster and stronger. Plus, he had the gun.

I made a run for the hallway. I had to balance speed with stealth as I didn’t want to alarm anyone else in the place to my presence.

This place was massive. It was more like a compound than a clubhouse.

The hallway off the wraparound led me to a kitchen. On the far wall, there was a door to the outside. From the sounds of their footsteps, I could tell they ran upstairs to search. It meant I had a little bit of breathing room.

Once I got outside, I’d be home free. I could tell we were surrounded by trees. If I could get out under the cover of darkness, they’d never be able to track me down. The fear would give me enough fuel to run until the sun came up. I’d chance the elements and make my way back to town.

The door flew open under my excited pull. I stuck my foot behind it just in time to keep it from clattering against the wall.

Fresh air. It was almost sweet enough to taste.

Three steps down and my toes sunk into the soft soil.

Run!

I didn’t make it a step before the dog launched himself at my face. He was all teeth and claws, and probably outweighed me by fifteen pounds.

I got my arm up just in time to deflect his snatching jaws. His body torqued as he flew past me. He snapped again as his momentum carried him. Great. Now I have to deal with Cujo.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

The dog sat on his haunches, barking angrily.

“She’s down stairs! She’s trying to get outside.”

Oh no.

The dog blocked the gate that led outside the fence. I could chance running by him or I could run back inside. I decided on the latter as I didn’t want to chance the dog tackling me to the ground.

The kitchen was mostly bare. There were cases of beer and other alcohols stacked around the room, but not much else. I took a quick look through each of the doors in hopes of finding some kind of weapon, but they were all empty.

Go. Go. Go.

I ran for the door… the one opposite of the way I came in. They were coming down the stairs now. I had less than five seconds.

The sound of gruff voice stopped me in my tracks. Angry sounds bounced around the room on the other side of the door. I didn’t chance sneaking a peek because I already knew that was the room where I started. The men were still there. I had to find another way.

I looked across the room. Feet hit the landing at the bottom of the stairs. There was no way back through that door without running head first into my pursuers.

Time slowed down.

Think, Addy. Think.

Hide.

The cupboards. There was no time to think twice. Not even time for a false step. I took a direct angle toward the closets set of cupboards, two down from the sink. If I was wrong, and there was shelving or other goods stored there, I’d be caught. It was a Hail Mary.

I almost ripped the small door off its hinges.

Jackpot!

Empty, and just enough room to squeeze myself in. If I’d grown to be as tall as my mom, I wouldn’t have fit.

I saw a bare foot step into the kitchen just as I pulled the door closed behind me.

“Outside! Outside! Did she make it?” yelled Dirty.

“Naw. No way. Cookie is out there. He would’ve chewed her up.”

Cookie? Great name for your rabid dog.

“They got her then.”

I could only imagine he thought I went through the door and into the waiting arms of the other bikers.

“Let’s get the bitch back in her room.”

I held my breath as the stomped by my secret hiding place, only inches away. My sigh of relief didn’t even make it all of the way past my lips before I realized I’d need to move again. And fast.

Once they saw I wasn’t in the other room, they’d figure out that I was hiding. Unless I could turn invisible there would be no other way about it. I had to believe that even these guys could put two and two together.