Wolf (The Henchmen MC #3) (7 page)

"Staying here," he said simply, taking my wrist again, but much more gently.

"But why?" I demanded, a bit of pleading in my tone.

He straightened the wonky gauze for a second, settling it all into even lines before he looked me in the face again. "Have reasons."

"Care to share?"

"Why'd you bomb Hailstorm?"

I wanted to smile, because I knew what he was doing. But I kept my lips in a straight line. "Have reasons."

"Care to share?" he threw my words back at me and I felt myself smiling.

"No."

"So you get it," he said on a shrug as he moved away from me.

I sat up slowly, mouth opening to remind him that the situations were in no way similar, when I heard a voice outside. "You better be shacked up in here with some grade-A pussy if you're not showing up at church," it called through the door. My head snapped in Wolf's direction to see him silently contemplating the ceiling. I didn't have to ask who it was. I knew that voice. I had talked to him the night of the dinner party where he and Wolf were going so they would be safe... while I went out and created chaos. Cash. It was Cash. He was Reign's, the leader of The Henchmen MC, brother. He was also second in command, vice prez, one position above Wolf.

I liked Cash. That wasn't surprising because literally everyone who met him liked him. Especially women. He was charming as all hell, good looking, sweet, funny. And, when the situation called for it, he was a vicious, capable fighter and killer.

I wanted to ask Wolf where he had been the day before if he hadn't gone to church with the rest of the men. But then Cash's voice called through the door again, "Oh you fuck. If I

have to hunt you down..." he trailed off mainly because Wolf had rushed across the floor and flung the door open.

"Cash," he said as I moved to sit up on my knees on the bed, shamelessly eavesdropping.

"The fuck you doing up here when bombs are going off?" Cash asked.

"Anything I can do?" Wolf countered, sounding almost... bored.

"That's not the point, Wolf. You don't miss church. Reign was worried. Now that he knows you ain't dead in one of your fucking tree stands or something, he's gonna be pissed."

"I'll deal with him," Wolf said with a shrug, rendering Cash momentarily speechless. Because no one 'dealt with' Reign. Reign had a soft spot for his woman but that was about it. He was hardened from all the years being in charge of a group of ruthless men. He didn't take well to disloyal members and that was exactly what Wolf was sounding like right then. Why? What was he doing messing with his brotherhood?

"What the fuck did
you
get yourself into now, man?" Cash asked after a moment.

"Nothin'," Wolf lied.

"There are fucking bombs going off all over. No one has a god damn idea who is setting them. Repo is up my ass about not being around enough and I can't be around because I got fuckin' Lo begging asylum at my house 'cause she got trouble and she won't involve Hailstorm in it..."

Lo.

He had Lo begging asylum at his house?

Because she had trouble that she wouldn't involve Hailstorm in?

I was pretty sure my heart stopped on the spot right then, the pain was so acute and cutting that my hand rose to the left side of my chest and pressed in.

Lo was a lot of things: strong, capable, smart, ruthless, enterprising. She was a woman in charge of a group of men who had never taken orders from a woman before. She ran Hailstorm with a whip and a unshakable spirit. She was not the kind of woman to beg. She was certainly not the kind of woman to turn to someone outside her organization for help if she somehow needed it.

Whatever she had going on, it didn't take a genius to know it was bad.

"Lo?" I heard myself ask before I could stop it.

Wolf's head tilted up, looking at the ceiling as he let out a breath and shook his head. It was then that I realized he didn't want Cash to know I was there. That was why he had been blocking the door. I was his dirty little secret.

"I fuckin' knew you had a skirt in there," Cash chuckled as he ducked under Wolf's arm and made his way inside the cabin. He was tall and a thin kind of strong with colorful tattoos up his arms. His blond hair was left long on one side and shaved to a buzzcut up the other. His deep green eyes were amused until his eyes landed on me, quickly taking in the cuts on my face and the gauze on my arm. "Jesus fucking Christ," he said, rolling his eyes as Wolf moved back into the room, leaving the door open as if telling Cash he could get a move on at any time. "Well well well," he smiled, too amused for any of our good. "Look at this little development..."

"Cash," Wolf's deep voice warned, but Cash completely ignored it.

"She's not your usual type, man," he said, nodding at me. "But, hell, if you can put

up with that smart mouth," he said, winking at me.

And well, two days of frustration came to a head right in that moment and I felt the anger well up strong and insistent. And Cash, well, he was just a perfect outlet for it.

"The operative word there being 'smart'," I started, moving toward the end of the bed and hopping off. "I know. It's a foreign concept to someone who barely has two brain cells to rub together and when he does, all they do is scream out 'pussy, pussy, pussy', but some of us actually have..."

"Retract the claws, kitten," he laughed, winking at me as he chucked me under the chin. "I was messing with you."

"Oh," I said, immediately deflating. Of course he was. That was how he was: carefree, jocular, fun. I sighed a little, deciding to change tactics. "Why is Lo staying with you?"

"I dunno. Why you staying with Wolf?" he putted it back at me. And, well, what was I supposed to say? That he kidnapped me? That I was being held hostage by one of his biker brothers? The very strong, independent part of me bristled at ever admitting I was some man's captive. So I just lifted my chin and remained silent. Cash waited a beat then reached out toward me, touching his hand to the gauze on my arm and it sent off a shock of pain that made me let out a small shriek and pull away. "The fuck..." he started, looking genuinely concerned.

"Time to go," Wolf said suddenly, moving to stand between me and Cash. The message there wasn't lost on me. He was taking a stand against one of his brothers. That just simply... wasn't done. I couldn't see Cash anymore past Wolf's massive frame, but his silence spoke a thousand words. He was confused.

Watching Wolf's back... so was I.

"Alright," Cash said after a long minute. "But pick up your fucking phone and call Reign or you're gonna have a group of Henchmen up here asking questions and airing your laundry. Janie, kitten," he said, leaning past Wolf's body so I could see him. "Take care of that arm. I'll see you around."

I listened to him walk out the door, closing it quietly and making his way back down the hill. Wolf was still standing with his back to me. I knew he was never going to volunteer any information unless I forced it out of him. If it was possible to "force" him into anything.

"What the hell was that?" He moved away from me, going toward the kitchen and making a fresh pot of coffee.

Oh no. He wasn't getting away with that.

"Um... hello. I'm talking to you here." I got a grunt of acknowledgment to that. A
grunt.
Like a caveman. "Why are you avoiding church and The Henchmen? Why are you making it clear to Cash that the topic of me is off limits? What the fuck is going on in that Neanderthal head of yours?"

He betrayed his annoyance by slamming the pot into the machine and stabbing the button to turn it on. "Drop it."

"Yeah, I'm not going to just... drop it, Wolf. I need to know what the fuck is going on. This might not be a big deal to you, but this is my life here. I am trapped with a man I don't know from Adam, whose intentions are anything but clear, who could very well plan on torturing, killing, and burying..." Whatever I was about to say got cut off because suddenly he wasn't across the room from me. He was right in front of me, all up in my space, his head tucked down to look me in the eye.

"I. Won't. Hurt. You." He made every word its own sentence, putting so much sincerity into them that I had no choice but to believe him.

"Okay," I swallowed, my neck craning up to look him in the eye.

"Believe me?"

"Yes. I believe you," I said, nodding a little for emphasis.

"Don't be afraid," he pressed, looking down at me like he wouldn't be able to move away from me until he knew for sure that I trusted him.

And, oddly and for no damn good reason, I did. I trusted him. "I'm not afraid." I was never afraid. And even though he could break my entire body with just one of his massive hands, I didn't truly believe he would ever do that.

"That's my girl," he said, his hand touching my cheek.

The words landed with impact, making the floor beneath my feet give away, making my hands move out to grab his forearms to hold steady. His hands closed around my elbows as his face twisted in a mirror to the shock I was sure was on my face.

My.

That's
my
girl.

I was trying really hard to not analyze what that meant, if that meant anything at all. But it had to mean something if he said it. He said so little that everything that did come from between his lips had weight, had meaning. So it meant something. But maybe it was the flippant, nothing way people said all the time. "That's my girl" like "that'a girl". Like encouragement, not endearment.

So yeah I was doing really poorly at the 'not analyzing it' thing.

"Wolf," I started, my palm resting on his chest. But I didn't get a chance to speak because the second my hand landed, his gaze followed. Then he wrenched away from me violently and stormed across the room, pulling open the door, then slamming it closed behind him.

So I guess that was that.

I waited a beat then made my way to the door, pulling it open slowly and smiling when Harley and Chopper met me. Their heads tilted to the side and their tails wagged, but the second I stepped past the doorway, I got growls.

"You guys suck," I said small-eying them and slamming the door closed.

I tried every means of escape that afternoon and evening. I attempted to climb out of each of the windows, only to be met with snarling hell beasts. I tried bribing them with lunch meat I found in the fridge. They ate it, but one at a time so the other could keep an eye on me.

I exhaled loudly, leaning against the wall and looking around the cabin as night fell.

"Home sweet prison," I mumbled, pushing off the door and heading for the coffee pot.

SEVEN

Janie

I heard the truck sometime later, grumbling up the drive. There was a slam and I heard the dogs shuffling up to greet him. The door opened and I didn't bother to look up. The dogs ran over to the side of the bed, looking up at me for permission.

"I'm not speaking to you," I informed them grumpily, keeping my head ducked to avoid eye contact with Wolf. That was until something hit the mattress at the end of the bed and I noticed a bag. I reached for it, curious. Opening it, I found about a dozen paperback books. My head jerked up to find Wolf standing a few feet away staring at me. There must have been a question in my eyes because he answered it.

"You like to read."

"Yeah..." I said, my hands stroking over the covers of the books. He bought me books. He bought me books because I had yelled at him about not having any reading material while I threw magazines at him. That was... considerate. Kind even. A little voice whispered that if he was buying me books that he likely meant to keep me a while. But I ignored that voice and let my mouth form the words that were making my insides feel a little wobbly. "Thank you."

He nodded tightly at me and moved over toward his recliner, popping up the legs, turning on some game, and ignoring me. But, for once, it didn't annoy me. Because I had a new pile of books to look over and dive into. It felt like Christmas morning used to.

I read until my eyes got blurry, making the words on the pages start to swim, then rolled onto my side and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up not aware I was awake, still screaming, this time not silently. Because this time, the nightmare pulled me in and drowned me in the memories, in the pain, in the horror, into the sickening reality of what had happened.

"Shh," a deep voice said as a strong hand closed around the side of my neck in a way that was meant to be reassuring. But I wasn't fully awake, still trapped in the remnants of a dream, and I flew at the body that was in the bed with me. "Shh," the voice said again and I found my flailing hands trapped between my body and a man's chest as his arms closed around me tight and held me. "Janie, shh," he murmured into my hair and I felt myself jerk fully awake, realization washing over me like a bucket of cold water.

I wasn't back there. I was okay. I was in a cabin in the woods. I was safe.

Then another realization came over me, but it wasn't shocking and cold. It was warm and comforting. I was in Wolf's arms. I was in Wolf's arms and he was draped around me, murmuring quiet reassurances against my hair. My hands curled slightly into the material of his shirt and I rested my head against his chest. "Wolf..." I started, not knowing what I was even going to say, but knowing I needed to say something.