Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
“What’s going to happen?”
“Wish I could say. We both may be fucked, but I swear I’ll fight to get you out. I know I have no right to ask, but I’m going to need you to trust me.”
“I don’t know you.” Tears sprang from her eyes, and she trembled in my arms.
Unable to resist, I brushed a tear from under her eye as gently as I could. “I know, honey. If I could get you out of this before they got here I would. If you leave now, they’ll follow. You’re in their territory, so they can’t afford not to. This is the only way. It’s not going to be comfortable, but I’ll protect you with my life. I swear it.” She nodded, and more tears spilled over to drip down her cheeks. “In the eyes of the club, you’re gonna be my woman. It will give me a reason to keep the others off you. But you have to do exactly as I say, Bellarose. If they don’t think we’re an actual couple, they will fight me outright for you. Do you understand?” Again she nodded, but her shivering intensified. No doubt she was scared as fuck and with good reason.
The group got closer, and I tightened my arms around Bellarose and brought my mouth down on hers in a gentle, coaxing kiss. I didn’t want to scare her, but it had to be done.
Sweet God, she tasted good! I couldn’t afford this. Not now. I had to keep my wits about me, but her kisses were fucking intoxicating! Even as terrified as she was, when I started kissing her, she stiffened slightly, gasped in a breath, then let out a contented sigh and just… let me have her. Her lips parted to let me sweep my tongue inside to tangle with hers. Her skin dampened, and her breath came in little pants. I’d bet my last dollar the girl had never been kissed. At least, not like I was doing. It made me an even bigger bastard for not only forcing the situation on her, but enjoying the pleasure of kissing her when it wasn’t for the right reasons.
The closer they got, the harder I kissed her, needing to escalate things so Dutch would believe it was real. If I didn’t do this all the way, there was no way Dutch would believe I was claiming her. If he didn’t believe me, he’d try to take her. Might anyway. There would likely be a huge fight. There was no way I could lose that fight. With all the men in this group, I knew I couldn’t win.
I tried to console myself with the fact that, if this worked, at least I wouldn’t have to kill Dutch before I was ready. If I killed the prick before questioning him, I’d kill any chance I had of getting the contacts who were supplying him with girls -- or the other way around. If I lost those contacts, all these months I’d been inside this shit-stinking club would be for nothing. I hadn’t survived the slimiest of the slimebags to lose the whole reason I was there. At least, that was what I told myself. I absolutely did not get a thrill out of making this girl mine, even if it was only for a short time.
The bikes pulled up to us and stopped. Men whooped and hollered as I continued to kiss Bellarose. The second she realized we had an audience, she stiffened, the commotion pulling her out of the moment. Now she was tense and scared, not at all looking like a woman with her man. These guys probably wouldn’t notice. In their eyes, women didn’t get a choice. A man wanted a woman, he took her. Regardless of hers or anyone else’s wishes. Dutch, on the other hand, would miss nothing. If he thought for a second Bellarose didn’t want to be with me, he’d pounce.
I threaded my fingers through her hair at the back of her head and turned my body so I shielded her face. Pulling back just enough to part our lips, I whispered to her.
“Don’t freak out. Follow my lead. As far as they’re concerned, you’re my woman. It’s the only way to get us out of here safely, so you have to go along.”
“I’m scared.” Her little whimper tugged at my heart, but I couldn’t comfort her the way she needed. “How do I know this isn’t some ploy to get me to go quietly? You’re kidnapping me, and you expect me to let you?”
“I know, honey. It looks bad. It is bad. Don’t think about it right now. If you fight me, we’re both dead, because I’ll do my best to kill every motherfucker here to keep them away from you, and I’m vastly outnumbered. They’ll kill me and make you wish they’d kill you.” I brushed a gentle kiss over her lips once more, trying to soothe her when there was really no way to make her feel better about this. “We’ll regroup the second we’re alone. I’ll call in reinforcements to help get you out of here. I won’t let anyone hurt you, but you have to obey me. Instantly. No hesitation. Get me? And whatever you do, do not say a fucking word. Not even if I tell you to. We haven’t gotten our stories straight yet, so you need to keep your mouth shut.”