Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“Now you can look at yourself in the mirror. Maybe if you’d learned how to suck my pussy with that mouth instead of running it, you wouldn’t have gotten cut.” My voice was calm and steady when I was trembling with rage inside.
Surprisingly, none of the men interfered. They’d stopped to watch, and more than one snickered at my comment, but they didn’t try to talk either of us down. All but one of the girls with the leader backed off. She grabbed her own bottle and broke it like I had, a maniacal gleam in her eyes.
“You wanna fight, bitch? Then come on!”
She shoved the first woman out of the way and charged me with a battle cry. I side-stepped her and swung the bottle in my hand in a sweeping arch, catching the back of her shoulder in a deep slice. All those self-defense classes Rycks had made us take were finally paying off. She cried out and whipped around.
“You fuckin’ cunt!”
“There’s more where that came from.” I beckoned her to me. “Come get some more.”
She did, running at me again in the same way. Again, I spun out of her way. This time, I stabbed her side as my momentum carried me around. I knew I’d gotten close to her kidney. She was slender, so it was entirely possible I’d hit my target even though I hadn’t hit her from the back. She screamed, clamping a hand to her injury. Blood poured between her fingers. Nausea bubbled, and I knew if I focused too long on the blood I’d be sick and any respect I’d just won would evaporate. Only then did any of the men make a move toward us.
“That’s enough.” Brick’s order wasn’t one anyone could ignore. It was barked with the authority of someone who could and would make your life a living hell if you dared to disobey him. “Eagle, take Jezlynn to the infirmary. Stitches can’t patch her up, get him to call in a favor. But she stays here. No hospitals.”
“If Stitches can’t fix this she could die!” That was from the first woman. The other one I’d cut.
“Shoulda thought about that before gettin’ in a bar fight with more than your fists. She goes to the hospital, they ask questions. Ain’t puttin’ the club in danger cause’a her stupidity.”
“You gonna punish that bitch? You allowing some outsider to come in here and disrespect us now?”
“Jezlynn,” Brick said, leveling his gaze on the women. “You’re about two seconds from gettin’ kicked out. And you know what that means.” For some reason the other woman paled. She shook her head and backed off. “We gonna have a problem?”
“No, Brick. No problem.” Though her tone was subdued and subservient, she threw me a venomous look before turning to leave. Someone had given her a napkin to put over her cheek, but blood had already soaked through.
Slippery, sticky, fluid over my body while the men wrapped their arms around me to hold me still. Taking their pleasure. Making me lick my own blood from their fingers…
I’d reached my limit with the blood. If I didn’t leave now, I was going to be sick.
Knowing I needed a distraction and that there was no way they’d just let me leave the common room, I decided I’d better start with Brick before he started with me. I gripped the neck of my broken bottle tighter. “I ain’t sorry for what I done. Jezlynn asked for it, and the other one tried to cut me first.”
“No one’s takin’ you to task, Winter.” He shook his head before reaching out a hand palm up, obviously wanting my weapon.
“You’ll pardon me if I don’t give up my only defense.” I made no move to surrender the broken bottle.
He nodded. “OK. Fair enough. Probably shoulda stopped that before it escalated. The whores are territorial. They see you as a threat, whether you are or not.”
“My suggestion would be to let them know me and my sister aren’t interested in encroaching on their territory. I know the score. I knew moving to a club we didn’t know would involve risks exactly like this one. Though, I confess, I never thought I’d have to injure someone that badly.”
“What did she say to you?”
Surprisingly, it was Roman, stalking toward us, who asked the question. There was an odd look on his face. A cross between fury and… hunger? But why would he be looking at me like that?
“Nothing I should’ve reacted that badly to. She was looking to get under my skin, and she did.”
Roman raised his voice so it carried over the whole room. “Maybe this lesson has been learned by everyone, so you don’t have to repeat it.”
Brick raised an eyebrow but didn’t contradict Roman. “I heard what she said. You’re right. Bitch deserved it.” He raised his voice so the whole room could hear him. “If we’re all finished here, I’d like to get back to the fuckin’ party.” The big man sounded irritated but had a look of satisfaction on his face. “You want to sit with Sting and Iris, Winter? They’ve got room at their table for you.”