Mine Now (The Phantom Vipers MC)

51. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Blake

Pain stabs me in the chest. He’s dead?

Craig is dead …

The words echo in my head, bouncing off the walls of my mind, but they don’t make sense. It doesn’t feel real. My heart slams against my ribs as I try to grasp what this mean.

What does that mean for my future?

What does that mean for Charlie’s future?

She doesn't have a dad now. Not that she really ever did, a bitter voice whispers in the back of my mind. But that doesn’t stop the wave of guilt that crashes over me. It’s overwhelming, suffocating–choking me with the weight of questions I don’t have answers to.

Will I be able to survive without him permanently?

I hate that the thought even enters my mind. That I’ve been conditioned to believe I need him, even though he did nothing but hurt me. All of these questions threaten to drown me in anxiety. My chest tightens.

“How did he die, Hunter?” I whisper as if that will soften the blow.

Did he do it? Is that why I survived?

He just stares at me with a flat stare, judging by his facial expression, he looks like he doesn’t know if I am capable of handling the truth.

I grip his shirt tightly in my fist. “Tell me, Hunter.”

He squints his eyes for a moment and then lets out a breath. “I killed him,” he mutters.

Everything stops.

I am in shock. My body feels like it is too heavy to move. Everything is in slow motion. Hunter killed Craig. He killed him… what am I to do now?

The panic slams into me full force, fear sets its roots and I start to scoot toward the edge of the bed. I move so quickly, my feet hit the floor before Hunter even realizes what is happening. But that doesn’t stop him from rushing after me before I make it to the door.

All of my instincts scream at me to run.

“Stop!” he yells before spinning my body around to face him and slamming me against the wall.

I hit the door with a hmph and the air is slightly knocked out of me, leaving me in a stunned silence. I brace for the anger and violence I know is coming. I brace for Craig.

But then His gaze softens.

He cups my cheek lightly and runs his thumb across my chin. “Don’t run,” he whispers, voice raw and pleading.

Tears well in my eyes. How can I not run? I need to get out of this situation before it's too late.

But the way he says it—the quiet ache in his voice—softens me just a little. He isn’t demanding. He isn’t forcing. He’s asking .

I take in a centering breath and straighten my stance trying to ground myself. “Tell me why I shouldn’t run, Hunter. Why should I stay with someone who is capable of killing another human being?”

The moment the words leave my lips, I see it–the flicker of something wounded in his expression. He looks as though I slapped him in the face as he takes a small step back to give me some space.

“Maybe you should run, Blake. Far away from here. Away from the life of a biker’s ol’ lady. No good could come from it, surely.” He lets out a sigh. “But maybe it could be the best thing for both of us if you stayed. Our lives could be different. Better…”

I shake my head. “Why did you kill him, Hunter? Why didn’t you just call the cops?”

He tightens his jaw for a moment before responding. I can see the war raging inside him “I killed him because he hurt you, Blake.”

I shake my head, I am not worth killing someone over.

“When I saw him on top of you and your lifeless body beneath him, all I saw was red. There was nothing else—other than his death--in my vision. I beat him to death with my bare hands.” He holds them out in front of him.

“These hands are capable of killing another person, Blake.” He takes a step into me, forcing me to press my back harder on the door. He trails his fingertip down my jaw line until he reaches my collarbone, and he squeezes it gently. “But they are also capable of passion.” He continues down my chest. “Love.” He engulfs the front of my stomach with the palm of his hand. “Protecting what is mine.”

I let out a shallow breath. “But I’m not yours.”

A flicker of something dark–something dangerous–crosses his face.

Not anger. Not cruelty.

Something else.

A low growl comes from his throat as he steps even closer to me. “You’re mine now.”

Hunter hasn’t left my side since he carried me into the bedroom.

I should be terrified. I should be wary. But for some reason, Hunter feels like home. I feel safe in his arms, as if nothing will ever happen to me as long as he is near. I am finally safe.

As we now lay in the bed together, I lean forward instinctively and scoot myself closer to him, just wanting to be in his arms and feel the comfort his body gives me. But he stops me. “Hang on just a second, princess.”

I wait patiently as he rises from the bed and pulls off his vest and bloodied shirt. He gets back into the bed with just his pants and boots on and then pulls me against him. His warm skin soothes my running thoughts right away, and I drift into peacefulness.

“Mommy!” Charlie’s voice booms from the doorway, and I am startled awake. I must have drifted off at some point and didn’t even notice it.

“Hey, baby,” I groan.

She quickly climbs onto the bed, and Hunter makes her slow down. “Be gentle, little one. Your mother is hurting.”

I swat his hands away and pull Charlie into my arms. “I’m never too hurt to cuddle my favorite person,” I whisper and nuzzle her hair.

Hunter chuckles and wraps all three of us in a blanket. “Then I guess all three of us are going to rest together. Because I won't be letting my two favorite people go any time soon tonight.” He squeezes us closer to him and we all sit in a peace that I have never felt before.