Chapter 9
“Are you ready?” Cat asked Nora before she took her long, dark hair with the ends dipped in pink into her hands, wrapping a hair tie around her thick hair.
In some weird way, her sister rocked those pink ends. Beautiful as always, Cat hopped into the empty ring opposite from the ring where Zion and Crusher sparred just for kicks.
Nora had woken up to an empty bed this morning. She shouldn’t have been disappointed as Angel had clearly warned her it would only be a one-night fling.
She would cherish the memory of last night forever, though.
She couldn’t believe how sweet he’d been with her. After taking her virginity, he’d also made sure that she had an orgasm by going down on her, working her with his fingers and tongue.
Nora got all hot and bothered, thinking back at how good Angel could make her cry out for more.
“Sis….”
Nora blinked her eyes. “Right. I’m coming.”
Nora pushed her upper body through the ropes surrounding the ring, but her right foot got caught in the rope, sending her flat on her face.
“Geez,” Cat said with a big smile on her face.
Nora rolled her eyes, accepting her sister’s extended hand before getting up.
“Don’t say it.”
Cat faked zipping her mouth shut, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Not a word,” Nora iterated, already knowing her twin couldn’t help herself.
“What? Not even an inspirational quote like ‘it doesn’t matter how many times you fall flat on your face, only the number of times you get up’?”
“Har har,” Nora said, ignoring Zion’s snickers, who’d kept his eyes on them ever since they’d entered the renovated gym in the back of the clubhouse compound.
“Stop teasing your sister, Whirlwind,” Crusher said, smiling.
Nora had always liked Crusher and Zion since she’d learned early on that these two giants were more interested in each other than any girl they invited into their bedroom from time to time.
“What I wouldn’t do to get a chance to properly tease your sister,” Zion said, throwing a wink in Nora’s direction.
Nora’s hearty laugh died quickly when the door to the gym banged shut.
“What the fuck?” Angel shouted.
“Oh, hi, Angel,” Zion said in a syrupy voice, like he’d already noticed Angel step into their gym before he’d made his comment about teasing her.
Crusher laughed, and said, “Can you stop getting on our brothers’ nerves for once?”
“Nah, look at him. It’s too good to pass on.”
Nora giggled, seeing what Zion meant as she watched Angel getting more uneasy by the second with all eyes trained on him.
“You.” Angel jerked his chin in her direction. “Stop giggling,” Angel said, his dark blue eyes taking her breath away from the other side of the gym.
“You can’t come in here and boss my sister around, you stupid Northman,” Cat said before Nora could even think of a reply.
Angel ignored Cat, walking up to Nora’s side of the ring. “We need to talk.”
Nora’s eyes almost popped out of her head.
He’d been crystal clear this morning by sneaking out of the room while she’d slept. Angel didn’t need to say the words. She already knew how he would keep his promise and would never make love to her ever again.
“What do you want from my sister?”
Angel’s blue orbs were locked with Nora’s while he answered Cat, “Not your concern.”
“Everything about Nora is my concern.”
Nora broke the spell, breaking away from Angel’s stare. “You know I’m standing right here, right?”
Cat nodded. “Yeah. But somebody needs to tell him.”
“I can handle it,” Nora said, probably more forcefully than Cat expected, since she blinked in surprise.
Cat brought her hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’ll go bug Crusher and Zion for a few minutes. But don’t take too long. We still need to practice your right hook.”
Nora shook her head, rolling her eyes. She would never get the hang of this fighting thing. Nora knew it, and Cat definitely knew it. Heck, everyone with a pair of eyes could see how Nora wouldn’t be the next female fighter in their fight club.
But Cat insisted on teaching Nora the basics. Normally, Nora would have told Cat that she should find herself another student, but she’d realized after their first time sparring how important teaching Nora was for Cat.
Cat had literally fought for her life in that cabin in the woods, so the least Nora could do was to join her sister in this ring a few times a week if that would help her in some way.
“Your sister is right, you know. You really should practice that right hook.”
Nora blew air through her nose. “Just tell me what you want to talk to me about?”
Surely not her right hook. She watched Angel stare at the other ring for a moment before he took her breath away with the most intense look he’d ever given her.
“I heard you’re moving in with Rosie and Joelle.”
“I am.”
“Why?” he asked.
She scrunched her nose, not sure why he felt like he could question her choices as if he had any say in it. He wanted nothing to do with her. That much was clear after waking up alone this morning.
She definitely didn’t want to stay here and watch him fuck the whores every night. Why didn’t he get that?
“My brother arranged it with Fox so I can go to college and still be safe?—”
Angel snorted, making her forget the rest of her sentence.
“You’re not safe if you’re staying with Ariella. The Storm Riders will snatch her the first opportunity they get.”
This was news to Nora. She opened her mouth to rebut his statement but realized that he wouldn’t lie to her.
“My brother said that the club will look out for us.”
Nora watched his jaw tick before he said, “Just ask your sister what happens when the club’s protection fails.”
“I can’t believe you would go there, Angel. That’s a low blow,” she said, before folding her arms in front of her chest.
His eyes followed her movement, stilling a moment on her black sports bra. She quickly dropped her arms, finding his eyes fixated on her face again.
“If you’re going to stay with them, then I need eyes on you at all times.”
“I don’t know why you’re so adamant about this, but it’s already settled. I’m leaving this afternoon.”
Angel surprised her as his left hand suddenly pulled her by her upper arm. He brought her toe-to-toe, the strings of rope surrounding the ring the only thing separating them.
“At least promise me you’ll keep sparring here with Whirlwind.”
She diverted her gaze, concentrating on the huge Iron Viking MC flag hanging from the ceiling as she lied, “I don’t think I can come visit once college starts.”
Nora wasn’t about to disclose how she desired to leave the gates of this compound to never return. She loved Devlin and Cat, and even liked her newfound half-sister Gwenn, but she would always feel the odd one out here. Not to mention how she couldn’t handle seeing Angel after what they’d shared last night, knowing he would never be hers.
She much rather lived with Rosie, Joelle and Ariella, and visit her family from time to time on neutral ground, like at her grandparents’ place. Those weekly family nights were the only time where her brothers Kieran and Finn would join them.
Fire fighter Kieran and her younger brother Finn had nothing to do with IVMC, and Nora liked how the weekly family nights brought all siblings together.
“Why are you making this hard?”
She pulled her shoulders. “I’m not.”
He leaned in, whispering into her ear, “If you were mine, I would keep you close. I would take care of you. I would fuck you every night until you’d scream out my name like you did last night and?—”
“Are you two almost done? Nora needs to practice before she leaves this afternoon,” Cat yelled across the gym from the other ring.
Nora couldn’t believe he would go there. He told her exactly what she’d always dreamed of, without meaning a single word of it.
Angel’s tongue swept over Nora’s skin behind her ear, just like he’d done five weeks ago and then again last night. Nora hated his audacity but hated even more how she hoped he would never stop.
“I need to find a way to forget you, Jump Fire,” he whispered.
She turned her head ever so slightly, their noses bumping for just a second before he pulled back. Her chest ached as she watched him clearly at war with himself, as his eyes couldn’t let go of her, but his feet still moved away from her.
She hadn’t noticed her sister join her ring again and jumped when Cat grabbed her shoulder. “What the fuck did he want?”
Nora watched Angel exit the gym, staring at the closed door for a moment too long.
“Hello. Earth to Nora,” Cat said as she waved a hand in front of Nora’s face.
“He’s just worried.”
Cat snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m worried, too. You don’t see any of us licking your neck like a fucking dog.”
Nora turned towards her sister, done with this conversation already. “Can we just get this over with? I still need to pack.”
Cat rubbed the side of her nose and said, “Sure.”
Only a few close family members knew about Cat’s tell. Whenever she would rub the side of her nose, normal people would have cried or would have shown any kind of emotion in that particular situation.
Not Cat. She would rub her nose for just a millisecond and park whatever feeling bothered her.
Nora had always envied Cat’s strength. It helped them both whenever their parents were on the verge of breaking up or coming back together again for the millionth time. Cat took most of the brunt of their unstable parents, who made a hobby out of not only fighting each other but also their children about the most stupid stuff.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” Nora said, hoping she sounded enthusiastic enough.
Cat dropped on her bum in the middle of the ring before she threw a towel into a corner.
“Nah. If you really split in a few hours, we should talk instead. Your right hook will always be crap, anyway.”
Nora sat down next to her sister and waited for Cat to speak her mind. Sitting side by side in silence never felt weird or uncomfortable before, but right now, it did.
“I can’t stay here, sis. It’s just not for me.”
Cat rubbed the side of her nose again. “I know.”
“What’s wrong?”
Cat shrugged while her teeth held onto the white tape as she unwrapped her hand.
“You know I’ll miss you,” Nora said.
“Yeah. I’ll miss you, too.”
“You sure you don’t want to spar some more?”
Cat shook her head.
After a long moment of silence, Cat said, “I know I’ve hurt you that night.”
Nora knew instantly which night her sister meant. They hadn’t really talked about what happened to Cat that night she’d been kidnapped by the Storm Riders.
Sure, Nora knew bits and pieces since Cat had told her the main outlines of that night. But instead of sharing her feelings, Cat had pushed Nora away after being rescued.
“It’s okay,” Nora whispered.
The background noise of Zion and Crusher trash talk while sparring in their ring on the other side of the gym didn’t make up for the deafening silence in their ring.
Cat shot her a glance over her shoulder and said, “I’m sorry. I know you just wanted to be there for me, and that I wouldn’t let you. It’s just that… I couldn’t handle losing you upon everything else I went through that night. And I know that if you’d heard the details of what happened, you would run as far away as you could from IVMC. And from me.”
Nora found Cat’s hand between them and gave it a loving squeeze. “You’ll never lose me. You’ll have to know that, sis.”
Cat’s gaze focused on the IVMC flag on the wall as she said without any emotion, “I’m glad they took me. I killed two of them with my bare hands. You wouldn’t have lasted an hour.”
It was the truth. And even though a little voice in the back of Nora’s head whispered that people didn’t give her enough credit, she also agreed with her sister.
“You told me how you did it. But you never really talk about what it did to you.”
Cat sighed. “You know I’m strong.”
Nora held her sister’s hand as she shifted on the mat in the ring so she could look her sister in the eye. “Dealing with your emotions would eventually make you even stronger.”
Cat gave her a small smile. “I can never fool you.”
Nora hummed. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“At first, whenever I closed my eyes, I would be back in those woods, hiding out in the river. But whenever I close my eyes now, all I can see is you. I see you running through the woods with those bastards closing in on you.”
An awful shiver traveled up Nora’s spine from that imagery.
“I can’t believe you actually killed two of them.”
Cat’s eyes held a special shimmer before she said, “Four. The other two assholes recently died by my hand in the basement.”
“T-the basement?” Nora said.
Cat nodded. “Yeah. In the cells downstairs.”
Nora’s head spun. “I don’t even wanna know.”
Cat’s loud laugh warmed Nora’s heart even after all this talk about murder like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like eating cornflakes in the morning. Maybe for most people here, and her brother and sister, it was.
“You’ve really found your place here, eh?” Nora said.
“Yeah. It’s a shame you can’t see it as our place.”
Nora smiled. “I would only cramp your style.”
Cat rolled her eyes. “Bullshit. Maybe you’d cramp Angel’s style a little.”
Nora snorted. “He’s just confused.”
“Confused?”
“Yeah. In some weird way, I can tell that he likes me. But he’ll have to get over it since I’m leaving,” Nora said. She already decided to never tell a living soul about last night. Her sister would only take that information and make it all about Nora staying at the club, fighting for her man.
That’s what Cat would’ve done. But Nora wasn’t anything like her sister. She took Angel’s words at face value. He didn’t want to make her his Old Lady, and he only wanted to fuck her last night. She’d agreed with those terms. She would not cry about it now.
“I’m still not okay with that, you know,” Cat said.
“With what? Me leaving?”
Cat pointed her thumb towards the exit. “No. With him making your head spin while he still fucks Molly every night.”
“Well, thank you for pointing that out.”
Cat sighed. “Sorry. I’m only telling you this so you’ll not get blindsided by him. I know you’ve been smitten with him for a long time.”
“Not as long as you were with Demon. And now he’s your Old Man, or whatever you call it.”
Cat’s infectious, proud smile brought a smile to Nora’s face. “I’m so happy for you.”
“You are?” Cat asked, unable to mask the hope behind her question.
“Of course. I think you finally found someone who accepts every side of you. And he’ll move heaven and earth to keep you safe,” Nora said.
“That’s for sure. And he’ll do the same for you, sis.”
“I’ll be okay. Dev promised me that the club will look after us,” Nora said.
“They will. And if you do ever get into a life-or-death situation, remember to keep your head up, to stay strong and never give up hope. Because this entire club, our new family, will never leave us. They will hunt every fucker down who tries to hurt you. Remember that, okay?”
Nora swallowed her dry throat, realizing that her sister spoke from experience.
“I will.”
“Good. Now let’s go pack your stuff. And you’d better still visit us every week at Grandma’s house.”
Nora got up from the mat and worked her way through the ropes. “Of course. I don’t think I’ll be able to spar with you, though.”
Cat laughed as she shook her head. “You’ve reached your top performance, anyway.”
Nora bumped her shoulder against Cat’s. “Shut up.”
“See, I told you that Quiet One has a fire smoldering inside of her,” Zion said as they passed their ring.
She didn’t know if the idea of leaving this club and never coming back, or if what happened last night gave her extra confidence, but she stepped up to Zion’s side of the ring, climbed up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you,” she said.
Zion scratched the back of his head. “For what?”
“For being such a sweet giant.”
Zion held his hand upon his heart, and said, “Crusher. I think we just found our girl.”
Nora giggled and said, “Oh, no. I’m not into all that. Good luck on your search, though.”
As she left the gym with Cat, her heart felt a little lighter. Nora knew she did the right thing by leaving this club behind and entering a new era on her own. If anything, it excited her to see where things would lead without her twin sister shielding her for any storms.