Chapter Two
Chains
For the first time in my life, I knew without a doubt I’d bitten off way the fuck more than I could handle.
I kept to the shadows of the common room, leaning against the wall as I watched the women decorating for the upcoming party.
The clubhouse buzzed with activity as Ellie -- not Elvira, I reminded myself firmly -- stood in the center of it all, directing the Halloween decoration efforts like some kind of gothic general.
Something about her made my skin prickle, and it really had nothing at all to do with the fucking cats. The woman simply… mesmerized me.
Her hair hung in a loose braid down her back, strands of midnight black escaping to frame her face while the end of her braid lovingly brushed her ass.
The muted light of the clubhouse caught on her pale skin, giving her an almost ethereal glow.
I wanted to touch all that white skin. To see what she hid under that black tank top and black skintight ripped jeans.
“Pass me that ladder, would you?” she called to Carrie, her voice carrying across the room with an enthusiasm that seemed to infect everyone around her. Everyone except me. I was immune. Had to be.
Fuck.
I watched as she climbed the ladder, stringing orange and black lights across the ceiling beams. The worn denim of her jeans stretched across her ass as she reached up, and I immediately averted my gaze, feeling like some kind of pervert.
Christ, I’d done nine years in prison. There was no way this girl could see me as anything other than a fucking dirty old man. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Chains!” Hawk’s voice jarred me from my thoughts. “You gonna stand there like a statue all day or help with something?”
I grunted, pushing off from the wall with feigned nonchalance. “Just making sure nobody breaks their fool neck on those rickety ladders.”
Hawk’s knowing smirk made me want to punch him, but I restrained myself. “Right. That’s why you’ve been staring at our newest resident for the past fifteen minutes without blinking.”
“Fuck off.”
Ellie’s laugh rang out, clear and bright, as she and Pippa untangled a string of plastic bats. The sound hit me right in the chest, worming its way under my skin. I shifted my weight from one foot to another, uncomfortable with the warmth spreading through me.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself properly?” Hawk suggested, his voice low enough that only I could hear. “Instead of lurking in the corners like some kind of fuckin’ creeper.”
I shot him a glare. “I met her yesterday. She’s got three black cats, Hawk. Three. You know how hard it would be to walk through a room with three black cats and not have one cross your path. Do you know what would happen then?”
He rolled his eyes. “You’d trip and hit your fool head?”
“Shut up.”
Ellie bent down to pick up a fallen decoration, and I found myself tracking the movement, watching the fluid grace with which she moved.
I tilted my head as I viewed that pert, rounded ass and my mouth went dry.
I was really going to hell because I knelt where I was to pick up…
something… and pretended to be busy so I could continue to look my fill.
I glanced around, not wanting to get caught, staring and noticed Hannah grinning at me. Yeah. I wasn’t fooling anyone.
“The plastic spiders go on that web over there,” Ellie directed, pointing toward the corner near where I stood. Her eyes met mine for a brief moment, and I felt rooted to the spot, unable to look away. A shy smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before she turned back to her task.
This was ridiculous. I was a grown man, for fuck’s sake.
A patched member of the Kiss of Death MC.
I’d survived prison, countless brawls, and a childhood that would make most people curl into the fetal position.
I wasn’t about to be undone by one small woman with a penchant for black cats and Halloween decorations.
The common room transformed around me as I stood there, caught between wanting to leave and being unable to tear myself away.
Fake cobwebs draped across the corners, plastic pumpkins lined the bar, and spooky garlands hung from every available surface.
The place looked like Halloween had puked all over it, and somehow, it worked.
“What do you think?” Ellie’s voice startled me. I’d looked away, not wanting her to catch me staring. I hadn’t realized she’d moved so close. “Too much?”
I stared down at her, at the flecks of gold in her dark eyes, at the smudge of glitter on her cheek. Words failed me.
“It’s fine,” I managed, my voice rougher than I intended.
Her smile widened. “Just fine? I was going for spectacular. Or maybe spook-tacular.”
“It’s…” I swallowed hard. “It’s different.”
She laughed, and the sound did something weird to my chest. “Different is good. Different is interesting.” Her gaze held mine for a beat too long. “Don’t you think?”
Before I could answer, one of her demon spawn, the one she’d called Lucifer, sauntered into the room, heading straight for me like a missile locked on target.
I knew it wasn’t Binx because he had one little speck of white just above his nose and I thought I might be able to convince myself he wasn’t a true black cat.
“Binx!” Ellie cooed, kneeling down. “There you are, handsome boy.” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t Lucifer. Fuck my life!
The cat ignored her, continuing its path toward me. It stopped at my boots, looking up with unblinking green eyes that seemed to see right through me. It was creepy as fuck.
“He likes you,” Ellie said, sounding delighted. “He usually just hisses at strangers. I’m not even sure how he got out of the apartment.” Christ, the woman’s smile was gorgeous.
“Lucky me,” I muttered, unable to move as the cat circled my legs once before trotting back to Ellie.
She scooped him up, cradling him against her chest as she looked at me with curiosity. “You really don’t like cats, do you?” Did she look disappointed?
“Nope.” I probably shouldn’t have sounded as disgruntled as I did, but the alternative was her seeing how much she affected me, and that would give her all kinds of power over me. At least at the moment I could pretend to be in control of the situation.
“Superstitious?” There was no judgment in her tone, just genuine curiosity.
I shrugged. “Call it an abundance of caution.” Instead of the distraction from my past it actually was.
She gave me another smile before taking her cat and going back to the other women.
Watching her as she released the cat, I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever storm was brewing, I was already caught in it.
Already drowning in it. And strangest of all, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be saved.
Or to fight it much, really. At least, not until Ellie showed she wasn’t interested in me.
Right now, I kind of thought she might be, no matter how much older than her I was.
The decorating continued until sometime around midnight. The common room now looked appropriately spooky. Whatever.
One by one, the women drifted off to their own apartments or their men’s rooms, leaving behind the scent of pumpkin spice candles and the soft glow of orange and black string lights.
I should have retreated to my room too, put some distance between myself and the woman with the demon cats.
Instead, I found myself falling into step beside Ellie as she headed toward her suite, my boots echoing against the floor in time with her lighter footsteps.
Neither of us spoke. The silence stretched between us, broken only by the distant rumble of motorcycles in the compound yard and the soft thud of our footfalls.
I kept my gaze fixed ahead, hands jammed deep in my pockets to keep from doing something stupid like reaching for her hand or putting my arm around her waist. The wide corridor felt too small suddenly.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” she finally asked, her voice light and curious rather than accusing.
I grunted, keeping my eyes forward. Words didn’t come easy to me on the best of days.
Around her, they seemed to evaporate entirely, leaving me mute and awkward.
“I can talk enough for both of us,” she continued, unfazed by my lack of response.
“My father always said I was born with two tongues, I talked so much.” She laughed, the sound echoing in the empty corridor.
“If I’d been old enough, I’d have had my tongue split just to vex him. ”
I couldn’t help the bark of laughter at that. “Yeah. I could see that about you. You like vexing people, do you?”
She shrugged even as her smile widened. “Maybe. You know, most people find my chatter annoying after a while.” She glanced sideways at me, her dark eyes glinting in the dim light. “Feel free to tell me to shut up anytime.”
“I like hearin’ you talk.” I have no idea why I said that, but there it was.
Women like Ellie confused the hell out of me.
Her bright, bubbly personality made her seem approachable, but who knew how long she’d let me keep hanging near her?
During my time inside, I’d forgotten how to talk to anyone who wasn’t a con or a guard.
Nine years in Terre Haute had stripped away whatever social skills I might have once possessed.
“So,” she continued when it became clear I wasn’t going to elaborate, “Carrie told me you’ve been with the Kiss of Death MC for a long time.”
“No. I met Knuckles while I was in… uh, I mean, Knuckles was the one who recruited me here.” The last thing I wanted to do was remind her I’d done time, but it was like the fucking pink elephant in the room. All the guys here had done time.
“You met him in prison?”
My gaze shot to hers and I stopped in my tracks.
I started to snap at her. Not because she’d done anything wrong, but because I was embarrassed.
But she didn’t give me a disgusted look or a superior smirk like she thought she was better than me.
No, she just looked like she might have asked me if I’d moved here from New York or some shit.
I nodded my head slowly and we continued on. “Yeah. Knuckles said I’d need a support system when I got out, and a good job. I have that and a place to live in the compound.”
“Do you like being part of a club?”
I thought about her question for a moment. We’d reached her door and she just looked up at me, waiting patiently for my answer.
“Yeah. This is my home. The guys here are my brothers and their women my sisters.”
“So it’s more than just a motorcycle club to you.” Christ, the woman was curious but in the best way. She seemed to see things few others I’d met outside of Kiss of Death did.
“Yeah. I’d die for these people, Ellie. And they’d do the same for me.”
“Well, this is me,” she said unnecessarily, hiking a thumb at her door. She faced me, leaning back against the wall. “Thanks for walking me back, even if it was mostly silent brooding on your part.”
I nodded, already taking a step back. “Night.”
Before she could respond, her door cracked open slightly, and a black shape darted out, wrapping itself around my legs. I froze, looking down as the cat rubbed his head against my boot, purring loudly.
“What the fuck,” I muttered, unable to move as the cat circled my legs, his tail curling around my calf like a living rope.
Ellie giggled, the sound making my stomach do a weird flip. I stared down at the cat, unsure whether to shake him off or remain still.
“Want to come in and meet the others?” Ellie asked. “They’re probably curious about you. Cats can sense when someone doesn’t like them, you know. Usually makes them more interested in being friends.”
I nodded stiffly, my eyes still on the cat, who had settled on my boot like he owned it. “Fine. But you might want to pick up this little monster so I don’t accidentally kick him trying to walk.”
“See? I knew you liked cats.” Christ, her smile… How could one woman be so fucking lovely and so eerily exotic at the same time?
But there was something in Ellie’s eyes, a warmth and openness, that made me want to be near her when I knew I wasn’t nearly good enough.
“So?” she prompted. She had picked up the cat and now stood with her hand on the knob of the open door. “You coming in? I promise they don’t bite. Well, Lucifer might, but only if you really deserve it.”
I should have said no. Instead, I found myself nodding, a bewildered agreement that surprised me as much as it seemed to please her.
“Great!” She pushed the door open wider, gesturing for me to enter. “After you.”
She let the cat down and he trotted off into the suite, tail straight up in the air.
I followed, wondering how the hell I’d let myself be manipulated by this one small woman and her cat into coming into her private space where I’d be alone with her.
Where her sweet smell would drive me fucking crazy and I’d sit there and take it just to bask in the light that was Ellie.
As I stepped over the threshold, I felt like I was crossing more than just a doorway.
It seemed I was stepping over some invisible line I’d drawn for myself, one I hadn’t even realized was there until I was already on the other side of it.
And there, right in front of me on my side of the line, was Ellie.
And, God help her, I wanted to make her mine.