Chapter Thirty-Six
Things were resolved, weren’t they? I thought they were, but when Glory woke me screaming for the third night in a row, even though we were sleeping down in the man cave still, I was starting to lose my confidence in anything being resolved for her.
She was still being tormented by that fucker, and I hated it.
I wanted to be able to do something, but what the fuck could I do?
“Glory, sweetheart, this is… this is killing you.”
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” she protested, tears glittering in the corners of her eyes as I pulled her into my arms.
“I know. I didn’t mean that, but I don’t know how to help you.”
“Maybe nobody can,” she sobbed, burying her face in my neck as she cried. It was killing me, just as much, just to see her being tormented like this. Just to see him not leaving her the fuck alone, when she deserved to be able to move on.
“You know he’s gone,” I said softly, reinforcing the point that her subconscious wasn’t grasping, and she nodded, huffing with frustration.
“I know.”
“And you know you’re safe with me, with the club. Nobody will ever hurt you again.”
“I know,” she gritted out, lifting her head to glare at me. There’s the fire that tells me she’s still fighting in there.
“Good. So what’s left to confirm for you? He’s gone, you’re safe, you’re moving on… you feel safe in this house, right?”
She nodded, but her eyes were still sharp, even despite the sparkle of tears.
“You’re getting your life back, you’re finding your love of art again, you’re learning to tattoo again.”
“Make your point, dammit!” She snapped at me this time, and there’s my girl. There’s my sweet, strong, sassy girl.
“You wanted to learn to defend yourself before. Do you think that might help? Learning to fight or at least learning how to block an attack?”
She chewed her cheek, her eyes darting away from me. What was she considering, and why was she cutting me out of it? I felt a disconcerting distance between us, when we couldn’t be physically closer. Well, maybe in one way, but it wasn’t the time for it, not right now.
“Glory?”
She sighed. “Don’t be mad at me.”
“Why the hell would I get mad?” I practically yelled, because I’m a fucking idiot. She didn’t flinch though, in fact, she smirked at me.
“Good job on that,” she muttered, the last of the fear slipping from her face as she adjusted her position, sitting on me rather than beside me.
“I want Lenore to teach me.”
Lenore? Why the fuck did she want her? I could teach her. I could show her anything she wanted to fucking know!
“And that’s why I thought you’d get mad. Do you know you have resting cranky face right now? Actually, it’s still kind of a bitch face, as in you’re being a little bitch.”
Charming! I wasn’t planning on laughter being my response, but she had a way of turning my emotions on their head, so I guess it was to be expected.
“Okay, staying calm now. Why not me?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I think that you, as lovely as you are, can’t understand what it’s like to be a woman, and to be in danger.
It’s not the same for men. She gets it. She teaches women like me.
Other victims. I want to learn from her, because she knows what dangers we actually face as women. ”
“Victim isn’t the word for you, sweetheart. You’re a fucking warrior, whether you can fight or not.”
She shrugged the same shoulder again. “I’m just saying, she literally does this for women, so why not me? You have club duties now, and a business to run. You have a busy life already, and besides…”
She trailed off, but I caught the wicked look in her eyes. Fuck me, that look can make a man hard in seconds.
“Besides?”
“Then I can show you what she taught me, and surprise you with my skills.”
Huh. I didn’t see that coming, but now I was horny, and I knew she could feel it.
“Why don’t we seal that deal with a nice leisurely fuck, Glory?”
Her eyes lit up, even as the giggles started, but she was already sliding her hands between us, reaching for the waist of my lounge pants. Yes, I wore clothes in bed, and no I won’t apologise for that. I wasn’t smart enough to put a bathroom down here, see.
“Babe, is getting handsy with me the right way to answer that very serious question?”
Her fingers slipped inside and wrapped around my cock, and all other words left me, replaced with a low groan instead. Maybe this was the perfect way to answer me.
She was wearing just a t-shirt, and that meant it took a little wriggling, and then we were easing her down onto my cock, her heat enveloping me, and wrenching pleasured gasps from our throats as we joined.
“God yes. Let’s just do this and never sleep,” she whispered, running her tongue up my throat as I tipped my head back.
Every move of her hips, even the tiny ones, felt like they rocked my world.
She was right. We could just do this forever.
No sleep. No duties, just us, connected in this primal way, with each other in this little pocket of seclusion.
“Oh god.” Glory was rocking back and forth on me, alternating with a little side to side swaying, and my fingers were biting into her hips as she teased me, giving me just enough friction to keep me on the edge, without letting me blow.
Her wicked grin told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me, but if this was what pleased her, I’d take it, I’d take this and more, just to see that grin on her face. To see her horror and sadness wiped away, and replaced with gleeful mischief and raw sexuality.
Her wriggles and slides were starting to tear at me, driving me wild with need, and so I started lifting her hips as I moved, thrusting my hips up from beneath her, because empowering or not, she was being a little minx now.
“Impatient,” she tutted, although that one word devolved into a ragged moan as I hit deep inside her.
“Minx,” I muttered, gripping her hips tighter. Every deep thrust made her whimper, and me groan, and before long I was upping the pace, chasing our orgasms, because the race is fun, but crossing that finish line is what it’s all about.
“Oh… Oh god…” There she goes.
I followed her into bliss, and we snuggled back down to rest, staying joined for as long as possible, because that’s our fucking future.
Glory
It was three days later when I finally managed to get some time with Lenore, but it wasn’t just me who wanted to see her.
It ended up being a class for the Phoenix old ladies.
Once I’d mentioned it to Lissa in my therapy session, she’d jumped on the idea, saying she’d always wanted to learn how to defend herself, and then she got talking to the rest of the old ladies, and as a result, most of us were here.
Sophie was missing, as was the wife of the other chapter’s VP, Cammy, but both had babies at home.
That left me with V, Elise, Grace, Alicia, Tori, Lissa, Jay, and Caroline, who was mostly hovering by the back wall, and looking awkward.
Lenore had a couple of the big guys with her that we’d met before, but they promised us they were only there to help with demonstrations, and nobody would be touching any of us unless we agreed to it.
Marco, Deano, and Tony were the men here, and they were all massive and strong, so there was no way we were going to take them down, right?
The only reason our own men weren’t here in this room was because Ice and Grease had arranged with that Nige guy to have access to a camera feed in here, from outside.
I mean, they were literally outside this training room at the charity’s building.
They were possessive as hell, but at least they were possessive in the right way.
Protective, loving, desperate to keep their women safe, and wasn’t that the best way?
I knew Henley would throw himself between me and any threat, which was amazing after the man I’d trusted before, that wrong man.
Honestly though? I didn’t want Henley to have to risk himself for me.
I wanted to be strong enough to do that for myself.
“Okay, ladies, or is it old ladies? Okay, whatever,” Lenore grinned as a few of us giggled, “here’s the plan.
You’re not going to be kicking any asses today, but what I’m going to show you is a few basic moves to deflect an attack.
The key areas to aim for are the eyes, throat, and groin.
The knee is another weak spot. No matter how big the man, those things are their weak areas.
Don’t be afraid to play dirty and hit them where it hurts. ”
Marco grimaced as she waved to him.
“Aw babe, are you afraid?”
He sighed. “Just don’t break my balls, because we need those later.”
His two friends started laughing, but I think they were mostly just relieved to not be the one about to take the hit.
“Okay, so what Marco’s going to do is come at me from behind.”
“Wahey,” Deano chimed in, setting us off giggling again.
This was nice. We might have been together to try and learn how to not get attacked, but the atmosphere was good.
It was right. It felt like a family learning together.
And Lenore and the men with her weren’t scary anymore, because we knew they were on our side.
“Deano’s next, don’t worry.”
“Fuck.”
“Okay, so he’s going to grab me from behind, and I’ll fight him off.” She looked over her shoulder at the huge hulking guy, and he winked at her. “Surprise me, big man.”
“My pleasure,” he rumbled in that deliciously deep voice that made all of us women sigh a little.
Lenore grinned at us, not at all concerned by him being behind her, planning his attack.
“The key is to break free, and immobilise all in one go. You won’t get a second chance, so make it count. He’s the one who deserves to hit the ground, right?”
Without warning, Marco suddenly attacked from behind her, one arm looping around her throat as the other grabbed her right arm, and she moved instantly, twisting her arm against his grip, stomping back at the same time, and catching his foot.
As he dodged to avoid getting his foot trampled, she used her free left arm to deliver a hammer blow to his junk, which I really hope she didn’t put too much power behind.
“And that’s how it’s done. Aw you okay down there, Marco?”
“Fucker went down hard, man.”
“And you’re next, remember.”
“Shoulda got a note from my mum or something.”
Lenore ignored them. “You see what I did there, the thumb is a weak point, so twist your arm to put pressure on it, and he’ll have to release.
The arm around the throat is tricky, but you can just twist to the side to take the pressure off your throat.
Stomping on the foot will give them a sudden ‘hell no’ moment, especially if you’re wearing heels of any kind.
Now, if I’d wanted to really disable him, I’d have taken out his knee too, but I really want him able to walk later. Any questions?”
Alicia, or Ally as she’d insisted I address her, lifted her hand.
“What if he comes at you and grips both arms instead of your neck?”
Lenore grinned and encouraged Deano to step forward, and we all giggled at the wary look on his face.
“Evie likes my junk, okay? Just don’t hurt my boys.”
Marco leaned against the wall with Tony, still rubbing his wrist, and murmured something that set them both off laughing.
“Prick.”
“So Deano’s going to come at me and grab my arms, and Marco’s going to stop glaring at the back of his head, aren’t you, babe?”
Nope. He really wasn’t. Lenore spent the next hour showing us various attacks they tried on her, and how she could break their hold.
She went back through them numerous times, and then asked if anyone wanted to try it.
Caroline was still hiding by the back wall, and Tori snorted and backed away from the group entirely, so I figured why not and raised my hand.
It was my idea after all, and I desperately wanted to see if these things were as easy as they seemed when she demonstrated them.
The big guy Tony winked at me as he stepped up in front of me.
We were working on front attacks, and she’d run through everything several times, but as I looked up at the huge, tall, man, all I could think was that he was a similar height to Sean, albeit dark haired instead of blonde, and clearly not a monster.
“You okay?” he mouthed at me, and I nodded, but suddenly I really didn’t think I was.
My heart started to race, and sweat broke out across the back of my neck.
Suddenly it wasn’t him in front of me at all.
It was Sean, just like he kept appearing in my nightmares, and he was glaring at me, about to attack me, and my mind rebelled, giving up on saving myself, on taking this demonstration, as I cowered back from him as he advanced.
I dropped down onto the mat, covering my face, and the man coming at me froze.
“Uh, love? I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” He crouched down as Lenore dropped to her knees beside me, but my mortification was complete. They all just saw me lose my shit like I was seeing ghosts or something.
“Glory, take a deep breath, babe. This is fine. This happens all the time, I promise. You’re not alone, and you’re definitely not weak.” Lenore seemed to have the playbook memorised, because these were all things I needed to hear.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” I whispered, embarrassment flushing my skin as I felt so many eyes on me, worried eyes, my new family caring about my little meltdown.
The door crashed open with a heavy thud, and I heard a welcome voice, the voice that always gave me strength, and made me feel safe.
“Get the fuck away from her!” Henley was beside me a moment later, on his knees and lifting me into his arms. “I’ve got you, sweetheart, you’re safe.”