Chapter 4
BLAZE
M y eyes scanned the building as I ran toward the front entrance. The flames were growing, which shouldn’t have been happening because the suppression system should have kicked on already. But I hadn’t received that alert, meaning there was probably a malfunction.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Since the fire still seemed to be contained in that section of the building, I tied a bandanna around my face and one around my hand before I unlocked the heavy metal door and yanked it open.
I’d run a system check two days before, so it made no sense that it wasn’t working.
As I ran inside, I frowned when the motion lights didn’t activate. The door slammed shut, leaving me in mostly darkness, causing me to pause—not that I had time to spare—so my eyes could adjust. I flipped the nearest switch and nothing happened. What the hell was going on? Was the electricity out?
The electrical panel was in a maintenance closet on the left side of the building. The same side as the growing flames, but there was no time to waste, so I took off in that direction.
When I reached the room, I didn’t bother turning the knob. I just kicked the door open and rushed over to see that the panel door was open and the main switch had been flipped. Motherfucker!
If the power was off, it might have explained the system failure. The fire pump could have failed to engage. Except, by law, fire pumps had to be hooked up to an emergency generator, so it should have been working. Unless there was a hiccup in the fucking generator.
The exit to the loading dock was near the back of the building, so I cursed a blue streak as I raced to the door. I heard the sudden shattering of glass—probably the windows exploding from the heat.
Outside, the generator was hooked up next to the concrete pad, and I hurried over to it.
I turned it off and held down the reset button, wincing when I heard another window blow.
It took a few seconds, but the error messages on the control panel disappeared.
It restarted as soon as I turned it on, thank fuck.
Seconds later, I got the alert that the fire suppression system went online. I exhaled a harsh breath in relief and turned to walk away from the burning building when I heard a crash and a scream.
I whipped back around and ran for the door, wondering who the fuck was inside. It had come from the direction of the flames, and though I probably should have thought twice before running into a fire, I had to find the person trapped inside.
The fire seemed to be contained to two rooms, and the flames had eaten away the wall between them.
A tall file cabinet was on the ground, most likely because it had crashed through the weakening wall.
Thankfully, the powder sprayed from the localized sprinklers had already lessened the intensity of the flames.
I made a beeline for the room that seemed to have the most damage, assuming that whoever was trapped had been the cause of the fire. Just as I reached the door, a body came flying out, ramming into me and nearly knocking us both to the floor.
Even with the inferno easing, I didn’t waste time scooping the person into my arms and racing to the closest exit.
After bursting out of the back door into the moonlight, I kept running until we were far enough away that any structural damage or falling debris wouldn’t reach us.
My adrenaline was high as fuck, my heart thumping, and my rage was burning as hot as the fire we’d just escaped.
I dropped the person onto their feet and grabbed their shoulders, barely seeing them in front of me through my red haze of fury. “The fuck did you do? Were you trying to kill yourself?” I shouted.
“It was an accident, I swear!”
The feminine voice sent a shock wave through my body that had nothing to do with the anger or the residual effects from running in and out of a burning building.
I shook my head, trying to clear away the confusing reaction.
“You broke in to my warehouse and set a fucking fire on accident?” I growled.
She blinked at me, and despite the soot darkening her pale skin, pink bloomed on her cheeks. “Well, um, the fire was an accident.”
Her hazel orbs were filled with apprehension, but I still had to fight not to get lost in the beautiful mixture of green and blue.
They were rimmed with black lashes that matched her midnight-black hair.
It was pulled back in a ponytail, but it was long and thick.
The moonlight made it look like silk, making my hands itch to yank it down and shove my fingers into the strands.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
I silently scolded myself to stop ogling my little arsonist and get my head back in the game.
“Then what were you doing?”
She glanced away and shuffled her feet, telling me that whatever answer she gave me would most likely be a lie.
“You got any idea who you were robbing, baby?” I seethed. For some reason, the idea of her getting tangled up with the wrong MC pissed me off as much as the fire she set.
The woman gasped and poked a soot-covered finger in my chest. “I’m not a thief!”
I raised an eyebrow and jabbed my thumb toward the warehouse, which was damaged, but thankfully, no longer on fire. “Breaking and entering says otherwise.”
“Okay, so that doesn’t exactly look good for me,” she mumbled. “And my name is Courtney, not baby.”
As pissed as I was, I held back a smile at her snippy tone, which was in direct contrast to her deep blush. But then the sight of the soot and grime on her cheeks made me think of what could have happened to her if I hadn’t come to the warehouse tonight.
Just like that, I was back to being enraged.
“Answer the question, baby,” I snarled.
She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, bringing my attention to her tits. They weren’t big, but they fit with her slender curves and would fill my hands perfectly.
For fuck’s sake ! My irritation level was growing the more I was distracted by Courtney’s body. She had nearly burned down our building and herself in the process. That needed to be my fucking focus.
When she remained stubbornly silent, my patience expired.
“Let’s go,” I grunted, clasping her arm so I could lead her around the building to my bike.
But she dug in her heels and yelled, “You can’t take me to the police!”
I rolled my eyes and spun around to face her. “Not going to the cops, baby. You’ve got your pretty little ass mixed up with much worse.”
Her expression was wary when she insisted, “I’m not afraid of you.”
Moving close, I stopped when we were almost nose to nose. “You fucking should be.” Not me or a single member of my MC would ever hurt her, but I was not above using intimidation tactics to get what I wanted.
“You caused a fucking fire that could’ve gotten your ass killed and did some serious damage to a Hounds of Hellfire building.”
“I told you,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air. “I didn’t mean to cause a fire! I just needed—” She stopped and pressed her lips together.
“Needed what?”
Her mutinous expression said she wasn’t gonna explain.
If I was going to get some fucking answers from Courtney, I needed to get us both back to the compound. Just standing out here wasn’t gonna motivate her to be honest. Besides, seeing all the destruction that would have to be fixed was just pissing me off even more.
“Let’s go,” I grunted again. When she dug her feet in, I released her arm and grabbed her waist, tossing her over my shoulder.
“Hey!” she squealed. “Put me down!”
“No.”
“You can’t just kidnap me!”
“You gonna tell me what the fuck you were doing here?”
Silence.
“Then I sure as hell can.”
She shouted and flailed as I stalked around the building until I smacked her ass.
Courtney gasped, but I didn’t give her a chance to say anything. I flipped her off my shoulder and plunked her down on the seat of my hog. Then I climbed on behind her. It was safer for her to sit behind me, but I didn’t want her hopping off anytime we hit a stoplight.
I reached down and pulled a helmet from one of my saddlebags and put it on her. Then I leaned around to fasten it.
Even with the smell of smoke permeating our skin and clothes, I could discern a hint of something sweet.
Once we were both settled, she started to speak again, but the roar of the engine drowned her out.
It wasn’t a long ride to the compound, but it was enough for me to recognize that Courtney’s body fit perfectly into the groove of mine, like she was made just for me.
And it was more than enough time for me to know that she was mine.
I lifted my chin at Ink, a recent patch who was operating the guard shack. He’d seen me coming and had the gate open.
His eyes drifted to my passenger, and his brow rose. I ignored him and rode through, only stopping once I’d pulled my bike into the garage.
“Where are we?” She moved as if to get off, but I grabbed her waist and held her still.
I needed a fucking minute after having her perfect ass snuggled up against me.
“We’ll talk inside,” I rasped.
“But—”
Growling in frustration, I hopped off the bike and scooped her into my arms. She wiggled and twisted, muttering under her breath.
“Stop squirming and be quiet,” I snapped, squeezing her closer to my body.
Courtney stilled and huffed, “Will you?—”
“Not. Another. Word.”
I stormed into the clubhouse and through the lounge where King, his old lady—Stella—and a few of my brothers were hanging out.
“What the fuck?” King grunted.
“Gonna need to schedule a construction crew to head out to the warehouse on the south side of town,” I muttered without missing a step as I headed toward the stairs to the second floor where my living quarters were located.
“The sprinkler system I had us put in did its job”— once it was turned on , I thought darkly—“but the place is gonna need a fuck of a lot of work.”
Courtney writhed in my hold again, causing me to hold her even tighter so she could barely move. “I’m?—”
“I already told you, not another word,” I growled before looking at King.
“Tell Ace that I’m good for the cost,” I grunted, referring to our treasurer.
“Whatever it is. Don’t want this run through insurance.
” If we reported this shit, they would involve the police.
Courtney was mine, so I’d handle the situation and make sure she didn’t end up in jail.
“Will do, man,” King called out as I stomped up the steps.
At the top of the stairs, I turned right and stalked down to the end.
King lived in a house the previous president had built onto the back of the clubhouse. But my quarters were closer to the rooms occupied by the other patches who lived on-site.
However, mine were different from most of the others.
A lot of them were similar to a dorm room, even using shared bathrooms. Some had a private bath and others a small kitchenette.
As the VP, my “room” was a one-bedroom apartment.
I unlocked the door and went inside, slamming it behind me. After securing the lock, I marched to the bedroom and unceremoniously dumped Courtney onto my king-sized bed. Now, it was time to get some answers.