Chapter 9 Laura #2
I had to remember that Killian was stepping into his new role.
Club President, it was best to stay on his good side, even if that meant finding sanctuary in one of his members.
He’d offered to give Kip a bigger room, maybe this was the most logical move for me.
I needed a place to stay until I could afford a new place, and it was clear that I’d be settling for rusted tubs and God only knew what else.
My time inside the president’s apartment was over.
He’d just sent me into the arms of a different man. It wasn’t like he’d ever asked me to be his, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that fucking pebble sitting in my suitcase.
Why did he give it to me?
And why did it burn me so much that I wasn’t handed a cut with his name on it? It would be stupid to give a random girl his cut, now with his power in the club…I knew it didn’t make any sense, but I was still resentful that he’d chosen Kip.
The arm around me clenched, the hand on my ass squeezed again, and I smiled into the arm of the man I was paired with.
All I needed to know was that Killian hadn’t chosen me, and Kip was potentially my ticket out of sharing the apartment with him.
Kip was drunk.
I wasn’t usually bothered by inebriated people, especially after being in this club for three months, but Kip’s drinking was so bad that he couldn’t walk straight, and his hands kept roaming.
Speeches had been made by Wes, handing things over officially to the wolf, Killian Quinn.
Everyone cheered, music blared and then the party really started.
I had no idea what I was in for until someone started a car on fire, then another person drove that car through an old shed.
It was madness, and so fucking loud. Eyes and hands were everywhere, which only made me want to stay next to Kip.
Which, in turn, gave him the wrong impression of what I was okay with.
His hand kept sliding down to my ass, but now it was sliding under my shirt, hovering over my stomach and drifting toward my bra.
Every time I pushed his hands away, I would glance around and it was never the various glassy-eyed expressions laced with hunger and lust that caught me.
It was the president’s gaze cutting through them that had my heart hammering against my breast, as if I were a rabbit caught in the snare of a wolf.
Killian watched me like I was wearing his name over my breast, like the patch on my back said I belonged to him.
He watched me like I was an extension of his person, and he had to make sure no one tried to run away with me.
People were walking up to him, slapping his back jovially.
Sweetbutts had brought him food and sat in his lap.
One whispered in his ear, and it looked like she might have kissed his neck, but with each girl, he would strategically push them off his lap.
He smiled at them with that wide grin that likely made them wet between their legs and eager to be back in his lap.
I was a collector of those smiles.
I’d watch from afar as he handed them out so freely to everyone else, everyone but me.
He was careful too, aware of how far that smile stretched, and for how long and to whom received them. It must have been his calculated way of stepping into this new role. The one where everyone called him Prez.
It was something I had to get used to, or maybe I didn’t.
Not if I found a way to get out of the club.
The reminder that I was trying to get free of The Stone Riders rushed back, and suddenly made me want to completely disengage with all the festivities.
I didn’t feel like faking being Kip’s girl anymore. I didn’t belong here.
Which was only hammered more fiercely into my heart when I saw Killian hug a familiar looking woman.
She was the one he’d pointed out to me that first night I had met him.
The tall woman with tattoos, dark hair and legs for days.
The one he said had natural looking tits…
the one he’d told me he couldn’t fuck because he was thinking of me.
My breathing became shallow as I watched this woman steal his attention. She seemed to be the only one who had been able to distract him. It was a reminder that being here tonight was a mistake.
Sliding away from Kip, grateful he didn’t even notice, I picked my way through groups of people.
Callie was still in Wesley’s lap, but she was laughing with Natty about something and Red was with them, along with her man, Brooks.
They were in a little circle, and I didn’t want to make it awkward by breaking it up.
So I crept around the edge of the bonfire, until I was making my way toward the private gate that would lead back to the apartment.
I was yards away from the bonfire and partying, a few feet within the private fenced off yard that had been created for the studio.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Killian finally becoming president and claiming his house back, but there were two rooms, we’d figure it out. I was tired, and I wanted to sleep.
On the fringes of the party, the darkness crept in around me, forcing me to pull my cell out and use the flashlight. It wasn’t far to the entry gate that was protected by a keypad and access code. It was how Wes had ensured no one from the club would ever bother him back when he had lived here.
My steps felt heavy as exhaustion tugged at my body. I had been up since five in the morning, and with-it nearing midnight, I was done for. Finally, the gate came into view, and right as my hand went out for the pad, I felt an arm wrap around my middle.
“Fuck yeah.” Kip’s familiar voice crept up my neck, followed by whiskey-soaked breath. “Been ready for this all night.”
His arms tightened around me, and panic began to burrow inside my gut.
“Kip, let me go.” I tugged at his hands.
His nose grazed my neck again and then he placed open mouth kisses on my shoulder.
“So fucking sexy, been wanting this for so long.”
“Kip!” I pushed back, tugging once more at his arms until my nails were digging into his skin.
“Fuck, baby, you want to play like that?” He tilted to the side, taking me with him.
Tears burned at the edges of my eyes as we tipped, and then Kip stumbled forward, and we hit the fence. My face slid against the wood, forcing me to cry out, especially as Kip’s weight pressed heavily against me. Before I had a chance to push him away, his weight was suddenly gone.
“You motherfucker.”
I spun around in time to see Killian holding Kip by the collar, while his other hand was fisted, pummeling into Kip’s face.
“Prez, fuck. I didn’t…” Kip pleaded, but his words were cut off with the sound of a sickening crunch.
Kip was on the ground, not even fighting back as Killian hit him repeatedly.
“You think you can touch her?” His fist flew again, and Kip’s eyes suddenly rolled back into his head.
He was going to kill him.
“Killian, stop, please. He’s just drunk.”
Killian’s wild gaze met mine and he let Kip drop to the ground.
“Just drunk? As if that excuses him for touching you?”
Why was he making it seem like Kip wasn’t allowed to touch me period, even sober?
“Regardless, it’s over. Let him go back to his friends and sleep it off.”
Killian looked down again, seeing Kip roll to his stomach with a groan.
“Fucking prick thinks he can touch what doesn’t belong to him. I should kill him.”
A swift kick landed in Kip’s ribs and I couldn’t take anymore, I spun around and punched the code into the keypad. Tears lined my eyes and I heard Kip struggling to get to his feet behind me, murmuring apologies to his new president.
“You ever touch her again and—” Killian’s voice trailed off as I pushed open the gate.
I was two steps inside the yard when I felt a presence at my back, and this time, I knew it was Killian. I didn’t want to fight with him, but I also didn’t want to be in the house with him tonight.
“I’ll just get my things and go to Callie’s house. I think they’re still at the party.”
Killian was next to me, gripping my elbow, pulling me into the apartment.
“What’s the fucking code to get in?” he barked as we neared the back door.
Why didn’t he know the code? I guess it made sense he hadn’t stepped foot in the apartment in three months.
“Four, Four, Six, One.”
The beeps from the keypad echoed around us until the lock gave and Killian was pushing into the house, still holding onto my elbow.
It was dark as he pulled me through the house.
“Which bathroom has medical shit inside?”
“Killian, I can handle it. Let me go.”
He didn’t. In fact, he only held me tighter.
“He fucked up your face, now walk.”
“We can’t both go up the stairs walking like this, let me go.” I pulled at his hold, and he finally let me go, but seconds later, I was being lifted off the ground.
“Killian, what are you…”
In the pitch-black house, he started up the stairs with me pressed against his chest as he carried me bridal style.
“Just stop talking. You probably don’t even know that you’re fucking bleeding.”
I gently prodded at my face. It was sore, but as I pulled my fingers away, I could feel something wet.
“Go left, the door is open,” I muttered as Killian cleared the top of the stairs.
Light from the bonfire bled in through the back windows, shedding enough illumination that I could see us in the mirror as we walked into the bathroom. Killian used his elbow to hit the switch, dousing the darkness, and forcing me to wince at the bright intrusion.
“Set me down, I can walk.”
He pulled me closer before finally situating me on the counter. The surface was chilled under my thighs as my shorts slid up, and a hiss left my mouth as he tilted my face and began inspecting the wound. His fingers were gentle, but his eyes held an ire inside that made me shudder.
Killian hissed, while inspecting my face. “What the fuck was he thinking?” He stepped back eyeing my shoulders. “And take this fucking thing off.”