27. Sunni
CHAPTER 27
Sunni
R aker had told me to try to rest, that there would be no news for hours. But I couldn’t fall asleep, no matter what I did, so eventually I got up and went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of peppermint tea.
Was it possible Raker was telling the truth?
That he could be trusted again? To do what he promised?
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I looked at my pretty desert rose ring.
My husband had curtly informed me that changes were being made to the Saints club girl program.
The apartment building next door had been bought and would now be repurposed as housing so each club girl could have her own room. Members could go and socialize with whoever they wanted. Employment was now based on a vote of the members and passing the test by fucking the Club President had been canceled.
I only put on a little light so it wouldn’t wake anyone else up, but Elise padded in, wrapping her robe tighter around her slim body.
“I can’t sleep either.”
I smiled and turned the stove on, watching the pretty little kettle until it began to bubble.
“They’ll be OK,” I said.
“The Elders are powerful, though,” Elise said, shivering. “What if something happens to them? What if something happens to Willow?”
“Raker is powerful too,” I replied firmly. “And so is Willow. She knows exactly where those underground streams are. It will be all over soon and we’ll have all the water we want.”
“I hope so,” Elise whispered.
I hoped so, too.
What if I was wrong?
What if Raker got hurt? Or killed?
My stomach twisted painfully. I wouldn’t feel so nervous except that we were the only ones awake. Most of the brothers, and all of the prospects were far out of town, trying to find the source of the Elders’ power.
My nerves were so on edge that I left Elise at the kitchen table in a shallow pool of light to check the front door in the hope that I might see Raker’s motorcycle pulling into the driveway, his big bulk reassuringly safe and protective.
Raker was strong and ruthless. He had always been strong. He would not stop until he thought I was safe.
The front door was unlocked. Shit, why was it unlocked? Raker always locked it. I turned to see Angel staring at me in the darkness of the hallway.
“Did you unlock this door?” I demanded.
“I did,” she said, smiling sweetly at me. “You deserve it.”
“ Deserve what ? Angel, what did you do?” I hissed.
She only smiled, her teeth sharp white points in the darkness.
I whirled around outside. And of course the driveway was empty. No Raker. No comforting rumbling of his motorcycle.
Then I heard a noise in the kitchen, just a little scrape, but it set all the hairs on my neck rising.
I slipped back as quickly as I could and I found Apostle there with his back to me, his slimy hands surrounded Elise’s slim, beautiful throat.
“Let her go,” I said, my voice stronger than I expected. “It’s not her you want. It’s me.”
Apostle dropped Elise roughly, my friend knocking her elbow painfully against the table as she fell to the ground.
“ You’re going to come with me,” he snapped, reaching a hand out for me. “That will force Raker to make a deal with the Elders to stop this madness. First I’ll fuck you, though. I want to know what’s so special about a whore’s cunt that he’s willing to destroy the whole fucking world for it.”
I backed away. Panic pulsed through my whole body. Somehow I had to get Apostle away, before he harmed Elise.
His hand brushed by my skin, leaving a slimy trail of his damp fingertips, and I darted away.
“Don’t make this hard, little whore.”
As I tried to escape, I felt Angel’s hands on me, her breath in my ear.
“It won’t hurt too much,” she purred. “Or maybe it will. I let him in on one condition. That he fuck you up and make you pay .”
Fury seemed to build in me, hardening into a jagged molten column of fire.
“You really would endanger me because Raker doesn’t want to fuck you? I was going to just feel sorry for you but now you get what you deserve.”
I slammed my head back into hers, knocking her into the refrigerator as she cried out in panic. Then I did it again, twisting around to rip at her hair, huge chunks coming out in my hands as I shoved her back and she fell to the ground.
Then I turned to Apostle.
“I’m not ashamed of being a whore,” I said, my voice coming out strong and even. “But put some respect on my name. I’m Raker’s wife now.”
“His wife?” Apostle laughed, grabbing my arm again as I attempted to back away from him. But with my big belly there was no place to go.
His hands bit down and I twisted desperately away, my silken gown ripping as I tried madly to escape him.
“If he actually married you, he’s a bigger idiot than I imagined. He’s going to be the laughingstock of the whole county. Because all you’re good for is an open hole.”
Apostle backhanded me, sending me sprawling down and on my ass on the floor.
For a moment I felt only shattering fear.
Was that true? Did I harm Raker by marrying him?
No
No
Raker married me because he loved me, had defied the very Elders themselves to marry me.
My eyes darted around the kitchen, across Angel’s prone body. She wasn’t dead but she was going to be out on her ass with a big headache. Thank the Goddess I had landed on my ass. But I might not be so lucky again. I had to stop him.
Everything was put away neatly from dinner. Everything but the tea kettle.
I lunged to my feet suddenly, my movements pulsing with desperation, and I grabbed the tea kettle, swinging it with all my might at Apostle.
It wasn’t a square hit, but it glanced across his jaw, hard enough to make him to step back.
For only a moment I felt horrified by what I had done, then I hit him again, swinging up through his nose, hearing the sickening crunch as it broke.
“You little bitch,” he snapped, and his foot shot out, knocking me backwards into the cabinet.
But then Elise was there, a chair in her trembling hands, and she hit Apostle from the back.
“Go away!” she cried.
The tea kettle was still in my hand, and I swung for him again, putting all my rage at him, at how he would dare to come here and threaten us, how maybe because of him and the Elders Raker would never come back to me.
I connected with his temple and he went down in a heap on the floor.
Elise and I looked at each other, both breathing heavily, and to avoid bursting into tears, we trussed him up like a turkey.
I was tying his legs together with one of Raker’s belts when suddenly the door burst open and my husband charged into the room.
“Sunni? Sunni? Where are you?”
His voice was raw with fear in a way I had never heard before.
“I’m here!” I called out, my voice barely louder than a hoarse whisper.
I licked my lips and tried again. “I’m here, Raker!”
He took in Elise and me, both shivering with the adrenaline, and then Apostle on the floor.
Apostle was just coming to when Raker flicked out a knife.
“I should have killed you the moment you looked at my wife,” he said. “But it’s not too late to gut you like the miserable weak shithead you are.”
He struck like the snake he was , not even giving Apostle a chance to beg for his life or protest, Raker’s knife slicing through his flesh and burying itself in my tormentor’s heart.
Apostle let out a guttural wheeze, but Raker had already turned to me.
“Is everyone OK? Did he hurt you?” my husband asked, clasping me in his arms and stroking my face with bloody hands.
But my shiver was from relief, not fear.
Raker was here. I was safe with him.
“We are fine,” I said, and I began to shake with the adrenaline crash.
“Sunni, it’s done,” he said. “The Elders’ source of power has been torn down around their ears and the underground water was right where Willow said it would be. Our son is going to be born into a world where he can have water any time he wants , Sunni.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, loving the feel of his strong heartbeat, loving even the sharp iron scent of leather mixed with his blood and violence.
“I am yours, Raker,” I whispered into his ear, putting my head against the soft supple leather of his cut, and his hands were hard and urgent on my head, his mouth demanding as he crushed my lips under his.
Then he picked me up and carried me carefully into the bedroom and laid me on my side to cradle me, this man with his violence and his blood.
“I was so afraid you would die,” I murmured as his mouth descended on my throat.
“I have no intention of dying,” Raker said roughly. “You should be worried about what will happen if you don’t stop touching me.”
He was giving me a way to stop him, but I didn’t want to stop him. I only clutched his arm tighter, feeling the heat and strength pulse under his skin, and I opened my legs for him, groaning as I felt his thick cock split my pussy lips, touching every part of me as I whimpered with pleasure.
“You’re all mine,” he rumbled. “It’s a new world out there, Sunni, and it’s all for you.”