Chapter 2 Camile #2
Turning to me, he offers me a brief smile. “You can wait outside while I go and fetch the Prez. There's no need for you to go in there. It's a bit wild tonight.”
I'm not sure I want to know what wild means in this context, so I nod gratefully.
We reach the bottom of the hill, and my nerves desert me. My legs are shaking, and I want to turn and run back to that chain link fence, because I think facing Ledger might be preferable to what's in front of me.
Six massive men are standing around, two of them smoking weed, and the third one drinking from a bottle of vodka. The other three all have their hands on guns at their hips. The dogs stand by them, staring at me as if I’m a fine steak.
“What the fuck is this?” one of the men mutters.
“Watch your mouth,” my companion snaps. “She's best friends with Vani.”
At the mention of her name, the man changes his stance, and his expression softens. He gives me an almost respectful nod, then turns back to his friends as if I'm not there.
“Will you watch her for a moment, while I go and fetch the Prez?”
One of the men turns back to face us, and his eyes slide down me briefly before he gazes at the older man, nodding. I find myself hugging my shoes closer.
My savior brushes my shoulder, and it's a touch of reassurance, nothing more. “I won't be too long, miss.”
He pushes open the door of the long, low building, and a wall of noise and the smell of cologne and cigarette smoke hits me.
I get a glimpse of the inside before the door swings shut, and my eyes widen in disbelief.
There are topless women dancing on the tables, and the women serving behind the bar are also topless, but that’s not what shocks me, as bad as it is.
Sitting near the door, straddling a man’s lap, is a woman with her skirt hiked up.
The man she’s sitting on has her panties pulled to one side, and two fingers embedded deep inside her.
Her head is thrown back, and she’s making sounds I can hear over the music, which means she’s being loud.
My gaze drags down, down, down, until I’m looking between her legs.
She’s parted them so her pussy is totally on display, and she’s so wet and swollen that each time the biker’s fingers slide out, they glisten with her arousal.
I can’t look away until the door closes, cutting off the obscene view.
I’m shocked to find after all that I’ve been through that my body still reacts to that scene, and a pulse of arousal hits me. She looked so lost in her sexual high that for a moment I wonder what that must be like.
My face flushes with heat, and I swallow hard.
Shaking my head, dazed and regretting every single life choice of the past few hours, I walk away from the door.
I stand on a stone and curse under my breath as pain stabs up through my sole.
The grass has given way to a tarmacked road leading to the den of debauchery, and I just thank the gods it’s not gravel that I’m standing on.
Not daring to look at any of the men milling around, I focus on my feet as I pace. My chest is filled with the fluttering of anxious butterflies at the thought of seeing Vani’s dad again.
I turn my back to them and study the other buildings around us.
There’s what looks like a few single-story houses, and a place that looks like a community hall.
Beyond those buildings, up a dirt track, there’s a huge barn and what appears to be a row of garages.
Beside those is a field that’s fenced off but has no animals in it.
It’s all well lit with large floodlights.
All around the place are motorcycles, as well as a few muscle cars, some brand-new trucks, and a couple of old, rundown vehicles that seem as if they’re being worked on.
I wonder if Vani’s dad sleeps here on the compound, or if he’s found a house off the club grounds yet.
“What the fuck?”
The deep bass voice has me whipping around. My heart skips more than one beat as I look up into the pissed as hell, but still impossibly beautiful, face of Jack-the-blood McGrath.
His massive arms are covered in tattoos, and the sleeves of his white t-shirt strain against the bulk of his biceps.
Over the white tee, he’s wearing a leather cut with patches that signify not only the club’s name of the Verona Falls Riders, but also that he’s the president.
The outfit is completed with faded blue jeans and huge black boots.
His dark hair is swept away from his face, and just like his beard, is threaded with silver.
He’s even more intimidating than I remembered, and he’s staring at me as if I’ve personally burned down his compound. Then his stormy, gray-blue gaze travels down my body, taking in my cuts and grazes, my torn top, and my bare feet, and he looks even angrier, which I didn’t think was possible.
He steps forward and gently tips my chin up with one hand, examining my face for cuts and bruises, I guess. Then his eyes lower as he once more takes in the state of me.
“Who the fuck did this to you?”
His deep voice rumbles through me.
“A student?”
Why did I say it like a question? I hate the way my words are so unsure now that I’m here, standing in front of the massive wall of charisma and anger staring at me.
“From the college?” he demands.
“Yes. Ledger. He’s new. He took me out on a date, and well, it went quite badly.” To my shock I start to giggle, but it turns into a small sob, and I clap my hand over my mouth, embarrassed.
The door to the clubhouse swings open, and a tall man with curly, light brown hair strides out. I recognize him. He came to the party held at the college a few months ago, and he’s handsome enough that I can recall him and his name. Ace.
He catches sight of me, and his face lights up in a wide smile, revealing perfect teeth and twin dimples in his cheeks. He clearly recognizes me, too. But then the expression fades.
“What’s going on?” His normally relaxed face turns tense as he stares at me. “Hey, I know you, right? You’re Vani’s friend.”
I nod and sniff, acutely aware of how pathetic I must appear.
“She was on a date, and it went bad.” Jack scowls up the hill toward the fence. “He out there?”
“I mean, he was. I don’t know if he went back to the college.”
“Chopper,” Jack calls to one of the six men loitering around. “Take the dogs and some men, see if you can find that fucker.”
“No, you can’t,” I cry, horrified.
“Can’t?” He looks at me as if that word is not in his vocabulary. “Oh, but I can.”
“No, but you don’t understand. The college has rules.
It’s complicated, but if you harm him, then I might be the one who must pay.
Because he did this to me, the dean and his son will deal with him.
They’ll make sure he never does anything like this again, but I only have a short time left until graduation. If you kill him, they’ll throw me out.”
He scrubs a hand over his beard. “Fine. If we catch him, we’ll keep him here overnight and take him back to the dean, Nataniele, tomorrow, but if I’m not happy with whatever he decides, I will take my own form of justice.”
I sigh, but I don’t argue. I’m suddenly exhausted beyond all belief, and I feel as if I’m going to faint or throw up.
A huge yawn takes me by surprise, and I’m shocked that I can be thinking of sleep when so much truly bad stuff has happened.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I can’t believe I’m so tired.”
“That will be the adrenaline crash,” Ace supplies, dragging a hand through his curls and tilting his head to one side as he regards me. “You’re probably in a bit of shock.”
“Come on. Let’s put you to bed,” Jack rumbles.
“Here?” I squeak.
“Yeah. You can’t go back to the college tonight if we don’t catch that fucker, and you’ll be safe here. I’ll have Ace and a couple of the guards watch out for you.”
Nodding, I start to follow Ace, but step on another stone.
“Damn it,” I yelp. I should really put my shoes back on, but I also don’t want to wobble around in those stupid heels. I’m already not feeling very steady, and I’d probably turn my ankle.
Suddenly, my feet leave the ground, and I find myself wrapped in the biggest pair of arms I’ve ever known and held against a solid wall of muscle.
Jack carries me to a building I had seen but not taken too much notice of.
It looks almost like a very small motel, two stories, with three doors on the ground floor, and three on the second.
“Putting her in one of the bunk rooms?” Ace asks, trotting along behind us.
“Yep. Best place for her tonight.”
They’re talking about me as if I’m not here, but I’m too exhausted to fight. I simply rest my head against the crook of Jack’s neck and shoulder and breathe in his delicious scent of leather and oil.
“We’ll head back to the college in the morning, and I’ll come to a meeting with you and the dean.” Jack is insistent.
Oh, God, how embarrassing. He’s talking as if he’s my dad, but he’s not, so what can he say to the dean? He has no jurisdiction over me.
“You’re not my family. I doubt the dean will listen to what you say.”
His low chuckle runs through me, like a mini earthquake. “Oh, he’ll listen, all right, and don’t forget my daughter is at that fucking college. You think I’m going to let some fucking woman beating asshole walk around where she lives?”
We reach one of the ground level doors, and Ace opens it for us.
“Wait outside,” Jack orders him.
Ace nods, and Jack carries me into the room. He kicks the door closed behind him with his heel before placing me on the bed. The room is simple with just a double bed, a closet, a couple of nightstands, and a dresser. I assume the adjoining door leads to a bathroom.
He towers over me, making me feel very small and young.
I want to curl up and hide. He works his mouth, as though he wants to ask me something but can’t quite bring himself to say it.
I stare up at him, waiting. Does he remember that night I threw myself at him?
I try not to cringe in embarrassment. I’ve gone over it in my head about a million times, but he probably hasn’t so much as given it a second thought.
I’m just a silly little girl to him. I expect he has women throwing themselves at him twenty-four-seven.
Jack clears his throat. “Did he… did that fucker touch you? In that way, I mean.”
I almost want to laugh at how uncomfortable he seems when he asks me that. For a man so terrifying and so confident, he’s unsure right now.
“No,” I say softly. “We were kissing,” Jack’s expression tenses, a muscle twitching beneath his eyes, and I hurry to finish, “and things got weird fast. I tried to leave, and he fired a gun at me.”
“Oh, he’s dead.” Jack says the words softly, but with such weight I believe him.
If the dean doesn’t deal with Ledger, Jack will. It warms me inside. I know it’s just because I’m Vani’s friend, but having someone care so much is new for me.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He nods once, and his gaze rakes over me.
Something flickers behind his eyes, but he blinks and it’s gone, only cold efficiency remaining.
“I’m going to leave you to get settled in.
There’s going to be a lady coming to see you soon.
She’s called Shelley, and she’s one of the ol’ ladies, but she’s also a nurse. Will you let her look at you?”
I nod.
“Do you want anything? Food? A hot drink?”
“I already ate,” I say, remembering the burger and fries, and wondering if I’ll ever eat that meal again. “A cup of herbal tea would be nice.”
I suddenly feel like a child, and even though I’ve spent months fantasizing about this man, I want him to leave so I can have the breakdown that is barely being held back.
He nods once and walks to the door. He pauses and turns back to me. “I’m glad you came to me, Camile. You did the right thing. I’ll sort this out for you and make sure you can go back to college.”
Then he’s gone, and as soon as the door shuts, the tears start to fall.