Chapter 14
BLADE
That was the worst fucking night of my life.
Delilah asked if I could sleep beside her, and I must have been awake all night resisting the temptation to fuck honor and do her instead.
Her soft whimpers in her sleep, her skin against mine, and the way she stretched in her sleep ensured I had a fucking boner for the entire night.
A cold shower was the first place I went, and after I fixed breakfast, we cleaned up the cabin and are now speeding fast on my bike toward the compound.
I’m not gonna lie, it’s torture with her arms wrapped tight around my body as she clings on behind me. I’m not used to passengers. I prefer to ride alone, and yet somehow, I could get used to this.
After a couple of hours, I pull into a service station to refuel both the bike and Delilah.
There’s a diner attached, and after I fill the tank, we park outside and head inside, my stomach grateful for the reprieve.
“Table for two, please.”
Delilah smiles at the server who apparently can’t drag her attention from me. She’s a petite brunette with huge soulful eyes, and it appears she has never seen anything like me before.
Her blushes are adorable, but for some reason, they leave me cold. She’s not Delilah.
We settle into a booth, and as we check out the menu, I catch a glimpse of my passenger, and my heart almost bursts through my ribcage.
Her hair, which started off tied into a sleek ponytail, has messed up courtesy of the helmet.
Tendrils are escaping, framing her cute face, and her eyes sparkle as she reads the choices, her mouth silently forming the words, pleasure dusting her smile as she comes across something she likes.
Her once pale skin now has a healthier glow, courtesy of the mountain air and the ride over. In this moment, I have never wanted a woman as much as I want the wrongly named Delilah Grimes.
Her gaze lifts, and she smiles when she realizes I’m focused on her. She nods toward the menu I haven’t even checked out.
“What are you having?”
“Usual, I guess.” I shrug. “Eggs over easy, bacon, sausage links and hash browns. A side of toast and pancakes and more coffee than I can stand.”
“That sounds great. I’ll have the same.”
She hesitates and a flicker of doubt passes across her face.
“What?”
“I’m, um, well, maybe I should just grab a coffee.”
Realization dawns as she appears uncomfortable and reaching out, I grasp her hand, tugging her across the table until her lips are inches from mine, and I whisper, “If you’re worried about the check, I’ve got it.
Money comes easily to a Reaper, and we all carry a black credit card with no limit.
You pay your way by helping out at the compound. That’s it.”
“Helping, how?”
She bites her lip, anxiety taking hold, and I stroke her face and smile reassuringly. “Bartending, cleaning, cooking, helping out with the kids, that kind of thing.”
“Kids?”
She appears shocked at that.
I release her and settle back in my chair. “Many of the married Reapers have kids. It’s a community, darlin’. They live in houses, the kids play, go to school and live normal lives.”
“I never expected that.”
She shakes her head. “What about you and your brother? Is there any, well—”
“Old lady, girlfriend, kids?”
I finish her question and shake my head.
“No. Single Reapers live in a block behind the main compound. The club whores live in the one next door, along with our female guests.”
“Whores?”
The color drains from her face, and I seek to reassure her.
“We don’t call them whores, they do. The women don’t sell their bodies to a Reaper; they choose who they want to be with on their terms.”
I lean forward because to an outsider it sounds horrific.
“The self-styled whores are hiding from life, much like you. They don’t want attachment, merely a good time.
Not everyone wants that and is respected.
No Reaper will ever approach a woman. It’s up to them.
It’s an unspoken rule. You may be scared shitless when you first arrive because my brothers are like me.
Crude, dirty-talking bikers, hiding hearts of gold. ”
“Do you, um–” she shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I have no right to ask.”
“Do I take the women up on their offer? Of course. I’m a man after all, and they are some of the sweetest women I have ever met. You’ll like them, Delilah. They will be good friends to you.”
She smiles as the server approaches to take our order, but I note the sparkle has left her eyes, and I hate that I’m the one responsible. The trouble is, it’s best coming from me because the moment she steps foot inside the Rubicon, she will be scared shitless by what lies behind the steel doors.
* * *
The rest of the meal is slightly awkward, and I hate that I did this. My description probably sucked, but I can’t sugarcoat life there. She will find out soon enough, and it’s best coming from me.
After a while her curiosity wins out.
“Will I room with the um, single women?”
“Of course.”
Her eyes drop, compelling me to ask, “Are you okay with that?”
She shrugs and then sighs. “You said that if a woman approaches you to, well, um, you know, spend the night, you usually agree. Would that also apply to me?”
I stiffen, her words hitting home because, fuck, why didn’t I think of this before?
Delilah is one of the prettiest women I have ever met and letting her loose in that fuck palace will turn every Reaper’s head in there her way.
She could crook her little pinkie at any of them, and they would be beating their chests to be the chosen one. Me included.
It hits me like a wrecking ball. I want her all to myself, and if one of those fuckers even smiles at her in the wrong way, he will feel the full force of my fist.
“Would you ask?”
I hate asking, especially when she nods. “I will.”
Fuck! If my hair wasn’t tied back and wrapped in a bandana, I would be tearing it out right now.
She leans forward, her smile tempting as she beckons me closer. “Would you sleep with me tonight, Blade? It’s just, well, if I’m going there, I want to know you have my back.”
“Sleep?”
I raise my eyes, and she blushes adorably.
“If that’s what it takes to get you to agree, then yes, sleep.
But, well—” She breaks off, color flooding her skin, and then sighs heavily.
“I can’t pretend I’m not one of those women, Blade.
I was an unwilling whore to Angela. She offered me out like refreshment, and I had no other choice but to go along with it.
I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me, but I am worse than the women who call themselves whores in the compound.
They get to choose; I didn’t have that luxury, so if you’ll forgive my question, for once I wanted to be the one choosing. ”
Her admission tears my heart open, leaving me bleeding out inside. Images of men using and abusing this incredible woman are burning me up from the inside. Not anymore. She gets to choose every fucking time from now on, and I nod, my gaze heavy and loaded with anger.
“I will ‘sleep’ with you, darlin’ until you tell me otherwise.”
It’s as if she visibly relaxes and the tension drops from her shoulders.
“Thank you.”
Her smile is brighter, and it slays me as much as her tears. I doubt she even knows that, right now, in this moment, I would kill for Delilah Grimes if anyone so much as speaks to her in the wrong way.