CHAPTER FIVE
– MERCY –
He hugged me. It’s been almost an hour since Sable pulled me into a hug, and yet I still can’t wrap my mind around it. I’ve never been the kind of person to seek closeness or like to be touched.
Linus was a prime example. I let him get close due to the kindness he showed me, and the curious interest I had in the intimate stuff I’ve only read about.
The first time he kissed me I was overwhelmed and didn’t enjoy it.
Before my mind caught up with this realization my pants were around my ankles, and he had his dick out.
I endured the handful of minutes. Sex for the first time is painful. I was somewhat prepared, but it certainly wasn’t something special. I tried to relax, and I’m sure it was my fault for lack of interest.
There was no second time since I refused Linus when he approached me for sex.
He beat me up and opened his bedroom door to call my uncle.
When Linus explained how I refused to give him my cunt.
..his words, not mine...Otto smacked me around.
He told me I was Linus’s property, and I should obey.
Linus added some punches as well and told me to clean myself up.
Thankfully, Linus’s bathroom had a window, and I already packed my backpack because I wanted to leave town. The throwback of being touched by Linus is all due to my body’s reaction to Sable. Having Sable’s arms around me warmed my body from the inside out.
I can’t explain why it felt so damn different or how it affected my body in ways I never experienced.
I’m intrigued to say the least. Like now.
I’m on the back of his bike, the icy wind is pulling at me, and I’m not cold at all.
My mind should be trying to come up with an escape plan.
We’re heading to their clubhouse and yet I’m thinking about a moment in the past.
A moment that cannot be repeated. I have to leave. It was never my intention to stay here. Hell, I didn’t really think things through when I broke into Kujo’s cabin. Other than some form of twisted revenge...which also doesn’t make sense because I didn’t want to run into him.
Hopefully, this clubhouse has a bathroom with a window as well.
I’m about to find out as Sable stops the bike in the parking lot of a large warehouse and backs it up right next to the other bikes. My nerves are all over the place and I squeeze my short nails into my palms to let the pain distract me.
Dismounting, I glance around to see if I can easily leave the premises once I manage to get out of the clubhouse unseen. I’m sad to say there’s a prospect closing the gate, and there’s another one standing next to a firepit.
“Come on, it’ll be fine if you don’t have any ulterior motive,” Sable states.
He takes my hand and tries to take me with him, but instead I dig my heels into the ground.
Sable glances over his shoulder. “What?” Tilting his head, he asks, “Do you have an ulterior motive?”
I shake my head.
“Working with Otto?”
I wildly shake my head.
Sable grins. “Then don’t let those fuckers in there scare you.”
If it would only be as easy as he makes it sound. Lifting my shirt and jacket, I show him the fading bruises.
He looks me dead in the eye and states, “No one is going to touch you. If anyone needs to end you it’ll be me. Only if you double cross us, and you just mentioned it’s not your endgame. Until that changes, I’ll make sure no one will come near you.”
What an asshole, easily saying he will kill me if I fuck them over. I should be scared and yet this man gives it to me straight. Such a contradiction to my smooth-talking uncle, and Linus too, for that matter. Both turned like a leaf and never once told me the truth.
So, in some way Sable’s honestly blunt statement is a relief. It’s why I roll my eyes and flip him off. The rich chuckle rumbling through his chest is making my belly flop. Another new experience and I wonder why my body reacts differently due to his actions. I take a deep breath and follow Sable.
“VP,” a man calls out, standing on the left of the clubhouse. “A word.”
Sable glances at me. “Stay here.”
He walks off and I glance at the beat-up car I’m standing next to. Weird for a car like that to be sitting next to a row of bikes. Feeling uncomfortable, I shift on my feet and move slightly away.
A sharp whistle sends a chill up my spine. It’s something Linus would use to get anyone’s attention and I whip my head in the direction it came from. Movement catches my attention behind the gate. I don’t have a clear view and don’t recognize the dark figure but instinctively know who it is.
There’s no damn way I want to return to Linus, or my uncle, and move backwards to where Sable is still talking to someone. Three steps back and then the breath is knocked out of my lungs. I feel like a ragdoll being thrown into the air and landing hard against the ground.
Pain bursts through me on impact, but it’s also the heat making me scream in pain. Flames are eating up the fabric of my jacket that’s covering my arm and I frantically wave it in front of me, but the flames spread quickly.
“Roll, dammit, roll,” I hear Sable’s voice before I’m roughly shoved.
Pain makes me whimper when Sable rolls my body over the ground. I close my eyes and at this moment I just want everything to end. Sable curses and I feel how he takes me into his arms. Different male voices are shouting, making me bury my head deeper against Sable’s chest.
The noise is dimmed when I hear a door slam shut behind us. Sable gently places my ass on something soft and when I look around I find myself in a small bedroom.
“Fuck, princess, your wrist doesn’t look good. Let me get the doctor in here.” He doesn’t wait for me to say anything and simply rushes out.
I glance down at my arm and cringe when I see what the flames did to my clothes. Sable storms back inside with another man who rushes into the bathroom.
“Bring her here,” the man orders Sable and he scoops me into his arms. “Get my bag from the kitchen, Sable.”
I mentally lock down. It’s as if I go to a routine and ignore everything, and anyone else to cope with the pain, discomfort, and hell I find myself in. My life currently feels like one hit after another, and they keep on coming.
I have no clue how much time passes, nor do I care my only jacket, and some of my clothes, are ruined when the doctor cut them to shreds. All I remember are the tender words Sable whispered in my ear when he laid me in a bed that smelled like him. Leather, spice, and a hint of laundry detergent.
Completely drained I fall asleep.
Waking up feels like I’m being plunged back into the horrors my life consists of when I move and bump my wrist. Pain flashes through me, jolting me upright as I whimper.
“Easy, princess,” Sable says from a chair in the corner.
He stands and grabs some pills from the nightstand along with a glass of water. “Here, take these. Painkillers the doctor prescribed. He gave you something through an injection, but you need to take these as well.”
I follow his order and drain the glass of water.
“We watched the video surveillance and saw you turn to look at something outside of the gate right before the car blew up. Why?” His voice sounds harsh, and sadly I couldn’t care less.
“Linus,” I tell him.
“Are you sure?” he asks and I give him a nod.
“Fuck,” Sable mutters. “The car was towed onto our property two days ago. A prospect asked if he could fix it on our property. Same fucking prospect who called me away from you. Fucker is missing now. He must have slipped away when everything went to shit after the explosion.”
I keep quiet, not even sure why Sable is telling me all of this, and I simply don’t care.
It would have been better if the explosion killed me, then everything would have ended.
Why the hell did I move away? It’s not like I have things to live for.
No one cares if I live or die, I don’t even have a roof over my head, or a jacket to keep warm.
My life keeps digging a deeper hole to bury me in and yet I keep on breathing...but for the life of me I don’t know why. Once I might have thought happiness was something to live for, but the reality is only a weary dream. One I’m too tired to fight for.