Chapter 18
How much longer was it going to take them?
Val had been waiting at Jesse’s for three hours and every minute that ticked by felt like an eternity. She’d cleaned the kitchen and then grabbed one of the many books Jesse had lying around and read for a while.
But her mind was still reeling, thinking about what had happened between her and Jesse and Xander. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d ever want to have sex like that. And yet, she’d never felt more beautiful or desirable in her life.
The dull ache in her pussy began to throb and she decided a bath was in order. A long soak to ease the soreness. It hit her, as she was filling up the tub, that she’d been irresponsible. They didn’t use condoms and she wasn’t on any kind of birth control.
What if…
Suddenly, the image of her carrying Jesse’s baby, or Xander’s, was all too clear. And it didn’t frighten her the way it should have. That was just as shocking as the rest of it. She reminded herself that these were bikers, criminals, not ordinary folks. Despite that, Val felt no fear. Not like she did in Holy Sacrifice. There was always something sinister about the place where she grew up. Because most of the members pretended that they were following a holy life when in fact, as she found out, they were not. Her religious family was as sinful as anyone else. At least here, the crew were honest about who they were and what they did. There was no pretense. She could respect that.
And the wild part of her, the one that ran from home years ago, was still wild, still searching. Still not satisfied with the status quo. Experiencing sex for the first time opened up a new world for her. One that she was ready to embrace and explore. Nothing that felt so good, could be wrong. Could it?
After sitting in the bath for a half hour, she dried off and got changed.
“I can’t sit around here doing nothing,” she muttered to herself.
She was far more comfortable being active.
Instead of staying put, like Xander and Jesse had told her, Val took off for the bunker.
It was dark out now, so she grabbed a flashlight from Jesse’s kitchen and made her way there. She was pretty sure she knew the way at this point. After all, she’d watched them walk away, far longer than they realized.
The crunch of gravel and grass underfoot was the only sound around her. But the closer she got to the hunting shack, the more her instinct told her to be careful.
“Hands where I can see them!”
The shout came from Avery Hellion, aiming a shotgun at Val.
“It’s me, Val.”
“Jesus, what the hell are you doing here?” Avery yelled and lowered her weapon. “I could’ve killed you.”
“Xander and Jesse told me to stay put at the cottage but I can’t sit there and do nothing. What’s going on? Why aren’t they back yet?”
Avery motioned for Val to enter the bunker. “They were chasing down Krypt crew in one of our tunnels. Sonny used explosives to eliminate the threat around the perimeter of our property. Unfortunately, the blast seems to have affected tunnel two. Part of the ceiling collapsed and Xander and Jesse are trapped.”
Val put a hand on the doorframe to keep herself steady. No. The thought of those two men being injured or worse made Val’s blood run cold.
“We need to help.”
“Sonny and the crew are on it. Nothing we can do at this point.”
“How many Krypt crew did they get?”
Val still couldn’t say the word kill.
“Twelve of them breached our property and all were shut down. That leaves nine of their crew left.”
“You might be content to stay here and do nothing, but I’m not,” Val announced.
“To start with, I’m listening to direct orders from my father, the President. And I’m guarding this place, just in case. I’m not doing nothing. And second, if you can’t tell, I’m hella pregnant. I didn’t want to stay here at first, but now that I’ve had time to think, breathing in all that dust and shit from that tunnel wouldn’t be good for me or the baby.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean anything. I just want to do something. If I sit, I worry. If I act, at least I feel I’m making a difference.”
Avery nodded, her blond hair sliding out of her bun. “Trust me, I get it.”
Suddenly, another member of the crew appeared. Vanier. He was wearing the familiar H H leather vest.
“This is Vanier, one of our prospects. This is Val. She’s staying with Jesse and Xander.”
Vanier gave her a knowing smirk. “Yeah, Dante just mentioned.”
Val’s face heated and Avery’s sharp glance made her feel like she was under interrogation.
“What’s going on?” Avery asked.
“Nothing,” Val replied.
Avery’s eyes dropped to Val’s neck, and she struggled not to fidget.
“Nice hickey,” Avery muttered and turned to Vanier. “This one here wants to help Sonny and the crew with digging out the tunnel. Show her the way.”
“Nope. I ain’t leaving you here alone. President’s orders.”
Avery glared at him.
“Go. I’ve got my guns and the dogs. I’m fine.”
“No.”
“I’m telling you to go,” Avery snarked and gave Vanier her middle finger.
“Hey, I’m just doing what I’m told. The last thing I need is Gage’s boot up my ass.”
“Go,” Avery urged. “Or you’re gonna get my boot.”
“Fine,” Vanier sighed and motioned to Val. “Come on. Might as well have two more people digging the guys out.”
Val nodded at Avery and followed Vanier back outside. He passed her a flashlight.
“Where are we going?”
“Exit of tunnel two, it’s at the north end of our property.”
“We can’t go in the other way?”
“Nope. Jesse said that they’re now trapped. They’re near the closest exit.”
Val didn’t ask any further questions.
Ten minutes later—it felt like an hour—they reached the end of the property. There were several crew members in the area, but they were on ATVs with trailer hitches. Val didn’t ask what was in the plastic tarps being loaded up, but she had a pretty good idea.
But she couldn’t see any kind of entrance to any tunnel. Until Vanier shifted several rocks sitting on the periphery. Underneath it sat a circular piece of metal, like a sewer cover, that was hidden by a fake patch of grass.
Vanier moved to open the hatch and they made their way down into the damp tunnel, flashlights illuminating the way.
Not ten steps from where they’d started, she spotted Sonny and Dante, along with Gage and Jackson. They were hauling large blocks of cement out of the way and only then did Val notice that the rubble was covering the entire width and height of the tunnel.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Sonny bellowed at Vanier. “And you’re supposed to stay with Avery!”
“She insisted she was fine and ordered me to go. And I’m sure you can use two more sets of hands to dig the guys out,” Vanier replied. “You head back to Avery if you wat, and I’ll take over your spot.”
Sonny looked at Gage and Gage nodded.
“Okay, I’ll take a break,” Sonny muttered. “But I’ll be back.”
Val cautiously stepped forward as Sonny walked past them.
“Get ready to work,” Sonny muttered as he gave her his hard hat, his pale blue eyes glittering in the darkness. “You’re getting your hands dirty now, Val. Ain’t no going back.”
She knew what he meant. Val was a conspirator to the killings. There was no way she could go back to her regular life. Either she became one of them or she joined the fate of the Krypt crew.
It was already too late. And then she wondered, what if she was pregnant? Would Xander and Jesse want the baby? She had a feeling that neither of them would let her leave. For some weird reason, that didn’t scare her like it should. She hadn’t felt a part of anything since leaving home. But now, here, as crazy as it was, she was all in. That day in the diner changed everything. Val’s instinct was telling her that somehow, this was her destiny. Even if it meant a life with outlaw bikers.
She ignored the strange looks from Dante, Gage, and Jackson, and started removing bits and pieces of the concrete. She kept going and the faster they all worked, the lower the wall. Until she could finally see over the top.
“Xander? Jesse?”
“Val?” Jesse called out. “What the hell are you doing down here?”
“I”m helping your crew get rid of this rubble so we can get you the hell out of here, that’s what I’m doing!” she yelled back.
“Get out of this tunnel right now, woman!” he shouted back.
“Jesse’s right,” Xander added. “We’ve had another part of the ceiling fall down already. Get out of here.”
Val looked around but the ceiling in this part of the tunnel was fine. She ignored their comments and just kept working, along with the other members of the crew.
A half hour later, the wall was waist high, and they could finally see Xander and Jesse clearly on the other side.
“Of course, you didn’t leave. Stubborn woman,” Jesse grumbled when he spotted her, then he smiled. “Fuck, I”ve never been so glad to see anyone in my life.”
“Me neither,” Xander replied, both their faces coated in dust and dirt.
The breath that Val had been holding onto since she left Jesse’s cottage, finally released.
“Aw, thanks Jesse,” Dante replied with a smug grin.
“I ain”t talking to you, idiot.”
Val’s face flushed as Jesse and Xander gave her a heated look. She was half tempted to crawl over the wall as is to get to them. Instead, she ignored the stares of Dante and Gage and watched as Jesse and Xander crawled over to get to her.
Val stepped back to give them room and she was hit with immediate relief as Jesse and Xander stepped gingerly over the rubble and landed on the other side.
She didn’t hesitate to go to them, wrapping one arm around Jesse and the other around Xander.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”