DAX
Harper didn’t respond right away to my declaration, instead, she just blinked at me with her mouth hanging open. “Wait... are you saying that you’re going to kill even more people because of me?”
“No, I’m going to kill more people because they fucked with my family. Harper, this is the reality of my world that I didn’t want you to know anything about. It’s dark, bloody, and not very pretty,” I said bluntly, trying to get her to see why I didn’t tell her.
“Fine, I can accept that’s why you kept me in the dark. I’m not forgiving you by any means, but I can understand why you did it,” Harper relented. “So what happens now?”
I reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it with both of mine and looked her dead in the eye. “Harper, I will keep you safe. No matter what it takes. Do you believe that?”
“Yes. If I know anything at all about you, it’s that you don’t give your word lightly.”
“The plan is to find you someplace safe and out of danger. I haven’t found where that’s going to be yet. Are you okay being here until then? If not, I do have a friend here that might be able to take you in, so you’re not in the center of the storm,” I offered.
“Worried I might be a cockblock with all this fine ass running around?” Harper teased, showing me a glimmer that my best friend might forgive me yet.
“If you want to try, go for it. They seem to be under the illusion that I’m theirs,” I groaned, flopping back on the bed. “I never wanted anything serious from one guy, and now, I’ve suddenly acquired six.”
“Wait? Are you saying that you and Weston finally expressed your undying love for each other? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me this right away?” Harper screeched, all but flipping the tray over in her excitement.
We both scrambled for it, clutching the glasses of chocolate milk, lest we commit a sin we couldn’t come back from. Carefully, we set everything on the floor before Harper tackled me in a bear hug, squeezing the life out of me. “Tell me everything! I need to know every detail!”
“I’m not sure you want every detail—”
“O.M.G, you fucked him too, didn’t you? Oh, now I’m majorly fucking pissed at you for holding out on me,” she yelled, hitting me with a pillow. “Start talking or I swear to God, I will use the super-secret weapon.”
I shoved her off me and put her into a wrestling lock on her stomach. “You fucking tell anyone about that shit, and I take back everything I ever said about you, Harper. I will feed you to the wolves myself.”
“Okay, I give, I give, uncle!”
Satisfied that she wasn’t going to turn on me, I let her loose. “I couldn’t tell you about Wes because I would have had to explain where I was and what happened. He was helping me escape… unsuccessfully, I might add. One thing led to another, and we fucked... a few times.”
“Nope,” Harper said, popping the P and wagging a finger at me. “That’s not gonna fly. You owe me, and I want all the details.”
I glared at her but gave in, knowing this is the shit she lived for. “Remember that you asked for this, alright?”
She nodded enthusiastically, clutching the pillow like an excited little kid, as I delved into the whole saga of how I ended up here, escaped, got caught, and showed up back at my house with Picasso.
“Girl, that shit’s like straight out of a book!
It’s every girl’s dark fantasy to be kidnapped by sexy bikers to then soothe their beastly natures, only to make them into the perfect men to keep you well fucked and smothered in love!
” Harper cackled, rolling on the bed, until she sat back up with a pout on her lips.
“Why do you get all the fun? I’m surrounded by Ken dolls who only care about looks and money.
They might be hot to look at, but the moment they start talking, they prove how dumb they are. ”
“Contrary to your fantasies, I don’t recommend going the kidnapping route. This scenario is not the typical outcome,” I cautioned her, needing to make sure that she wouldn’t do something stupid.
She cocked her head to the side, giving me a calculating look.
“What you really mean is that I can’t defend myself like you can, that I’m too vulnerable.
I’ve known you for too long not to be able to read between the lines when you say shit like that, especially now that I know the whole story.
You’ve always been majorly overprotective when we go out.
I joke about you being my bodyguard but in a way you really are, aren’t you? ”
“If you’re asking me if I’ve intervened to keep the fuck nuggets away from you, then the answer is of fucking course,” I admitted with a shrug.
Not loving where this conversation was going, I decided that we needed to change things up. Slipping off the bed, I tossed a pair of pants from her bag at her. “Come on, I want to introduce you to Tilly. I think you’ll hit it off.”
“Is this who you’re trying to pawn me off on so you can have the bedroom back for happy fun times with Westie?” Harper asked as she got dressed.
I just glared at her over my shoulder, knowing she was enjoying teasing me far too much. “Want me to introduce you to the others properly? Last night was kind of a clusterfuck.”
“Absolutely, Wes might have my stamp of approval but the verdict’s out on the others.”
Heading back downstairs, with her hot on my heels, I found all the men sitting or standing around the counter talking. When they heard us coming, they quickly shut up and watched Harper, cautiously waiting to see if she was going to have another meltdown.
“Harper, these are the leaders of the Phantom Saints MC. Guys, this is Harper, my best friend and soul sister, that is to be treated like a lady or I’ll have to chop off your dicks, okay?” I shared, giving them an evil grin, daring them to test me.
Eagle walked around the counter and held out his hand to Harper. “Name’s Eagle, I’m the president of the club. If you need anything or have problems with any of my men, you let me or my brother, Picasso, whom I think you already met, know.”
“Yes, thank you, I appreciate that. I’m a little out of my depth with all this,” Harper said, waving her hands in every direction. “Are there any rules I should know about being here?”
“Nope, because if anyone fucking touches you, I’ll gut them,” I growled.
Sprocket reached out and pulled me against him where he was sitting.
“Easy, little rebel, we’ll make it known that she’s off-limits with your wrath as the punishment.
That should be more than enough to keep her safe and allow her to be anywhere she wants to be.
” I grunted but relaxed into him. “I’m Sprocket, by the way. It’s nice to meet you, Harper.”
Cognac leaned on the counter and waved, giving Harper a sultry grin. “Cognac’s the name, and if you have any tips for getting my loba to retract her claws, I would be forever grateful.”
“Oh Lord, girl, that man is trouble.” Harper laughed, shaking her head. “Sorry, chicks before dicks and all that.”
“Worth a shot. I’ll wear her down eventually,” He grinned, turning to give me a wink. “The hunt is half the fun, isn’t it, loba?”
“Ignore him, he was dropped on his head as a child. Thank goodness he’s pretty to look at,” I shot back, flipping him the bird.
Void stood from his seat and walked up to Harper. I could see her gulp as she looked up at him, ready for him to say something to her. “My little demon sees you as family, that makes you our family as well. That being said, we will not be giving her up no matter how you feel about us.”
My jaw dropped at his declaration. “What the hell was that?!”
“Did you want me to lie to her?” Void asked, as he faced me with a questioning brow.
“Isn’t that what started your fight in the first place?
We will protect her, but my first priority is you, little demon, even if you end up getting mad at me for keeping you safe.
Weston also understands the rules and agrees. ”
Rubbing my face with both hands, I stepped away from Sprocket, only for him to clamp his hands on my hips and lock his legs around mine.
“Sorry, little rebel, but you’re not running away that easily.
We’re going to need to have this conversation at some point, no matter how much you want to avoid it.
Us men have said our piece and figured things out. Now, it’s your turn to hear us out.”
“Seriously, you guys, we have so many more important things to worry about than this. Like the fact the Mad Dogs are making moves against me, and their leader thinks he owns me or some shit,” I grumbled, trying to struggle out of Sprocket’s hold.
Shocking the hell out of me, I felt teeth biting into the muscle between my shoulder and neck, ceasing my struggles instantly.
Sprocket let out a pleased hum as he licked my skin before he released me and turned me to face him.
“I get that you’ve been going at this alone for a long time, but that shit changes as of right now.
You have all of us behind you. I wasn’t kidding when I said we would be your knights, and one of the jobs of a knight is to protect their queen.
The fierceness you feel toward Harper is exactly how we feel about you,” He explained.
“Now, we don’t have to talk about it right now, but it will happen by the end of today, even if we have to make Void strap you down. ”
Harper let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, sorry, boys, that’s not a threat. She’d enjoy that far too much.”
Snapping my head around, I scowled. “Traitor, whose side are you on?”
“Babe, you know I love you and I want only the best for you. Well, this right here took me all of five minutes to figure out was exactly what you need,” Harper stated, hands on her hips.
“I’ve never seen you act like this with anyone other than myself or Wes.
You would have dropped Sprocket where he sat if you didn’t want to be stopped, showing me the opposite of what’s coming out of your mouth. ”
I opened and closed my mouth, trying to come up with some sort of comeback to prove her wrong, but I couldn’t and that irritated me even more.
“Holy shit, is she speechless?” Picasso asked, smirking at me.
“Why don’t you come a little closer and find out,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Nah, I’m good over here where it’s safe,” Picasso answered, resting his chin on his hand.
At this, Harper lost it and started laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach.
“They’ve known you for, what a week, and already they’ve got your number, girlfriend?
Oh yeah, they get my gold seal of approval.
If you fuck this up, you’ll never find men like them again.
Clearly, the problem you had was trying to find one man who could handle you.
Looks like it takes five burly bikers and one tattooed genius to do the job. ”
All the guys looked far too pleased with her praise, irritating me even more. “Whatever. Harper and I are going to see Tilly. I think the faster I can get her away from you lot, the better. It seems there’s a traitor in the midst, pretending to be my best friend.”
“Don’t be a sore loser. It’s not cute on you,” Harper teased.
Sprocket let me go as I darted forward, grabbed Harper’s hand, and dashed out the front door like the doors of hell were opening.
“Have fun, be safe, make good choices,” Cognac called after us.