CHAPTER FIFTEEN
– NORIE –
“Stop being lazy and wake up from your slumber, girl.” A voice flows through my head.
I’m pretty sure I’m not hearing it out loud because it feels more like a pull on my brain instead of entering my ears. Strangely enough, it feels like a timer going off, reminding myself naptime is over. My eyes fly open and I gasp for air.
“Cough,” Swade murmurs.
Blinking a few times against the blur of...why am I completely drenched?
“I said cough, Norie,” Swade whispers and roughly pulls my arm to turn me and starts to smack my back.
“What the...” I sputter.
“Fucking cough, you just drowned,” Swade hisses in a whisper and my gaze connects with Sevrin.
His silver eyes glow with a spark like the sun hitting ice. It was his voice that told me to stop being lazy. As if on cue I fall into a coughing fit.
“Get it all out, girl,” Swade says and I frown at him.
My teeth start to chatter when a gush of wind reminds me of my drenched state. When I look at the crate everything comes rushing back and this time my reaction isn’t an act and instead of coughing, I start to sob.
“Move,” I hear Fatal growl and then I’m in his arms.
He doesn’t even care about my soaked clothes and presses me close to his chest. “Swade, get my keys and ride my bike back to the clubhouse. Wesson, you’re driving, let’s go. My old lady needs to be warm, and someone call the damn doctor so he’s there when we arrive.”
“What I need,” I manage to grit between chattering teeth, “is Gilpin’s head on a stick so I can shove it up his dead ass.”
“He won’t be breathing for long, sweet thing, I fucking swear,” Fatal says while Swade opens the door of the SUV.
“I’m right behind you,” Sevrin grunts.
Fatal lifts his chin and I notice Heart and Lumos straddling their bikes in front of the SUV. Wesson gets behind the wheel and I suddenly feel completely drained. Snuggling closer against Fatal’s chest, I close my eyes and let myself drift off.
Soft strokes over my head wake me along with Fatal’s voice. “Wake up, baby.”
“Don’t want to,” I grumble and rub my cheek against the denim of his cut, letting his familiar scent soothe me.
“I got you,” he tells me and carries me out of the SUV.
Swade is holding the door of the clubhouse open while Fatal is still carrying me.
I bury my face into Fatal’s chest, not wanting to see the faces of the other bikers.
What if I see pity, or the ugly way Gilpin looked at me right before he punched me in the face.
Not to mention, some might even think I’m a weak woman, one their president needs to carry instead of walking back into the clubhouse myself.
“Put me down. I can walk.” I try to wiggle but Fatal’s grip tightens around my back and legs.
“Not happening. You’re cold, soaking wet, and need a shower right fucking now.”
“They’re gonna think I’m weak,” I croak, and hate feeling vulnerable.
Fatal kicks his door shut, but I watch over his shoulder as Sevrin shoves it back open, Swade entering right behind him.
Turning, Fatal rumbles, “For fuck’s sake, go wait in the main room. Norie needs a shower, clean clothes, and a warm bed. None of which will she need you two to be present for.”
He doesn’t wait for their reply or to see if they leave, Fatal simply carries me into the bathroom and flips the lock before placing me on my feet.
“Gilpin came in, even though you locked the door,” I croak. “I thought it was you...that you forgot something and came back.”
I squeeze my eyes shut when I feel them start to burn with unshed tears. His hands tighten on my skin.
He leans his forehead against mine. “Don’t cry. Your tears feel like tiny knives shoved underneath my fingernails. Fuck. It’s my fault that motherfucker took you.”
The torment is perceptible in his voice and I can see the pain in his eyes. I must be crazy but seeing and hearing his reaction to what happens to me makes my heart leap. What we have might still be new and a far cry from love, but it’s clear he cares.
Reaching out, I place my hands on his cheek to keep our connection and take a deep breath.
“It’s not your fault assholes roam this earth.
Sometimes you run into one, but I guess we got the bonus plan which feels more like an epidemic.
Luckily, I got hitched to someone who had an asshole’s brain matter on his boot. ”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Most women would run the other way, others wouldn’t even have recognized it as such or noticed it for that matter.”
“I’m not like most women,” I whisper.
He brushes his mouth against mine.
“Don’t have to tell me fucking twice. I’ve never felt the need to claim a woman. You’re so damn strong.” He takes a deep breath. “I almost lost you today.”
A shiver runs through me, and this time it’s not due to the cold. “But you didn’t.”
“Let’s get you warmed up.” He steps around me and turns the shower on.
He helps me strip, letting the wet clothes hit the tiles underneath our feet. With care he places me underneath the warm water and then strips away his own clothes to join me. There’s nothing sexual about the way he gently cleans my body with his bodywash.
It’s soothing to simply feel his touch, and when he guides my head back to make sure he can wash my hair without getting shampoo in my eyes? I know this man holds a tenderness he doesn’t show others. Like he said, there hasn’t been another woman he claimed before me.
Once I’m all warmed up and clean, he turns off the water and wraps me into a fluffy blanket. Fatal quickly wipes himself dry and wraps the towel around his waist.
“Stay here so I can grab you a clean shirt of mine,” he tells me and slips through the door.
I hear voices and then he’s back. “Your father and uncle are fucking annoying.”
The only one I called uncle was someone who wasn’t related to me, or so I thought. Now he turns out to be my father and someone I just met is my uncle by blood.
It’s why I find myself saying, “It’s good to have family, even if they’re annoying.”
He places his hand at the back of my neck and pulls me close.
“Damn right,” he murmurs and captures his lips with mine.
I sigh into his kiss, eagerly opening to welcome his tongue brushing mine.
He groans, the sound rumbles through his chest where my hand is placed over his heart.
His thumb presses against my jaw to tilt my head, allowing him to deepen the kiss.
My hearts skips a beat, my clit throbs, and my belly flutters.
Alive. I feel alive and it’s a kind of happiness I’ve never experienced. It must have been the near-death experience I just had because everything is heightened.
It’s why I pull back and then feather my lips against his to say, “I’m really starting to like you.”
“Good.” He grins. “’Cause it would really suck if I was stuck with a woman who hates me.”
I snort out a laugh, completely unladylike, but Fatal doesn’t seem to care when he chuckles right along with me and pulls me in for a hug.
He smacks my ass and stares down at me. “I should have grabbed some sweatpants for you to wear besides my shirt. I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later I’m walking into the room where Sevrin and Swade are still standing near the door.
“Why isn’t the doctor here yet?” Fatal asks Swade.
Sevrin is the one who answers instead. “She doesn’t need one. Can’t you tell she’s fine?”
Fatal places his hands on his hips. “And I’d like to hear it from a damn doctor instead of taking your word for it.”
Sevrin shrugs. “Fine, go get the doctor.”
Fatal narrows his eyes. “How about you go get him and leave my damn bedroom?”
Swade sighs. “I’ll go get him. Oh, and Prez? Wesson called a few times.”
Fatal reaches for his phone and curses. “I had the sound turned off.” He leans in to place a kiss on the top of my head. “I gotta call him back.”
“Okay,” I croak, the opposite of what I want to say because I don’t want to be alone.
His eyes are on me and it’s as if he can read my expression when he says, “Both of you stay here with my old lady. I don’t want her to be alone right now. I’ll check where the doctor is and make a call to Wesson.”
He strides out of the room while I take a seat on the bed.
Sevrin squats down in front of me and takes my wrists in his hands. “You managed to free your hands, didn’t you?”
I glance down and remember feeling the blood, and how much the rope cutting into my skin hurt. Yet, there are no bruises or other signs. I remember Gilpin hitting me, there must be bruises, right? Getting to my feet, I move to the bathroom to check the mirror.
“How is this possible?” I whisper when I don’t see a bruise on my face.
Swade is leaning against the doorway. “Your mother must have passed her good genes on to you. She was a fast healer as well, especially if she made herself one of those wellness treatments in a bath.”
“What he said,” Sevrin states.
I frown and turn to Swade. “Remember how you always warn people when I’m acting like an airhead?”
Swade winces.
Good. He knows I’m not buying his bullshit.
For now, though? I’m too damn tired to deal with this and am certainly not pissed or ungrateful about being alive without bruises.
It’s why I push my way past them and head for bed.
This time I crawl in and cover myself with the blankets. I need for this day to be over.