Chapter 5
Torch
Ruby moans, whimpers, and shifts in her sleep next to me, and my cock is hard as steel.
I know she went through a lot during her attack, so I shouldn’t have told her I’m a masochist, but that’s what I am.
I want her and only her. I even tried having sex with another woman when my girl was still too young, and I wanted to explore.
It wasn’t good at all. Oh, I got the woman off, but it felt like cheating.
I’ve always loved Ruby. Breaking up with her wasn’t my idea, but her father and Judge were right.
She was ready to give up her dreams for me, and I couldn’t have her do that.
She needed to get away from Jupiter for a while.
But now she’s in danger again. She’s being followed, but we don’t know by whom.
I talked to Swede, and he said he’d reach out to his contacts to see if it was our enemies.
If this had anything to do with her attack.
It shouldn’t, though. We made a pact…a truce.
Memories of the fifth guy roll through my mind. The one name I could never get from her. The one man that got away. Could he be back, or is this all Justin, Evie’s now ex?
I realize I never told her where we were going.
I bet she assumes I’m taking her to the compound, but I won’t go there.
I need to have her with me, on our own for a bit.
We want the girls separated for now, just in case it is Justin.
Plus, it sounds like I need to get my girl’s head on straight.
She doesn’t trust me, and that’s all my fault.
I said some fucked up shit when I tried to get her to walk away.
She moans long and loud, and I’m about to pull this truck over and fuck her in that seat if she doesn’t stop.
I reach along my side of the console and lift her bra, taking in her sweet wild rose scent that she’s liked for the last few years.
It smells like a dark rose with some spiciness to it.
She has the body wash and lotion, and I even bought some to help me when I get myself off.
Her musky, sweaty workout odor lingers as well, wrecking me.
Looking over, I can make out the curve of her hip as her waist is exposed by her raised hoodie, remembering how it felt when I gripped her earlier.
She’s trimmed down and lost some weight.
Mostly from working out so much and not eating as she should.
I turn my attention back to the road and rub her bra along my erect cock through my jeans. I fucking need her. I need inside her tight pussy. I shake my head as we pass the turn-off leading toward Jupiter and head north for Massachusetts.
Twisting my hands tighter on the steering wheel when Ruby whimpers in her sleep, the memories of her nightmares in the hospital, all those months she was recovering after the attack, flash through my mind.
I spent as much time with her as I could.
But after Swede handed the club reins over to Judge, I had to divide my time between Providence and Jupiter, where I was needed for the handoff.
I didn’t know Judge planned to make me his VP, but I should have expected it.
Swede also spent more time at the hospital then.
The nightmares and screams used to tear me up.
The only time I found relief from them was when I was torturing each of the men that hurt her.
My phone pings, and the alert is read aloud through the speaker.
Spike
How is it going? How did baby girl take you coming to get her?
“Hey, Siri, respond to Spike’s message. We are almost to the border. She fought me for a bit and is demanding to talk to Evie. When she’s settled, give us a call.”
Siri repeats the message, and I tell her to send it.
“Why are we going across the border? I thought we were heading for the compound?” Ruby’s sleep-husky voice says from next to me. I slant my eyes from the road for a moment to look at her.
“We have a place we are going to for a bit. Judge wanted you girls kept separate just in case Justin came after one or both of you.”
“I didn’t agree to that. You implied we were going to the compound, that I would get to see Evie.”
“Did I say that?” I smirk before focusing back on the road.
“Goddamn it, Torch. I want to go see Evie…Now. Take me to the compound.”
“Nope. Ain’t happening, princess. We have another location.”
“You suck.” She slams her arms across her chest, and her jaw tightens.
“Sometimes I do.” I chuckle, and a blush works its way up her face. “Love that blush.” I turn back to the road.
“I’m not happy,” she grumbles, making me laugh harder.
“Yeah, I got that, baby.”
We continue driving while I turn on the GPS for directions to the remote cabin Winger set up for us.
When we turn down a tree-lined, barely two-lane road heading away from the main streets and civilization to the darkness of the woods, I notice Ruby’s body tightening up next to me. She hates the woods.
Ruby
Our headlights flash across a cabin lit by a single porch light. Farther away, I notice a glassy darkness of what must be a lake reflecting the full moon along its surface.
Stretching down to slip my shoes back on that I toed off earlier, I say, “I want to talk to Evie now that we’re here.”
“I will call and tell them. But first I need to check everything out.”
Once my shoes are on, I reach for the door to get out with him but pause when Torch speaks. “Stay here, baby; there’s a gun in the center console if you need it.” I watch him lift his cut in the back, pull a gun from his waist, then close the door before he nods at me and smiles.
Glancing around, the night creeps in close to the side of the truck.
Moea sits up from the backseat, on alert, and Torch opens her door to let her out.
Once he closes it, I’m engulfed in shadow again, trying not to shudder.
I’ve never liked the dark, especially with the trees so close out the window.
Stuffing down the memories, I focus on Torch as he and Moea start walking the property. He turns back to the truck before climbing the porch stairs and clicks the key fob, locking me inside. The truck still runs, and the dash blinks “no key detected.”
I continue to watch Torch while he moves something around on the porch, then opens the front door. Lights flip on inside, then I don’t see him as he moves out of my view. I reach for the center console, holding my hand over the button to open it.
A moment later, Torch appears again. Moea, who found a spot to relieve herself, takes off around the backside of the cabin, inspecting more of the grounds. Torch follows her, leaving me alone again.
I push the button and reach inside, feeling the cool metal of the gun, the grain of the grip as my hand slides across it. Palming it, I pull it out and slide the magazine into its chamber, waiting to cock it and secure the round.
Torch appears again in the headlights, walking straight to my door. He nods, his lips tipped up in a grin, as he regards me through the window with the gun in my hand. Opening the door, I jump for him, holding the weapon at his back and squeezing him tight. The fear almost took me over.
“Sorry, princess. I forgot about the woods giving you issues. Come on.” He tries to take the gun from me, but I shake my head and clasp it tight.
I stretch out my legs, ready for him to set me down, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he hoists me up his body and pulls me in tighter.
Wrapping my legs around him again, I cling to him as he walks us to the cabin.
Through our clothes, his hard cock scrapes along that spot I need him at, but I’m distracted by the woods and where we are going.
“Relax,” he growls in my ear as he spanks my ass.
“Hey.” My voice rises.
“You know you like it.”
Torch climbs the stairs, and we enter the cabin.
It’s warm in the fall air, and I notice a fire burning in the fireplace.
He kicks the door closed as Moea walks in and collapses on a large dog bed farther in the main room.
We progress to the sofa and sit down with me on his lap.
His hands travel from my ass, where he was holding me, to the sides of my face, then slide into my hair.
I take a breath, lick my lips, and watch his eyes intensify.
My hands move from behind his body, and I set the gun down on the sofa next to us before grasping his forearms, holding on for dear life.
I’m ready for him to kiss me. I decided in the truck I would listen to him with an open mind, but I’m still not sure I can give him a chance. On the other hand, I want to feel his body against mine. I need this. I need to feel alive for once in a very long time. Butterflies flit in my belly.
He slowly moves his head toward mine; my breathing picks up.
I begin to pant… He’s taking too long…keeping me in place, keeping me immobile.
I want to move, but I’m afraid to, and when I do, his grip tightens in my hair.
The slight twinge to my scalp makes me tremble.
Warm air through his open lips brushes mine.
I can smell the mints he had in the truck, practically taste him.
His cell rings. Damn it.
“Yeah,” Torch barks in greeting, and I groan. We almost kissed.
“I got Evie here.” My brother’s voice comes through the phone, and Torch hands it to me.
“Evie? Are you okay?” I ask her, pulling away from Torch and sliding off his lap—the moment and connection now broken.
“I’m okay. Justin got upset.”
“Is that all?” I scoff. It’s clearly more than that.
“Well, he beat me up pretty bad this time. He also sent a hit squad after my parents, and Lucian says they were going after my gigi too. I wish I never met him.”
“I know, but it’s too late for regrets like that. How badly are you hurt? Do you need me?”
“No. Lach is checking me over. I have a mild concussion, a cut on my back, and my eardrum is ruptured.”
“Jeez, girl. I can’t believe that. Didn’t anyone stop him?”
Torch stands, takes the gun off the sofa, and walks behind me toward the kitchen. A moment later, he’s out the door, then comes back with our bags, carrying them upstairs.
“Only Paris knew he was beating on me.” She pauses and listens to whatever my brother is saying.
I like hearing her call him by his given name. In the club, only immediate family members call you by your real name. Everyone else uses your road name. I call him Judge, too, unless he’s pissed me off; then, of course, it’s his full name. As the baby sister, I have that right.
Judge and I have always been close. It was hard on me not to tell him the truth about my attack, but I also didn’t want him to do anything stupid. He would have, too. He would have started a war with the Albanians out of revenge.
“Maybe I should go back. I don’t want you guys to get in trouble,” Evie wavers.
I come unglued and yell, “Don’t even fucking think about it.
He’ll kill you. Besides, consider that Paris already threatened you, too.
” I’m being harsh, but she needs to understand that she has us to help her now, and she means the world to us.
We won’t allow Justin or his little bitch to hurt her anymore.
She’s Judge’s and a part of the club from here on out.
“Baby, please don’t cry,” my brother pleads to Evie. “Everyone is safe. We are okay. They need probable cause to search any of our businesses, and if they come here, you can see them. You’re just not leaving with them. Got it?”
“Listen to Judge,” I encourage. “He knows what he’s talking about. He’ll get Law to help too.”
“Yes.” I hear Evie’s voice, but she’s talking to my brother, not me anymore. I can tell she’s distracted by him, and I’m happy for them but a little jealous, too. I want to say she was my friend first, but I don’t.
“Okay, say goodbye. Your food is here,” Judge orders her.
“Bye, girl, I’ll talk to you soon,” Evie says into the phone.
“You get some food, so you have energy for losing that V-card, girl,” I chuckle as she hangs up on me.
“I’m going to hike around the perimeter if you want to grab a shower,” Torch says as I set the phone down on the coffee table.
Part of me wishes we could go back to where we were before Judge interrupted us, but another part is terrified. That part is louder, and I just nod my head. He and Moea head outside into the darkness; the door locks, then his booted feet stomp across the porch and fade away.
Taking a deep breath and puffing out my cheeks, I glance around the cabin before trekking upstairs to the loft.
Some of that space is open, overlooking the living room, and some forms an alcove leading to the large primary suite, where a knotty pine bed is the room’s main feature.
A quilt covers the mattress, and I see that Torch has placed our bags in the closet.
Walking over there, I grab out some clothes before stepping into the bathroom and cleaning myself up.