Chapter 4 #3
My certainty settled heavily through the room because every man in this club understood what it meant when one of us said something like that.
We trusted our instincts with our lives.
On the road, in fights, and during races.
The moment something felt wrong, we listened because hesitation got people killed.
Kane leaned back against the edge of his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. “Then she’s under club protection while we figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.”
Relief hit me hard enough that some of the tension finally eased from my shoulders for the first time since Delaney stumbled into my arms out on that road.
Kane continued without hesitation. “I’ll get Jax working immediately. Traffic cams, satellite pulls, DOT feeds, nearby businesses, hunting trail cameras, whatever the fuck he can get his hands on. If there’s footage anywhere showing where she came from or who was chasing her, he’ll find it.”
Edge nodded and expertly flicked his knife in a way that would have shredded someone else’s fingers to ribbons.
“I’ll have Nitro start quietly checking local chatter and missing persons.
If somebody’s abducting women in our territory, I want names yesterday.
I’ll be happy to personally make sure they end up in pieces. ”
The lethal edge in his voice settled something dark inside me because I already knew exactly how I was gonna handle this predator.
I’d hunt him. It was what I did best. And I wouldn’t stop until there was nothing left worth burying.
“She stays with me,” I announced before either of them could suggest something else. “If we need to move her somewhere safer, I go too.”
Neither man looked surprised.
Kane’s mouth twitched faintly, though there wasn’t much humor behind it. “Figured as much.”
Edge snorted softly. “Brother, you looked ready to kill the entire wedding reception if somebody breathed wrong when you came through those doors.”
I exhaled through my nose. “Wasn’t exactly in the mood for cake and dancing.”
“No shit.”
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth twitched briefly before the weight of everything settled back over me again.
Kane straightened away from the desk then, his expression turning serious once more. “Get back to her. We’ll start pulling threads tonight.”
I nodded because I wanted nothing more than to return to Delaney.
“And Rev?” Kane added before I reached the door.
I looked back.
“If your instincts are screaming this hard already, trust them.”
Kane didn’t say shit like that lightly. Neither did I.
By the time I returned to the clinic, the compound had quieted slightly. Music still drifted faintly from the wedding reception, but most of the heavier partying had started winding down.
The second I walked into the room, my entire body eased. Hadley was sitting beside Delaney’s bed reading something on her e-reader.
My angel was still asleep exactly where I’d left her, turned toward her side beneath a blanket with strands of strawberry-blond hair spread across the pillowcase. The wide top had fallen to the side in her sleep, exposing one smooth shoulder and more cleavage than my self-control needed right now.
Even asleep, she was fucking devastating.
Hadley looked up when I approached the bed, her expression softening. “She didn’t wake up.”
“Good.”
The word came out rougher than I intended while I reached down and slid one arm carefully beneath Delaney’s back.
She stirred a little when I lifted her, her body instinctively cuddling deeper into my chest with her face tucked near my throat.
The simple trust in that reaction settled something restless inside me while my cock thickened heavily behind my zipper from nothing more than holding her.
It pissed me off that I lusted after her when she was injured and afraid. However, it was just another indication that I was all in with her. I hadn’t felt desire for a woman in a long time. And never quite like this.
“She’s attached already.” There wasn't any judgment in Hadley’s voice, only understanding.
Yeah, she was. And I was just as fucking attached to her.
I carried Delaney out of the clinic and into the clubhouse, my focus narrowing completely on the warm weight of her sleeping against me. By the time we were in my room, my body ached with a mixture of exhaustion, possessiveness, and relentless arousal.
I nudged the door shut behind us, then lowered her carefully onto the bed. As soon as I started pulling away, her brow furrowed, and she held on tightly to my shirt. That tiny fucking movement nearly wrecked me.
“Easy, angel,” I murmured, brushing my knuckles lightly against her cheek. “I’m here.”
The tension suddenly eased from her face again.
I stood there for a moment, just looking at her sprawled across my bed while my mind drifted to places it shouldn’t go right now. Like how easily I could spend all fucking night between her thighs once she trusted me enough. My cock throbbed painfully behind my jeans.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath before stripping out of my cut and boots.
I climbed into bed beside her a second later, pulling her carefully against my chest. Delaney made a soft, sleepy sound before plastering her body against me, her leg sliding across mine beneath the blanket while her face tucked under my chin.
My arm tightened protectively around her waist as every violent instinct inside me finally settled.
The last thing I remembered before sleep finally took me was the warm softness of Delaney wrapped securely against my chest and the terrifying certainty that I’d kill anyone who tried taking her away from me.