Beast, page 12
We travel to the farm first and I explain the process to her as we drive around. She has me stop so she can get out and touch some of the plants, but we don’t stay for long. She keeps reminding me that she wants to see everything, especially pushing to see the houses that we’ve built on the compound.
We drive by a few of them, and I’m not sure if it hurts or helps our case that a few of the club kids are outside playing when we pass. She stares out the window and takes it all in while I break the silence, telling her what I can.
“That place I took you the other night on the coast is part of your land and this here is the clubhouse,” I tell her and plan to drive by just like I have the rest of the buildings, but she stops me.
“I want to go in.”
“It’s just for the club guys unless...”
“Beast. I want to go in.” She’s adamant. We’re strict with the rules in the clubhouse. No old ladies, unless we have a special event planned. That helps keep the drama in check. But she doesn’t know many of the guys or their old ladies, so I can’t see a reason why this would be a problem. If I can spend more time with her before she sends us packing, then that’s even better.
I open the front door to the clubhouse and walk through it before her, just in case I need to turn her right around and call a change of plans. Luckily, it’s not too crazy in here tonight and the guys are just sipping on beers and playing some poker.
“This is the clubhouse. We usually meet here unless it’s just the officers… who meet in my office like you saw today.” She walks slowly, looking in every direction like she’s burning it all into memory.
“So manly. It even smells like men.” She has her nose turned up with a smile and I feel judged with her facial expression, yet I picked up on her teasing, so I have to give it right back to her.
“You didn’t seem to mind the smell of man earlier today.”
“He can joke!” She hits my shoulder and starts laughing. “Where’s the beer kept?” She walks toward the bar and pops in behind it like she owns the place… well, I guess she kind of does.
I look around to get a read on the guys and notice most of them are stiff and watching her every move. She starts dancing to the music after she pops the top off of her beer and I want nothing more than to slide right in behind her and feel her move like that.
The serious overwhelmed girl that has loomed since she found out about the money and land begins to shift into a smiling, carefree woman who doesn’t have a worry in the world.
She downs at least half her beer and then grabs another one in the other hand before she yells… “Does anyone else need anything while I’m back here?” What the fuck? There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re all thinking the same thing, but it’s Chip who breaks the ice and responds first.
“Yeah, grab a couple and come sit.” He slides an empty chair beside him and slaps it like she belongs at the table, and I wait for someone to lose their shit. If a woman makes it through the doors of the clubhouse… they sure as hell don’t get a spot at the table. I’m sure it has everything to do with them all knowing she has the power to literally uproot the entire club, making her superior to the normal club pussy that makes it through the doors.
“What are you playing?” Izzy stops next to me on her way back by, “Here, grab one,” and I stand there stunned and completely fucking awkward because I don’t do well with the unknown. I have no idea how this night will play out and I don’t like it in the slightest.
The rest of the guys stay silent as we all watch Chip and Izzy slide up to the table. He grabs a stack of his own poker chips and slides them in front of her and I lean back against the wall to observe.
“You guys… I’ve never played poker before, so you’re gonna have to take it easy on me.” She downs the rest of her first beer and Chip reaches for the cards from Chief so he can take over the deal.
It isn’t long and the guys are yelling and cussing like usual, giving each other hell and laughing about it. What the fuck is happening? This girl just came in here and made herself at home… like she did at my house days ago. And I’m afraid to say it… but I think she’s doing the same with my heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
IsaBelle
“Beginner’s luck!” I shriek as I slide the huge stack of chips in front of me with one arm and laugh around my beer bottle in the other. “Everyone has to chug a beer!” I’ve won about every other hand and started making them all down a beer every time I win, even though they all told me poker isn’t a drinking game. I think it’s the perfect drinking game. It sure lightened this place up.
Today has been an intense day for most of us and something tells me the guys needed this. There are about twenty of them crowded around the table now, but only about eight playing.
I’ve been glancing over at Beast every once in a while, to gauge his demeanor because he’s the only one who isn’t engaged in the game. Every single time I look, he’s staring at me.
I can feel him watching me when I’m not looking. He’s heavy as hell, all broody and deep in thought and I just want to yell across the room and ask him what the hell his deal is. Does he not know how to let loose and have some fun?
Seeing those kids playing and all the houses in the compound set deep inside me as well. I can’t uproot these people from everything they’ve built. I’ll have to sell the land to the club, or I won’t be able to live with myself. What am I going to do with this much, anyway? I’m one person and they’ve built an entire empire here worthy of people here to enjoy it.
I’m about six beers in and headed to get another one when a song I really like comes on. I sway to the music with my arms in the air because frankly, I’m feeling damn good. I really like these guys. They all made me feel welcome once Chip made me a spot at the table and I can’t lie and say I wasn’t thinking about my decision while we were all laughing and throwing around playful banter.
I’m bent over in front of the refrigerator when I feel him behind me. He wraps his arms around my shoulders when I stand, his tattoos under my face, drawing my attention. “I can’t keep my eyes off of you.” No kidding… I’ve noticed. I’m feeling bold and adventurous in my tipsy state, so I reach behind me and rub his cock through his jeans.
His breath catches and I love how it trickles all over my skin and makes me crave his next move. I really love how I can make this big burly guy follow me across the room and that he can’t keep his eyes or hands off of me in a room full of his friends. But I hate that everything else is complicated.
The sound of chairs screeching across the floor has me turning my head to see every one of the guys leaving the clubhouse. My guess is they read Beast’s intentions when he chased me over here.
He guides my face even further to the side to kiss me over my shoulder, his height allowing us to kiss like this and as always making me feel tiny in his hold. “Beast.” I break the kiss and reach around at the same time he’s lifting me. My ass in his hands again… this seems to be our favorite thing to do and it’s starting to feel like home for me. All of the pressure and uncertainty fades away when he’s holding me.
Every single thing else in the world becomes irrelevant and pointless when we’re together and I don’t want to ignore the connection we have.
“Don’t you think we need to talk about some things?” I try to be the rational one and bring up the inevitable, but he’s not having it.
“Do you want me?” he whispers against my lips and I’m instantly nodding. “Then there’s nothing to talk about. I want you and you want me. Anything else can wait.” He kisses me hard, and I give up on probing him for a conversation and just feel. I feel how much he wants me and how desperate his kiss is… and how hard he is for me. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s attracted to me, but beyond that I don’t know where we stand.
He lifts me onto the counter behind the bar and moves his kissing to my neck. I’m pulling his t-shirt up his back when a deafening explosion sends us both to the floor and shards of debris falling all around us. He’s covering me with his body while I try my best to see through the dust falling in my face and focus beyond the ringing in my ears.
“Fuck.” He pushes off of me in a hurry and slides me into the corner. The dust finally settles enough for me to see him squatting just two feet in front of me with a gun in one hand and his phone in the other.
He’s frantically looking around the room and backing toward me at the same time. “We need to get out of here.” He’s on full alert and it’s scaring me to death. It’s obvious that the building blew up, but the way he’s acting there must be more danger to come. I’m so terrified I can barely move, but he notices and yanks me by the hand while we step on the wreckage.
We stop at a drawer on the end of the bar, and he yanks it open just before he shoves me back on the ground and starts shooting. Gun fire erupts in all directions, and I’m heaved straight into hell in an instant.
Beast lowers himself after a few seconds, breathing heavy and looking concerned, which is what horrifies me the most. His worried expression sends me into an instant panic.
“Rip this open and swallow it. Hurry.” He throws a tiny package at me, and I fumble with the wrapper like an idiot but finally get to the tiny black thing that’s barely bigger than a piece of rice. I manage to swallow it just before Beast is thrown back against the wall, blood immediately staining his shirt near his shoulder. His face is scrunched in pain but he’s not giving up, taking his gun in the other hand to send off some more shots.
I’m still cowering against the bar, wishing like hell there was another gun in sight so I could help. I’ve never shot a gun before, but I think I’d be good at it... aim and shoot like crazy until nothing moves. Sounds easy enough to me.
My eyes are drawn to the movement behind Beast, but my warning isn’t quick enough. With a gun to his temple, he finally lowers his pistol. I don’t have time to attempt an escape before I’m yanked to my feet by my hair and jerked toward what used to be the table full of Beast’s friends.
I scream and thrash and fight for my life but there are too many of them. They’re all big strong guys hiding behind blacked out clothes all the way up to the masks covering their faces. “No, please.” I cry out but none of them give a damn. My eyes search like crazy for any sign of Beast being hauled in the same direction I am, but I don’t see him or anyone else I recognize.
When I lose my footing, they drag me across the gravel and then toss me into the back of a truck. The truck dips at the weight of three of them jumping into the bed to hold me down while the others disappear. They’re tying my feet together and my wrists at my back when the truck peels out.
The ropes burn and rip at my skin and the guys dig into my flesh with their hold on me. I quickly learn to not move, even though everything inside me is telling me to go wild and take them off guard. Their tight grip loosens the calmer I am, giving my body a break from some of the pain… and right now, that’s something.
We drive for what seems like an hour, giving me too much time to think. My mind went to Anna and the hell she went through, which has done nothing to calm my nerves. I’ve even stepped into survival mode and imagined myself overcoming all of these assholes as if I’m some sort of badass but deep down knowing I don’t have a chance in hell.
I’ve even imagined whatever Beast gave me to swallow as some sort of tracker or something that will allow the club guys to save me, even though I have no idea how something like that would work. I’d love for that to be the case but I’m not holding my breath. Maybe they don’t want to save me… without me in their way, they own the land and wouldn’t be uprooted from their lives. I’m also terrified for Beast. This ordeal can’t be easy for him and I’m sure the past is paralyzing him every second he’s being held by these assholes.
The truck stops and my heart rate increases. They’ll be moving me and there’s a huge chance that this will be my last chance at escaping.
I need a freaking miracle.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Beast
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I scream with rage as they drag Izzy away and I give the four idiots left to deal with me the fight of their fucking lives. Death doesn’t scare me a bit and the only reason I lowered my gun was because I’ve already emptied it and can’t fucking reload one-handed.
They kick and beat the shit out of me but none of them shoot me when they have every opportunity to leave my dead body lying right here. They have other plans for me, and I dread the fuck out of whatever that is. I’ve been here before. I’ve been here every fucking day and night for seven years and it’s hell.
I lie limp, a bow to their torture in hopes of them tiring and just getting on with their plan so I can save energy. Izzy’s screams are now louder than Anna’s in my mind. I can barely comprehend what the men are saying over the commotion going on in my head.
“Get the fuck up. You have somewhere to be.” It’s too loud to recognize the voice and I don’t obey his fucking orders. If they want me… then they can drag my big ass out of here. The longer they take, the better chance I have that my guys will get back here.
They can’t be that far away because they all just fucking left here. My club wide text went out before I started shooting and that seems like it was a god damn hour ago, even though I know it’s been mere minutes.
It’s the gunshots that pull my head out of the fog and give me an ounce of hope that I’ll make it out of this so I can go save Izzy. Fucking Izzy. This is what happens to women who get close to me.
One by one the guys surrounding me fall, sending blood spurting in the air and painting my already bruising skin red.
“Get ‘em the fuck off of him. Chief… organize the guys and watch everyone’s backs. There might still be some of them lurking around.” Lou is more worried about pulling me back to reality than he is about pulling the bodies off of me. He’s kneeling near my face while some of the other guys do the dirty work. “What the fuck.” He rips his shirt before I have a chance to say anything.
“She swallowed a tracker. There’s about fifteen of them. We need to move now,” I grumble while I get the information out as fast as I can. Lou doesn’t even acknowledge the rush while he pulls off his own shirt to clean me up.
“Jesus. Where are you hurt; there’s blood everywhere?”
“Shoulder.” He hurries to my other side to take a look.
“In and out, but we need to stop the bleeding. You’re going to have to get stitches.” Lou is tying my arm off, patching up my wound before I have a chance to protest.
“Not happening until I know she’s safe.”
“What good will you be with one arm? Let us handle it.” He knows it’s a losing battle with me when I have my mind made up, but he has to voice his concern, or he wouldn’t be my best friend.
The rest of the guys are pulling in, engines roaring all around us as they circle the debris. I sit up and speak up so Lou can hear. “I can’t have regrets, Lou. I need to be there and I’m sure you understand that.” He nods and that’s all either of us needs.
“Chip… get on the tracker. One of them will be activated and we need to know what direction they’re headed.” Lou takes over as leader and starts ordering the guys in every direction. I focus on my breathing and try like hell to stay in the present. The past is pulling at me, trying to drag me down and drown me, but Izzy keeps me circling back around so that I’m at least half focused on what’s going on.
I’m a fucking charity case while we’re all walking over the wreckage, but the second we’re on flat ground I have no problem keeping up with Lou. He takes the driver’s seat of my truck and I gladly let him. Chip and Tate climb in at the same time, taking the back seat and before they even have their doors closed, Lou is taking off.
“I have to fucking find her,” I say out loud what my mind has on repeat.
“Got her. She’s moving south on Highway 1, and they’ve already got about twenty miles on us.” Chip’s expression is murderous when he hands me the phone that’s tracking her. He already knows I’m an obsessive fucker that’ll need updates by the second.
I watch the icon move in silence while the guys bark out orders and lead us through the hectic bullshit of getting everyone moving in the right direction. From the sound of it, we have all hands-on deck for this rescue mission, and I can’t help but feel uneasy about what the outcome will be.
It takes about ten minutes before I realize where they’re taking her. As the paralyzing realization slams me in the chest, I manage to get out the only two words Lou needs to know to understand just how fucking fucked up this entire night is. “The cave.”
“Shit. Chip, send it out.” Lou floors the gas pedal, not giving a fuck about anything else.
“They have no idea she has a tracker… that is what will make this different. Stay with me in the here and now and we will save Izzy. We can fucking do this.” Lou is spouting out encouragement, making me realize how different this time is. I’m not completely alone, trying to stay alive. They’re all my ride or dies and each one of them is willing to go to battle for me, knowing it may be their last fight.
“There were a lot of them.”
“We’re fucking crazier. And we have the element of surprise.”
“They’ll pick up on the fact that their guys went silent. They won’t be fully surprised, plus they’ll have their guard up for the simple reason they just blew up our fucking clubhouse and if they know us at all… they know we’re fuckin’ coming.” I start voicing the scenarios and wishing like hell I knew who we were going up against.
I didn’t get a single clue at the clubhouse, but I still have a gut feeling Gus has something to do with this. That fucker has always given me a vile vibe. I decide to start planning as if it is Gus I’m going against. He’s been known to cover his tracks and not make idiot moves. His connection with the law is what has kept me from taking my guys in there on the simple whim of him being behind Anna’s death.
