Chaos Bound (9 page)

“Please,” Naiya whispered.

She’d deflated after hearing the boyfriend hadn’t come, her shoulders sagging, the spark going from her eyes. Curious how that more than anything they’d been through since meeting in Viper’s dungeon had affected her. He supposed a person who liked to plan everything didn’t deal so well with unexpected change. It made her seem less assured, more vulnerable, and it roused in him a fierce need to protect her.

Which, of course, he couldn’t do if he was injured, or if he walked out the door.

“Naiya will sit beside me,” he said. Maybe if she had something to do, she wouldn’t look so lost.

Half an hour later, as Ally tended his wounds, and Doug ran back and forth to the bathroom for water and hot towels, Holt confirmed his Doug diagnosis. Pussy whipped.

Christ. How did the dude put up with it? Any woman tried to order him around like that, he’d put her in her place pretty damn fast. Ally reminded him of a sexy, young reporter he and Tank had met once in a bar, Ella Masters. Holt had tried to put the moves on her, but she was having none of it. For every step he made forward, she pushed him two back while Tank chuckled in the corner. Finally Holt went for broke, sliding his hand up her skirt as he whispered all the dirty things he wanted to do to her back at the clubhouse. His plan backfired big time. She dumped a beer over his head and told him exactly where he could stick his cock, and it wasn’t anywhere near her sweet pussy.

He felt a pang of longing as he remembered the good times he’d had with Tank—the rides, the bars, the parties, the women, the jokes they’d played on each other, secrets they’d shared … Hell, Tank had been as close to him as a blood brother—the first true friend he’d ever had. But weren’t friends supposed to be with you through thick and thin? If Tank had been taken, Holt would never have given up the fight. Not for a minute. He would have given his life to bring Tank home.

“You okay?” Naiya stroked his damp hair as Ally dabbed antiseptic into one of the more recent cuts on his back.

“Yeah.” He liked having Naiya near, knowing he could touch her, protect her if Viper walked in the door. He’d always thought scientists were a cold, calculating bunch, but Naiya was all warmth and compassion.

“He’s as a strong as an ox,” Ally said. “And as thick-headed, too. I’m guessing he was concussed a couple of times, broken ribs, broken nose, broken fingers and toes, broken arm—some of the breaks haven’t set right, by the way—internal bleeding, permanent scars and skin damage from whips, chains, cuffs and burns, infected lacerations, bruises upon bruises upon bruises, blunt trauma to the head, and the list goes on.”

“No shit.” Doug pulled up a chair, and Ally narrowed her gaze.

“Don’t sit.”

“You need something, babe?” He jerked to stand, and Holt wondered how he functioned as a cop. If he couldn’t control his woman, how the heck did he keep criminals in line?

“I need you to take all this stuff to our room. I’ll shoot Holt up with painkillers and antibiotics and let him sleep, then I’ll check him over in the morning.”

“The lady at the front desk told me there were no rooms free.” Naiya’s brow furrowed, making her impossibly cute. Some women were just not made to frown. But Naiya … hell, everything about her was cute, from her beautiful face to her curvy body, and from her innocence to her amusing quirks that she called her geeky side.

“Doug flashed his badge and suddenly we had the room next to yours.” Ally walked over to the wall and gently shook a framed print of the Montana fall—trees and mountains and a blaze of color. “Convenient. This way, we’ll be disturbing someone we know. Last time we were on vacation we broke the bed and knocked all the pictures off the wall in the room beside us. The people next door called the cops.” She barked a laugh. “Good thing Doug had his badge with him, and we got off with a warning. Nothing better than hotel sex where you can really let go.”

Doug gave a satisfied smirk, and he and Holt shared a male-bonding moment. Okay so maybe the guy had one ball. Or maybe he had two, and he liked them in a vice. At least he had control in the bedroom.

Holt glanced over at Naiya and his heart twisted. She wasn’t laughing with everyone else. And the look on her face … not shock or disgust, but longing. What kind of man was this Maurice? Obviously he didn’t perform well in the sack. Another strike against him because Naiya was made for sex. That body, those curves, her beautiful face, her kind heart. And Viper had hurt her. The fucker was going to die two painful deaths.

“Doug…” Holt addressed the man although Ally made herself out to be the boss. And yet, he had a feeling if the shit hit the fan, it would be Doug calling the shots to protect his woman. “You should move your vehicle round the back. If something goes down, get Naiya out and take the girls through the passageway that splits the two buildings and you’ll buy yourself a good five minutes.”

Ally spluttered and opened her mouth, but Doug put a warning hand on her shoulder. “He’s right. Nothing we can do here if the Jacks track them down. We’ll need to get out fast.”

“I’m not a girl,” Ally muttered as they left the room.

Doug looked over his shoulder and gave Holt a wink. “With those boobs and that ass, you’re all girl all the time. Just wait until I get you tied to the damn bed.”

Naiya locked the door behind them, and joined Holt on the bed. “Ally said that shot she gave you to help with the pain will let you sleep without nightmares.”

“What you did … appreciated.” He looked over, saw a tear trickle down her cheek. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Maybe because her asswipe of a boyfriend hadn’t showed. Holt had a feeling there was more to the story than just his failure to be there for his girl.

Holt lay back and tucked Naiya into his side. Without protest, she curled up against him, her head on his shoulder, one hand resting lightly on his chest. Holt let out a breath and pulled her closer. She felt right beside him. Perfect.

Broken.

Just like him.

*   *   *

“So what’s the plan?” Ally handed Naiya a box of donuts as Doug and Holt pulled chairs around the table in their motel room. Fresh from a night of very loud motel sex, Ally had been up early to find coffee and donuts so they could start their day on a sugar and caffeine high.

“She always has a plan,” Ally said to Holt as he reached for a donut.

“I noticed.” His lips quirked at the corners, and Naiya blushed. They’d slept together all night, and, good as his word, he hadn’t tried anything. Not that she expected him to. A man like Holt probably had women falling over themselves to spend the night in his bed. Curvy science geeks wouldn’t be on his radar.

Naiya plucked a Bavarian cream from the box and placed it in the center of her Styrofoam plate. Knowing her quirks, Ally had brought a plastic knife and fork, and Naiya carefully cut the donut into six equal pieces. She didn’t notice the silence around the table until she lifted the first bite to her mouth.

“What the fuck?” Holt stuffed half a jelly donut in his mouth and talked while chewing. “What did you do to that donut?”

“I like to cut the filled ones up so there is an equal amount of filling in each piece.” She placed a sliver of donut in her mouth and chewed, overly conscious of Holt’s scrutiny.

“Seriously?” Holt finished off his donut with a second bite, and reached for another. “Darlin’ you gotta live a little.”

“I am living. Donuts aren’t a healthy breakfast.” She speared another piece of donut and Holt snatched the fork away.

“Hey.”

He held the jelly donut up to her mouth. “Bite.”

Naiya glanced over at Ally and Doug who were watching them, rapt and unusually silent. “Fine. If it means you’ll let me eat my donut in peace.” She leaned over and nibbled on the end.

“Bite,” he said again. “Like you really want it.”

Her cheeks flushed and she took a big bite of the donut, her teeth sinking through the soft dough and into a pool of sweet raspberry jelly. She licked the sweetness from her lips and swallowed, desire curling in her stomach. “Good enough?”

“Again.” His voice dropped, husky and low. Naiya looked up and blushed at the intensity of his gaze.

This time when she bit, she kept her gaze on him, watched his eyes drop to her mouth, his nostrils flare. Her body heated, moisture pooling between her thighs. She’d never had a man look at her like that, never felt such a rush of desire, and the simple process of eating from his hand was almost … sensual.

“More?”

He fed her the last bit of the donut, his fingers brushing over her lips as he placed it on her tongue. He seemed fascinated by her mouth, his gaze never leaving her face despite Ally’s less-than-discrete coughing beside him.

When she finished the last bite, he dabbed some excess jelly from the corner of her mouth with a napkin and smiled.

“Good?”

“Yes.” She nibbled her bottom lip, tasting the lingering sweetness. “Every bite was a surprise. Some with lots of jelly. Some—” She cut herself off. God, she sounded stupid. Everyone knew how a donut tasted.

But Holt didn’t laugh. “Some without,” he continued for her. “Unpredictability is what makes life interesting. Kept me going in that dungeon. I’d spend hours trying to guess what Viper would do next, whether the next day would be my last, whether the Sinners would show up…” His voice trailed off and Naiya’s heart clenched. She knew that feeling. When the trauma invaded even your happy moments. When it just wouldn’t let go.

“How come you never feed me donuts?” Ally lightened the moment by giving Doug a nudge.

“’Cause you’d bite off my hand.” Seemingly oblivious to Ally’s mock glare, Doug lifted a honey-glazed donut from the box.

“After that comment, I’m definitely gonna be biting something off tonight,” Ally huffed. “And it’s not your hand.”

With a laugh, Doug stood and gestured to Holt. “You want to come for a walk, stretch your legs? Then we can plan with the ladies where to go from here. I might have to come with you if the wife’s gonna bite off my dick.”

After they’d gone, Ally sipped her coffee, uncharacteristically silent, while Naiya tidied up their breakfast. By the time she finished, Ally was over at the window, watching Doug and Holt in the parking lot.

“I like him,” Ally said. “A lot. He’s very protective of you.”

“He’s been alone for a long time. It makes sense he needs a friend.” She shoved the bedspread aside and sat on the bed. “What’s going on, Ally? You’re not usually so quiet.”

Ally turned, drew in a deep breath. “It’s about Maurice. I just don’t know how to tell you. Doug thought I shouldn’t tell you and let Maurice tell you himself, but I’d want to know and I think you would, too. And now that I’ve met Holt, I feel better about telling you.”

“Tell me what.” She twisted her ring around her finger.

“Doug couldn’t get in touch with Maurice last night, so he swung by his place. He was … “She bit her lip and a pained expression crossed her face. “With someone else. A woman. And she wasn’t delivering pizzas. He was with her. If you know what I mean.”

Naiya stared at her friend aghast. “Doug saw them together?”

“Maurice came to the door in his underwear, and she wasn’t far behind. When he saw it was Doug, he came clean. He said it had been going on for a year. He cares about you, but—”

“But I wouldn’t have sex with him.” Her shoulders slumped.

“I’m so sorry, Naiya.” Ally crossed the floor and wrapped her in a hug, but Naiya didn’t need her comfort. She was disappointed, sure, but not particularly sad. Definitely not the kind of sadness she would have expected to feel at the end of a two-year relationship.

“I would have slept with him,” she said, pulling away. “I told him that. In the beginning, I just wanted to go slow. But he said he was fine with waiting. He never pushed, never asked. And then platonic just became normal.”

“He told Doug he didn’t push because he didn’t want you to do it just to make him happy. He wanted you to want him, and he never felt you wanted him that way.”

Now that took the air from her lungs. “He’s right,” she whispered. “He’s a nice guy, but he never made me hot. I never fantasized about him, never dreamed about him touching me. Even when we kissed, it was nice, but I didn’t feel anything. I figured it was because of what happened to me because it was always like that with the guys I’ve been with until…”

Ally’s face brightened. “Until?”

“Now.” Naiya glanced over at the window. Holt leaned against a fence, his Bolton Beaver sweats riding low on his narrow hips, T-shirt tight around his chest. Even starved and injured, dressed as a tourist, he exuded strength, confidence, and a raw sexuality that took her breath away.

“When he fed me that donut…”

“Yeah.” Ally pretended to fan herself. “It was better than some of the porn Doug downloads on a Saturday night.”

“It made me hot,” Naiya continued. “I’ve never felt like that before. And when I look at him … even all bruised and beaten … he’s the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. But it’s stupid. We just met. He’s hurt—”

“Not where it counts.”

Naiya snorted a laugh. Ally was nothing if not direct. “And he’s on a quest for vengeance—not just against Viper and the Jacks, but the Sinners, too. I thought he’d go back to his club, and they would help me, but he’s gone rogue, and I don’t want to get dragged into something that’s going to put me right back where I started. I need to hide from Viper and then I need to find a job so I can have a nice, quiet life and maybe meet someone stable to settle down with.” She squeezed her hand around her ring. “Did Maurice … give Doug a note or did he ask me to call?”

“No, honey.” Ally’s nose crinkled in disgust. “He asked Doug to tell you it was over, the little shit. I always knew he had no balls, but that just proved it to me. He couldn’t even tell you to your face, or at least do it over the phone.”

“It’s okay.” Naiya grabbed a pillow off the floor and hugged it to her. “I’m not that upset, just … I didn’t really expect it. Now I’m losing a friend.”

“You don’t need friends like that,” Ally said. “You need friends who are there for you when you need them. Doug called in a favor to get someone to cover for him today. He didn’t think twice about it. You need us. We’re there. And a real boyfriend would have been here before us. Hell, he wouldn’t have let you go to Devil’s Hills alone.”