Hard Roads (5 page)

“I’m going to need you to go into the bathroom with me.” My words echoed through the quiet room and I watched as her head slowly lifted. Peering out at me from behind her lashes, her expression let me know how scared she was.

“Why?”

Dumb question from a stubborn woman. I chuckled when I realized she still felt like she had any kind of say in what was going to happen to her. She was powerless, but she refused to believe it.

“It doesn’t matter ‘why’. I told you to get your ass in the bathroom and like a good little girl, you’re going to walk yourself in there.”

After placing my cut on the bed, she pushed up and hobbled into the bathroom. My eyes ran down the length of her body as I tilted the bottle of to my lips one more time. I didn’t want to drink so much that I bled out, but this was going to hurt like a bitch.

The amber liquid bubbled when I let it pour down my throat and after slamming the bottle back onto the desk beside me, I grimaced pushing myself up to my feet. My body felt jacked already. I wasn’t looking forward to allowing this bitch near me with any sharp instruments, but I had no choice.

Walking into the bathroom, I turned my head to find her sitting on the lip of the tub, her colorless eyes staring up at me.

“So what? You gonna rape me now? It’s not like I can fight back with this shoulder the way it is. What kind of fucking man does that shit?”

She was baiting me, probably hoping I would just kill her out of anger and save her the misery and humiliation of being fucked beforehand.

“Nah, Munch. I prefer my women begging me to keep going, not screaming at me to stop. You’re only in here to play nurse.” Walking over to her, I grabbed her face with one hand, tilting it up so she was forced to look me in the eye. “You’re going to look at my side and let me know if the bullet went through. If it did, great. You can stitch me up. If not, you’re going to dig that little bitch out and then stitch me up.”

Her head shook and the hue of her skin turned a pale green. “N-no. I don’t do blood. I’ll get sick.”

I chuckled at her reaction. “You mean to tell me you grew up in a club and you can’t handle the sight of blood? Come on, woman, there ain’t no fucking way you’re Joker’s daughter and haven’t seen a man gutted before.”

“I’ve seen it, but it doesn’t mean I’ll go sticking my hands in it.”

Another chuckle broke loose and I patted her on the head like she was a five-year-old child. “You’ll live, Munch. I promise. I don’t bite.”

She glanced up and I grinned.

“Unless you’re into that kind of thing.” A quick wink from my eye was met with the scowl that crossed her pretty little face.

She surprised me when that scowl turned into a ‘fuck you’ kind of smile. “Well, I’d love to help you, JD, but unfortunately, with my shoulder the way it is, I’m not going to be able to do much. It takes two hands to sew and I’ve only got one at the moment. On top of that, my fucking hands are tied together if you hadn’t noticed.”

My smile grew more wicked than hers. “Well, then I guess we better fix that first. Go lie down on the bed, Munch.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

My hand was fisted in her brown hair as I pulled her up into a standing position and she jerked back, still refusing to give in. When she finally stopped struggling, I explained, “Because I’m going to fix your shoulder and when I get done, you’re going to fix my side. It’ll be an exchange of favors.” I winked again, but her scowl only deepened.

“I wouldn’t need the favor if it wasn’t for you.”

I shook my head. This girl’s mouth was going to get her killed some day. I decided to do her a favor and teach her what happens when you mouth off to the wrong man. Moving with the same quickness as a rattlesnake, I lowered my head, taking her bottom lip between my teeth and biting down so hard, I knew I’d drawn blood.

She attempted to jerk away again, but I held her head to mine, using my tongue to lick the blood off her lip. She tasted salty and sweet and damn if I couldn’t stop myself at that point. Forcing her mouth open with mine, I pushed my tongue in, bringing my free hand up to hook my thumb over her bottom jaw to keep her from biting me. She still fought, but I held her in place and explored the hot warmth of her mouth, enjoying every fucking second of it.

Her bound hands came between us and she tried to shove me away, but I was too large and there was no way in hell that this little girl was going to get away from me. She was annoying. She was painful and she could irritate the shit out of me in about three seconds flat, but her body and her taste were more than enough to make up for it.

When I finally released her, she backed away quickly, her back leg catching the lip of the tub, sending her careening back. Her head hit the opposite wall and she fell in the cheap plastic basin, crying out when her shoulder slammed into the ground. “Fuck!”

Without speaking or moving to help her, I watched as she tried to twist around and push herself up with bound hands and one good shoulder. She wasn’t getting very far and the gentleman in me wanted to help her, but the bastard in me wouldn’t let me make the move.

When tears sprang from her eyes, I continued watching until the red-rimmed grey burned into me with anger from where she lay. “Aren’t you going to help me?”

“Nope.”

It wasn’t shock that filtered into her gaze, but disgust. “Thanks a lot, asshole. Do you get off on forcing yourself on women AND watching them struggle?”

“With you, I do. You got yourself into that mess through your own stubborn behavior. It’s not my job to get you out.”

“I fucking hate you.”

Leaning back against the wall, I crossed my arms over my chest while a shit-eating grin appeared on my face. “And you’ll hate me even more by the time this trip is over, but that won’t stop me from bending you over the bed, the truck, or a fucking rock if I feel like it. If it’s the only way to shut you up, then I’ll fuck you until you can’t talk anymore. You do realize that mouth of yours has more uses than just pissing me off, right?”

She didn’t respond and after a minute of staring each other down, she finally sank into the tub while admitting defeat. I loved her spirit, but there was a time and place for her rebellion and this wasn’t it.

“So here’s how I see this playing out. I’m going to help you out of that nasty ass tub and then we’re going to walk over to the bed. You’re going to lie down. I’m going fix your shoulder and then we’re going to come back in here where you’ll help me with this bullet hole. Do we have an understanding?”

Her bottom lip trembled, but I realized it was anger and not sadness that caused that to happen. This girl was tough as nails. That much was already apparent. I wasn’t surprised. The Joker wasn’t anybody you wanted on your bad side and it was only natural that his daughter would have picked up some of those attributes. I didn’t know how close she’d been to her father, and quite frankly, I didn’t care. The only thing I gave a shit about was keeping her alive until I could deliver her to Big John. Hopefully before that happened, I could teach this little girl some manners.

“Are you going to answer me or are we going to stand here staring at each other all night?”

Blowing out a heavy breath, I watched as the rebellion in her finally ceased. “Fine.”

I chuckled at the tone in her voice. “You don’t have to be angry I won this, Munch. I’ll win every time. That’s what makes you like me so much.”

Her middle finger came up as I approached her. Shaking my head, I decided to let that slip. After picking her up, I walked behind her into the bedroom.

“Lie on your back. You’re going to need to lie with the injured shoulder and arm hanging off the side of the bed. I’ll untie you, but don’t fucking try me, Munch. I’ve hurt you before and I’ll damn sure do it again.”

Wordlessly, she did as she was told, the stains on her cheeks still obvious from where her previous tears had traveled.

Kneeling down beside the bed, I untied her before locking the fingers of both my hands around her wrist. “Okay, babe, I’m going to pull your arm out to your side. I need you to relax your shoulder. Once that happens, the muscles will help me push the ball back into the socket. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s going to hurt like a bitch. But once we have it in, the pain should stop. It’ll ache, but I think you’re a big enough girl to handle that.”

Her lips puckered as she blew out air, nodding her head and closing her eyes to indicate she was ready. I moved quickly and with a somewhat loud ‘pop’, her shoulder was back in.

Her scream, however, was absolutely ear-piercing.

Instinctively, I put my hand over her mouth to quiet her, but when I let go of her wrist, she ripped her arm from my other hand and rolled over into a fetal position, cradling her arm to her chest. I wasn’t sure if she was crying or not, but she stopped screaming and that was good enough for me.

“Want something to kill the pain?”

I never expected her to answer. She was too stubborn for that. So, you can imagine my surprise when she rolled back over, her eyes pleading for something that would take the edge off after what I’d just done.

My eyes flicked to the bottle of Jack Daniels on the desk. I didn’t want to give it up, but the woman needed it. My shoulder had been popped in a few too many times for my liking over the course of my life and I knew how much of a son of a bitch it was on the pain scale.

Taking a few steps across the dirty ass carpet, I swiped it up with my hand, the liquid sloshing up into the neck when I turned back to hand it over. Her nose wrinkled.

“No. That’s alright.”

My eyes burned holes into her face. “I’m not sure if you noticed, sweetheart, but this isn’t exactly a hospital that we’re in. Your options are to suck it up and deal with it or drink this.”

Chapter Six

~ Holly ~

He stared at me with eyes that matched the alcohol he was handing me. They were both bad for me for two very different reasons, but added together they were lethal. I was already injured, already weak from the lack of food and water combined with the heat I’d endured on the ride. My shoulder felt like it was on fire and my lip throbbed from where he’d bitten me. My head still hurt from having been tackled to the ground when he first took me and I was tired.

The last thing I needed at this point was alcohol, especially not in the company of a man who had already proven he had no problems hurting me.

“No. Seriously. I’m fine. I hate whiskey.” I lied. The truth was, I could down that whole bottle and be perfectly content with life, but I knew better than to get trashed around psychopaths, which this guy clearly was.

A sly smirk curled the corner of his lips. “Is that so?”

“Yeah.” Rolling back towards the door, I intentionally turned away from him. I was angry at him for holding me and angry at myself for letting it happen. I should have screamed my fucking head off in that parking lot. So fucking what if I would have been killed. It would have been better than this.

“It’s time to pay up, Munch.”

My stomach turned at that stupid fucking name. While staring at the door, I imagined jumping up and running. Just going as fast as I fucking could and hoping I could reach help before he could shoot me. As soon as the thought touched my mind, I stilled, every muscle in my body preparing for a fight. My heart knocked heavily against my chest and I felt on edge, instantly on alert and ready to do something incredibly stupid.

But what other choice did I have?

Before my brain could even process my thoughts, I jumped up from the bed, not giving a shit that it felt like lightning tore through my shoulder. I practically flew over the few feet there were between the bed and the door. I heard JD cuss behind me and the heavy fall of his boots on the carpet. Time seemed to move in slow motion when my hand finally hit the doorknob. My wrist rotated as I frantically turned it. The door didn’t open and I never made my escape…because by the time I realized that the door was locked, JD had knocked me clear across the fucking room.

I hit so hard that my vision was suddenly blurry and pain gripped every nerve ending in my body. Crumpling to the floor, I could hear JD moving in my direction, but I was unable to move, unable to escape his large hands when they reached down to pick me up and launch me onto the bed.

I cried out as soon as my shoulder hit the thin mattress and the rough fabric of the comforter scraped against my exposed skin. Reaching out, I grabbed the headboard before the inertia could bounce me off the mattress and back onto the floor. He was on top of me in seconds, my hands being pulled together and bound once again. Straddling my chest, his angry expression burned down at me, the once golden amber of his eyes now a startling black. His hand came up as if he was going to slap me across the face and I flinched sideways avoiding the impending blow. Instead of hitting me, his hand came down on my hair, holding my head in place while he stared down at me. His anger was obvious in his narrowed eyes and flared nostrils. The tan skin of his face darkened with red rage.

“What the FUCK was that, Munch? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that it?” Releasing my hair, he sat back so that the weight of his body pressed on my abdomen and knocked the wind from my lungs.

Gaped open, my mouth was wide as my lungs struggled to pull in air. I couldn’t respond to him –
wouldn’t
respond – because I was so fucking angry that I’d ended up in this position to begin with. I was supposed to be tougher than this. My entire life, I’d mouthed off to men just as mean as the one sitting on top of me and I’d be damned to start playing the submissive role to them now. Fucking bikers were all my life ever consisted of and I was never given the opportunity or the chance to find a different path. It was bullshit and I cursed whatever fucking God it was that had a good chuckle at the expense of the life I’d been assigned.

When all I did was stare back up at him, a grimace added to his already lethal expression. “Okay, we’ll play this your way. You want to be all big and bad? You want to fuck with me by trying to think you can outrun me? Fine. It’s about time I show you what I’m capable of.”