Hell's Knights (21 page)

“He shot you twice, God knows what else, and you’ve lost a lot of blood. Your body is working overtime to get those drugs out of your system. We’re goin’ to get you up slowly. You tell me if anything hurts too much.”

I nod, and just as Spike’s wrapping his arms around me, I hear Jasper’s screams. They’re the kind of screams you don’t forget in a hurry. They’re the screams of torture. I jerk and begin sobbing wildly, over reacting because of the drugs in my body. My stomach turns harder, and I know I’m going to be sick.

“Hey, hey, calm down.”

“Sick,” I rasp out.

“Shit.”

Spike gently lets me go just in time. I drop forward and begin throwing up violently. I hear Spike mutter a few ‘fucks’ before he grips my hair and moves it off my clammy face. When I’ve stopped throwing up, he gently sits me back and focuses instead on undoing my hands. I can hear Jasper’s screams turn into high pitched begging. I don’t know what they’re doing to him. I don’t want to know. I hear the sound of a gun, and then everything goes quiet.

“It’s all over, precious.”

It’s all over? Years and years of abuse, of torture, of mental pain, and it’s over? It’s really over? Spike pulls me into his arms when he’s done with my binds, and stands, walking towards the door. Cade meets us at the entrance, covered in blood. I don’t even want to know how he got that much blood on him. I croak out his name and he takes me from Spike’s arms.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I hear him say to Spike.

“Yeah,” Spike says, his voice full of emotion. “Anytime.”

Cade cradles me in his arms, and the familiar scent of him soothes something inside me.

“She’s in a bad way,” I hear him say.

“Get her to a hospital,” Jackson says, his voice hoarse.

“What do we fuckin’ tell them?”

“Tell them it ain’t none of their fuckin’ concern, and if they want to argue, by all means, argue.”

Cade nods and walks us outside. When the sun hits my bruised and battered body, I wince. It’s so bright. Too bright.

“It’s okay. It’s all goin’ to be all right soon.”

“Hurts,” I croak again.

“I know, sugar. We’ll get you better.”

I close my eyes and listen as he shuffles around. Then he places me down onto the backseat of his truck. He covers me with a blanket, and gets in.

“You need us to deal with this?” I hear Spike ask.

By
this
, I assume they mean Jasper.

“Yeah, appreciate it.”

Before I know it, the car has started. My eyes begin to flutter closed, a mixture of relief and the drugs. My legs are throbbing, my shoulder burns and my entire body feels broken, but I’m here. I’m alive and most of all…

I’m free.

~*EPILOGUE*~

“Fuckin’ makin’ me work extra hard,” Cade grumbles and tosses a bag of food onto my eating tray.

I grin at him. “I’m an invalid. Someone has to feed me.”

He grunts. “Your hands still work, yeah?”

I shrug.

“And your mouth.”

I shrug again.

“Then you ain’t a fuckin’ invalid.”

I pout at him and he grins, walks over and tangles his fingers in my hair.

“Can’t fuckin’ wait for you to come home.”

“I know,” I say, stretching. “Two weeks is too long.”

“Fuckin’ tellin’ me, my dick hurts.”

I giggle and grip his face, bringing him down for a kiss.

“You know, hospital sex is said to be good.”

He chuckles against my lips. “Don’t tempt me.”

“I’m not tempting. I’m serious.”

His eyes widen and he pulls back to meet my gaze. “You’re all sore and fucked up.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t need my leg and my shoulder to feel my man’s cock inside me.”

“Fuck, sugar, careful.”

“Fuck me, nice and slow.”

“Can’t here. That old nurse will come in and bust my bare ass in the air.”

“The bathroom is private.”

“Sugar…”

“There’s a chair in there. I could ride you gently.”

“Fuck.”

I shove his chest gently and get out of the bed. My body is feeling better and better with each day that passes. My leg still gives me a little pain but mostly, it’s all ok. I hobble a little as I walk towards the bathroom, and Cade follows with no hesitation. When we get in, I close the door and lock it. Then I grip him, pushing him towards the large chair in the corner of the room. It’s a chair I imagine people sit at while keeping an eye on someone in the shower. Cade drops his ass down onto the vinyl covering, and looks up at me, reminding me of a little boy on Christmas with the expression he’s giving me. It’s that of pure excitement.

“Ready for this? We have to be quick.”

He snorts. “Ain’t gonna be long, baby, I can assure you.”

I lift my hospital gown and drop my panties, and then I reach over and grip Cade’s jeans. He’s already bulging against them. Licking my lips, I release his cock. When the warmth of him fills my palms, I groan. God, I’ve missed him. I climb over his lap, and straddle him.

“Do I get a kiss before I get fucked?”

He grins, grips my hair, and brings my lips down over his. He kisses me deeply while he gently lowers me over his hard length. I whimper into his mouth as he fills me, causing little stings of pain to shoot through my body. The pleasure far outweighs the pain though, and so I keep sliding down. When he’s inside me, filling me, I begin a gentle rocking motion. I tear my lips away from Cade’s mouth, nestle my face into his neck, and breathe him in. His hands go around my waist, and he supports me, helping me lift up and down. I go easily, sliding over his length.

“Fuck, baby, not gonna last long. Missed your sweet pussy.”

“Me either,” I whisper. I close my eyes and bite his neck.

“Fuck, harder, baby.”

I bite him harder and he growls, erupting inside me. At the feel of his pulsing, and the sounds of his groaning, I come hard. I clench around him and cry out into his shoulder as quietly as possible, as my much needed release rips through me. We rock like that for long moments, just enjoying the feeling of being so close, so together. I lift my head from his shoulder and look him right in the eye. “Well, now we can say we’ve done it all,” I smile.

He grins and wraps his arms around me. “There’ll be plenty more for us to discover, now you’re free.”

Being free is so completely overwhelming. I never imagined this was the path my life would take, but I’m certainly grateful it did. Now Cade and I can start creating something worth fighting for. Speaking of, I have noticed he and Spike don’t seem as tense. I really hope they can find it in themselves to forgive and forget.

“You and Spike seem to be getting along better,” I mention casually, but my heart is thudding with curiosity.

“Yeah, he even sat down and had a beer with Jackson and I the other night.”

“I hope one day you two can sort it out.”

He nods, grinning at me. “Yeah, sugar, me too.”

“Did Jackson deal with Britney?”

When Jackson and Cade found out Britney was the one to give away my location, they were furious. I was too; she nearly had me killed, and for what? The chance to be someone’s Old Lady. I guess it goes to show how desperate some people can become.

“He threatened her within an inch of her life. If she wasn’t a girl, she’d be dead.”

I have no doubt about that. I am still in mild shock over the fact that she would do something so low. Britney is very lucky she’s alive right now, and I know she wouldn’t dare show her face on the compound again.

“Did he order her out of town?” I ask.

Cade nods. “Fuck yeah, and she wouldn’t dare come back.”

I sigh deeply, relieved. “Well, at least it’s all over now.”

He nods. “Sugar, much as I love ya, it’s kinda gettin’ a bit slippery in there, if you know what I mean.”

I laugh and lift myself off him. We both straighten ourselves up and head back out. I walk over to the large window, take a seat and stare out at the hills I can see over the tops of the hospital. That’s the good thing about being on the top floor. Cade kneels in front of me, reaches up and takes my hands.

“Fuckin’ love you, sugar. You know that, yeah?”

I nod. “Cade, I know that. I’ve known that for a while now. The thing is-”

“I want you to know how much.”

Stubborn man is cutting me off at the one moment I want to tell him I love him.

“I know how much, the thing is-”

“Sugar, you’re fuckin’ changin’ everything I am.”

“You’re changing everything I am too, that’s why I wanted to-”

“Sugar, fuck,” he growls. “Do you ever stop talkin’ for five minutes?”

“I’m trying to-”

“Sugar!” he says, tugging my hands. “Shut the fuck up!”

“Why?” I cry.

“Because I’m tryin’ to fuckin’ ask you to marry me.”

My entire world stops. I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest, but in the best possible way. He wants to marry me? Cade Duke – big, bad biker – wants to marry
me
? I feel my eyes burn with unshed tears, as a feeling of pure joy rushes through my body.

“That got your attention,” he grumbles, then he squeezes my hands harder. “If you let me talk, you would let me say that you fuckin’ changed me. I have never loved anyone in my life, but you, fuck…you changed that. I’m not goin’ to get all sappy on you, ‘coz we both know I don’t do that shit, but I will tell you this, you’re the fuckin’ meaning of breathing for me. You’re the reason I get out of bed each day and fuck, if that’s love, I am gonna hang onto it and never let it go. So, will you marry me?”

I am crying now, but I laugh through my tears. “If you let me talk,” I rasp. “You would have let me tell you that I love you too, you stupid, stubborn-ass biker!”

He stares at me, then he roars with laughter and pulls me into his arms.

“Fuck, sugar, here you go makin’ me the happiest man alive.”

“I won’t tell anyone you said that,” I choke between tears.

He chuckles again, and pulls back. He reaches into his jeans pocket, and pulls out a ring, no box, just a ring. Who needs a box anyway; real beauty should never be covered. Cade grips my hand, sliding it onto my finger. Perfect fit. I meet his gaze, and for a long moment, we just lock eyes. Happy. Content. That’s what we are right now. He picked up my pieces and put me back together, even when I thought no glue would hold. Turns out Cade was my glue, and in a sense, I think I am his.

“Well, sugar,” he murmurs. “You sure made it difficult to save you, but you know, I got there in the end.”

I smile, and nestle in closer to him. “You know why? I didn’t want to be saved before, but with you, that all changed. For once, I wanted to see what was on the other side.”

“And was it worth steppin’ over the line?”

I pull back, grip his face, press my lips down over his and kiss deeply. He responds, kissing me with everything he has. When he pulls back, I tangle both my hands into his hair and say, “Oh, hell yeah!” And I mean it, with every part that is me.

I mean it because the battle with Cade has changed my world.

I mean it because fighting to find love was so much more rewarding than fighting to survive.

I mean it because my whole world was in tatters, but little by little, Cade has helped me put it back together again.

Finally, I believed that I was good enough to be saved.

And who knew he would be the one to save me.

That’s life for you – you never know which way it’s going to go – you just have to trust it.

~*THE END*~

Keep an eye out for the next book in the series, Spike’s story, Heaven’s Sinners. Released September 2013.