Horse (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 6) (9 page)

“He doesn’t mean to. He just does. He’s
scary
.”

“And I’m not?”

“Not anymore. Wanna fuck you.”

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I walked around the bar to the office, and closed and locked the door. I set her on the floor, made sure she had her balance, and carefully let go. “Pull your pants down and bend over the desk, Gabs. Gonna take you from behind.”

She didn’t waste any time following orders, and in less than a minute my cock was at her entrance pressing in as her moans told me she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

Gabby is always so, so, tight when I sink into her. She fits me better than any glove, and my instincts told me I could go faster than even usual with her drunk.

Her squeals and moans told me I’d been right, and I only had to back off when I started moving the desk across the floor. I was certain every shapeshifter outside the room probably heard her screams despite the soundproofing, but I didn’t give a shit as I pounded my little bunny through a half a dozen orgasms before I finally came with her.

I thought I was imagining it at first, but now I’m sure I can sense how she’s feeling when we orgasm together. She’s all sunshine and happiness, full of energy and vitality. I can feel her getting some of my energy while she gives me hers, but more passes between us than just power. So much more. My little bunny is under my skin in ways I hadn’t anticipated. She’s becoming part of my life, and I’d do just about anything to keep her in it.

I reached for her, pulled her to me, and sat on the floor with her cuddled in my lap. I wanted to sit here with her forever and keep her safe, though I knew it wasn’t possible.

I don’t know how long we sat before the door opened and Ghost stuck his head in. “We need the room, Horse.”

“Let me get her dressed. Won’t take long.”

* * * *

Gabby

I stood and Horse pulled my pants up, and then pulled his own up while I fastened mine. He turned his head towards the door and said, “We’re good,” as he pulled me into his arms, and Ghost and Duke walked in.

“Sorry, Gabby,” said Duke, and his voice and tone told me he meant it, even though my instincts were to once again freeze in terror. “We gave you as long as we could.”

“You’re apologizing to her and not me?” Horse asked with a chuckle as he pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me.

“Yeah, apparently I need to convince her I won’t hurt her.”

“I’m sorry, Duke,” I said again. “I don’t know why I’m so afraid of you.”

He sighed. “Because I’m not one of the good guys and your instincts know it. I won’t hurt
you
, though. As far as you’re concerned, I’m safe.’

I shrank back into Horse as I smelled my own fear permeate the room. My dad had been one of the bad guys and he’d fooled me all my life. I couldn’t be around bad guys now, or
ever
. I just couldn’t.

“He isn’t all
that
bad, Gabby. Not like your dad was. He keeps his people safe, and he does things human society says are bad in order to do so. That’s why he calls himself a bad guy.” He turned me so my back was to Duke and cradled my cheek in his hand. “Duke doesn’t hurt innocents. He isn’t that kind of bad guy. I
promise
.”

I nodded and leaned into him, and then jumped when Ghost spoke from right behind me. “I don’t think any of us like it when you smell afraid. I know Dawg warns you before he touches you, so I’ll do the same. I’m going to touch your shoulder.”

I chuckled and turned my head towards him. “If you really want to keep from scaring me, let me
hear
you when you walk towards me like that.”

“Sorry, I just want you to know you’re safe on RTMC property. The brothers will do whatever we have to do to keep you away from danger — even if it means hiding you from the FBI, yeah? That makes us bad guys in LEO’s eyes, but it was what you needed.”

Duke sounded all business as he said, “Horse, you can either run her home and come back, or she can stay here with the other ol’ladies and party till she’s ready to go home and a prospect will take her. We’re gonna need your help tonight.”

I looked at Horse, suddenly afraid again. “I don’t want someone I don’t know taking me home!”

He’d never really let me go when Ghost kind of semi-hugged me, and now he pulled me back into his arms and away from Ghost. “I’ll take you. I’ll make sure you know enough of our lower level guys and prospects so you’ll be good around them, but I’ll take you tonight.” He looked towards Duke. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes”

“Make it ten if you can. You don’t have time to fuck her again.”

Gabby

Horse used one of the RTMC vehicles to take me home, and he walked through my apartment and checked locks before he left. He was fast but thorough, and I once again marveled at the ways he kept me safe.

I was sober by now, and I didn’t know if I was extra wary tonight because of the evening I’d had, or if there was a reason. I locked the door behind Horse, set the alarm, and went to my bedroom. I usually sleep naked, but pulled on a thin tee and shorts. I was probably just still on edge from watching Horse fight the other bear, and then my time amongst so many wolves, but I pulled my paintball machine-gun up on the bed facing the door, and made sure everything that jangled was in place — I have bells or noisemakers on every door and window into my bedroom. Aaron Drake had installed a fancy security system, and it was armed, but I trusted my old-fashioned system even more.

I didn’t go into a deep sleep, which was just as well because when the bell on my door jingled, I grabbed my paintball gun and fired as I backed up in the bed until my spine was against the headboard and my heart hammered against my ribcage.

Before I’d started shooting, I’d smelled one of the FBI agents — the one who’d slapped me across the face when I’d begged him to let me go to the bathroom. The one who’d shamed me so much when I’d peed myself.

I don’t think I could’ve stood my ground and fired before I’d met Horse, but I’d learned so much from him — not just the things he’d taught me, but the things I’d seen when we exchanged energy during our many, many orgasms. I’d taken on so much of his energy, and that’s what I drew on to keep from freezing.

The silhouette of the agent in my doorway screamed in pain and shifted into his half-wolf monstrous form, and I kept firing. The gun’s hopper was loaded with two hundred rounds and I was keeping count of how many I shot based on how long I held the trigger. I’d been through around thirty rounds when he shifted from beast form to wolf form, and I kept my finger on the trigger and lowered my aim to hit the wolf’s face. The room filled with a cloud of the noxious stuff, and I held my breath and ignored my own watery eyes as I kept shooting.

I was sure he was going to eat me alive, but he jumped out of my window, breaking the glass as he went, and then yelping and screaming as he ran down the street. He had to have hurt himself when he landed, and I was surprised he could run.

I grabbed my phone and dialed nine-one-one, knowing it would bring a U.S. Marshal and someone from Drake Security along with the cops. As soon as I could, I closed my eyes and ran through the noxious cloud of pepper spray to my kitchen and washed my hands first, and then my face and eyes. I’d given the lady on the other end of the phone my address and told her I’d shot an intruder with capsaicin paintballs, and now my phone was on speaker beside the sink as I washed my face. There was nothing she could do to protect me, but just having her voice telling me the officer was less than two minutes away made me feel better.

A uniformed police officer showed up first, and I told him there’d been a man and his dog, and I’d shot at both. I described the dog as a German Shepherd or Husky, or possibly a mix of the two, and told him the man looked like Agent Baker of the FBI, but surely I’d been mistaken. Still, that should give them a general size. It’d been dark in my room and he’d been backlit against the light I’d left on in the kitchen, but he walked like Agent Baker, was the right build, and his voice had sounded
just
like Agent Baker. I left out the fact he smelled like him.

Ranger walked in my door and I went into his arms when he opened them. I smelled Bethany on him, so despite his being a wolf, he was familiar and he made me feel safe.

“You had time to call your boyfriend, ma’am? The nine-one-one operator said she kept you on the line until we arrived.”

“I work for Drake Security and our operator heard her address and sent me to check on her. She’s friends with the owner. I’m not her boyfriend.” Ranger looked down at me and asked, “Have you called Horse?”

I shook my head. “No, and please don’t. Not yet, anyway.”

“Okay, Gabby. Tell me what happened.”

I told him exactly what I’d told the officer, since he was still in the room and listening, and Ranger asked, “You know who Randall is?’

I shook my head and he took a breath, considering his words. “He’s kind of the alpha of one of our units. I’m wondering if I need to contact him?”

Ah, the local Wolf Alpha. He’d need to be involved in any clean-up necessary because a werewolf ran through town where just anyone could see. “Yeah, you probably should.”

The officer had already sent other officers to see if they could find a man and a dog who looked like they’d been shot with yellow capsaicin paintballs. Now he was busy writing on a tablet with a stylus.

“He took my paintball gun away from me,” I told Ranger.

The officer looked up. “She’ll get it back. It’s good you’re here, she’s calmed down a lot. I was worried about her having a heart attack or something before you arrived, and was about to call for an ambulance.”

My doorbell rang and Ranger walked with me to the door as the officer followed. I looked out the peephole before letting Marshal Faulkner in. He flashed his badge at the officer and his voice was no-nonsense as he said, “If you have what you need from her, can I ask you to step outside while I talk to her, please?”

“It was Agent Baker,” I told him as soon as the door closed behind the officer. “One of the FBI guys, from before. One of the men you promised would never find me!”

He looked at Ranger and back to me. “Did you trade your biker in for a special forces guy?’

Ranger chuckled. “No, the biker’s still an item. I work for Drake Security and she contracted with us for her home security. Someone used a law enforcement code to override the system when they entered, so I was on my way even before her address went over the police radio.”

“That’s why my alarm didn’t work? Why didn’t you tell the officer?”

“Because I don’t know how the Marshals Service will want to handle this, much less what Aaron will want to do — I can always notify the local police later, but I can’t untell them if we decide they don’t need to know.”

“Why did you contract with a security company, Gabby?”

“Because I’m scared, Marshal — and obviously for good reason! You said no one would find me, not even the old FBI agents who’d scared me so bad, and yet they did!”

“They shouldn’t have been able to. Did you do something in the years you were missing to draw attention to yourself, or to tie your new name to your old one?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, so this has to be my fault. Is that it?!”

“No. I’ll get to the bottom of how he found you, but you have to know I’ll be looking at it from every side. You’ve been so secretive about where you’ve been — it isn’t unreasonable for us to wonder what transpired during those years.”

“If I’d given myself away while I was in hiding, wouldn’t he have attacked me
then
? The mere fact he waited until I resurfaced should tell you he knew my new name but couldn’t find me when I withdrew from society — maybe because I hid so well? No one found me while I was in hiding, but
dammit
, I want to join the real world again!”

Ranger walked me to the sofa and sat with me. I’d only been able to throw a robe on while I waited for the cops because I’d been on the phone the whole time, and the thin tee with no bra left nothing to the imagination. Now, I kept making sure it was closed and I finally said, “I’d like to put some clothes on, if ya’ll don’t mind? Also, Marshal Faulkner, can you get my paintball gun back from the officer, please?”

My bedroom was a mess from the capsaicin, but thankfully my closet door had been closed, and I grabbed some clothes and took them to the bathroom. While I changed clothes I texted Horse:

I’m fine but I had some excitement earlier. No hurry, but when you finish whatever you’re doing can you call me, please? Ranger and one of the Marshals is here with me. I know you’re busy, so just call me when you can.

The officer was back in my living room when I came out in jeans and an oversized sweatshirt, and my paintball gun was on my coffee table. I didn’t see Ranger, and the Marshal said, “He stepped outside to make a phone call.” He looked to my gun on the table and back to me. “You used nearly half of the hopper, Gabby. What must your bedroom look like? I’d like to take a look?”

I waved him back. “I had to shoot at the man
and
the dog, and I was aiming for faces. A lot of them hit the wall, but a lot of them hit my targets, too.”

“They have to be in a world of hurt,” he said as he walked to my bedroom. I’d seen the wall while I was in there, and it was more yellow than light pink. Everything in my room was coated in capsaicin, too. My room was going to need to be detoxed before I could spend any time in there again.

When he came out he thanked the officer, exchanged contact information with him and told him he could leave now, and as he closed my front door he turned to me and said, “You can’t stay here tonight. The broken window helped move some of it out, but it’s pretty rank in there. I’ll arrange for a cleaning service, and for the window to be repaired, but we’ll move you to a safehouse until we find out what’s going on.”

“You aren’t going to change my identity again,” I told him. “I’m making a life here. I’ve made friends, and I’m too far into the school year!”

“If this identity is blown, we have to, Gabby.”

I shook my head and sat down, fighting tears.

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” Ranger said as he walked back in. “Drake Security will guarantee her safety while we work with you to find out what’s happened. Aaron’s putting in the proper paperwork so he can be brought in as a special consultant on the case, and I’ve been ordered to bring her to his home. She’ll be safe, there.”

Marshal Faulkner gave me an appraising look before saying, “There are
maybe
half a dozen civilians in the U.S. who can insert themselves into a U.S. Marshals Service Investigation. You didn’t have these kinds of connections before, or it would’ve been in your file. I wasn’t told about your connection to Drake Security, or apparently Aaron Drake, since you’ve been invited to his home as a guest. He’s a very private man and this is most unusual — what’s your connection to him?”

I sighed. “It’s a long story, but suffice it to say my extended family decided it would be a good idea for us to make some connections.”

He shook his head. “You have to stay in my custody until I get something official from my chain of command.”

“No,” I countered, “I’m not under arrest. I’m free to go where I want. Ranger will keep me safe until he can get me to Aaron, and I like you and don’t want to offend you, but I think I trust them more than the Marshals Service right now.”

“I guess I can’t blame you,” he sighed and leaned against the wall by my front door. “Pack a bag to last a few days. I’ll put plastic over your window and then I’ll lock up before I go.”

I looked at Ranger and he nodded, and I went to my bedroom closet to pack a bag. When I came out, Ranger told me, “You’ll have to leave your cellphone here until we know for sure who’s after you. The Marshal has agreed not to say where you’ve gone in his report. I’ll wand you before we get in the car, to make sure there aren’t any trackers on you or in your purse or bag.”

“I texted Horse while I was changing, and haven’t heard back from him yet.”

“I’ll call him on the way and leave him a voicemail. It can’t be helped, Gabby.”

I plugged my phone in so it’d be charged when I could come home again, and left it.

Ranger got a wand out of the back of his vehicle and swept it over me from head to toe, waved it around my purse, and then my backpack and duffel bag. Satisfied, he helped me into the SUV and we were off.

“Can I use your phone to leave him a message?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, we’re under operational security protocol now, which means no unencrypted messages regarding your location. We used to have a way to communicate with the RTMC members over an encrypted connection, but we don’t anymore.”

He asked for Horse’s number and dialed it, and when there was no answer, left a message. “She’s safe. Have Brain contact me over an encrypted connection and I’ll let him know where we’ve taken her. It’s a good bet people are watching her apartment, so it’s probably best you don’t go by there and get yourself on a suspect list.”

He pulled away from my house and I noted he watched all around us as he drove. He made lots of turns, doubled back a few times, and drove us through the middle of nowhere before we headed up Lookout Mountain.