Malice's Possession (12 page)

Kink ran the back of his hand over
his mouth, and noticed the blood smeared across it. “I hope you enjoyed that hit, because it is the only one you’re going to get.” He charged forward, saw the fighter’s eyes widen before he slammed his fist into the side of his head. The guy stumbled backward, and Kink could have easily kept going, but he didn’t want to kill the guy. The guy lay passed out on the floor, and a bloody mess. Spectators roared out for more, exchanged money, and then the next guy stepped into the proverbial ring. Yeah, Kink was going to go all fucking night until he couldn’t stand straight, couldn’t think, and all of the anger had left him—well, until he saw that fucking bitch Sarah again.

Adrianna had nothing to her name
, not anymore at least. No money, no bag with personal possessions. Nothing. The only thing she had was the fresh clothes on her back that Tatum had given her this morning. But now, as she stared around at this gorgeous two-story cabin out in the middle of the woods, she felt the generosity that was shown to her clog her throat and have tears forming in her eyes. But to be fair she had been on the verge of tears since Malice had told her that this would be her new home for the time being, and that she could make some money by helping with the cooking, cleaning, and anything else that needed to be done around the place. And even though at first he tried to tell her to just rest, get her bearings, and they would worry about keeping her busy with the cabin stuff another time, she wasn’t having any of that. She wanted to be able to contribute, and if that meant doing housework then she was more than happy to do it.

She thought about Malice. He
had been kind of standoffish around her since he left the dinner table last evening. She hadn’t seen him again last night, but that was probably for the best. The way he had looked at her across the table, like some kind of lion about to pounce on her, had been a look no man had ever given her. No man except Malice. Even now she still felt her lips tingle from their kiss, and still felt her clit throb from unrestrained and unfulfilled desire. It had only been a few days since she had left Fairview, and although outside she was healing, she needed to work on healing herself on the inside.

“What do you think?” Malice stood beside her and she glanced over at him. The light came through the window, shadowing
the front half of him and almost giving him this sinister, highly seductive appearance. He turned and looked at her when she did respond. “Adrianna?”

Blinking and then smiling, she turned back to the great room. Right now they stood in the foyer of the cabin Malice had told her women
who were rehabilitating stayed in. They hadn’t really spoken much, and she really didn’t know why the club would be in the business of having some kind of half-way house in the middle of nowhere. But of course she wasn’t a fool. She assumed enough that this had something to do with illegal affairs, ones that probably lined their pockets. The why of it was what she didn’t exactly know.

“It’s beautiful.” She looked around the house, saw several women cleaning up, others reading in little nooks, or just sitting on the couch and talking with each other. She turned back to Malice. “What exactly is this place?” When he didn’t answer right away she went on. “I mean
I know you said it was where these women could heal, but I don’t understand what that means.” She had lowered her voice so only he could hear.

He tipped his chin toward the stairs, and she followed him. They climbed the stairs, and she didn’t miss how some of the women glanced her way, and then looked at Malice. Once they reached the top of the stairs he moved down the hallway and stopped on the last door on the right. The room they entered was gorgeous in the natural, bare sense. A full bed was against the wall, a matching pine dress
er across from that, and a large window that showed the front part of the property. She walked over to the window, saw the two bikers she had noticed when they first pulled up leaning against the smaller cabin beside this house, and then heard the door shut behind her. She turned and saw Malice standing right in front of it.

“I probably should have told you all of this before now,” he shrugged, “
but now is as good a time as any, I suppose. “ He gestured toward the bed, and she moved toward it and sat down. For a few seconds he didn’t say anything, but then he went over to the closet and pulled the door open. Inside she could see clothes hanging even though he hadn’t turned on the light. “When we had this place fixed up and the rooms made we got some clothes for the women that would be staying here. I don’t know if any of them will fit you. Most of the girls have already had their pick, so basically this is the leftover stuff, but if nothing fits I’ll take you to get some things.”

“Thank you, but I’m sure it will be fine. I’ll make it work.”

He looked at her over his shoulder. “I told you what this place was, that it was to make sure the women here could heal and get back on their feet.”

She nodded, feeling her nerve
s go on alert because what he had to say couldn’t be good, right?

He turned fully around, stared out the window
from across the room for several seconds, and then took a few steps toward her. “The MC makes most of its living selling women, Adrianna.”

For a second she just blinked, and then blinked some more. Trying to comprehend what he had just said wasn’t hard
. She had heard him clearly, but the thought of selling women was so abhorrent to her, and reminded her of the grimy life she had fled, that everything inside of her instinctually told her to leave right now.

“We don’t keep these women here
against their will, Adrianna.”

That comforted her a little, even though she had hoped, and known deep down, that that hadn’t been the case. She may not have been sold
, but she had watched her mother sell her body for extra money, watched the men come in and out of their hovel of a home, and didn’t want to be a part of that anymore. She was moving away from that.

“The club does have a house out past Steel Corner. We use the
town as a transport line to get there so we stay off the highways.”

There was clearly this awkwardness coming from him, and it was a little strange seeing him uncomfortable. Since she had
met him he had always seemed so in control of everything, including himself.

“The women that work for us are there because they want to be. We treat them well, they are paid and protected, and if at any time they ever want to leave they are free to go.”

Adrianna had every reason to believe him. He had done nothing but help her from the moment they met. Besides, the women that had been reading, laughing and talking, and cleaning certainly hadn’t looked like they were here held against their will. They also didn’t look beaten as Malice had said happened to them, but just because she couldn’t see any marks didn’t mean they hadn’t suffered. She knew that reality just as well as anyone. It didn’t take a genius to put two-and-two together. “Those women were beaten by their former pimps?”

Malice sighed, nodded, and moved
to sit on the bed beside her. “Yeah, but they won’t ever be hurt again.” He looked over at her, and she felt how true his words were. She felt them as deeply as she had felt that truth when he had told her that about Phillip. “So, the club fixed this place up so they would have somewhere safe to stay.”

“What about when they want to go?”

“Then the door is always open. If they want to stay and work doing domestic things, we find them work. If they want to go back to what they were doing before—” He paused for a second before continuing. “Then we can help them out in that regards, too.”

She looked away from him for a second, processing his words. “I can’t imagine wanting to go back to prostituting myself after being beaten.” But as soon as the words left her she squeezed her eyes shut. She may not have sold her body, but she had stayed with Phillip far too long, even after he had hurt her the first time. Of course she knew why someone would want to go back to what they felt comfortable doing, and what had been their life for probably a long time. When she looked back at Malice she saw this worried expression on his face, and she s
miled, letting him know without words that she wasn’t about to flip. “Does your club have a doctor that comes and checks on them?”

Malice shook his head, but looked away for her. “
No, well, we have a doctor that works with the club on the down low, but Molly is a nurse and comes by every week to spend some time with them and see if they are okay.”

Adrianna wouldn’t have thought anything of a nurse coming here
. It made sense even to have a medical professional on their payroll, but Malice acted strangely when he said her name, and Adrianna knew right away there was obviously some kind of history between them.

He turned his attention back to her. “
My ex, Molly, she moved to Steel Corner with our three year old son after she became the old lady to a club The Brothers are associates with.”

Son
and ex-old lady.

Not that she was surprised he had a child, or uncomfortable with
that idea. The little conversation they had here and there, and even during the van ride from Fairview to River Run had consisted of them telling each other little facts about each other. But of course she had left out the less favorable things, and clearly he had left out the major stuff as well. He was older than she was by almost two decades, so of course he would have had a family. “Do you get to see your son often?” The way his expression eased and the worry lines around his eyes smoothed had his heart warming. He loved his son greatly, and that kind of love was strong enough that it reached out to whoever was close by and wrapped them in an embrace.

He smiled, and she couldn’t help but reciprocate the act. “When Molly lived in Brighton I only saw him every other weekend and occasionally on the weekdays. It was hard getting down there since it’s five hours away
.” He shrugged. “But she’s just in Steel Corner now.”

“That’s pretty close?” Adrianna liked sitting here just talking with him.
There was still that desire inside of her, but this comfortableness that surrounded them and the easygoing nature that came from Malice was nice.

“Just the next town over.”

“I bet he’s really excited that he gets to see his dad more now.”

Malice grinned even wider, and although she felt many emotions, happiness and relief, as well as arousal and content, she also felt a twinge of sadness.

“Hey.”

She hadn’t realized she had looked down until she felt Malice’s finger on her chin. He lifted her head and turned it so she was looking at him again.

“What’s the matter? Did I say something to make you upset?”

A humorless chuckle left her
, and he knitted his brows in confusion. She shook her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them. “I’m not laughing at you. It’s just if I would have seen you on the street I would have thought you were this rough and tough biker, and run the other way.” She smiled, but it was shaky as her emotion still ran high through her.

“I am a rough and tough biker.” He was looking at her mouth, but even though his words were low they held truth.

“Yes, I know, but you also have this other side.”

He slowly lifted his gaze back to her face.

“You’re very sweet and gentle, and that kind of goes against the leather wearing, tattoo covered skin thing going on.” When she chuckled this time it held more amusement. But he didn’t laugh or crack a smile, and just continued to stare at her. The need to be open with the man that had saved her life ran hard through her, and she actually found herself opening her mouth and speaking about her brother for the first time to anyone since he had passed away. “I don’t have any children, but I had a younger brother.” Malice didn’t say anything, but she was thankful for that because she might not have had the strength to continuing if he tried to delve into this himself. “Our life was what one could call trashy.” Shaking her head and smiling this very forced one, she continued. “Fairview is a nice town, but every place as its downfall, and where we lived was that place. Drugs, sex, violence, all of that and more were a daily occurrence.” His hand laced with hers, and Adrianna smiled at that feeling and sight. It felt nice and calming, and she was glad she was telling him this. Maybe it really didn’t matter if he knew this dark side of her life, but she felt better getting it out. “Long story short Miles got involved in drugs, and one night had too much.” The tears she had kept inside for years finally broke free, and she felt ridiculous.

“Hey. Shhh.”
Malice had his arms around her and pulled her close so her body was pressed to his in a matter of seconds. Here he was being all sweet again despite the almost scary exterior he emitted. But that went to show that the outside appearance wasn’t what someone should focus on.

Everything rushed through her as her emotions were open and vulnerable.

“I’m sorry, baby.”

She should have been stunned at the endearment he had just called her, but she tightened her arms around him. He smelled good, like spicy, dark cologne, and something familiar that she couldn’t quite place.

“Everything will be okay now.” He rubbed her back in slow sweeps of his hand, and she forced herself to pull away and look into his face.

“I don’t have money, Malice, and I already feel so indebted to you.”
The worry about paying him and his club back for everything they had and were doing for her was this heavy weight on her shoulders.

“That isn’t something to worry about right now, baby.” He brushed his thumb under her eye and collected her tear.
“But when you feel like you’re ready, you have a job here.”

“Here?”

Cupping her face with each hand he stared into her eyes with his gray gaze. “The club already approves it, but if you want to work, since you’ve mentioned that already, you could work
here
, be employed by the club to help take care of the women and the house.”