Reaper's Property (16 page)

Horse stood back, chest heaving, glancing
around in disgust. Everyone seemed frozen.

“This cocksucker missed my girl by about
six inches,” he announced, looking around at the crowd. “I should put him in the
ground, but it’s not worth my fucking time. Next time I won’t be so forgiving,
you got me?”

Around him men nodded, murmuring their
agreement. I heard someone throwing up off to the right, back in the darkness.
I hugged the girl next to me and she hugged me right back, all differences
between us forgotten. Horse left the circle of firelight, reaching out to take
the now-unloaded gun from the man who’d grabbed it before. Then Horse grabbed
the clip, slammed it back into the gun and pulled back the slide with purpose.
He turned and carefully aimed the gun at the man’s head.

“Not so fucking fun now, is it?” he
snarled. The man gibbered, whimpering and shaking. Lightning fast, Horse tilted
the gun to one side of the man’s head and pulled the trigger. Dirt exploded
next to his face.

“Marie, get your ass over here.”

I didn’t want to move, but I
really
didn’t
want to piss Horse off even more. I gave the girl a quick hug and stood
shakily. I realized about a second later that the stripper heels just weren’t
going to work, so I kicked them off and scuttled over to Horse. He tucked the
gun into the back of his pants, grabbed my hand and dragged me back through the
clubhouse. Boonie caught up to us, but Horse just snarled at him when he tried
to talk. Darcy followed behind, eyes darting between us.

Horse pulled out the gun again when we
reached his bike, letting the magazine drop and clearing the slide. Then the
entire thing went into one of his saddlebags. We climbed on the Harley and took
off into the night.

I didn’t notice the cold at all on the ride
home. Go figure.

We got back to the house way too fast. I
wasn’t ready to deal with Horse or what I’d witnessed. That guy had to be hurt,
bad. I hoped to hell they got him to a hospital, although that might make
things worse for us—the cops would come after Horse. Where would that leave me?

Safe
, a
little voice whispered deep down inside.

We pulled up to the house and he killed the
bike. Silence fell between us and I had no idea what to do or say. Wasn’t the
first time I’d felt this way either. We seemed to be following a pattern.
Outstanding sex. Violent outburst. Cold war.

At least I wasn’t the one who’d pissed him
off this time.

Horse didn’t say a thing to me as we walked
into the house. But when the door shut behind us and he slid the bolt home he
turned to me, eyes burning with something dark and terrible. I froze, pinned by
that gaze, understanding what it must feel to be a deer at the moment the
hunter pulls the trigger. He shook his head and pulled me into his arms.

“I can’t fucking believe he almost shot
you,” he muttered, gripping me so tight it hurt. Then he picked me up and
carried me over to the couch, falling back on it and draping me over his body.
I collapsed against him, a rush of tears bursting out of me. I don’t know what
it was, relief maybe? Horse rubbed my back, making little soothing noises, and
eventually I stopped crying. Then I realized my skirt had ridden up and my bare
ass was hanging out. I tried to pull away from him but he wouldn’t let me. Instead
he took my face in both his hands, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, babe,” he said. “I can’t
believe that fuckwad. Boonie should be ashamed of himself, letting that shit
happen in his house. He wasn’t even a member of the club. You almost got shot
by a goddamned hangaround.”

“But I didn’t,” I whispered. “I’m fine,
Horse. Really. It scared me but I’m okay.”

He shook his head.

“I scared you too,” he said. “I’m sorry,
babe. But it had to be done. I couldn’t let that guy get away with that any
more than I can let your brother off the hook. This is my reality and it’s ugly
sometimes. Dragging you into this, I should be sorry. But I’m not. I’m not
gonna let you go, Marie. I’m keeping you and I don’t care if I go to hell for
doing it. I don’t care about anything but fucking you.”

With that, he pulled my mouth down to his,
kissing me hard, tongue thrusting in and taking command. He sat up slowly,
swinging his legs off the side of the couch so that I had to straddle him. He
thrust his lower body up at me, hands holding my hips as he rubbed the ridge of
his jeans-covered cock against my bare clit. In all the excitement I’d
forgotten I was naked under my skirt. Now his fingers reached between us,
dipping into my wet opening and sliding around. Suddenly he pushed me up and
lifted his hips. I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself as he slid his jeans
down, freeing his cock. He took it and rubbed the tip through my wetness, then
lined it up with my slit.

“I meant what I said,” Horse told me, his
face tight and cold. “You belong to me. Nobody else gets in this pussy. You got
that?”

I nodded quickly, biting my lip.

“Give me the words.”

“I belong to you,” I whispered as he took
my hips, gripping them firmly.

“All of them.”

“Nobody gets in this pussy but you, Horse.”

He held my eyes as he pressed my hips down,
forcing his cock deep as I cried out. Even though he’d fucked me once that
night, this new angle hit me deeper than he’d ever gone. I screamed when the
tip of his cock hit my cervix and spasmed around him. I don’t know if it was
pleasure or pain or what, but as he slid me up and then down again, hard, I
exploded around him with a cry.

“Put your hands on my shoulders and ride
me,” he grunted as I recovered. I did what he said, taking over the rhythm as
his hands bit deep into my ass. Every stroke slammed my clit into his pelvic
bone, every thrust hit my cervix, and almost immediately I spiraled up again
toward another orgasm. His hand dug down between the cheeks of my ass and then
his finger went inside me from behind. He thrust it deep, controlling how I
rode him as I moved faster and faster. Suddenly he groaned and stopped me,
grabbing my hips and standing up to turn me toward the couch, pulling me off
his cock and setting me down.

“Kneel, facing away from me,” he said,
voice icy. I shivered, but the look on his face was full of an intensity I’d
never seen. Slowly I did as he asked, kneeling on the couch and leaning forward
to brace my arms against the back. Once again his cock entered me, sliding in
and out slowly several times. Then he pulled it free and slid it higher,
pressing it against my anus.

I froze as he nudged me, trying to breach
my opening. I quivered as he absently rubbed one hand up and under the skirt I
still wore, as if to soothe me. He started to work the head in and it hurt. A
lot. I shivered, thinking of Jeff, telling myself I had to go through with it
if I wanted my brother to live. But everything Horse had done to me so far—at
least everything sexually—I’d wanted.

This felt like rape.

“Please don’t,” I whispered, knowing I
couldn’t stop him. “I don’t think I can handle it if you do this to me.
Please.”

Horse stilled and I stopped breathing. I
felt the tip of his cock nudge my opening again and he groaned. Then he dropped
it down and plunged back into my pussy. It’s a good thing he grabbed my hips
and held me as he started thrusting because I think I would have collapsed in
relief. Then his clever fingers found my clit and I forgot to be upset with
him. My arousal returned with a rush and I gasped, dropping my head down
against the back of the couch as need spiraled up into me fast and hard.

I came with a desperate cry as Horse joined
me, hot seed shooting deep inside my body. We stayed that way, joined, panting.
Finally he pulled out and dropped back down on the couch next to me. He grabbed
my arm and pulled me across his lap, taking my chin and kissing me one last
time. When it ended, I opened my mouth to say something and realized I didn’t
know exactly what to say.
Thank you for not raping me because my brother
owes you money?
Um, no.

“Let’s sleep,” he said, lying back and
pulling me over his body. He reached up and grabbed the blanket draped across
the back of the couch, managing to cover both of us with it. Then his hand
wrapped about my ass, sliding between my cheeks, rubbing across my rear opening
absently.

“Someday,” he whispered softly in my ear.
“I don’t want to hurt you. Not until you’re ready for me… But someday I’m going
to own all of you, Marie. You’re all mine, babe. Knew it the first time I saw
you. Couldn’t give you up if I tried.”

I pretended not to hear him. It took me a
long, long time to fall asleep.

Chapter
Fifteen

A loud, pounding
noise woke me abruptly. I had no idea where I was or what was happening. Horse
groaned and I did too. My head hurt like hell. Too much beer…

Oh shit. The party. The sex. Horse beating
a man almost to death. This couldn’t be good.

“Horse,” I whispered. More banging. Someone
was outside the front door. His eyes opened, taking me in all rumpled and
sleepy. He smiled and his hand squeezed my ass as I felt the evidence of his
appreciation grow under my stomach.

“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled toward the
door, making me flinch. The pounding got louder. Horse rolled me to one side so
he could get up and started toward the door, tucking his morning erection into
his pants with some effort. Clearly he planned to make the noise go away.

“Horse!” I hissed. He glanced back at me,
his expression questioning. “It’s probably the cops. They’re here to arrest
you. Should you just open the door like that? Shouldn’t you go out the back or
something while I delay them?”

That made him smile and he shook his head,
bemused.

“Marie, babe, we’re not on TV,” he said, a
hint of laughter in his voice. “What happened last night was club business. No
cop’s ever gonna hear anything about it.”

“You almost killed that guy,” I replied,
eyes wide. “People tend to notice stuff like that, club business or not.”

“Not a problem,” he said, shaking his head
again. “We handle things like this our own way. If I’d roughed him up for no
reason, it would start a shit storm like you can’t imagine. But a fucking
hangaround shooting at a Reaper’s woman? Drunk and out of control? He’s lucky I
got to him before Boonie. Fucking insult to the Silver Bastards, as much as me.
Hell, for all I know, Boonie finished the job after I left. Now run upstairs
and put on some clothes. I love that look on you, but your pussy’s flashing me
and I don’t feel like sharing. Think we covered that already.”

I blushed and jumped up, having totally
forgotten my lack of panties, or even a real skirt. As I ran up the stairs, I
heard Horse laughing out loud as he opened the door, and then the clomping of
boots as people walked in. I pulled on some jeans and one of my new Harley
Davidson tank tops, which actually looked pretty cute and not nearly as slutty
as I thought it would. Then I gave my teeth a quick brush and washed my face.
The rest of me needed washing too, but I didn’t want to miss anything
downstairs so I twisted my hair on top of my head and walked back down.

The living room was empty but I heard
voices in the kitchen so I followed them. Horse was pouring freshly brewed
coffee for Max and Picnic. All three men looked up as I walked in. Picnic
grinned at me. Max stared at me intently, like I was some puzzle he couldn’t
quite solve. I nodded, uncertain of my position but wanting to hear any news
they might have.

“Hear you had some fun last night,” Picnic
said, leaning back against the counter. He wore his gray t-shirt, black leather
boots and cut casually, but as always, his looks struck me. That grin didn’t
help. I couldn’t quite reconcile the man who stood before me casually drinking
coffee with the biker who’d held a gun to my brother’s head two days ago.

“Horse tells me you’re worried about him
getting in trouble,” Picnic said, smirking. “Thought we might be the cops.”

I nodded, unsure what to say.

“No worries, darlin’. Horse did the right
thing, Boonie already called, explained everything,” Picnic said, grimacing.
“Damn, this coffee tastes like ass, Horse. So Marie—for what it’s worth, Boonie
feels like shit about what happened. And knowing Darcy, he’s gonna catch more
shit about it for a long time. Apparently she’s taken a liking to you, wanted
to be sure and let you know you can call her any time. Bitch woke me up at
seven in the fucking morning to give me the message.”

He shook his head, looking annoyed.
Apparently Picnic liked his sleep.

“Don’t let Boonie hear you call his woman a
bitch,” Horse said dryly. “Man’s whipped, might take offense. Remember last
time?”

The guys all laughed and I felt completely
out of my depth.

“I don’t have her number,” I said, deciding
to focus on little details—like Darcy’s phone number—rather than the fact that
we were calmly discussing Horse almost killing a man with his bare hands last
night.

“It’s in your new phone,” Picnic responded,
grabbing a large, padded envelope from the counter and tossing it to me. I
managed to catch it, awkwardly, and opened it to find my car keys, a cell phone
and a section of newspaper folded open and highlighted. I pulled out the paper
first. It only took about four short sentences to describe the total
destruction of our trailer by fire. Resident Jeff Jensen was uninjured, had
been found outside, inebriated. No official cause yet, but the fire appeared to
be the result of a pipe left burning on the carpet.

My hands shook as I put it back in the
envelope.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” said Picnic, and he
actually sounded like he meant it. “But we had to get rid of any evidence. Also
part of the message to other clubs. Either your trailer or your brother.”

I agreed, remembering how I’d suggested
burning the place myself. Anything to protect Jeff. The trailer was just a
place to live, and not much of one to be honest.

“I’d like to visit my mom at some point,” I
said to Horse. “Can I do that? She’ll be really worried and she doesn’t have a
way to get hold of me.”

“You can write her,” he said. “Give her
your new phone number if you like, she can call collect after that.”

I pulled out the phone. It wasn’t fancy,
but it wasn’t crap either. I turned it on and touched the address book icon. It
already had several entries. Horse, Picnic, Darcy and “armory”, whatever that
was.

“What about my old phone?” I asked. “Why a
new one?”

“You needed a new account for your own
protection,” Picnic said. “We aren’t the only people your brother pissed off.
Hearing new rumors all the time. This is safer, you should cut contact for a
while. Horse will fill you in after we give him the details.”

“Am I allowed to call anyone I want?”

“Depends on whether you want them to stay
alive,” Picnic said, shrugging. “Far as I’m concerned, make that first call to
your brother. Educational experience for both of you.”

I powered down the phone and stuck it in my
pocket quickly.

“Car’s outside,” Picnic added, like this
was just some normal social visit. “Painter drove it up here the other day.
Piece of shit, broke down on him twice so I had the guys at the shop fix it up
for you.”

I pulled out the keys and felt better immediately.
Now I had a way to leave. I liked that idea a lot.

“Thanks.”

“No worries,” said Picnic, shrugging.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Marie. Got me?”

”Okay.”

“Got that stuff in the barn for you to pick
up,” Horse said to Picnic, watching me with speculative eyes. “We’ll talk when
I get back,” he told me. “Won’t be long.”

The three men headed outside without
another word. I clutched the car keys and ran my fingers over the bump the
phone made in my pants. I had my car, I had a phone and I had a little bit of
money in the bank. I could call Jeff if I wanted, or just send him a text to
make sure he was all right.

I could just drive away and never look
back.

Instead I fixed breakfast, finishing up
just as Horse walked back into the house. Ari followed him in from outside,
looking at the food-filled counter hopefully.

“Good timing,” I said. “Food’s ready. You
hungry?”

“Yep,” he said, but he didn’t sit at the
table. He came over and wrapped a hand around my neck, pulling me in for a
long, slow kiss that tasted like coffee and sex. Every time he touched me I
melted. It wasn’t fair. I wrapped my arms around him and Horse reached down,
lifting my butt and setting me on the counter. I opened my legs and he nestled
up between them.

Unfortunately, he stopped kissing me,
pulling away to cradle my face between his hands, examining my face.

“You okay?” he asked.

I nodded. He closed his eyes and then shook
his head before opening them again.

“This sucks. Last night was crazy and I
scared you, and now I have to tell you something bad,” he said. I stopped
breathing. What more could be wrong? I was overloaded already.

“Your brother’s stupider than we thought.
He’s got other shit in play, shit we didn’t know about until this morning. You
call him, it’s
really
not gonna help. If he’s smart he’s already ditched
his phone and gone off the grid, but I don’t have a lot of faith in his
intellect at the moment.”

I opened my mouth to protest, to say
something. Horse pressed his finger against my lips, silencing me.

“Not done yet, babe. Believe me when I say
talking to him isn’t a good idea for either of you. These guys he’s pissed off,
they aren’t gonna give him a second chance if they catch him, and he’s sure as
fuck used up his second chance with us. Whole damn cartel’s after him. You want
to keep him safe, you don’t reach out to him.”

“Bad shit?” I whispered. He nodded, face
sober. “Like, a drug cartel?”

“Very bad shit with an exceptionally nasty
drug cartel. Shit that’s gonna get him dead very soon. Shit worse than anything
he’s got with us, which comes as a huge fuckin’ surprise to me, considering how
fucked he was already. These guys…” He shook his head slowly, swallowing hard
before continuing. “These guys are not the good guys. You aren’t safe if you’re
anywhere near him, and you aren’t safe if they think they can use you to find
him. You use that phone to call him, they track it… Let’s just say they won’t
be offering him a chance to make things right.”

“If I can’t call Jeff, why did you give it
to me?”

“Because believe it or not, keeping you
hostage and completely out of communication with the rest of the world isn’t
exactly a long-term plan,” he replied, smoothing my hair behind my ears. “Might
work for a while, but sooner or later it’ll blow up in my face. I know it’s
hard to believe because I’m such a giant asshole, but I don’t want you to be
unhappy. So it’s up to you to protect him by not drawing him out. It’s up to me
to protect you, which includes educating you on just how bad things are for
him. And I gotta tell you, he pulls shit that comes down on you, time’s up.
He’ll be in the ground up there in those mountains and nobody will
ever
find his body. You got me?”

“Do I get a vote in how we handle this?”

“Nope.”

“You just expect me to do what you say?”

“Yep.”

I wanted to argue with him some more, but I
couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. I didn’t like him being in charge, but
that was the nature of our arrangement. And I didn’t know whether to believe
him about Jeff or not. If he was lying, I didn’t get to talk to my brother and
that sucked.

But if he told the truth and I called, Jeff
might die.

“I won’t contact Jeff,” I said. “But at
some point I really want to go see my mom. It’s important.”

“You write your mom that letter, I’ll see
that she gets it. Just don’t write anything about your brother. You with me?”

”Yeah.” He looked down at my mouth like he
wanted to kiss me, but I turned my head away.

“Breakfast is ready,” I said, pushing at
him. He stepped back and I hopped down, grabbing plates. We sat and ate
together and I didn’t say anything. I was too busy rolling the situation over
in my head and trying to make sense of it. Things had looked simple when Picnic
held a gun to Jeff’s head.

Go with Horse, save Jeff.

Now Jeff was in even bigger
trouble—assuming Horse wasn’t lying to me. I was his collateral, except
sometimes he treated me like a hostage and sometimes he gave me fantastic
orgasms. We had our own separate rooms but we’d slept downstairs together. Oh,
and he almost killed a guy who almost shot me after definitely having public
sex with me at a party. Sex I enjoyed.

Nope, nothing weird going on here at all.

“How would you feel about me going to town
for a while, by myself, today?” I asked, tracing the grain in the wooden block
with my finger. Might as well test this arrangement a little, see if I actually
had the choices he said I did. If I could really leave.

“I guess that depends on what your plans
are,” he replied slowly. “I have to go by the armory today. You can ride in
with me if you’d like.”

“I’d rather go on my own,” I said, stealing
a quick glance at him. He sat back, relaxed, thoughtful. The silence stretched
between us and I couldn’t take it any longer. Too much quiet, too much
weirdness. “I want to start looking for a job as soon as possible.”

“What do you need a job for?”

“To earn money?” I said. He stared at me.
“You know, green stuff to exchange for goods and services?”

“All this shit going down around you and
the thing you’re gonna focus on is finding a job?” he asked, raising his brows.

“It’s better than sitting around and
thinking about all this shit going down around me,” I snapped. I suddenly
wanted something normal, something that I controlled. Wanted to be alone and
think somewhere that I wasn’t surrounded by him, his sexy smell or his things.

“You need money, let me know and I’ll give
it to you,” he replied. “You need shit to do, take care of the house and cook.
No job.”

“Is that because of my brother or because
you don’t want me working or what?” I demanded, the words tumbling out so fast
he didn’t have a shot at answering before I hit him again. “I thought you said
this is all my choice. What are the limits of this little arrangement? You gave
me a phone and my car, so why can’t I get a job? How long will this go on? How
will I support myself when it’s over? Everything is up in the air and I can’t
call Jeff and my mom doesn’t know where I am and—”