Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds: Book 1 in the Soldiers of Chaos series (31 page)

Once they were alone inside the penthouse Cole's body language became a little awkward. Nikki watched him carefully as he fiddled in his pockets then slowly emptied the contents onto the kitchen counter. He removed his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair "Would you like a drink?" He didn't look at her as he moved into the kitchen. Maybe her suggestion wasn't such a good idea after all. "No thank you." Cole banged around in the cupboards searching for something and becoming more frustrated by the second. Funny how a man that large and powerful is afraid of giving up some control to a woman much smaller than him. Some instinct inside her took over. She walked slowly up behind him smoothing her hands around his waist and up his torso her fingers finding and releasing the buttons on his vest as she went. Without saying a word she smoothed his vest off his shoulders and down his arms. She flicked it onto the counter then returned her hands to his body. Cole remained silent and tense. She loosened his belt next and pulled his shirt from his pants. Her hands went under the material to the warmth of his skin. As her fingers traced patterns over his abs he began to relax. Nikki's hands moved up to his chest and smoothed over his pecks till she found his nipples. A scrape of her nails and a quick pinch had Cole's breath exhaling on a hiss. She knew he'd like pain as much as he liked to inflict it; the giving up of control was the issue. He pressed her hands against his skin through the material of his shirt. Instinct was driving him to turn the tables. "Unbutton your cuffs for me" her tone was soft but still commanding. He followed her request and as he did she unbuttoned his shirt and swept it away to the counter alongside his vest. Those beautiful broad shoulders of his, that toned back tapering down to his waist, his skin that beautiful olive brown tan that only came with genetics. He shifted his arms and rolled his shoulders loosening up a little. She loved the roll and flex of his big strong body.

"I'd love to be able to watch your back ripple as you swing that belt." Cole turned his head to the side and while she could only see half of it that self-assured sexy smirk was exactly what she was after "Really?" She ran her hands up his back and he flexed for her so she could feel the movement and power there "Yes." Cole's hands went to his belt and Nikki shivered in anticipation. "Stop" the word flew out her mouth before her brain could catch up. Cole released the belt quickly. She wanted that but not tonight. "There are other things I want to do." She took one of Cole's hands and led him up to his bedroom. Neutral territory, right? "Take your clothes off for me. I want you naked." Cole followed her instruction and the sight of him now fully nude had her mouthwatering. "Like what you see Angel?" Did she ever?  It didn't matter that it was her who would be restraining him tonight, the sexual animal he was would never take a back seat. His hand went to his quickly stiffening cock stroking it slowly working it to full arousal. Watching him touch himself mesmerized her for several moments. Nikki licked her lips. So he wanted to give her a show perhaps it was time for her to start hers. "Hands off big boy." He released his cock but kept the smirk on his face. "Tonight is about bringing you pleasure and I know the things that bring you pleasure." He raised an eyebrow at her. "For starters you like to watch" she paused to allow him to mull that over "bring the chair and place it here facing the bed." Cole dragged the large wood framed chair from the setting by the window and placed it. "Sit." He did as instructed. Nikki went to the cupboard in search of the things she needed. She knew Cole had some items stashed in here from their dessert episode.

She found the leather restraints he'd used to secure her to the bed and the slim line vibrator he'd teased her clit with. She showed him the restraints "You also revel in your own self-control so I don't think a little additional restraint will worry you much yeah?" He simply smiled at the challenge in her tone. She used two of the restraints to secure his wrists to the arms of the chair then placed the other items on the bench at the end of the bed that would be her little stage. As she sat down on the bench in front of him demurely with her thighs pressed together Cole's eyes surveyed her hungrily. She smirked a smirk of her own. She was hiding a little secret. One he would've killed to know out on the dance floor and one he would've used to his full advantage. She swept her skirt to the side to reveal one long leg through the split then the other. Coles gaze focused right where she wanted it to at the apex of her thighs. Nikki ever so slowly parted her legs to reveal her lack of panties. Cole's nostrils flared and his eyes grew dark with need. The low deep growl that rumbled out of him was what gave her the most satisfaction. "You were like this all night? No panties?" Cole pulled at his restraints. She was sure he was imagining what he could've or would've done to her had he known this before. "Yes" Nikki’s fingers slid gently between her lower lips opening herself to his view. Nikki began to stroke her clit gathering moisture from her opening and using it to ease the movement of her fingers over the tight nub. He was fixated totally on the movement of her fingers as she pleasured herself. "How does it make you feel to know you were mere millimeters away from my naked cunt the entire time you were pressed against me?" Another growl erupted from Cole and he shifted in the seat pulling on his binds. The sight of all that power trying to break free had that little dark monster inside her smiling with glee. "Where's all that self-control gone now?" He stilled immediately and his eyes came up to meet hers. She knew that look it was the same one she got when the monster wanted to come out and play. Challenge accepted.

Tex sat in Nikki's room and, not for the first time since she disappeared, wondered whether she'd make it back to them alive. They'd called everyone from club members, to club friends, to Nikki's friends. They'd hustled anyone they could think of that might have a line on some info. Nothing. They were out of ideas short of riding around town hoping to catch a glimpse of her they were done. Helplessness was not something Tex was used to experiencing and it was driving him mad. He stared at the photo on her bedside table. It was taken at a club party a few years ago. Trace and him on either side of her, arms around each other, drinks in hand and smiles all round. He remembered that night well. She'd not long left Alex and the little competition between he and Trace had begun in earnest. The pair of them were doing their own thing, each of them trying to seduce her in their own way. Neither of them succeeded that night. Nikki had only had eyes for the party and her extended family not for a tryst in the bedroom with either one of them. He was always amazed that he and Trace had never ended up in a punch up over that girl. Maybe brotherly love for one another is what stopped it or maybe it was the knowledge that Nikki was the only one that mattered in the equation and whichever one she chose as long as she was happy the other one would be fine.

She'd never really chosen between them. Tex didn't think she could. He knew she loved them both and to choose one and not the other was to do harm to the one she didn't choose. He was sure that's why she'd ended up with Alex. In order to avoid choosing between them she'd chosen someone entirely different. He and Trace had hated the guy immensely. Not because he wasn't good to her because he was, he worshipped the ground Nikki walked on. They hated him because the more time she spent with him the more she distanced herself from the club, from them. She still worked in the workshop and the office so they saw her regularly but emotionally she'd begun to shut herself off. Tex didn't know if it was because she was fighting her feelings for them or because she'd known long before they did that she was leaving with Alex when he got his transfer. And hadn't that been a fucking cock up? She hadn't told either of them she was going. Tex had found out a week before they were due to leave because he'd overheard his father and Trace talking about it. He'd sunk himself inside a bottle and when he'd reached the bottom he'd been suitably angry enough to go round to Nikki and Alex's and tear shreds off her for not telling him. She'd opened the door and one look at her beautiful sad eyes he was on his knees confessing his undying love, crying and begging her not to leave him. She'd got on her knees in front of him and held him in silence while he ranted and raved about all the reasons she couldn't go. Then he'd looked at her face and found it blank and he couldn't take it anymore. He'd kissed her with all the desperation, hurt and love he had inside him. She woke up from that fake life she'd been living and responded with equal amounts of emotion. Thank god Alex had been on night shift because the next thing he knew they were on the couch and he was buried deep inside her with Nikki making confessions of her own.

And now they were here and, despite the fact that he knew King was right when he said Nikki would never have left them, he couldn't help but feel to blame for the current situation. Maybe if he'd stuck to his guns and yelled at her that night it might've given her the conviction she needed to leave with Alex. She would've been saved from the shitty fucked up situation that was currently happening. Instead she was off playing detective, trying to find the man who wants to kill her, and martyr, by sacrificing herself so the club didn't land in the firing line. How did everything turn to shit? The sound of a bike pulling up in the driveway of the house told him one of the brothers had turned up, probably Trace. Tex glanced at the picture one more time. They had to get her back one way or another. He wandered into the lounge as Tex let himself into the house. "You have any luck?" Trace shook his head in response "She touched any of her stuff?" "No nothing's been touched in her room or in the rest of the house." "This is fucked." Tex couldn't have agreed more. “Did Alex have any luck with Jake?" That was the most awkward phone call ever. Alex hadn’t gotten anywhere and his frustration was more than evident when Tex called to check in. The guy practically breathed fire down the phone at Tex then ended the call. He was still in love with Nikki that much was obvious in his reaction to not being able to get the results he needed, that they all needed. "Nah he's working that angle though and you know he'll work that guy any way he can." “The plate?” Tex shook his head. He’d had no luck there either. Plate was stolen.

"What about Slick he know anything?" "Nah man he looked over that footage. Didn't recognize those guys and he didn’t know where she was. But he did say he'd keep an eye out for her as if he expected he might see her." Tex mulled that over. Dude knew more than he was saying that was for sure. “He knows more than he’s letting on.” Trace nodded “Know that. But we can’t work the dude over for info. If he honestly thought she was in danger he’d say something.” Whether that was true or not Tex didn’t care for anyone else’s assessment of what put Nikki in danger and what didn’t. “He doesn’t have the right to make that call and I’d have no problem with working him over if that’s what it takes.” Trace smiled and shook his head “Look brother I already warned him he’s got it coming if he’s hiding something we need to know. He swears he doesn’t that’s good enough for me.” Trace was right about one thing he would make Slick suffer immensely if he was withholding shit they needed to know. “While I was packing it in Rachael showed up to check in so I had her look at the tapes. She didn’t recognise the guy’s in the suits but she did recognise one of the niners.” Bout time she came through with something “And?” “I got an address.” Now this was something Tex could more than handle “What the fuck are we waiting for? Let’s to go hunt down some homies and crack their skulls together.” Trace grinned then “Thought you’d never ask.”

Cole was wrapped tightly around Nikki clutching her to him like
he was a small child and she was his security blanket. His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and calm as he slept. He was such a mix of contradictions even in his sleep. Nikki stroked his hair absentmindedly as she glanced around the room. Her eyes locked onto the mess of splintered wood on the floor at the base of the bed. She smiled at the knowledge that she’d finally made him crack. She toyed with herself while he sat rigid in the chair his grip on the arms getting tighter and tighter as she’d continued her show. She’d slipped out of her beautiful gown not wanting to soil it or have it torn to shreds when Cole finally lost it. After she repositioned her naked body in front of him and picked up the vibrator Cole’s self-control began to slip. He was so totally fixated on the in and out slide of that silver toy that Nikki didn’t think he was even conscious of the fact that he was pulling and working at his restraints. There was no way he was gonna snap them. The restraints were strong and she’d wound them tightly round his wrists and the arm of the chair so there was no play in them. Her knots were good too something one of the brothers, an ex-naval officer, had taught her. She was right it hadn’t been the straps that broke. She had worked herself towards one hell of an orgasm watching him watch her and just as she came Cole lost it.

An almighty growl ripped from his mouth and in one swift move he’d snapped the wooden arms from the chair, the crack of the wood splitting filling the room along with her cries of ecstasy. Then he was on her before she’d even finished climaxing. The vibrator was ripped away from her and quickly replaced by Cole’s cock as he plowed into her pushing her through one orgasm straight into another. He’d gripped her hard and mindlessly plunged into her staking his claim letting her know that any illusions she had that she owned her own body were just that, illusions. In reality it was his sense of power that was the illusion. The real power was the power she had over him. The power to break him, the power to drive him to the edge and over it. A dangerous power to hold over anyone, especially when the person with the power was oblivious to it. Nikki thought back to Slick’s ex Lucy. Yep that sort of power could be deadly in the hands of the emotionally ignorant. But then hadn’t Roger said Cole was adept at reading people, at predicting their actions. So how then did he not see the damage he was doing there if in fact he caused the damage at all. Contradictions. Her world was full of them at the moment. Here she was lying in a luxurious penthouse with Mister Millionaire wrapped around her while out there some guy was hunting her down to kill her. In this world she was completely insulated from everything. Out there reality was a cruel bitch.

Cole shifted tightening his already constrictive hold on her a stream of garbled words coming out of his mouth. “Cole?” He didn’t respond. He jerked and his body tensed in the extreme “You killed my mother?” His question was soft with shock and when she regarded his anguished face she knew this was one of those nightmares where you relived the kind of trauma you wished you’d never had to face. “You fucking bastard.” His arms grew tighter still around her. “Cole” Nikki tapped him on the arm trying to wake him. She was beginning to find it hard to breathe. “No. She’s mine. Touch her and I’ll tear you limb from limb” his menacing growl was accompanied by more boa constrictor arms. “Cole. Wake up now.” The last of her breath squeezed out of her crushed chest cavity and she hit full on panic mode. She began to writhe in his arms kicking and pounding on his arm with her fist. Eventually her knee connected with his goods and they guy woke with a howl of pain releasing her. Nikki rolled of the bed and stumbled backwards onto the floor sucking in huge gulps of oxygen. “What the fuck?” Cole was clutching his junk, pain etched across his face. His head whipped in her direction the flare of anger there all too familiar. Her chest continued to heave as her lungs tried to right themselves. Cole’s face instantly dropped “What happened? Are you ok?” What the hell had happened? He made a move toward her and she held up her hand to ward him off. After a few more steadying breaths she finally felt able to speak. “You were dreaming, a nightmare. You just kept squeezing me and I couldn’t breathe.” She felt the panic rise again. What was wrong with her? She was stronger than this.

Cole rose up from the bed ignoring the hand she still held out in front of her. “Oh god Angel” his knees hit the floor in front of her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean too. Fuck. I would never intentionally hurt you.” Intentionally? Intention is a very fucking relative term. He reached out towards her stroking her hair but keeping his body a safe distance from her. She damped down the panic that was threatening to steal over her again. Where was that fucking monster inside her when she really needed it? She stayed where she was hardening her resolve. “I’m fine. I just” You just what Nikki? “I’m fine.” “Are you sure?” She fought to relax her body and drop the arm she’d held out to distance him from her. She raised her eyes to his face and it was full of anguish. “Yes” her tone was steady as her eyes held his. He nodded at her but made no move to close the small distance between them. “What were you dreaming about?” She watched as he sighed and scrubbed his hand through his hair, a move that did not belong to him. Contradictions. “You spoke during your dream.” Cole tensed his eyes dropping away from her. “You said you killed my mother? You fucking bastard.” He cursed under his breath several times as he slumped onto his but on the floor. Bringing his knees up, he rested his elbows on them and hung his head. “Cole?” she regarded him intently his body language was so defeated. “It was my father.” His mumbled words fell into the circle of his body and barely registered in Nikki’s ears “What?” “It was my father” his voice was louder and his hands balled up into fists but he still didn’t look up at her “He had my mother killed.”

To say she was in shock would’ve been an understatement. He’d said she’d got caught up in some store robbery gone wrong but then didn’t she know about the classic set up. She was sure the MC had used it more than once. “Fuck” what the hell else was she supposed to say to that? “Why?” The question slipped out before her brain actually registered it. Way to poke the hornet’s nest Nikki. “Because he was far from a legitimate businessman and while my mother was aware of that, we all were, I don’t think she realized the extent of his depravity. Something sparked her to dig further and what she found was far beyond what she wanted to know or what she was willing to turn a blind eye to. So he shut her up the only way he knew how. He had her killed.” Shit didn’t that just smack of cold hard reality and here she thought this world was insulated. Losing your mother was a fucking terrible thing especially when you’re young and you actually have a relationship with her but finding out your father was the one behind it; that was a killer. “When did you find out?” His head lifted up but his eyes went toward the window and away from her. “I was not quite twenty three. I’d been chasing ghosts for years trying to put together the pieces of what happened to my mother, trying desperately to find the people responsible. What I found wasn’t what I expected.” Nikki couldn’t imagine the hurt and betrayal that would’ve accompanied that discovery but she had one hell of a good grasp on the need for vengeance that he would’ve felt. “By that stage he was more monster than man and when I confronted him he didn’t even feel the need to deny it. Needless to say he didn’t breathe another breath on this earth from that moment.” And there it was, the killer born.

She had nothing for him. No words. No actions. His head swung her way and there in his eyes was the darkness she knew all too well. “Whoever said revenge was sweet fucking lied. It fills you up until it’s the only thing you have and once the act is done the poison stays and continues to eat you up from the inside out.” He was trying to warn her of the peril of her pursuit for Bridges. She knew what he was saying was true she saw it in him clear as day but it wouldn’t stop her. She was already too far down that path to go back anyway. Time to change the subject, “How’s your nuts?” Cole snorted a laugh of sorts “Still tingling and not in a good way but I’ll survive. Didn’t they teach you at the gym nut shots are illegal?” She smiled “They did but I don’t see an octagon or a ref anywhere in here.” His face turned serious quickly “I’m really sorry.” “It’s ok I can defend myself.” “Yes but you shouldn’t have to, not here, not with me.” Nikki just nodded her head. Wait a minute how did he know she trained at an MMA gym “How did you know I trained?” He got a bit of what Nikki liked to call oh shit I’ve been caught face. “Um I had you checked out?” He did what? “What do you mean you had me checked out?” He looked at her rather sheepishly and it would’ve been cute if she hadn’t known what was coming. “After I found out about your relationship with the club I had you checked out. I just needed to know what I was getting myself into.” Jesus Christ now she wished she’d kicked him harder in the nuts. “And was what you found to your satisfaction?” she bit out at him that little monster quickly emerging from inside her. Now you wanna show up? “It’s not like that. Man in my position needs to be careful what and whom he’s getting into bed with.” Great so here she was climbing into bed with a man she’d known nothing about while he was out running background checks. Didn’t that make her look like a stupid slut?

"You never thought to ask me?" He stared hard at her "Would you have offered that information freely?" No she wouldn't have. Hell she would've gone out of her way for him not to find out about her and the club. It had been her body she was interested in sharing not her life. "No." Even now she wanted the two things kept completely separate. But he'd suckered her in with his dark domineering nature and his ability to push all her buttons. He could read people alright. He could read her too well. "It was only so I could ensure that what we were doing here was exactly what it was and not some kind of subterfuge to get hold over me or what I have." So much for trust hey? So much for giving someone the benefit of the doubt. "I can't afford to give someone the benefit of the doubt." She hadn't realized she'd said that out loud. "Think about Nikki. You can't tell me that when you dated that cop the club didn't do everything they could to make sure the relationship was legit and that he wasn't using you for info." He was right. The same rules applied in her world. But shit, when she dated that cop? Did he know everything about her now? "Do you know when I get my period too? Jesus fucking Christ Cole." His response was quiet "You don't get it. You've got an implant in your arm." Her eyes bugged out of her head. "You've looked at my fucking medical records?" She pushed herself up off the floor of his room in one swift move. She was getting her clothes on and getting the fuck outta there. "No I did not. I know that because you've got the incision scar on your arm and I've felt it when I've touched you there." Sure she believed him, not. Nikki snagged her jeans from where housekeeping had left them laundered and folded on the lounge chair in Cole's room. She couldn't believe this shit.

"What else do you think you know about me?" He rose to his feet under a surge of his own anger "It's not like I haven't told you important things about me." Oh he did not just go there. "Yeah things that you got to volunteer in your own god damn time on your own god damn terms." She yanked her jeans up her legs and buttoned them up. Why the hell was she even arguing about this? Get out Nikki just get out. "You wanna know everything I know about you. Fine. Your mum was an abusive drunk who spent more time on cock than you. Your father was absent for majority of your childhood. King and Rose raised you alongside Tex and Trace although they weren't like brothers to you more like your friends and more. Even though you got good grades you got in trouble a lot in school for sticking up for others against bullies. Despite your grades you chose to work in the club's garage and you have mad skills when it comes to bike building. You only ever had one solid relationship and that was with Alex. You've had on and off things with Tex and Trace. You trained at the MMA gym on fourth and Johnson. You also trained at the lone star gun range and your accuracy is legendary. Your mum died in an attack that nearly got you killed, although you told me that and when you were twelve years old you were nearly expelled from school for kicking the ass of some older boy who was picking on your best friend Jess and who thought you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life." Nikki froze halfway to getting her shirt on "What?" "You were like the Angel of vengeance, so fierce in defense of your friend and fearless, I mean what twelve year old girl confronts a fifteen year old boy. You demanded I apologise to her and I refused, although I think it was more to see how you'd react than because I actually didn't want to apologise. You gave me one hell of a mouthful and the whole time I just stared into your eyes thinking how amazing they were, how they went from blue to grey the angrier you got. It was like watching a storm cloud grow darker and more menacing. Then I said something to you I don't even know what it was and you hit me. Popped me right in the jaw and I think I might have tried to restrain you but you weren't having any part of that and we ended up on the ground. You were smart too, you just kept pushing and working searching for and creating openings while I tried my best just to hold you still. You must've seen an opening and you moved so quickly, one minute I had you pinned on the ground the next you were on my back and you had me in a chokehold. I swear to god you would've choked me out if a teacher hadn't come and broken it up." He paused and in the quiet her mind wandered back to that day.

She remembered Jess coming up to her crying cause some boy called her a skank. It'd set her off something fierce and she'd demanded Jess point the boy out even though she hadn't wanted to. From memory the boy had been scrawny with a slightly olive tone to his skin. She hadn't really taken much notice of what he looked like other than that and of course she'd been too busy giving him what for to pay much attention to his face. "We got hauled up to the office and you refused to answer any of the principal’s questions. You refused to get me in trouble even when he threatened you with expulsion if you didn't tell him what happened. I was in awe of this girl who not only got the better of me in a fight but kept her mouth shut despite having the opportunity to get me into further trouble. And the fact that you were beautiful didn't hurt. I couldn't let you get expelled because of me so I told the principal that I started it calling you horrible names and snapping your bra strap. When I came out of the office with the principal in tow you tried to set him straight but Roger turned up and it must've been Rose who came for you. The last thing I remember was sitting beside you on the bench out the front of the office while the principal spoke to them. I was staring at you and I'm sure you must've known it because you were staring straight ahead out the window. You said to me you didn't have to do that you know." She recalled the look of disappointment on Rose's face when she'd turned up and she'd remembered feeling like shit because it was Rose and not her mother who came. She'd wanted to be punished. She'd made that comment then turned to face the scrawny boy next to her and been struck by his beautiful green eyes. "You told me it was your fault anyway you shouldn't have called Jess a skank and then you complimented me on my right hook." Cole took a few steps towards her "And then you smiled at me and I made myself a promise that I'd get to know this gutsy gorgeous girl. You told me your name was Nikki and then Rose came out of the office and I never got a chance to tell you my name." Jesus. While she never would've thought that huge powerful body of his belonged to that scrawny kid how had she forgotten those eyes?