SOULLESS (Black Thorns, #2) (9 page)

“You all right?”

I gasp, completely caught off guard by the sudden voice.

I pull my hands away and see Runner standing in front of me.

“What?” I ask, at a loss.

His expression is soft and his words are gentle as he asks, “Why you crying, darlin’?”

I shake my head, not knowing how the hell to even begin to explain it.

“Tonight was a lot to take. Too much shit went down. You want me to get Smiter over here and see ‘bout getting a doctor up here? You might be in shock.”

He has to talk to Smiter, because he’s the Sergeant-at-Arms—the club’s head of security. Right now the club’s on lockdown. So, they can’t just have people coming in and out. Smiter would have to find a secure way of bringing a doctor in here.

“No. I’m fine,” I tell him. “Thanks.”

“He ain’t really pissed at
you
. He didn’t mean what he said. Ax is just like that when he’s riled up. It’s Kent he’s pissed at.”

“We weren’t engaged,” I find myself revealing. I have no idea why I’m telling him anything like this. Runner and I haven’t exactly got along in the past. We nearly came to blows once. He blamed me for pulling Neil away from the club and he didn’t want to lose his best friend of so many years. The two of them came up together in the club and there is a lot of history there.

“You weren’t?”

“He proposed. It was out of the blue. We were just…screwing around.”

“Sounds like Kent. He’s a complete psycho. You gotta tell Ax this, darlin’.”

“What happened between them?”

“Sorry. Ain’t my place to tell, you know?”

I nod.

“You know, Rox,” he says, stepping into me and laying a hand on my shoulder. A smile plays on his lips as he tells me, “He’s been a real bastard since you guys split up. Ain’t been himself. Maybe you can change that, yeah?” He winks at me and steps back.

Heavy footsteps startle both of us and Runner spins around.

We both watch Smiter stepping out from the side of the clubhouse. Was he there the entire time?

“Good to see you’re playing nice, Runner. Just checking. Saw you walk out after her.”

“Yeah, we’re good.” Runner grins at me. “Right, darlin’?”

“Yeah,” I say, unable to prevent myself from cracking a smile in response to Runner’s infectious one. I can see why he’s so popular with women. He has an undeniable charm about him and when he turns it on, it just sucks you in.

“No flirting,” Smiter tells him.

Runner scoffs. “That’s like asking me not to breathe.”

Smiter rolls his eyes. “You ready, Rox?”

“Yeah,” I say, taking one last drag of my smoke then stubbing it out and walking over to him. He wraps his arm around me.

“Ready for what?” Runner asks, clearly not liking being out of the loop.

“Movie marathon,” Smiter tells him.

“Chick flicks?” he asks.

Of course that’d be his go-to, because I’m a woman. “God, no,” I respond.

“Statham marathon,” Smiter tells him. “Why? You want in?”

“Nah. Got some shit to take care of.”

Smiter laughs. “You mean your dick cuz we’re on lockdown, so there ain’t no pussy for you, sex addict.”

“Gotta do what I gotta do.”

The way he says it, it seems like he’s joking around. But the look in his eyes and the somber look that passes between him and Smiter has me thinking there’s a lot more to it. Huh.

“Yeah, I know, man,” Smiter says.

He pulls me away then and leads me back into the clubhouse.

Chapter 10

~Ax~

I’m gonna kill that fucker.

That bastard knows drugs too fucking well not to have known the shit he gave me was gonna knock me out for hours on end. What the hell was it? It takes a lot to knock me out. Must’ve been a goddamn elephant tranquilizer, or something. Argh!

Runner shouldn’t be handling
any
drugs anyway. He fucking knows that.

Last thing any of us at the club needs right now is him being pulled back into that shit and going off the rails. Jesus. Like we ain’t got enough to worry ‘bout.

My anger escalates with every passing second that it takes me to pull on a clean pair of jeans and a club t-shirt. The shirt takes me ages to get on, cuz of my wounded shoulder. By the time I manage it, I’m sweating like a bitch in heat. At least the pain ain’t more than a dull ache, cuz of the drug. It’s real strong. It’s hard to walk straight. It’s like walking ‘round in a thick haze.

The damn stuff is tryin’ to relax me and my anger’s tryin’ to break through the effects, but tryin’ to fight is just tiring me out. And the weaker it makes me feel, the angrier it makes me.

A vicious circle.

I can’t be relaxed now. I gotta be tense and alert with this Kent situation.

I walk outta my room and make my way down the hall, hating that I gotta take it slow and stop to press my hand to the wall to steady myself every few steps. I reach the small set of stairs and take ‘em even slower. Last thing I need is to trip up and end up in a heap at the bottom. That’ll make me look like a prissy bitch in front of the boys.

Argh! I gotta be strong and these drugs ain’t making that easy!

It takes me forever just to make it to the common lounge area.

It shocks me how quiet it is.

There ain’t no one on the couches or at the pool tables. What time is it then? Are they all in bed?

Quiet laughter and talkin’ catches my attention.

Well, they ain’t
all
in bed then.

It’s coming from the bar.

As I get closer, I see the source over on the far side.

What the fuck?

It’s Smiter, Rox and…Runner?

That ain’t a combination I ever expected to see—not without blood being spilled and shit. And there ain’t none of that. Looks like they’re all good. Joking ‘round.

As I walk over, my whole focus goes to Rox.

That killer smile on her face.

It’s been too long since I’ve seen that.

And right then, the anger that’s been simmering within me burns out.

She must sense my eyes on her, cuz she turns her head towards me suddenly.

I feel my stomach clench when that stunning smile fades as she looks my way. She looks…scared? She’s scared of me? That ain’t acceptable. Ah, hell. It comes back to me then, the shit I said to her, cuz of the whole thing with Kent. Need to clear that up ASAP.

“Ax, what you doing outta bed?” Runner asks, getting to his feet and coming over to me.

Smiter does the same and, before I know it, the two of ‘em are reaching for me.

“Hands off,” I tell ‘em. “I’m good.”

“Well, you can’t drink with that shit in your system,” Runner tells me as he walks back to his stool.

“Shoulda never shot me up with it in the first place!”

“Made you sleep for once,” Smiter cuts in.

He’s right. As usual. I did need the rest. I ain’t slept well for a long time.

“What time is it?”

Smiter lifts his left arm and glances at his watch. “Just after four.”

“Why you up so late?” The club’s on lockdown. I remember texting Grit ‘bout doing it before I passed out in Runner’s truck on the way up here. So, there ain’t no pussy parties happening, which is what usually has us all up all night.

“Us?” Smiter says, gesturing between him and Rox. “Movie marathon. Him?” He points at Runner. “Got bored jerking it and headed on down here.”

“More like his dick finally went limp,” Rox says.

Both Smiter and Runner burst out laughing.

For a second, I think the girl I knew is back. That comment had a lot of bite to it; something she used to have in spades. But as I watch her wrap her arm ‘round Runner and pull him into her so brazenly, I realize she’s smashed. A problem, cuz she don’t drink—has a bad history with it. So there’s a real issue here if she’s drinking now. Shit.

Runner’s eyes dart to mine, looking real uncomfortable that she’s touching him in front of me.

“Time for bed, Rox,” I tell her.

“Not yet,” she says, laying her head against Runner’s chest.

“Weren’t a request, babe. Get your ass off that stool
now
.”

“I don’t like you as president,” she tells me in a drunken slur. “You’re bossier than ever. A real buzz kill.”

I scrub my hand over my face. “Ain’t in the mood to fight with you.”

“Ax, we’ll take care of her,” Runner tells me, clearly tryin’ to diffuse the situation before I lose my temper. He knows me well.

He dunno
her,
though.

“She shouldn’t be drinking,” I tell him.

I see by the look on his face that he gets it right away. He’s been through some real bad shit with substance abuse, so if anyone’s gonna get it, it’s him.

“You don’t know that anymore, Neil. We haven’t been together for a long time. You don’t get to do that…pretend like you know me now,” she says. She pulls away from Runner and stumbles off her stool, only just managing not to fall. “You
left
me!” she yells, her voice echoing right through the room.

This ain’t the time or place for this conversation.

“Rox—”

“And now you hate me, because I fucked a guy who turns out to be an enemy of yours…from years ago.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Yes, you do! You couldn’t look at me! You’re disgusted by me.” She staggers over to me and gets in my face. “It’s okay for you to stick your dick in hundreds of whores, but if I’ve been with another man, you can’t handle it? Are you threatened? Worried he has a bigger dick than you? That he knows how to use it better than you? That he can make me come better than you can? Is that it? Some pissing contest?”

“Babe,” I growl in warning.

“Ax,” I hear Smiter call to me. “She’s just drunk, yeah. Don’t mean it.”

He knows what her words are doing to me. Cuz they’d be doing the same to him
and
Runner. Jesus fuck.

Before I can stop myself, I grab her arms and pin her against the bar. “There ain’t no way he’s fucked you as good as I have. You were starving for a good fuck when I came along.
That’s
how I know.”

“Get off me!” she cries, tryin’ to squirm outta my grip.

I lean into her. “You wanna know why I hate him?”

She tries to push me off her again, but I press my body weight against her.

“He tortured me. Sadistic, brutal, merciless shit. For days. Yeah? So now you know.”

She’s so shocked she can’t even speak. Pain flashes in her eyes. Pain for me.

And then she hangs her head and whispers, “I want to go to bed.”

I step back and she hurries away in a state.

Fuck. I can hear her sniffling and crying as she runs outta the room.

“Her and Kent?” Smiter asks.

“Yeah.”

“Shit.”

As I watch her rush off down the corridor, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I fucked up.”

“You think?” Runner says. “Jesus, Ax. You gotta tone down the intensity. I ain’t no relationship expert, but I don’t think it’s gonna sit well, you leaving things like that. Better go talk to her.”

“She ain’t usually this sensitive.”

“She’s lost,” Smiter says quietly.

My gaze snaps to his. He’s right. That’s exactly what’s happened with her. It’s why she’s not herself.

She’s lost.

Problem is; how do I bring her back?

Chapter 11

~Ax~

I push open the door to the spare room that I had one of the prospects set up for Rox. It’s dark inside. I walk over and sit down on the edge of the bed.

“Rox? You awake?” I whisper, reaching out to her.

She stirs as my hand strokes her back.

“Neil?” she murmurs sleepily.

“Yeah, babe.”

I’m expecting the next words outta her mouth to be something along the lines of
“fuck off”
, so I’m more than a little surprised when she reaches out and grabs my hand. Squeezing it, she says softly, “Closer.”

“Yeah?” I ask, not sure what’s actually happening here. If I’d spoken to her the way I had downstairs a few months back, she woulda ripped me a new one. But now…what...she’s just over it? That ain’t like her. Hell, it ain’t like no woman. They hold onto shit and Rox weren’t no exception.

“Yes,” she says, releasing my hand and shifting onto her side, her back to me.

She pulls back the covers and my dick jerks as I catch sight of her in nothing but a pair of black lacy panties and a matching bra, just as fucking sexy.

I slide in next to her and pull the covers up over us.