Chapter Four
What in the hell happened?
Of all the ways she thought her night would end, experiencing the best orgasm of her life with a complete stranger was not one of them. Running for her life—now that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Earth knocked off its access-type of orgasm with a man who hadn’t even unzipped? Nope. Not even in her wildest dreams.
Athena rolled to her side on the bed and clutched a pillow against her chest. The object of her fascination lay on the floor beside the bed, having returned earlier in the morning after procuring them some supplies. A sleeping bag was his only layer of comfort from the hardwood floor, but he had three blankets piled on top of him and pulled up to his chin.
Sleep had claimed her before he had left, and she wasn’t certain whether she was glad he let her be or disappointed he didn’t try to pick up where they had left off.
Was she supposed to feel bad about what happened between them? Neither one of them took advantage of the other, although Thallium had been left with a case of blue balls that could have probably made The Guinness Book of World Records, poor guy.
But seriously, how was she supposed to process what happened earlier? They were consenting adults, and until the trial in a few weeks, they were going to be stuck together in a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere where no one knew they existed. It wasn’t as if he had a big-screen TV and cable television to distract them. Hell, she couldn’t even see a book anywhere in sight. Just what were they supposed to do with themselves? Engage in a staring contest? He was a good-looking kid. Sooner or later, sex was going to creep into every thought she had.
Fuck that, he was a full-grown man. A big, beefy, well-hung man, if the bulge pressing against her backside the night before was anything to judge by. And the way he had looked at her, touched her, indicated he was more than willing to take things further. So why shouldn’t she indulge in a little bit of fantasy? Really, who was it going to harm? If these were going to be her last few days on earth, why shouldn’t they be spent wrapped in a naked, heaving human pretzel with a young stud? Perhaps this was the gods’ way of paying her for her public service.
She couldn’t help but giggle at the thought. Melinda would shit bricks if she knew where she was and what she was contemplating.
A cramp in her lower abdomen and a rumble in her empty belly urged her out of the cocoon of blankets. The moment her foot touched the ground, Thallium’s eyes popped open and he sat up.
“Do you need something?”
“No. Nature’s calling. And I’m a little hungry.”
He jumped to his feet. “I’ll get you something to eat.”
“Don’t get up on my account. I can take care of it myself. Besides, you need to rest too.”
“I want to take care of you. Why don’t you go freshen up while I start b-breakfast? I need to do a thorough check of our provisions anyway. Make sure we have everything we need for the next two weeks. I bought you some clothes, but…”
“But what?”
He glanced away as a bit of pink hit his cheeks. “I like the way you look wearing my T-shirt.”
Oh, yeah. She was going to thoroughly enjoy their time in captivity.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, and picked up the bag he had placed by the front door. “I won’t be long.”
As she set about the mundane tasks of brushing her teeth and running a comb through her hair, the scent of frying pork began to permeate the small cabin and her tummy cramped with hunger.
Damn, she hadn’t been this hungry since she and Nicolai had been kids on the street, looking for a place to live after her parents had kicked her out of the house.
Those had been some lean times. Desperate times. Dangerous times. At one point she thought she was going to have her baby in the back of their old Corolla. Then Nick had prospected in with El Vengadores and the club’s leader had taken them in until they had scraped up enough for a studio apartment.
She had never asked Nick what he had done to be granted such a favor as a prospect, but when he’d return each night with swollen knuckles and a wild gleam in his eyes, she knew it was dangerous enough to deserve some props. Every time he’d come home after doing “club business,” he‘d act cockier than shit and be ready to fuck until dawn. For Nicolai, the club and his baby boy were his everything and he’d die to protect them. Still would.
Gah! What perfectly wretched things to think about when there was a hunky man not more than twenty feet away. That time was long gone, and there might not be time in her future. No point in wasting a second of the present thinking about the indignities of the past.
She dug through the bag of clothes he had bought for her, finding a pair of jeans, some T-shirts, undergarments, and a pair of shorts. Comfortable. Utilitarian. Not a sexy item in the bunch.
Mmm… If Thallium enjoyed seeing her wearing his shirt, then she’d be happy to grant him that pleasure. The question remained: panties or no panties?
She opened the package of underwear he had purchased, and held up a pair of pink cotton briefs. The fabric was so thin, she could see the impressions of her fingers right through it. They were hideous, but the possibilities of their transparency were irresistible.
She slipped them on and checked out her reflection. The line of her ass was more than visible, and her breasts swung freely within the confines of his black T-shirt, but it was the impression of Thallium’s teeth at the base of her neck that completed the slutty attire. If her less than firm body gave her cause to feel self-conscious, the memory of how his eyes blazed as he brought her to release dashed those insecurities away.
Thallium was at work at the stove as she exited the bathroom. Heat billowed out of the wood-burning stove, making the room nice and toasty, and the scent of sizzling ham enveloped her like a warm hug. Damn, mornings spent like this were definitely something she could get used to.
“Smells delicious,” she said.
He looked up and did a double-take when he saw her leaning against the wall. His eyes darted over her from her head, down her bare legs, to her toes, and a smile toyed with his lips. He liked what he saw.
“Almost finished. Have a seat.”
“Can I help with anything?”
His smile grew and a naughty gleam sparkled in his eyes. “You’re already doing enough.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere, young man,” she said with a laugh and took a seat at the table he had already set with silverware.
“You keep mentioning my age. I’m thirty-three. Not exactly a youth.”
“I remember thirty-three. But I was an old thirty-three. My older—”
Fuck. The past just wouldn’t stay in the past, would it?
“Your older what?”
“My older boy turned sixteen that year.” She flicked at the lock of silver in her hair. “This streak of gray is from watching him learn how to drive. I about had a nervous breakdown when he learned how to ride a chop.”
“Which son was that? Kurt or Eddie?”
“You know their names?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “You have those names tattooed on your back. I’d be surprised if they were former lovers.”
“Kurt. My older boy is Kurt.”
“Where are your sons now?” he asked, and set a plate of eggs and ham in front of her. He took the chair across the table and the sight of his plate piled with three times the amount of food as hers almost made her smile through her regrets.
“Kurt is in the same jail as his father. Eddie would be with them, but he’s up for lesser charges and his girlfriend bailed him out.”
“Athena, I’m sorry.”
She shrugged and picked at her eggs, suddenly not as hungry as she had been a moment before. “They made their choices. They’re adults and knew the consequences of their actions. Who was I to warn them and ask them to be better men but the woman who gave them life?” She snorted with derisive humor. “And I’ll be the woman who puts them away for life.”
Hell yeah, she was bitter. Kurt had been sucked into the depravity of the club before he turned eighteen, but Eddie she thought she had gotten through to. He had been an A student, played football and baseball, and did what he was told, which were the skills his father had utilized to make him into the club’s strategist.
Eddie was the civilized face of the Vengadores, while Kurt was the muscle. When working together on a task, the three Argyris men were a force that made most men wet themselves.
“Why?” Thallium’s hushed question was expected but nonetheless jarring. “What made you decide to work with the Feds?”
The better question to ask was why she had waited so long, but then the answer to that was easy. Fear.
“The law and I had crossed paths many times before. When the club took us in, they were into petty shit. Robbery, assault, drugs. Nicolai managed to keep his nose clean and do a good job, which was why he moved up the ranks. Then the money got bigger, the jobs more dangerous. He earned the spot of president because he beat the shit out of his predecessor, who happened to be the man who had saved our asses. Nick ruled with a bloody fist, and I wanted out so many times, but I was afraid of what he’d do to me, and the kids.”
“Did he ever hit you?” he growled and his nostrils flared. His fist tightened around the fork as if it were a weapon. “Did that son of a bitch ever hit you?”
“No—”
“Don’t lie.”
“If you thought you knew the answer, then why did you ask? He never hit me. We were together since we were kids. He loved me. But control was everything to Nicolai. He’d push. He’d shove. He’d yell. But he never struck me.”
“That’s b-bullshit semantics and you know it. So what, he shoved you once too often? Was that it?”
“No.” She picked at her breakfast again and managed to eat a few bites, more to distance herself from the horror of the memories than because she was hungry. “There was a prospect, a friend of Kurt’s. He’d been initiating for a year. The boys were having a pool party at our house with their friends, and someone had the bright idea to make the prospect’s girlfriend pull a train.”
“What is that?”
“A gangbang.” The eggs she had just eaten turned in her stomach and she pushed her plate away. “The club members go one right after the other. Nicolai and I were out, meeting with other MC presidents. There was no reason for me to be there with him, except to be his arm candy. He wanted to show the others he controlled not only his club, but his family. You have no idea how many times I wished I had told him to take one of his whores instead. When we returned home, the boys were still at it.”
Tears burned her eyes and her throat closed up. “They tore her up. Those bastards had abused her to the point where I thought she was dead. And then I realized she was just a kid. That asshole had brought a fourteen-year-old to a club party and they almost killed her.”
His fork hit the floor with a clang. “Jesus Christ.”
She jumped to her feet and collected the fork, taking it to the sink and fetching him a clean one. “That was the last straw. Nick had them take me into the house right quick when I started screaming. I never did find out what happened to her, if she lived, or if they killed her and hid the body.” She bit her lip and clasped her hands on the tabletop. “I saw myself in her. I was young once. In a situation way over my head. But I had Nick to keep me from the worst. My sons should have protected that girl, but they didn’t. I decided then that they had to be stopped. All of them.”
“Have you ever pulled—”
“Don’t ask, Thallium.” She stopped him dead with a glare that begged him not to continue. “Don’t.”
He nodded and on his face she saw recognition. Her non-answer was answer enough.
Although she couldn’t stomach another bite, she picked up her fork and ate, not wanting to talk anymore.
Thallium placed his big hand over hers. “My father is a d-drug dealer.”
“What?”
He let go of her hand and cleared his throat. “My father is a doctor, up in Washington state. His patients are men like your husband. Those who can’t go to a regular clinic for fear of questions. He’ll take whatever you have for payment. Money, sex, drugs. He connects sellers with buyers. When I was a kid, I wanted to turn him in so many times, but I was afraid, so I joined the Marines the day I turned eighteen. To learn how to stop men like him. Instead, I found there were bigger monsters in the world. I never got a chance to go after him.”
“Do you think you ever will?”
His gaze met hers and a chill went down her spine. “I hope so.”
And when he did, Athena knew justice was going to be meted out quick and by a jury of one.
“I hope you do, too.” They shared a smile of understanding and she laughed. “This has been…interesting. I’m sorry I ruined breakfast.”
“You didn’t do anything. Just confirmed what I suspected about you.”
“And what was that?”
Admiration and desire burned in his gaze. “That you are special. Incredibly special.”