CHAPTER TWO

Sofia touched Wolf’s jaw. The sorrow in his beautiful pale blue eyes brought a heaviness to her chest. She hated seeing him hurting. Even in their short time together, she’d realized he was different from most men she knew. The whole time they dated he’d never tried anything but kissing her. That spoke volumes in her world.

Then she heard the clink of the handcuffs as he moved. She stiffened and pulled away as far as their connection allowed. Frustration twisted her insides. Again, she got wrapped up in being near him. The man made her forget herself and all self-respect.

“You didn’t answer me.” She wanted to hear his excuse for treating her so roughly, for showing up and kidnapping her, for keeping her handcuffed, but first her curiosity needed to be satisfied.

“You heard that?” He looked at her with the blankness that she hated. What was he hiding?

“I’m sitting like six inches from the phone. What do you think?” She kept her tone light like her ex-husband had taught her. Men were so funny about their pride and how a woman spoke to them. They could be such babies.

With an arm around her, the warmth of the fire and the coffee he’d given her, her body began to relax against his. No matter how much he’d hurt her heart when he ended whatever they had, she still cared for him. He always gave off a vibe of being a loner, expecting the worst from everyone around him. Yet, he’d treated her like a princess during their short time together. She couldn’t forget that. No one, not even her beloved cousin, had treated her that well.

“I can’t talk to you about club business, but I can tell you this. For a short period around Thanksgiving, during a critical time in my club, I let my attention drift from what I owed my club, and I paid for it by losing my position with the Brothers.” His eyes didn’t move, he continued to stare deep into hers as if he wanted to make certain she understood. “I won’t let it happen again.”

Was it the same time they had been together? Or was she reading more than what there was? “Because we were dating?”

He didn’t say anything for what felt like forever as his gaze searched hers. Then he looked away. “It doesn’t matter now,” he murmured.

“For you to be a VP had to mean something to you.” Unable to hold back, she lifted her free hand and cupped his jaw. “Our time together meant the world to me. I appreciated your kindness.”

She wanted to say more but his abruptness in breaking off their relationship had been painful. After a few days, she’d calmed down, having some time to think it through. She didn’t want them to be a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Everyone knew how that ended. Chances were it would happen to them. Although their deaths would be by the hand of others. She would not do suicide for anyone, no matter how much she loved them.

Tired, she leaned her head against his shoulder. Gradually, his tension disappeared. She relaxed too. Her nose pressed to his neck. The smell of leather and male comforted her. She’d missed his scent.

“Wolf, why the handcuffs?”

“I didn’t want you fighting me.”

Frustrating man. Would every word have to be pulled out of his mouth?

“I guessed that. Let me ask it this way. Why am I here?” Before he could open his mouth, she added, “And don’t say some bullshit about you bringing me here.”

He chuckled, his chest moving beneath her cheek.

“No bullshit.” His arms tightened as if he expected her to jump up and run away. “Rumors are, your cousin’s house will be attacked tonight.”

That was so not what she’d expected. She began to struggle against his hold.

“Let me go. I need to call Hector. Give me my phone back.” Her heart raced. She had to warn him.

“No.” Wolf’s tone brooked no argument.

His face became blank, leaving her to wonder what was going through his mind. She freaking hated to see the lack of emotion. She wanted back the man who talked with her. The man who laughed and joked as they got to know each other.

“Please.” Only for her cousin would she beg.

“It’s too late. It’s happening now. They’re not going to kill him.”

“Can you promise me?”

“As long as your cousin plays it smart, he’ll live.”

“You swear?” Sure, he kidnapped her and was part of a gang that hated her people, but she remembered the way he’d been. He told her only the truth.

“Killing him isn’t part of the plan.”

Then again, hadn’t he lied to her by omission while they were seeing each other? Yet, couldn’t the same be said about her? She may not be directly involved in the Thirty-Second, but they were part of her life. Some of their wives, girlfriends, and sisters were her friends. She’d never said a word to Wolf. She guessed they both wanted to be themselves without being weighed down by their pasts and separated from what hurt them in the present.

Hands on his chest, she pushed away to the end of the links once more, as much as he allowed while keeping her in his arms. Dropping her gaze to the vest resting over the couch’s armrest, she noted the small area below a Mayhem patch where thread stuck out and the material was slightly darker. Probably where his VP patch had been before they demoted him.

“Why didn’t you wear your vest when we were seeing each other?”

He looked away and cleared his throat.

“Wearing my cut does one of two things to women. They either become afraid and stay clear of me or become fascinated and want to fuck me.” He looked her in the eye. “I wanted you to see me first, not the vest.”

There was the man she’d met at the grocery store and dated. Honest and upfront. How could he be a part of the assholes who kill her people?

“Why do you care if I’m hurt?” Being this close reminded her of what he’d meant to her before he broke her heart. She missed his voice and touch, and his massive presence. She missed seeing his broad shoulders, lean waist, hips, and big hands. Those hands moved to firmly hold her wrists, circling them as easily as the handcuff.

“Enough questions.”

“So you’ll let me go in the morning?” She had to find a way to call Hector. He wasn’t perfect, but he deserved her loyalty. Unlike her half brother, who she had no idea where he disappeared to whenever she needed him.

He sighed. Obviously, realizing she wouldn’t stop asking questions. “No.”

The way it sounded so final sent a chill down her back.

“No? What else is going to happen?”

He pulled her against him. One arm hooked her back and slammed her chest to his. His gaze slid to her mouth.

“I missed you,” he said, his cock hardening beneath her denim-covered butt.

She opened her mouth to respond, and he kissed her. His tongue stroked hers as she wiggled in his lap, wanting to spread her legs and feel him there. As if he read her mind, he pulled and turned her body to face his, shifting one of her legs to the other side. Her heat settled onto his. The kiss pushed aside all thoughts of danger and worries. She pressed her body to his. His warmth seeped deeper into her body. Her head tilted back as his tongue continued to play with hers.

Everything disappeared around her. The dingy house, the thought of their people going to battle, and how wrong it was in what they were doing all vanished with his touch.

A calloused hand dipped beneath her shirt and bra and scraped the sensitive, taut nipple. She moaned. He kissed her harder, eating at her mouth as if he couldn’t get enough until he pulled back, panting. Then he jerked the bra up, freeing her breasts. With a tug on her arm, he brought her up to her knees and his mouth covered one hard tip. He sucked hard.

She squeaked. Then all the breath left her body. He switched to the other breast, and without thinking, she clasped a handful of dark hair, holding him in place. His tongue rubbed the tip as he lightly bit down.

She screamed. The pleasure-pain drove her insane for more. She clawed his shirt up his torso. Muscles and hot skin met her fingertips. Over their time together and apart, she’d craved touching him and found she could not control herself.

Shifting, he lifted her and carefully placed her on her back. Then his big body covered her. He began to rock against her, rubbing her hot center with his swollen cock.

The handcuffs rattled. She blinked as if coming out of a dream. She’d forgotten she was his prisoner.

“Let me up,” she whispered. Her face warmed. In the short time she’d been married, Ramon had never heated her to the point she screamed and lost control.

“No.” A determined face replaced the blank one from earlier. In a way, it was scarier. “You belong to me. You’re mine.”

Instead of fear, the words excited her. Seconds passed as she tried to straighten out her feelings and how she wanted to answer. Then a banging echoed in the room.

Before she knew what he planned, he picked her up and walked over to the stairway, pausing long enough to kiss her and then cuff her to the railing. Frustration heated her face. She opened her mouth to scream, but he stopped her by efficiently smoothing a wide sticky strip over her lips.

––––––––

“I’m going to kill whoever that is.” Wolf looked back at Sofia. He’d handcuffed her to the banister leading upstairs and placed duct tape over her mouth. Her glare alerted him it would take more than a few kisses to loosen her up next time.

He stopped a couple of feet from the door.

“Who is it?” No one in the club knew about his parents’ old house.

“Open the fuck up!”

That voice was unmistakable.

He yanked it open and stared in disbelief at his uncle, Trick Savalas.

“I heard you were dead.” Wolf tried to block him from entering, but his uncle shouldered his way in. Outside, in the darkness, he spotted two large men standing watch.

“Wasn’t like that son of a bitch Mikolas didn’t try,” Trick said as Wolf closed the door. “I can tell how torn up you were about it.”

Mikolas Savalas was Trick’s uncle, and in turn, Wolf’s great uncle, and mean as a snake. He had to be as he ran the Savalas crime family from his center of operations in Atlanta. A few years ago, Trick had double-crossed him and disappeared. Rumors ran rampant that Wolf and his brother had a hand in Trick’s death. Wolf hadn’t touched the slimy bastard and had suspected his uncle was hiding or he’d been killed by Mikolas.

Seeing Trick alive sent mixed emotions through him. They had a love–hate relationship.

If not for his uncle, Wolf would’ve been placed with strangers or at a boys’ home. Trick had taken in Wolf and his brother, Thorn, after their father had died. Their mother had died years earlier. So they had no one else. Thorn joined the Army at seventeen as soon as he talked their uncle into signing the paperwork, leaving Wolf to put up with his uncle’s idiosyncrasies. And the man had plenty. In his younger days, his favorite ploy had been to dose a woman’s drink with GHB, knock her out, and rape her. Trick wasn’t someone Wolf would trust around any woman, especially if his uncle found out Sofia was Toro’s cousin.

“How long have you been back?” Wolf reached for his gun tucked in the hidden holster at the back of his jeans. He waited to see what Trick planned.

“A couple weeks.” Trick leaned to the side and turned to look at Wolf. “Well, you sneaky little bastard. What do we have here?” He started toward Sofia, but Wolf stepped between them.

“Why are you here?”

“Taking up where your old uncle left off? I prefer them out, but your good old dad enjoyed a little fight in them.”

“She’s none of your business.” He needed Trick out. If his uncle called his guards from outside, things would get ugly. And he sure as hell would rather not hear about the good old days from his uncle about his dad.

“Don’t worry. She’s not my type. I like blondes.” Trick’s evil grin finally faded when he looked around. “Your old family homestead looks to be in better shape than I had thought. Are you planning to move back in? I’m surprised you didn't take over the compound.” Trick was referring to the nearby house and buildings where most of the Savalas kin lived.

“I thought about it, but decided Mom and Dad’s place was plenty for me.”

Trick pursed his lips, nodding. “It’s held up.” He looked back at Wolf, his gaze traveling over his vest. “I’d heard you’d signed up with that fucking motorcycle gang in Brook Hill.” A small smile flitted across his face. “Wait. I believe recently they had a little trouble with the Thirty-Second gang and they had to move to Sand City. You better be careful. I heard the Whitfields weren’t too happy about that. At least, Easy came back. He’s not a pussy like his son.”

Easy Ryder was the current president of the Brothers of Mayhem and had just last week kicked out his own son from the MC. Storm Ryder had been president, but had made some decisions that turned the club against him.

While the Whitfields were a family like his, they were more cliquish and rarely let outsiders in. They ran the nearby community of Marystown.

“What are you here for, Uncle?” He hated when the old man beat around the bush to what he really wanted. Nothing had changed about Trick Savalas.

“I have a job for you. With you losing your position in the club and the pay that went with it, I figured you could use the money.”

When Wolf had been voted out of the VP spot, he went to work in a local motorcycle repair shop. He’d always enjoyed tinkering with them. It had come in handy and paid the bills. Just barely. But to work for his uncle would mean putting himself in a position to make more money, yet a higher possibility of being arrested. Trick rarely did anything legal.

“I’ll have to get approval from Easy,” Wolf said. If Trick had been an upstanding business owner, Wolf could accept without worry, but that not being the case, he had to make sure anything he did for Trick didn’t conflict with MC business.

“Sure, sure.” His uncle glanced over to Sofia. “When you’re finished here, come and see me.” Trick turned and chuckled as he headed toward the front door. “The apple don’t fall far from the tree.” He closed the door behind him.

Wolf knew what his uncle was referring to. He’d heard enough stories from the bastard over the years. His dad had been an alcoholic and into bondage. He had gotten his rocks off from tying up women. Yeah. His family were jewels.

He stooped down in front of Sofia.

“Sorry I had to do that. I wasn’t sure who was at the front door. It’s a good thing you were trussed up. No need for me to go into details, but let’s say we don’t need Trick becoming involved in our business. Besides, he won’t touch a woman I claim.” How sick was it that by his uncle seeing her tied up, it proclaimed she belonged to him?

A fraction of an inch at a time, he pulled the duct tape from her mouth.

“Wolf, let me go and I won’t tell my cousin anything about this,” she pleaded with her big brown eyes looking up. She pressed the back of a hand against her lips.

Damn, he wanted to give in. He couldn’t. If she was hurt. . . . He didn’t want to contemplate what Easy would do to her. What he planned was the best way to keep her out of harm’s way. Hell, the only way to protect her from everyone involved. That was, besides him.

“You’ll be safer with me.”

“You said they were after Hector. Let me go. I can go to the police. They’ll protect me. I promise I won’t tell them you told me. They could stop the violence.” The tears in her eyes bothered him, but any involvement by law enforcement would only mean trouble for the Mayhem Brothers.

“Stop fighting me. You’ll hurt yourself.” His cell phone vibrated. Lifting it out of his pocket, he read the text. “It’s over.”

Her face paled. “Even more of a reason to let me go.”

Damn, he wished he could. He could tell by how wide her eyes were, she was truly afraid for her cousin.

Yet, she was the one in danger. He watched her. She was handcuffed to a railing with a dangerous biker. That was what should be her main concern. Instead, she worried about her asshole cousin who had given orders to shoot and kill anyone wearing Mayhem colors on a motorcycle.

“No.”

“No? That’s it? No?” Her dark eyes flashed in fury.

Fuck! She was beautiful.