Penni walked back and forth across the small room. When she heard the door open, it took everything she had not to attack.

She stumbled over her own feet when she recognized Jackal.

When he closed the door behind him, fury and fear had her throwing her body against his.

“You bastard!” She tore a chunk of his hair out as she used his hair to slam his head against the wall.

“Are you fucking nuts!” Jackal twisted her hands behind her back.

Undeterred, Penni kicked then bit him on the shoulder. Struggling against him, she found herself thrown backward onto the bed. Then she found herself pinned underneath Jackal’s weight as she tried to rise from the bed.

“I hate you! When I get away, I’m going to kill you!” Penni glared up into his imperturbable expression.

“I’m here to try to save your ass.” He turned his face to the side when she attempted to rake her nails down his cheek.

“I don’t believe in turning the other cheek.”

Penni found herself lifted up like a rag doll, tossed head first over Jackal’s lap. Then a series of harsh spanks pounded down on her unprotected bottom.

“You big ape!” Penni bit down on Jackal’s thigh as she tried to throw herself down to the floor.

“I wouldn’t put up with that spoiled bitch behavior from any other woman. Quit biting me, or I’ll pull your jeans down and carry you down to the front room and let them take turns turning that ass you’re so proud of red.”

Penni stopped biting. The thought of the bikers witnessing the aftereffects of the spanking was incentive enough, but she still struggled. And the more she struggled, the harder his hand struck her bottom.

“Did you think it was funny leaving me waiting? I was nearly stung to death. I had to jump over your wall into your neighbor’s yard, and they had fucking German Shepherds. You think this hurts? One of those sons of a bitches nearly bit off my balls.”

Penni raised her head as Jackal furiously ranted and spanked her again. What was he talking about …?

She pressed her hand to her mouth as he described having to jump into her neighbor’s pool then maneuvering through piles of dog shit as he ran from the dogs.

“I bet you laughed your ass off!”

“I forgot, Jackal! I swear!” Penni wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes. It took all her will not to laugh out loud at Jackal’s injured pride.

She looked up at him to see him frowning down at her. Jackal jerked her up to sit on his lap. Wincing, Penni shifted so the globes of her butt bore her weight. The bastard knew how to give a spanking, placing most of his smacks on the tender flesh between the top of her thighs and the bottom curve of her ass.

“I waited for you for over an hour.”

Penni bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I forgot. I swear, Jackal, I was going to tell you I couldn’t make it, but Grace called me, and I forgot.” She saw no need to confess that she had originally planned to leave him to face the bee’s alone.

Jackal wasn’t buying her bull and dropped her unceremoniously on the bed.

Penni watched as he straightened his T-shirt making the tan skin of his waist was visible. An irritating quiver of excitement held her still as Jackal regained his temper. Without realizing it, she had raised her hand, letting another thing go.

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

Penni lowered her hand back to her side. “Nothing.”

“Were you going to hit me again?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It’s just a habit I have.”

Suspiciously, Jackal stared back at her.

Penni tried to divert his attention from the silly habit she’d had since she was a young girl. “Are you going to get me out of here?”

“Any sane woman would have asked me that question when I came inside the room!”

Penni flushed. He was right.

“I’ve been cooped up here for two days. When you walked in the door, I took my frustration out on you. Shade keeps warning me my temper will get me in trouble.”

“Don’t mention Shade to me. I blame him for turning you into a spoiled brat—”

“Don’t you dare bad mouth Shade!” She yelled as she rose to her knees in the middle of the bed. “It’s not his fault I’m here. It’s my own fault for running out of gas.”

Penni’s head reared back when Jackal grasped her shoulders, forcing her gaze to his.

“Any other woman would have called a tow truck. I told you when we went to Treepoint that you were writing checks with your attitude that couldn’t be cashed.”

“Like I would take any advice from you.” She jerked back from his hold. Rising, she moved to the opposite side of the bed. More than getting fed up with him manhandling her, Penni didn’t want to deal with her unwanted reactions to Jackal. It was a losing battle she had been dealing with since she had first seen him sitting on his motorcycle in front of a hotel years ago when she’d had the interview with Kaden Cross.

Penni had prayed for the job as tour manager for Mouth2Mouth. It gave her the perfect excuse to move from her overprotective parents and brother. It also gave her breathing room from the man she had fallen in love with when she was just thirteen years old.

“Then you better start. The Road Kingz aren’t like the Predators; they don’t give a damn that King ordered Henry and the Predators to watch out for you.”

“I don’t—”

“Shut up!”

The sound of Jackal’s boots striding across the floor had her backing up to the wall.

Jackal braced his hand on the wall near her head. “The only reason those men haven’t already gang raped you is because of Hennessy.”

Shocked speechless, Penni reached for her own throat.

“Instead of using your head and bargaining with them, what did you do? You fucking told them you could identify who took off with their shit!”

“How was I supposed to know?” Penni interrupted another long-winded rant then quickly changed her mind at the contemptuous sneer that reminded her of Shade when he was angry.

“That know-it-all brother of yours should have warned you!”

She trembled as Jackal ran his hand down the curve of her cheek, coming to a rest on the curve of her breast.

He lowered his head, placing it next to hers. “I swore I would let you get out of this mess yourself.”

“Why didn’t you?” she whispered.

“Grace has enough to worry about.”

“Her mother is worse?”

“Yes.”

Penni held back the tears at his stark answer.

“I’ve really screwed up.”

“Yes.”

Penni felt the tip of his tongue explore the corner of her lips.

“Are you trying to pay me back for tricking you into showing up at my house?”

“Maybe …” Jackal murmured.

Penni clutched his shoulders, fighting the urge to respond to the enticement of him nibbling on her bottom lip. She firmed her mouth. She had made a promise to herself years ago that the only man who would share her bed, despite her yo-yo dating, was her childhood crush, whom she told herself she would get over when she met the right man.

Penni had lost count of how many times she had made a fool of herself to keep him off her mind. She forced herself to concentrate now.

“Did you work out a deal with Hennessy to let me go home?”

“Kind of. First, we have to go to the Spring Rally—”

Penni brought her knee up in a sharp movement. She tried to squeeze between him and the wall, but Jackal closed the space between them.

“We don’t have a choice.”

“I’m the only one here who doesn’t have a choice. I want to go home. If you’re not here to help me, then why are you here? Did Hennessy call you to get me to cooperate?”

“No. If you want to go home, then you’re going have to do what Hennessy wants. This isn’t a conspiracy between the Road Kingz and the Predators. Ice wants to help get you back for Grace. Grace could have found another job months ago. The only reason she hasn’t is because of her relationship with you. It might not mean much to you, but she loves you, and the last thing she needs right now is to be worried about you, too.”

Penni was filled with turmoil. Seeing Jackal watching her, she kept her hands from reaching upward toward the universe. Penni could imagine the man judging her. Shade was aware of her strange habit, and he would roll his eyes when he saw her praying to the universe.

“So, the only reason you’re here is to help me?”

“Yes. I’m the best chance you have to get out of here alive. If you don’t help the Road Kingz find Striker, Hennessy said none of us are going to live. The cartel the Road Kingz bought the drugs from want their money.”

“Shade will save me—”

“You believe that Shade can walk on water, but he’s still in Kentucky, and he doesn’t know you’re missing.”

“But—”

“Can you listen to me just this once? Did I let anything happen to you when I took you to Treepoint?”

“You mean when you kidnapped me?”

“I didn’t kidnap you. The Last Riders, King, and the Predators all explained we needed to keep Lily safe.”

Penni nodded her head. That was what they had all explained to her, but they had all lied to her, too. She had been kidnapped and used as a pawn. The only one who had told her the truth had been Lily. No one would ever be able to break the bond that existed between them.

Lily knew how important the truth was to her. Not many other people could understand, but Lily was one, and Grace was another.

“I’ll trust you, Jackal, but you better not be lying to me.” Penni held out her hand. “Let me have your cell phone. I’ll call Grace and Shade—”

“Hennessy doesn’t want you making any calls.”

“What about Grace? I don’t want her worried.”

“Ice will take care of Grace.”

Her hand dropped. He was lying to her. She could spot one a mile away.

“Let’s get some sleep. We leave at first light.”

Penni felt the shot of adrenaline she had experienced when Jackal had entered the room wear off. Sitting on the side of the bed, she stood back up when she saw Jackal lie down, making himself comfortable.

“You’re not sleeping here!” Penni insisted, reaching down to shove his shoulder and make him move.

“There isn’t an empty bed in the clubhouse, and I’m not fucking sleeping on the floor.”

“I don’t care where you sleep as long as it’s not with me.”

Jackal stretched out his arms, tugging her down to the bed. A long leg wrapped over her, holding her in place. Penni began to struggle against him but stopped when a seductive whisper had her freezing.

“Go to sleep,” Jackal ordered. “It’s not like it’s the first time we’ve slept together.”

Penni moved to the side, burying her face in the crook of her arm. Just like anytime she began to feel nervous, she moved her hands upward toward the stars she wasn’t able to see.

The stars were filled with good energy, guiding her to a calm when she needed to release her inner turmoil. It was a lot easier than going to a psychiatrist or prison when she wanted to knock sense into someone.

Jackal wove his fingers between hers, pressing them to her belly. “Go to sleep, Penni.”

Wearily, she decided she was on her own tonight. The universe had other souls to be concerned with.

Her mind went back to Grace and Oceane. It always took Penni a long time to settle down into sleep. Shade had told her that normal people lived their life on cruise control, while she pushed the speed limits.

She concentrated on their linked hands, unconsciously gripping his hands more tightly, sinking into the warmth at her back as her lids lowered. Some things in the universe were inevitable.

Why was Jackal the only one who seemed able to shift her mind to neutral and calm the constant turmoil in her soul? Penni should have been grateful to have someone to lean on while playing the Road Kingz’ hostage. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her savior may be the devil in disguise.