Wylder

 

 

“I’ll do it, son, but if things go bad, it’s all on you and your agency.”

I breathe out silently as relief hits and lean back in my seat, nodding at Wolf. I’ve been on the phone with Jon Bright for over an hour now, and after jumping through hoops, I have finally managed to convince the man that allowing a shipment through is the only way for my team to get evidence to take down the Irish and the Mexicans.

It hasn’t been easy. I knew it wouldn’t be, after that phone call with Danny. The woman is hot and smart but she’s no actress, and I had to fight not to cringe at her tone.

I’ve made a note to myself never to trot her out in front of my associates, just in case she can’t handle the heat. Fuck, I know she can’t handle the heat.

“Understood, sir. I wouldn’t ask this of you but for the fact that you’re going to be family and it would kill Danny if you get hurt. This way you keep your own nose clean and they won’t try to pull you in further. Besides that, I don’t have enough on these bastards to put them away indefinitely. My superiors have buried me and the team deep, but even now, it’s not easy to gather what we need. We’re still relatively low on the totem pole.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve had an agent deep in the Korean’s for a year, and the little shit is still running petty errands.” He sighs.

Well, now, isn’t that interesting.

“So, Jay is coming back sometime next week, and I’m leaving it to you to bring him up to speed. That man will grill you, son, hard. He loves his little girl more than life itself, so don’t expect an easy in,” he warns.

Wolf grins at my scowl, and I flip him off before assuring the man that I have the balls to stand toe to toe with Danny’s father.

And I do because, contrary to what she may believe, she’s with me for life, and that includes getting married and making things appear as they should.

Eventually her family will cop to that I’m not what I seem, but by then, she’ll be mine and I won’t have to think about the repercussions until they come along.

“Okay, son. You keep her safe and happy, and I’ll let you know when they come at me.”

“Thanks, sir.”

I end the call with a groan and slam a whiskey while Wolf grins and rubs his hands together. The fool is over here on the excuse that he needs to have my back, but I know he’s just hiding from Mom and that wild woman he’s taken to heel.

I snort at my wording because while I am having hell with Danny, Wolf is being cut off at the knees by Lori. Poor bastard. The life of a family man is hard, I tell ya.

“So, the shipment goes through. What then?”

“Then we keep going until we get Ariston involved. It’s just a matter of time before he smells the money and tries to muscle into the operation,” I say, satisfied with the way things are working out.

“He’ll try to have us removed to take over the whole thing, you know,” Wolf points out.

Yeah, I know. I’m counting on it.

“And then we’ll have him, son. We’ll have that fucker good.”

Wolf doesn’t look convinced, and I can’t blame him. We’ve been at this for so long that sometimes I wonder if it will ever end the way I’ve planned it. But it has to because Figo Ariston has always been my mark, ever since I decided to wade into the murky depths of this world and deal in things that have dirtied my hands beyond repair.

I don’t regret it one bit. In this world, there are those who do and those who die. I do. I do it all, and in the end, I know that I may not come out whole but I will win.

I have to.

“I hope so. Mom and Pop are shitting down my throat about Lori and that woman…”

I laugh at his look of fear because I’ve been over there a few times, and God help me, I’d have left her to Noni and run like hell if she were mine.

“I sometimes wonder if things would be different if we weren’t the way we are.”

Wolf snorts and rolls his eyes because I’ve asked him the same thing a hundred times over the years and the answer is pretty moot. Nothing would be different, because the truth is that this course, this path I am walking, was set out for me a long time ago and nothing I do or could have done would have changed it.

I was always meant to be this man I am. I was always destined to see Danny and know she was mine, just like every other man in my line has known the moment they saw their woman.

You’re probably confused, so I’ll get it all out there and maybe you won’t hate me as much once you know. Generations ago, one of my descendants, a Norse Viking of old, is said to have lost his true love when his village was raided.

The story goes that he was so overcome with bloodlust he spent months tracking the men who killed her and systematically slaughtered them and their families.

Pop tells it like it’s a big achievement or something, while I just think how fucked up it is to go that nuts over one chick. At least I did until I saw Danny. I never believed in the story or what Dad told me happened later.

Apparently, this guy was so broken when he was done he went to a witch, an outcast he’d been cruel to over the years, and begged her to curse his descendants.

It didn’t go that way, because she was so filled with anger she cursed him instead to live a long life and watch his offspring find true love. A love he’d never have again.

I don’t believe in that shit, about some family curse where every Wylder will find love once and be ruined for anyone else. I didn’t believe it until I saw Danny and couldn’t stop thinking about her.

I didn’t even believe it when I spent two years keeping an eye on her and her movements. Hell, I don’t believe it now. I really don’t. But if I did, I wonder what would happen if I let myself feel more than lust.

I don’t want to. I’ve seen what ‘true love’ can do to someone, and I will never let myself go that deep that I ignore the pitfalls of it.

True love.

I snort again because true love has shaped the last years of my life and made me into a criminal who will likely be behind bars or dead when all is said and done.

Unless I plan for it all, as I have been doing, and hope that God sees me through it despite how messed up I am.

“But we are who we are, and we’re these men for a reason, Bear. Don’t forget that,” Wolf growls, reminding me of things that I don’t want to think about.

The grief is long gone, swept away by time and a vengeance that we will have, no matter how long it takes us.

“I wish the women hadn’t been involved. It’s harder to handle the dangers when I have to think about Danny too.”

“You’re telling me, man. Ma knows the score, and yet she’s still giving me hell about Lori.”

“Dude, you locked her in the freaking cells in the basement,” I point out, not laughing because, as funny as I find his difficulty with Lori, it sucks that she’s being subjected to that.

“What did you want me to do? I caught her trying to run. Twice. I’ve talked to her a million times and tried to point out how dangerous it would be if she escaped, not just for her but her family, and you know what she said? Nothing! She spat in my face and tried to knee me in the balls.”

I do laugh then because out of the five of us, Wolf is the one who can’t deal with conflict. The man either grunts or talks like an old woman. And he’s a horn dog when it comes to sex.

I don’t think he’s been without it this long since he turned seventeen and bloomed into a man, the asshole. He’s a slut, honestly, even worse than Lyon, who screws a different woman every night.

“How are things with Danny?”

I smile at the question and recall last night when I brought her down for dinner, her first foray into the rest of the house after the phone call. She was so nervous around me it was cute, and I almost tore a hole through my pants when she blushed and averted her eyes from mine.

I’m a sick bastard, but I really, really enjoy seeing my woman all shy and submissive around me. It tells me that she’s feeling things she doesn’t want to, and that gives me hope that I will have her, because, yeah, she’s mine and I am keeping her for as long as I live.

It may not be fair, but hell, she said it. I take. I don’t ask or hope for things to go my way. So, yeah, things are actually going great even if she did try to barricade the door last night and pretended to be asleep when I came back up.

I was planning another kiss, some fondling, and then a hot night of unstoppable, toe-curling sex. That’s okay though because I did sleep beside her, and I really liked it.

She’ll stay in the attic though. I like knowing she’s there waiting for me.

“Good. Like I said, she made this shit with Bright possible, so at least we can use her if need be. And she’s staring to soften towards me.”

While I harden, I think ruefully, feeling my cock go nuts at the memory of her soft ass cradled against my crotch all night. I am dying to see that juicy ass of hers after I tie her facedown to the bed.

I’ve plotted my course perfectly, and the first thing I want to do, even before I taste her sex, is spend some time on that round ass.

“It’s not fair though, is it?” he asks quietly, reminding me how he feels about what I made Danny do.

Wolf isn’t one of those grey area type guys. He’s very black and white on most issues, and when I talked to him about Danny and her family, he was not happy at all.

He understands why I am doing it, but from his perspective, I’m messing up a relationship as he sees it because Wolf fully expects me to do the whole love and marriage thing with Danny to make up for everything.

To him, a man takes care of his woman, end of story, even if the woman doesn’t agree with the way things are. Hence Lori and the basement cell. He’s got convoluted logic for someone who sees in black and white, but I get his thinking, and I do agree. I just don’t have the luxury to feel that way.

“No, but then again, man, what the fuck is fair about this whole thing? If life was fair, we’d have Sparrow, and Mom and Pop wouldn’t be reminded of what we lost every day. If life was fair, I’d have become an accountant and bought a house out in the fucking burbs and married some mousey chick with big hips and wicked ironing skills.”

Wolf chuckles because we both know that is not true. I may have wanted those things once a long time ago, but even I have to admit that it would have killed me with boredom, quick.

I need the adrenalin, the thrill that my current position of power gives, and I absolutely love going toe to toe with guys who are criminally insane and dangerous. That’s just the way I roll.

“Sure. But things are what they are. What’s next for now?”

“Now I’m taking Danny to Hawaii for a week before I have to come back here and deal with Ariston and the Irish. You and the boys keep things going on this end and update me daily, and it should all be good.”

God, I need a break. Just a few days spent with Danny girl in a bikini, or no bikini. I’m not picky, I think with a grin. Some sun, relaxation, and seven nights of nothing but sex.

After that, it’s time to pony up and play ball, and when that happens, I want her glued to my side and ready to do what needs doing.

“Can I come with?” he asks pleadingly.

“No.”

“Oh, come on. Have a heart.”

“Nuhuh. You stay with your woman and do something about her attitude, for fuck’s sake. Mom may be all forgiving at the moment, but with her crazy old ass, you never know when she’ll turn and help Lori.”

The warning is clear there, and he gets it. I wasn’t lying to Danny when I told her if it comes to choosing her freedom over my family, I’d choose them and kill her.

I don’t want to, and it would hurt, a lot, but my family is everything I have, and when I started this thing on a gamble, I swore I wouldn’t lose another loved one.

So, yeah, she’s going to play or die, and I won’t hesitate to do the same to Lori if the need arises.

“Fuck. Yeah, okay, just don’t get that cold look in your eye, man. It’s scaring me.”

“It should, Wolf, because you know I won’t think twice. She gets loose and they find out you’re soft for her, they’ll come after us all.”

“I know.”

He leaves after sharing a silent drink, and I do not envy the man his life at the moment. Danny may have told me outright how much she wants to hate me, and it may not have sat right, but Lori really does feel that way about Wolf, and I know, the first chance she gets, she’s running. I just pray Wolf can hold her until we’re in the clear.

The next call I make puts things in motion for my unplanned vacation, and I’m feeling good when I hang up and sit back, planning the next few days with the precision I use on everything.

 

 

Danny

 

I roll over on the bed, after falling asleep after a night of tossing and turning, and groan when the sticky heat and sweat cling to my body. Sitting up, I push my limp hair out of my eyes and stare blearily at the bedspread I kicked off, so freaking cranky I’m hoping it’s a precursor to my period.

Wishful thinking that, because I just got it the week before I was taken and most months I skip a cycle because God knows I would die outright if I had it every single month. Shit’s just nasty.

Lip curling at my thoughts, I make my way into the bathroom and drop my shorts and tank top, moaning when the tepid water hits my skin and cools it a little.

The air-conditioning in the house is great, but whoever planned the attic room did not do a great job, and I’d like to tell him so. I left all the windows open last night, and not even a breeze blew in to downplay the heat.

I am grumpy, unhappy with life, and so darn twitchy and nervous I can hardly think straight. All I remember is that kiss, the words that tumbled out of his mouth, and the need that hit me when I saw it all unfold in my head.

It’s sick and scary, but I am so in lust with a bad man who is more likely to cap my ass than anything else. I should be ashamed of myself for even contemplating sex with Wylder, and yet it’s all I thought about as I lay awake last night and pretended to sleep when he crept into my bed.

It took hours for me to relax, and by then, the sun was rising and not long after he rose and left me alone. I only fell asleep when I couldn’t keep my eyes open another second, and then I dreamed of his lips on mine, all over me, doing things that not even Flynn would attempt.

And I want it so bad. With Wylder. Just thinking of all that ruthlessness and cold calculation packed into a body that makes me pant…

I should not be turned on by the thought of him inside me, but I am, and I feel awful about it. Not to mention that I think I may actually like him. I thought about him all day in that gazebo, and all I could come back to was that he’s a bad guy with a heart.

Weird but true. Wylder really doesn’t want my family hurt, and I not only appreciate that but also am so grateful I think I’d do anything to repay him. I’m still angry about having to lie to everyone, but in that anger is a kernel of relief that he’s helping me keep everyone safe.

Besides, it all works out better this way, at least that is what I keep telling myself. Daddy’s due home soon, and when he arrives, he’ll come looking for me. Wylder sent one of his brothers to my place to clean it up after he dragged me into this mess so that nothing is out of place and as far as anyone else knows I am engaged and happily in love.

Daddy won’t come looking, guns blazing, and if I am not happy about my circumstances, I am at least thankful that he won’t be hurt or killed trying to save me.

It’s the small things I keep telling myself, and as long as I choose to see the silver lining, I think I’ll be okay.

I have to be because I am so confused, and I think…I mean, it’s entirely possible that I could be falling for Bear Wylder. He’s scary, but he’s also funny and sweet, and he’s willing to help me and keep me safe if I play along with whatever he has planned.

As long as I play along.

I’ve never played along with shit in my life. Not once. I don’t make friends, I don’t hang out at clubs every Friday, and I sure as hell do not go crazy for a man. Any man.

Wylder though…

“You’re gonna drown in there if you fall asleep.”

I screech and fall on my butt when I turn, my foot slipping out from under me with a force that has me flailing wildly before I collapse in an undignified heap.

I almost die as I snap my legs shut after a dazed minute of the ass staring at my parts.

“Get out.”

“No can do, baby. I’ve been waiting for you to get up all freaking morning, and I’m just about done on patience. Nice bush, by the way, but you’re getting a wax in a few minutes, so say goodbye to it.”

I struggle up and grab a towel, blushing like heck because, okay, I know I’ve let my stuff grow unchecked and it’s gross, but come on. Why go through all that trouble of shaving and maintaining something only I ever see?

“Whoa, I am not having some stranger wax my junk, not happening.”

“Yes, you are. We’re going away for a few days, and you can’t wear a bikini with what you’ve got going, woman.”

I’m almost certain I’m flaming red all over, and my freaking legs are like spaghetti when I try to shift by him without touching. I’m embarrassed as heck about all those dreams I had of him and me and his mouth and—

And stop thinking about it, I yell, flushing more when I meet his eyes and he gives me a knowing grin.

“Bikini?”

I latch onto his words and frown, my fear of the unknown spiking hard when it occurs to me that I’ve been letting my guard down more and more around him and that may just be what he wants before he chops me into pieces and feeds me to the gators.

Geez, really. Let’s be positive, because you’re giving me the willies.

“We’re going to Hawaii for a few days to relax and unwind, and you are wearing a bikini if I have to glue the thing to you. So, you need a wax. I can’t eat you out with all that hair in my way.”

Instantly I see a vivid image of him spreading me open, his mouth going for my folds, and I have to clench my thighs together when my clit throbs.

“I can shave.”

“No. It would just itch when it grows back quickly, and I don’t want stubble burn.”

That does it for me. I’m horny for a guy who scares me, as terrible as that sounds, I am scared and confused and sad because I’ve lost my family and my life, and he thinks I am just going to stand here and let him treat me like some sex object.

I snap, and man does it feel good. Temporarily.

“I’m not just a freaking body that you can take as you please! This is my body, mine, and if I say I don’t want to wax my vagina, I fucking mean it!”

The yell echoes around us, and I go pale and still when he silently looks at me before grabbing me and pinning me to the door. He doesn’t hurt me at all, but the power he possesses is unmistakable, and I realize belatedly that while I’ve been getting comfortable and he’s been lulling me, I should never play with this man.

He’s volatile and dangerous and not at all what I want him to be.

“I’m gonna make things clear for you, Danny, so you don’t make this mistake again. I have been patient with you. I have been kind and considerate even when it goes against my nature, but you need to remember that I own you.”

I want to refute that instantly but stop when his cold eyes fuse with mine. He looks so deadly and unfeeling I feel everything inside me quiver.

“Your body is mine because I saved it. You may not want me, you may not feel anything for me, but to me you are mine, and that is just the way it has to be. If you can’t deal with that, with letting go and accepting your lot, then tell me now and I will personally deliver you back to Noni. He’ll know what to do with you.”

Terror has me shaking all over, and I cower back against the door, not willing to cry but so close I know he must see it. For just a second, I let myself go soft, and he’s telling me in his very forceful way that softness will get me killed.

“I won’t…I won’t do it again,” I promise.

He nods, and I gasp on a sob when he leans in to take my lips, kissing me tenderly, so at odds with the threat he just made I can’t hold back a whimper.

Not fear of him. It’s strange. I don’t fear Wylder, just what he’ll let others do to me.

“Ssshh. It’s okay, Danny. Don’t cry. I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he murmurs against my lips before hugging me tightly.

I have nothing to say to that. I just keep breathing in gasps of air, trying not to cry because nothing is going to change, and it’s terrifying. Wylder will protect me. I know that to be true, but the minute I pose a problem, he’ll throw me to the wolves and walk away without a backward glance.

“I’m scared. I don’t know how to be this person you want.”

“I know, baby, I know, but you have to believe me when I say it’s the only way.”