Page 18

Chapter Seventeen

CHOMP

H oly fuck! Ariel’s pillow soft, sweet tasting lips are pressing to mine, and I’m so fucking shocked it takes a second for my brain to catch up.

It’s happening! It. Is. Happening! She’s kissing us! This is not a drill! my gator bellows.

He’s so dramatic. But I can feel his elation, and it matches mine. Since it’s all about her and what she’s comfortable with, I let Ariel set the pace of our kiss, instead of wrapping my arms around her and molding her into my body.

“Is this okay?” she whispers, her lips still against mine. “I… I know I’m not ready for anything sexual yet, but spending this time with you has shown me what it means to be treasured and cherished, Chomp.”

Those words whispered on her delicious lips are perfection and stir my heart.

She will definitely love us, my gator smugly reminds me.

“I find myself thinking about you when you’re not around, and I know it’s not been that often lately, but it’s still the truth.”

She has no idea how she occupies my thoughts every minute of the day. How she fucking consumes me. It’s like she’s already a part of me, and we haven’t mated yet. My fingers twitch as my claws yearn to mark her as mine.

“I wonder if you’d enjoy me cooking some of my mom’s favorite recipes for you, or whether or not you prefer distance without me constantly around.”

“There’s no need for distance,” I reply firmly. “Cook for me.”

Her lips curl, and I can tell my answer pleases her. “You’ve shown me that even though you’ve always been respectful of me, you’re still nearby and within touching distance. Patient. Kind. And I’ve found out you like to cuddle.”

With her? Yes. My gator won’t be able to handle cuddling with anyone else. He chumpfs at the mention of it.

“It’s whatever you want, Ariel,” I confess. “We can take things as slow as you need to, and in fact, I asked Callie to check with her friend for a list of trauma therapists because I think that will help you move past what was done to you. I know you’ll never truly forget, but me and my gator will do everything in our power to make sure that only good memories are made from now on, okay?”

She’s suddenly glassy eyed with tears and I wonder if I fucked up.

“I want a home, Chomp. One where I can love someone and be loved in return. Where I can have children… wait, will I give birth to live babies or eggs?” she suddenly asks, switching gears.

“How do you feel about eggs?” I tease, knowing the type of reaction she’ll have.

Her gasp is adorable. “Chomp, you better be messing with me.” She swats at my arm, and this time, I’m the one who moves in for a gentle brush across her lips.

“I am.” I bite back my chuckle when I see the relief cross her face. I know that with her being a human, all of this is new to her. Still, her expression was absolutely priceless.

I don’t think she’d care, my gator states. She likes us! She really, really likes us!

She slides her fingers up my shoulder and around my neck, lightly scratching my skin, and my gator nearly has a stroke he’s so turned on by it. Behind the neck and shoulders is an erogenous zone for us. Not that Ariel knows that. Yet.

I shudder as I claim her mouth again, pressing a little firmer, letting her dictate how long it lasts. To my surprise, she deepens the kiss. When we separate, I’m on cloud fucking nine. This is far better than I ever could have hoped. She’s tethering herself to me, growing fonder of me and my gator, accepting us both, and I hope it continues.

I’ve already fallen hard for my mate.

“You have to go, don’t you?”

She’s interpreting my silence to mean I’m concentrating on Jerry and the clubhouse instead of her. I’m not. “I do,” I answer, “but I wasn’t thinking of anything other than you just now.”

“Good.” She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I want to come with you.”

“To the clubhouse?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me why.”

“I know this probably comes under club business, which Callie explained to me, but he was following me around, and I think I deserve to know why,” she replies.

I decide I need to give her a little bit of the information we found out. She needs to know that Jerry is just as bad as Perry was, apparently. “While I’m not one hundred percent sure why he was stalking you, I do know from what Sly was able to find out that when he was released from prison, he and Perry had plans for you, and they were not good, Ariel.”

I’ve said this already once, and I hope she doesn’t want me to elaborate because just thinking about how they wanted to put her on camera and sell her online, hoping to make money from her on a regular basis, both sickens and enrages me. And not just Ariel either.

She gulps and her face pales, so I pull her closer to me in an effort to comfort her. Right now, my gator is clamoring to help her, but in his shifted form, he can’t speak, so he’s just going to have to be patient. “What… what do you mean?” she hesitantly asks.

“They planned to pimp you out to their friends. No holds barred, Ariel, so whoever paid their price could do whatever they wanted to you. They were going to get a few more girls, as well, and they were going to get all of you hooked on drugs, so you’d be compliant.”

My gator hisses inside of me, disgusted at the mere thought of any female being used in that manner, let alone his mate. Should have killed him twice, Gator bellows. He’s furious, and I can’t blame him, since Ariel is ours.

“Plus, they planned to film it so they could sell it online.”

“People watch that kind of thing?” she asks, her lower lip trembling. “That’s sick. I mean, I get people watch porn, but I always thought people in those movies were there willingly.”

“For the most part, I think they are, but Perry and Jerry were going to post it on the dark web, and that’s a completely different world, according to Sly. Pretty much anything goes, and there are monsters who enjoy watching snuff films as well.”

“I suspect I know what that means, Chomp,” she states, “they end up killing the person, right?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, they do. But not before they horrifically abuse them in every way possible.”

“People are sick,” she mutters. “But I still want to talk to Jerry, Chomp. Do you think Spike and Kodiak will let me?”

I’m struggling with this. I don’t want him near her, not after learning of those plans. It’s not just my call, though. She’s right to include Spike and Kodiak.

Since they’re the President and VP of the club, it’ll ultimately be their decision, but I hope that I can convince them to let her be there, at least for a little bit. She won’t be around when we decide to kill the fucker.

Because he will die.

We can’t be the one to do it, Gator states. We want to for our mate, but we already scared her when we killed Perry and Ricky in front of her. Maybe we can bite off a body part, but we aren’t eating him.

Somehow, I don’t think Ariel will like that.

“It’s probably a good idea to head over there now,” I concede. “The sooner we deal with Jerry, the faster we can move on.” And focus on us.

“Then let’s go.” Her hands cradle my face, fingers caressing my short beard. “Thank you.”

“Anything,” I reply, and mean it.

One of her palms lowers, resting over my heart. “I see you, Chomp. All of you. Not just the gator or the man who loves nature and his Harley. Or even the caretaker and protector. I see the good man inside. The one who killed to protect me. You know what? I don’t fear him.”

That’s a relief.

“I don’t fear anything other than the broken shards of my past, and I want to sweep them up, dump them in the trash, and walk away without looking back. Do you think you can help me with that?”

I grin. “With pleasure.” Taking out the Jerry trash sounds fucking perfect.

“And then I can focus on my present and future. One that involves you.”

My gator goes off in my head, and I refuse to listen because I want her to have all of me in this moment. “Then that’s what we do. Together.”

She gives me one of those megawatt smiles. “You’re kinda perfect, you know that?”

I don’t hesitate to answer. “That’s why we’re mates.”

She doesn’t argue or deny it. “I think I’m seeing that.”

I slide my hands around her curvy waist and lift her as I stand, stealing a kiss because I can, and slipping my hand through hers while we walk toward my truck. While I’d prefer to have her wrapped around me on my bike, as hyped up as my gator is, I don’t think it’s a good idea today. It’s a short drive, and we ride in companionable silence, our fingers laced together. At this point, most of the words that need to be said between us have been said. We don’t have to add more until we’re ready.

* * *

Leaving Ariel with Callie at the bar under the watchful eyes of one of the prospects, I follow the rest of the guys into the room we use for Church. No one wastes time getting into their seats. Spike lifts a gavel and slams it onto the table, officiating the start of our meeting.

“Chomp, you got something to say?”

“I got a lot to fucking say about that piece of shit downstairs. We all know what Sly found. Black market human trafficking, the sex video operation, and stealing girls. They planned a whole fucking operation, and we need to learn more about it.”

“We won’t let that slide,” Peanut snarls.

“Ariel wants to confront him. She wants to look him in the eye.” I sigh. “I think she needs it. It’s a way for her to slay her demons and gain control back in her life. After what Perry did, this is her closure.”

We still want to bite him, my gator hisses.

Spike nods. “Fine. She gets her closure, but only after we interrogate that son of a bitch and find out who the rest of these men are who want to kidnap and rape girls.” Smoke puffs from his nostrils. “Not in our fucking town or anywhere else if I can help it.”

Fists bang on the table in agreement. None of us condone that shit.

Church doesn’t last long after that, and we head into the basement. I don’t stop, but I do catch Ariel’s eye, and I wink at her, letting her know her time is coming.

She blows me a kiss, and I catch it, curling my fist around that sweetness because I’m about to let my darker side take control. Our feral natures will kick in, and there’s no stopping our animals once that happens. We’ll maintain control, but Jerry’s hours are numbered. He won’t survive the night.

My boots pound the stairs as I descend into darkness and I take Ariel’s kiss, pressing my palm over my heart to push it inside my chest. That light and her strength in the face of suffering give me an extra boost. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met, other than my mother. Ariel reminds me so much of her. Abused and broken down yet still fighting, breathing, and smiling.

Fuck. I love my mate.

I find Jerry chained to a wooden beam in the center of the room, anchored by concrete in the smooth slab we poured across the floor. No human can ever conjure enough strength to pull it free. He’s bloody, beaten, and wears only a pair of pants. His bare feet and upper body are exposed as he bleeds from multiple wounds. My gator hisses in elation seeing the bastard in his current condition.

“Who are you working with?” Spike asks, standing in front of our prisoner. “Tell me. Now.”

Jerry laughs.

I think of Ariel, my mother’s beatings, and the women Jerry plans to harm. My gator decides enough is enough. He shifts before I can stop him, and I lunge at the bastard, baring my teeth.

Peanut and Kodiak chuckle. Fang grins with his wolfish smile.

Spike glares at Jerry. “I’ll let the gator fucking eat you. Tell me what I want to know.”

Jerry’s eyes are wide as he stares at me, trying to back away as I hiss and move closer. My gator is loving this shit. He doesn’t see why I can’t rip Jerry apart. I’m barely hanging on to my humanity. If I slip, Jerry is dead.

Crush, kill, destroy! my gator bellows.

“There’s a list.” Jerry’s voice is trembling as he tries to escape. The problem is, he’s tied down so well, he’s unable to move.

“What fucking list?” Spike asks with a growl.

“T-the girls we planned to take. Names. Addresses. Places of employment.”

Reactions around the room terrify Jerry as he cowers, folding his body inward to avoid the snarls, hisses, and growls.

“I can give you the names of all the men involved.”

“Yeah, you will,” Spike agrees.

“I just want one thing,” he says in a rush as I swipe at him with my claws and miss. Intentionally.

He just pissed himself, my gator chortles.

“M-my brother. I want to see where it happened.”

Spike frowns. “Why?”

“Because I need to know before I die. Okay?”

Spike folds his arms over his chest. “Fine.” He ticks his head at Peanut. “Do it.”

Peanut forms a fist and slams it over the top of Jerry’s head. He crumbles to the floor as I shift from my gator, pissed at the delay. Ariel won’t be able to speak to him yet. We need that info to help save the other women and ensure those involved don’t harm anyone else.

Spike turns to the room. “We take him to the campsite, but he doesn’t get out of the van until we have what we need.”

No one disagrees. It’s time to serve justice.