Page 18

Pippa

I stretched, spooned in front of Dozer, my legs tangled with his and his dick crushed between us. The warmth of his hand on my breast beaded my nipple. He circled the peak with his thumb. His other hand draped over my hip and played in my pussy. I sighed, content and deliciously tender from having his cock in me most of the night.

He lifted my thigh and rested it on his hip. My back arched as the head of his dick nudged my wet folds, and then glided deep inside my passage. I sighed at the stretch and fullness. I traced my fingers over the ink on his arms as he held me close and teased me to release with long, slow thrusts in and out of me.

Sex had never felt this good. We matched perfectly, the lines between me and him blurring, becoming us.

He rocked deeper, so deep. I clung to him as a thousand beautiful sparks erupted inside me. I came, taking Dozer with me on a rolling wave of euphoria. His lips pressed to my shoulder as he slipped from my body.

“Good morning.” I turned in his arms.

“There’s usually coffee. ”

“Sounds good, but I need a shower first.” Now that we weren’t using condoms, I was wearing his scent like a favorite perfume.

Dozer kissed me, a thorough tongue lashing, hot as hell kiss that sent tingles from my nipples to my toes.

Then he rolled from the bed. “Romeo and I are going to work on your car today.” He tugged on his jeans and T-shirt.

I sat up and clutched the sheet to my breasts. “I guess I’ll hang out here.”

“Or come with me to the shop. You can keep us company while we work.” He plopped down on the bed. “Until we find him, I want you with me.”

I slid from the bed. “Does wanting to be with me include the shower?”

“Fuck, I love being in tight spots with you, but that shower isn’t going to be one of them.”

He handed me his towel. I grabbed some clean clothes. At some point, I’d need to go to the house and grab a few more things.

I tugged on shorts that barely covered my ass and a tank top without a bra. Dozer growled, and I laughed. Damn, but this felt right.

Outside the room, I headed toward the bathroom, and Dozer strode toward the chapel. I paused at the sound of Romeo’s voice.

“Where’s your old lady?” he asked.

Dozer chuckled. “Taking a shower. Pretty sure she won’t like the label.”

I was his old lady? A little burst of sunshine cracked through the shadow hovering over my feelings about Romeo. I hadn’t realized the last time I kissed him would be the last time I kissed him .

I actually couldn’t remember the last time we’d kissed passionately, as lovers. My pulse jumped because I savored the taste of Dozer on my lips.

The shower was small, and the water pressure was terrible. I washed with a bar of soap. The shampoo and conditioner were definitely Romeo’s. The scent of him filled the steamy shower.

I tipped my face to the spray. If there were tears, I didn’t want to know. If was just hard to trust that we’d still be close. I didn’t have regrets. My heart was Dozer’s.

Twenty minutes later, I’d changed into a pair of jeans. My wet hair soaked the back of the tight T-shirt. My phone pinged. I picked it up.

Gabi: Baby is coming!

Pippa: Pick me up? I’m at the MC.

I slipped my feet into my canvas kicks, grabbed my hobo bag, and rushed to the chapel.

Dozer sat across from Romeo and Rogue. A cigarette burned between those strong fingers and steam rose from a mug of coffee. He smiled when he saw me. In the colored morning light through the stained-glass windows, he was even more breathtaking.

“Claudia is having her baby. I gotta go.”

Dozer stood. “Give me ten minutes.”

“Gabi is picking me up. I’ll get in the car, drive straight to the hospital, and spend all day there waiting for baby girl Pisano. Once the bambino is here, you can come up and meet her. Unless you want to come for the birth? ”

Romeo shuddered. “Fuck that. No one wants to see a perfectly good pussy wrecked.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll pass on the delivery,” Dozer said, sitting again.

“I can’t miss the birth. I know you’re worried. I promise we’ll go straight to the hospital. Oh wait,” I said, my lips twisting with concern. “I need to stop at the house to pick up the gift I bought for Claudia. It’s just chocolate and slippers, but I need to get more clothes anyway if I’m going to be here for a while. I swear I can be in and out of the house in five minutes.”

Rogue leaned back in his chair. “Hey Pipsqueak, have Gabi check the cameras first.”

“What the fuck? You have a nickname for her now, too?” Dozer lifted his gaze to mine. “No doubt, you’re a Heller now.”

I leaned over and kissed Dozer. “I’ll text you, but it’s going to be a couple hours.”

Outside, the sun was warm on my face. Gabi pulled into the parking lot, and I hopped into the front seat.

“How long has she been at the hospital?” I asked as I snapped on my seatbelt. I was actually surprised Gabi heard before I did. Claudia wasn’t exactly nice to Gabi considering their shared history with Claudia’s husband. Claudia took perverse pleasure that she was married to Gabi’s ex.

“A couple of hours.” She turned to me. “Elio called me.”

“Ah. Can we stop at the house? I have a gift for Claudia. It can be from both of us. ”

Gabi narrowed her gaze. “Are you sure it’s safe? That guy broke into your house.”

“The alarm company would have alerted you if he was there. Just keep the car running. I’ll be in and out in less than five minutes. I just want to grab some clothes and throw them in a bag. Until your boss can get a lead on Quinn, I’m going to stay at the MC.”

Gabi glanced at me then back to the road. “With Dozer or Romeo?” She smiled. “Or both?”

“Dozer. We worked everything out.”

“Good. I can see how much he loves you.” She pulled into the driveway.

I grabbed my keys and popped open the door. “I’ll hurry.”

The grass needed mowed, and mail filled the box. Later. I promised to be quick. Unlocking the door, I rushed into the kitchen.

Hair prickled along the back of my neck. I paused and listened. Nothing but quiet. I rushed into my room and startled. The bed was gone. Only one person I knew would have come to take care of my disaster. Dozer. I loved him even more.

I rushed to the closet and squatted on the floor. I remembered keeping a beach bag in the back. I leaned in and grabbed it. As I reared back, I bumped into a pair of legs.

Breath instantly gushed from my lungs. I couldn’t move. I recognized the polished dress shoes. Fear pumped through me, and I blinked to keep tears from my eyes.

“Stand up.” The menacing voice grated over my skin, chilling me to the core. So cold, I froze. Just like in the classroom. I couldn’t move .

Metal glinted in the hand hanging at his side. Trembling started in my chest and overtook me.

His fingers fisted in my hair and dragged me away from the closet.

My gaze lifted. The fear was palatable. I’d never seen him so angry or his eyes so wild.

“Two choices, get up and come with me, or we wait for your friend to join us, and I take you both.”

“I’ll go.” Panic surged through me. I scrambled to get my legs under me.

His fingers gripped my neck and squeezed. “This is your fault, Pippa. I gave you every chance to work this out between us.”

I choked, trying to gasp a breath. “We can talk,” I spat out.

“Not here. Let’s go.” He gripped the nape of my neck with his hand and led me toward the back door. With the serrated knife in his right hand, he pointed to where he wanted me to go.

My legs didn’t want to work. I stumbled. He slid the knife into my side, penetrating enough to cut the skin and draw blood. My flesh burned with a hot sear then a flush of wetness. I flinched and gripped my side.

“I’m not afraid to take you in pieces. Next, I slit your throat.” He opened the sliding door.

“I’m not fighting you.” Fear. I couldn’t fight it. It slipped through my veins like fire. I grabbed the edge of the wall with my bloody fingers as he forced me out the door. I stumbled and collapsed to my hands and knees.

“Fuck you, Pippa. ”

The sharp bite of his shoe slammed against my ribs, knocking the breath from my lungs. Pain exploded in my ribs as I felt the crack of bone. The force propelled me down the two steps to the concrete patio.

I thought of Dozer. He used pain to harness his anger. I sucked in a breath, fighting the stinging in my chest.

Quinn gripped my arm. Hunched over, I struggled to keep up as he dragged me around the far side of the house.

In the shelter of the neighbor’s hedge, he pulled me to the dark sedan waiting at the curb. I glanced over my shoulder.

“Don’t say a fucking thing, or I’ll gut you here and fuck your friend instead.”

I swallowed the bile in my mouth and focused on Gabi’s profile as her gaze shifted from her phone to the front door. Tears coursed down my cheeks. I love you , I mouthed to her. She wouldn’t hear me, but I hope she knew. I could only imagine how horrible it would be for her when she went into the house and found me gone. I’m sorry.

The door opened, and Quinn shoved me into the front seat. The door closed. He walked around the front of the vehicle. I could run.

I tugged on the handle and slammed my shoulder against the door. Nothing happened. I shoved again and again, bruising my arm but desperate to get away before I lost my opportunity.

Quinn started the car and pulled away from the curb. “You’re not getting away this time, Pippa. We’re going to work this out between us without interference. You’re lucky I’m willing to forgive you for cheating on me.”

“I’m not cheating.”

He slowly dragged the knife along my arm. “You’ll forget about him.”

Never . I gripped my side and pulled away bloody fingers. If I wanted to find an opportunity to fight, I needed him to think I was injured. The cut stung, and my ribs hurt, but I was a Heller, and I would fight.

Dozer

“How soon do you want to head over to the shop?” I asked Romeo. How long was labor? I assumed Pippa would be gone most of the day.

“Ten minutes?”

“Sounds good.” I stretched and downed the dregs of my coffee. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the number, and my gut clenched. “It’s Gabi.”

Romeo leaned forward.

“Hi,” I said to her. “Everything okay?”

Gabi was hysterical. Romeo must have heard her. He jumped from the table and called for Rogue.

“Gabi, what’s going on?”

“She’s not here!” The rest of what she said blended in a frantic, garbled hysteria.

“Gabi, take a fucking breath and talk to me.” My heart pounded hard enough to hurt. I slowly stood and gripped the phone. “Where are you?”

Rogue joined Romeo, both staring me down.

“The house,” she said on a sob .

I put the phone on speaker and set it on the table. “Where is Pippa?”

“I don’t know,” she wailed, barely able to talk through her tears. “She’s not here. There’s blood, Dozer. There’s blood on the wall.”

Scorching heat burned through me. I couldn’t breathe. A wave of dizziness overtook me. I dropped to a squat next to the table, gripping the edge for support. “Get in your car, Gabi. Lock the doors. Call Vance. We’re on our way.”

Fuck. He had her. Fuck. Fuck. Panic seized my chest. I gulped for breath, but I couldn’t shake the trembling vibrations.

I turned to Romeo. His mouth formed a hard line, and a vein pulsed in his temple. “Don’t fucking lose it, Dozer. Put on your cut and get your fucking gun. We need to go.”

Rogue was already on his bike when we exited the clubhouse. “Blade and Hana will meet us there.”

Thirty seconds later, we rumbled out of the parking lot. I barely noticed the road. I was flying on autopilot. She’d be there. No way could he have gotten to her.

No matter what words I told myself, there was no other explanation. He fucking got to her. Fear like I’d never know clawed at me, sinking talons deep and ripping me apart.

I couldn’t think. Tears blurred my vision. He fucking had her. Because of me, he was desperate to keep her.

By the time we pulled into the driveway, Gabi was on her phone. Fat tears rolled down Hana’s face as she clung to Vance. Blade had his hands in his pockets .

My bike nearly tipped in my rush to get into the house, to find her inside, that this was just a misunderstanding.

Romeo followed me in.

“Pippa!” I hollered, rushing through the house. With a hard jerk, I threw open the garage door. “Fuck.” Clutching my chest, I bent over and gulped a breath.

“Dozer.”

Romeo stood at the open sliding door. Blood smeared along the doorframe. There was more blood on the patio.

Romeo and I went back into the house and rushed to our room. The closet was open. Without the bed, the room looked so empty. Without her here, my chest felt like a gaping hole.

Metal glinted in the sunlight. Her house keys rested on a pink beach bag. This was where he took her.

“Romeo, what do I do? What the fuck do I do? He has her.”

Blade came up behind us. “There are empty cans and wrappers in the other room. He had to have been waiting for her for a while.”

“I fucking taunted him, and now, he has her. Did you try her phone?” I asked.

Blade shook his head. “She left it in the car. Gabi is making calls. We could go to the cops. Gabi and Vance want to trust in their guy. I think she said his name is Alex. She promises he can find Anatomy.”

But would we find her in time. I dropped to my knees. Fuck, he could have already hurt her .

“Why didn’t the alarm go off?” Romeo asked. “Dozer set if off with a sneeze. How did this guy get past it?”

“Power supply is damaged,” Vance said. “He must have disabled it when he broke in the first time. No one noticed because none of us have been here.”

A few minutes later, Sully and Jazzy arrived. Jazzy rushed across the room and launched herself into my arms.

“She’s going to be okay,” she promised. “Pippa is a fighter.”

Breath swooshed from my lungs. No, my Pippa was kind, funny, and sweetly innocent. She wasn’t hardened. She didn’t fight. Whereas violence bled through my veins. The only thing keeping me together was knowing I’d fucking watch the life drain from Anatomy after I’d broken every fucking bone in his body.

Pippa

The sedan bounced down a rutted, dirt road. Overgrown trees created a canopy of green over them. I wasn’t sure how far off the old highway we’d driven, but I’d guess at least a mile maybe two. And that would only get me back to a paved road, not that there would be much help in the way of traffic.

This was hell, in the middle of nowhere. Quinn droned on about his grandpa’s hunting cabin. A place where we could rekindle our romance.

“We don’t have a romance,” I spat. “You have a knife, Quinn. ”

“I love you, Pippa. That’s what I’m trying to show you.” One hand gripped the steering wheel, the other the knife. “I haven’t been with anyone since you, and you’re out whoring around with a biker gang.”

I shook my head. Inside, I trembled with fear, but I clung to the thin thread of hope that I could get through to him. “This isn’t how you show me you love me.”

“You left me no choice. You shut me out. Then I realized something must have happened to make you change. All I need is time alone with you.”

He set the knife on his lap and reached out to touch my cheek, but I batted his hand away. The brutal shove to my head took me by surprise. My forehead slammed into the passenger window. I groaned, clutching my head, testing to see if I’d broken the skin.

“No one knows about this place.” He glared at me. “No one will hear your screams so don’t annoy me with theatrics. No one is going to find you out here, and I’ve taken a leave of absence with the university. Your biker friends won’t find me either. Once you get away from the highway, there’s no cell coverage and no neighbors.”

He was right. How would anyone ever find me? I had no misconception of why he’d brought me here, and what he planned to do with me. But seeing how isolated I’d be, I had to consider that I wouldn’t be leaving here either.

The car rolled up to a single-room, log cabin. From the condition of the building and the wild tangle of bushes, trees, and tall grasses, no one had used the property in years .

Dust billowed around the tires as we slid to a stop. “You’re here, Pippa. Get used to it.” Quinn exited the vehicle. As soon as he lifted the handle on the passenger door, I shoved hard, knocking him off balance.

Run. My mind screamed at me. Run!

I jolted from the car and took off in a sprint.

“Fucking, bitch,” he cursed.

Going through the woods might have given me coverage to hide, but I made the split-second decision to run for the road.

Adrenaline surged through me. I fucking ran. My eyes burned. My pulse raced. Footfalls sounded behind me. Closer.

Run. Getting closer. No .

Run. Just run. I didn’t look back, didn’t want to know if he would catch me. Run.

“Oomph.” My body crashed to the ground. I slid to a stop, embedding gravel into my forearms. My face slammed into the hard ground.

Quinn’s heavy weight landed on my back. “I can stop you from running.” He sliced the knife along my thigh, cutting through my pants and into my flesh. I screamed from the searing pain.

His knee dug into my back as he climbed off of me. Before I could stand, he grabbed my hair and dragged me toward the cabin. My hair felt as if was being ripped from my scalp. I grabbed his wrist, my nails digging into his skin, and I struggled to get my feet under me so I could walk.

“This isn’t how I envisioned our time together,” he said. “I planned a romantic getaway for us.” He hauled me up the porch steps. The screen opened, and he continued to drag me inside. Then he slammed the door closed.

The dilapidated cabin smelled musty with the hint of animal. Clearly, Quinn had planned for our time together. There were groceries on the counter, and water bottles stacked in the corner.

He planned for a long stay.

A blanket from my house covered the mattress.

Quinn squatted next to me. “Welcome home.”

He slammed his lips against mine. His fingers squeezed my jaw, forcing my mouth to open. His vile tongue slid into my mouth.

I growled, clenched my hands into fists, and bit. The hot copper taste of blood filled my mouth.

Quinn roared and reared back. His fist slammed into the side of my head. My vision blurred and the room spun. I braced on my palms and gulped a breath.

The sound of metal registered in my mind a moment before a studded steel choke collar, the kind used on dogs, slipped over my head. I reached for the links, but he jerked the end hard. The prongs gouged into my flesh, and the chains wound around my neck, cutting off my breath.

Panic surged through me. I struggled to breathe. Scratching and clawing, at him and at the chains, I tried to loosen his hold.

Quinn glared into my eyes. “Do you understand?”

I stopped fighting, letting my body go limp. The chain loosened, I dropped to a heap on the floor and gasped for breath .

With my eyes closed, I thought of Dozer. I didn’t want him to blame himself. Tears filled my eyes. He would because he promised to protect me.

Strong arms scooped me up. I circled his neck and rested my face against his chest.

“That’s better.”

The voice cut through the haze of my mind. I stared into the eyes of the monster who’d taken me from Dozer, from my family, and friends.

Hate and rage exploded within me. I kicked, scratched, and screamed.

Flesh tore beneath my nails. I wasn’t going to be able to stop him. He was strong, and I was alone. But I’d have his pound of flesh. I leaned in and bit his face and dug my nails into his neck.

And then I was floating, weightless for infinity, and free of his touch.

My body crashed against the wall. Pain blasted through me. I curled into a ball as Quinn kicked me into the corner.

I’d rather take the beating than the alternative. I endured the punishing strikes. Finally, he gasped, bent over, and spat on my face.

The blade of the knife curved around my neck. I’d rather be dead than have him touch me. I welcomed the release.

The cut and tear of my shirt sent a shiver of dread down my spine. I closed my eyes as the cool cabin air met my bare flesh.

Death wasn’t going to save me either.