Page 10

Hannah

The rest of the night was spent getting to know each other. Knuckles was an asshole in the extreme, but he was funny as shit. He constantly picked at me. He learned I was a jealous bitch and took full advantage. Without even leaving our little room, he managed to have me swearing to cut out the eyes from every club whore in the compound. He’d laughed so hard he had tears streaming from his eyes when I made the threat under my breath.

He wasn’t mean about his teasing. He just liked getting a rise out of me. Not so much when I turned the tables on him. Before long there was a full-fledged tickle war going on, and Knuckles lost. Epically.

“That’ll teach you to fuck with me.” I gave a satisfied nod as I sat astride him, hands on my hips.

He stroked his rough hands up and down my thighs, the difference in our sizes a huge fucking turn-on. His muscled abdomen was so fucking delicious I wanted to taste every single inch of it. Again. “I guess it will, little hellion.” His cock poked my ass interestedly as he continued to chuckle. “I’m gonna have to teach you a lesson about what happens when you tickle me,” he threatened, though there was no heat in his voice. I was too caught up in the sensation of his hands on my thighs, the way his calloused fingers left trails of fire on my skin, to really pay attention.

“Oh yeah?” I arched an eyebrow, a smirk playing at my lips. “And what kind of lesson would that be?” I leaned down, my breasts brushing against his chest as I whispered in his ear, “Because I will retaliate.”

“OK. Retaliation sounds interesting.” The man really was a hound dog. I loved it.

“The kind that involves me riding you until you beg for mercy.”

His cock jerked against my ass, fully hard now. “Fuck, Hannah,” he groaned, his hands moving to grip my hips. “You’re playing with fire, woman.” He growled, his fingers digging into my flesh.

I leaned down, my hair creating a curtain around our faces. “Maybe I like the burn.” I nipped at his bottom lip, enjoying the way his breathing hitched. “Maybe I want to burn you too.”

The shift was sudden -- one moment I was on top, the next I was beneath him, his powerful body caging me in. “You already have,” he rasped against my throat. “Burned me to the fucking ground.”

His beard scratched deliciously against my sensitive skin as he trailed kisses down my neck to my collarbone. I arched into him, my body already responding to his touch like it had been made for him alone.

The night faded into morning with neither of us getting much sleep. Not that I was complaining. When I finally did drift off, wrapped in Knuckles’s arms, I slept better than I had in years. No nightmares, no restless tossing and turning. No waking up to a man touching or hitting me in ways I hated. Just peace.

I opened my eyes to find Knuckles dressing. His large frame moved around the small apartment with effortless efficiency. When he realized I was awake he gave me a smile filled with appreciation and welcome.

“Hey, baby.” He crossed the short distance to sit on the edge of the bed. “Why don’t you get some more sleep?” There was something in his face that warned me I should do what he said. Not because he’d be displeased, but because I didn’t want to know what he was doing. Unfortunately, the part of my brain that hated bullshit knew curiosity would get the better of me if I didn’t question him.

“Where you going, Knuckles?”

He held my gaze for long moments. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head, weighing his decision, going over words in his mind he thought might satisfy me. Finally, he gave me a curt nod before answering. “I confirmed Beth was the one who had my daughter kidnapped.”

“Pippa?” I pushed myself up, sitting back against the wall where the mattress head was shoved against it. “Her mother did that?”

“Yeah, baby. She did. She thought she could put pressure on me to give up my control of the heroin trade coming through the city headed north. Specifically, the shipments headed for Terre Haute, where me and Gunnar were housed.”

“So, she’s the dealer inside the prison?”

“Nah. She’s not that deep in. But she’s the one who ensures the drugs make it inside the prison for the inmates to buy and sell, or simply to move from one prison to the next. She has her hands in several underground highways running through Kentuckiana. Terre Haute is a little out of the immediate area, but Evansville is on the fringe.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Iron Tzars territory. I imagine Sting wouldn’t appreciate you passing the drug trade to someone he didn’t know and had no way to communicate with.”

He gave me a wide grin. “Smart girl.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please, Knuckles. Cain’s my father. You do remember that. Right?”

He winced and closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah. Fuck.”

“You forgot. Didn’t you?” I deadpanned my expression.

“Hadn’t thought about it. Probably on purpose. Self-preservation and all that.”

“Yeah. You think Gunnar will be after your head, you haven’t seen anything yet.” When he didn’t say anything else, I prompted him. Because I was pretty sure he was hoping not to answer my previous question truthfully and completely. “So? What are you gonna do about Beth?”

“Kill her.”

I blinked at him. “I… wasn’t expecting you to cop to that.”

“I ain’t ever gonna lie to you, honey. Somehow, though, I don’t think you mind.”

“Not at all. Bitch deserves everything you want to dish out and then some. But if you think you’re going without me, you better think again.” I lifted my chin. “If you’re making me your old lady -- and that better be what you meant when you said you were claiming me -- then she’s going to be my daughter too.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “That make your brother your son?” His brows knit together. “You’re his sister… so does that make him my brother-in-law?” The look of utter confusion on Knuckle’s face made me laugh. “Laugh now, you little punk. You’re just as confused as I am.”

“That’s also going to make Cain your fath -- OMP!” Knuckles clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Don’t you fuckin’ say it. No way that man is any relation to me.” He looked so horrified I had to smile.

“You’re afraid of my dad.”

“I know what that man is capable of. Even pushin’ seventy, he’s…”

“Terrifying?”

“A man not going to let his youngest daughter be given to just any fucker. He’s gonna be super protective and picky about who he makes your protector from here on out.”

I smirked. “You are scared of my father.”

“Honey, in a fight where I was tryin’ to kill him, I’d take him on without hesitation. It’d be close, but I could take him. Knowing I can’t kill him or even hurt him too bad, he’d kick my ass six ways to Sunday. Add to that he’s protectin’ his daughter? Yeah. I wouldn’t stand a chance and I ain’t too proud to admit it.”

“So, when do we leave?”

He studied me. “I’m not going to talk you out of this, huh?”

“Sorry, babe.” With an unapologetic grin, I turned his words back on him. “We do this together or not at all.”

His grin was magnificent. The times I’d seen him with Gunnar or around the clubhouse, I’d only ever observed a fierce scowl or indifference on Knuckles’s face. With me, he was different, and it warmed my heart. I had the feeling he didn’t smile often, and I was glad I could give that to him. “I’m gonna have to watch my step around you. You’ll never let me get away with anything.”

“You tore up about that?”

“Nope. Just keepin’ it in mind for when I wonder how I ended up in a situation I’m not really comfortable with just to see you smile at me.”

“Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

He shrugged. “I suppose there are relationships built on worse.”

“Look. I’m sorry if I was a bitch before. When you pulled me out after Dillon…”

“Yeah, honey. I know. And it’s not somethin’ that will ever happen again.” He gave me a stern look. “We’ll find another way to satisfy the kill. One that doesn’t get anyone hurt.”

“There was more to it than that. The guys I targeted I already knew were guilty as sin.”

“I was right. Wasn’t I?”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I was punishing myself for getting Gunnar in trouble. For not speaking up and admitting it was me. But most of all, for not bringing everything to my mom. My dad would have been the one in prison if I’d gone to him when Robert first hit me. I was too ashamed because Dad knew something was off with the bastard and forbade me to see him.”

“Which was Cain’s mistake. Not yours.”

“Huh?”

“Honey, I didn’t get to raise Pippa. Have never raised a child or been around them. Of any age. But even I know you do not forbid a teenager from doing something. It will backfire every fuckin’ time, and you’ll be in an even worse mess than you would be if you’d just let them do it so you could mitigate the damage.”

“I still should have known better.” I shook my head. “The really funny thing is, before dad wouldn’t let me see Robert, I was thinking about breaking up with him anyway. He was always mean-spirited. But I was bound and determined I would be the one to decide if I wanted to see him or not. Not my father.”

“You’ve not even tried to find your own happiness since that night. Have you?” Knuckles’s expression was blank, but he reached out to brush my cheek with his thumb.

“I figured if Gunnar had to wait, then so would I. Besides, I was too busy making sure men like Robert were taken care of.”

“The punishing yourself stops now, Hannah. You and Gunnar are both free now. And you’re both absolutely gonna live your best lives.”