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NINE

Isla

“Hey, girly,” I whisper into Stargazer’s neck. She nuzzles my face, causing me to giggle. “Pancho said you’re doing good. As soon as Sergeant Rafe says it’s okay, we’ll ride, okay?” A whinny from Starlight’s stall has me glancing at her to see her head is over her stall. “You too, old girl. I’m so fucking proud of how you found your way to Rafe. You saved me.”

“No, Issy, you saved yourself,” Rafe says, refuting my claim, coming up behind me to wrap his arms around me so I’m nestled against his chest. “Only instead of running like a girl, you fought like one, then rode like one. Issy, you’re a fucking badass and I hope you know just how proud I am of you. All the brothers are, actually.”

I turn in his arms so we’re face-to-face and reach up to trace his jaw with my fingers. “I was so scared, Rafe.”

“Wouldn’t have expected anything less, sweetheart.” He’s now running his hands up and down my back and the movement is soothing me. “You know you’re mine, right?”

My breath hitches because I figured I was in the friend zone with him so never pushed for anything more. “I am?” I ask.

“Yeah, Issy, you are. Shoulda claimed you years ago, but I wanted you to be able to stretch your wings and fly for a while,” he replies, one hand now gently stroking the apple of my cheek. “Because I didn’t, it put you in the path of those sociopathic nutjobs.”

“It’s not your fault, Rafe,” I murmur.

Right now, I just want him to shut up and kiss me, but I know he needs to get this out, so I let him continue talking.

“Kinda feels like it, although we got some information that I can’t share yet, that they’ve been after you for a very long time,” he says. “Can’t say more than that because it’s club business, but it’s one of the reasons I won’t let you go home just yet. I don’t know where the fucker is who was with Gage. That club, as you’re well aware, is not just bad news to women, it’s catastrophic, Issy.”

“Damn.” I think I must be in shock hearing that some psychopath has had his eyes on me for years. While I know the Kings don’t necessarily toe the proverbial line when it comes to some of the stuff they get into, I know Rio’s chapter is emphatically against anything that resembles sex trafficking.

“It’s gonna be okay, Issy,” he whispers. “Now, can I do something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time?”

“What is it you want to do?” I question.

“Kiss you so I can show you you’re mine,” he replies.

Desire pools in my belly and the only cognitive word I’m able to utter is, “Yes.”

His lips lower and lightly touch mine, causing a frisson of electricity to course through me. As he pulls me closer into the warmth of his powerful embrace, he deepens the kiss and soon, I find myself surrounded by his manly essence. He slides his tongue over my bottom lip, causing me to shiver as my mouth opens automatically to allow him entrance. As our tongues duel, I feel my core clench in need. It grows as he presses closer to me, my back against the stall and I have his erection pressed against my lower belly.

I lose track of time until I feel Stargazer nibbling on my hair. Pulling back, panting hard, I turn my head, toss my loose hair over my shoulder to stare at her and state, “Really, Gazer? You just interrupted the best kiss of my damn life to chew on my hair?”

Rafe chuckles then leans in to tuck a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear and says, “There’s more where that came from, Issy. Lots more.”

We spend the afternoon together, walking the horses since Doc hasn’t cleared me to ride just yet. As we trot them in the training corral, I ask, “Have they found the truck yet?”

“Not yet, babe, but they’re working on it.”

I’m so curious about everything, but I instinctively know that he’s not going to share anything else with me. Frustrated, I stomp my foot and say, “I don’t think it’s fair that it happened to me, but I can’t know what happened, Rafe.”

“Issy, you know that club business is for the brothers,” he intones as we make our way back into the barn.

“I know but it’s still not fair. I wanna know why Gage fucked me over the way he did, y’know?” I query.

“The brothers and I will be having church later and I’ll see if they’re okay with me sharing anything. Fair warning, Issy, I’ll be putting my claim on you then. You ready for all that entails?” he asks.

This is what I’ve wanted for-freaking ever, but I know it’s a massive thing, accepting a biker’s claim to become his ol’ lady. Short of death, we’ll be together forever or at least until one of us dies. Still, the thought of surrendering myself to Rafe in such an intimate way has me rubbing my thighs together in anticipation. His smirk and accompanying wink let me know he’s very aware of how he’s affecting me.

“Yeah, Rafe, I am,” I finally say.

“No sex until Doc clears you for strenuous activity. Not willing to hurt you, babe, and your ribs are still healing.”

Great, just great. Now I have bossy Rafe dictating what’s gonna happen with us. Blowing out a breath, I lick my lips, causing him to groan, then say, “Fine. But just so you know, I’m going to ask Doc what’s off limits until they’re fully healed.”

He huffs out a laugh while shaking his head. “Minx,” he mutters. “Issy?” he asks as I lead Starlight to her stall as he takes Stargazer to hers. When I turn to face him, he continues. “You’ll be my wife and the mother of my children, too, just so you know. I’ve loved you for a very long time, babe, and after your abduction, I had a wakeup call. Life’s too short to wait for the perfect time. For us, it’s right now.”

My emotions are now haywire as I try to process everything he’s just said. “Okay, but is that you asking me or telling me?” I tease.

“Babe, I’ll be asking when you least expect it,” he replies. “Now, let’s go back to the house and see what we can get into.”

“Issy, have you ever heard of Mike Lopez?” Rafe asks as he walks back into his room.

When we got back, we ate some lunch then he got called away, so I came upstairs and have been doing a little bit of much-needed self-care on myself. I soaked in his fantastic tub so I could shave my legs, and now, I have a face mask on that promises to help with puffiness and swelling. My thoughts are that it might help the bruising that’s still left. If not, my skin will be nice and smooth.

Scrunching up my nose, which cracks the mask, I think about everyone whose name I’ve ever known that doesn’t live on the ranch. Most of the people I meet on the circuit are little more than acquaintances, of course, so I expand my thinking. “I briefly dated a guy named Miguel Lopez, but I don’t recall ever meeting someone by the name of Mike Lopez.”

He looks me over then his gaze returns to my face. His eyebrows are raised high into his hairline as he slants his head sideways. “What in the fuck do you have on you right now?” he questions, smirking.

I scoff at the look he aims my way. “It’s a face mask. They’re all the rage these days, Rafe. Keep up with the times, old man,” I retort. Of course, my lips barely move because my face has stiffened significantly since I lost track of time.

“Does it need to come off or something? Because it’s all cracked,” he replies. Great, now he’s trying not to laugh at me. Jerk.

“Yeah, it does.” My tone is haughty as I stand up and move to the bathroom so I can wash this gook off my face. “Why did you ask if I had ever heard of Mike Lopez?” I ask as I turn both faucets on, so I get the water to the right temperature.

“Because he’s the person who’s been stalking you for years,” he says.

“How did you find that out?” My voice is a bit garbled since I’m splashing water on my face, but I know he hears me because I feel him moving closer.

“A combination of things led to that discovery,” he says. “We talked to Gage, and he told us about him, plus Pokey did a bit of a deep dive on every member of the Mojave Devils.”

My heart stutters a little hearing Gage’s name. Still, I finish cleaning my face then carefully pat it dry before I apply my moisturizer. I may not be the quintessential girly-girl, but I take good care of my skin.

“Gage? You found him?” I whisper once I’m done and have turned to face Rafe.

He reaches out and lightly strokes his finger across my cheek, a small smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, Issy. He’s actually here,” he admits.

My hands ball into fists as I grit out through clenched teeth, “I wanna see him. I have a few things I need to say.”

“I’m sure you do, but it’ll have to wait. Do you have his number?” he asks.

“Whose? Gage’s? Of course, I have his, Rafe!”

He closes his eyes and I imagine him counting to ten before he answers, “Lopez’s, Issy.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. You can check my phone if you need to, Rafe,” I reply.

I’ve never been someone who feels they have to hide their phone from outsiders. While in retrospect, I don’t expect Rafe to do the same since I’m sure there are messages I shouldn’t see, I suspect they probably have burner phones from them. Still, I trust him so I’m not worried about what he might see.

“Why did y’all stop seeing each other?” he asks, walking back to the bathroom, where I’m now brushing out my hair.

“Um, shit, let me think,” I stammer. “It was him who broke things off, Rafe. I don’t think he was someone who would’ve been around forever or anything because he liked to ride motorcycles, but we had fun while it lasted. He’d come and watch me race when he could, but he lives in Arizona. Since I didn’t want him to lose time at work, I told him it wasn’t necessary. Then one day, he said something strange before he told me this wasn’t working out for him.”

“What did he say that you found odd?” Rafe probes, staring intently at me.

“He said, ‘It didn’t work anyway,’ or something like that. Why? What do you think he meant?”

While Miguel wasn’t the love of my life, he was fun, and even though I know our few times together weren’t really anything to write home about, not like I instinctively know it’ll be with me and Rafe, it still hurt for a little while when he broke up with me.