Page 14 of Ruthless Obsession (Royal Bastards MC Chicago, IL Chapter)

“Ok, darling,” she replies.

I pull Mavis’s arm around my neck and glance at her. “You two have a good night.”

“I’d say you too…you know just don’t kill each other.” She laughs.

Legos burst into laughter. “If he was in good shape, he’d have that girl bent over a chair,” he mumbles into a beer bottle.

I shake my head as I guide Mavis upstairs.

We stroll into the master bedroom in silence. I lower him to the mattress. He stares at me while I grab clothes from the dresser and position myself on the floor at his side and get him dressed for bed.

“I can help you into the bathroom,” I offer as I rise.

“I’ll manage, Sophie.” His green eyes darken as he stands to his full height, his blond curls falling around his face like a storm cloud as he towers over me.

“Go to your room.”

My lips twist into a snarl. And I storm out of the room.”

While getting ready for bed I think about the way he stared down at me. How I felt locked in his trance. All I could think about was his lips on mine. My body zings with need despite what he’s put me through. I put him out of my mind as I get ready for bed.

Tomorrow, I need to talk to him—about my business, my life, everything I left behind. I’ve been off social media too long. My clients are probably wondering if I fell off the face of the Earth.

Coaching creators, helping them grow their followings—that was my world.

I made my last company a fortune, and when I asked for a raise, they told me to wait a year.

Meanwhile, my boss was popping champagne on a new yacht bought with the money I made him.

I vented to Neecka, my closest coworker.

She was livid. That night, we built the blueprint for my coaching brand.

She’s probably called me a dozen times by now.

I pull the sheets to my chin and sigh. My phone was fried in that explosion. I’ll have to ask Mavis for a new one.

My eyelids flutter and I yawn.

I come to not realizing I’d dozed off. My face is buried in the side of a man’s chest. A familiar one. His chest. I curl into his side and inhale his natural scent. Soap and clean laundry.

“Mavis, go back to your room.”

“I like when we’re close like this, Sophie,” he admits.

His words tug at my heart strings.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you this, but you’ve been so upset.

I never planned to leave you in the basement for four days.

Two days max. But I was on heavy medication after Dr. Cottingham removed the bullet.

Luckily, it didn’t hit any major organs.

I cut back on the dosage. But I see you gave me the full dose trying to keep me sleepy. ”

I remove his arm from around me. “I find it interesting you still sent a doctor into the basement a few hours after you put me down there to draw blood for STDs. My kicking didn’t seem to faze him.”

“He’s another Royal Bastards doctor we keep on payroll. He only cares about getting paid.”

“Wow, he doesn’t care that you keep a woman locked in a jail cell in your basement.”

“First of all, it had to be done. Second, you’re not just any woman. You’re my woman.”

“Listen to yourself, Mavis. You stole me and decided to keep me for yourself.”

“He wasn’t treating you right anyway. Besides I’m out to kill him.”

I prop up on my elbow and plant my hand against my head. “What happened exactly?”

He flips the lamp on so he can see my face. Mavis squeezes my bun. “Did you like the way I shampooed your hair?”

“I’m still mad at you. I don’t want you in my bed,” I bite out.

“Oh, yeah?” He grips my jaw, pulls me closer and crushes my lips. I break our kiss.

“No Mavis. Everything doesn’t go back to the way it was.”

I swat his hand away.

“After successfully clearing out and leveling three warehouses in one night we planned to hit another one,” he tells me.

“Things were going well. We took out several men and more came from somewhere deeper inside. One of them shot me. I didn’t notice at first. It was like the adrenaline started to dissipate and next thing you know I was bleeding out. Guess the asshole sent more men to take us out this time.”

I want to caress his bearded jaw, but I don’t.

“Tell Legos and Tonya they can leave. I’ll continue taking care of you,” I mutter.

He smirks. “You hate me, but you’ll continue caring for me?”

“Did you call my name when you entered the house the night you were shot?”

Mavis caresses my face. And instantly I want his hands and mouth on me. But I fight the urge to kiss him back.

“I was delirious but yeah. I also said I wanted to be with my parents.”

My eyes widen. “Mavis, why would you say that?”

“You tried to escape. And even though I have my brothers I just felt ready to give into death.”

I jab a finger into his chest. “Don’t ever say that again,” My voice quivers.

“You only want to keep me around so I can clean your body and wash your hair.”

I chuckle. “Not true. You do have hair washing skills.”

He brings my hand to his mouth. His lips brush along my flesh. “I’m never letting you go, Sophie.”

At that point I give into the biker. “Send them home tomorrow. I’ve got you. Turn off the light. You need to rest.”

Mavis flips off the light and pulls me close.

“Never letting you go,” he repeats.

∞

Over the next week it’s just Mavis and I in the house again. With the occasional visit from his doctor and assistant. His brothers rotate shifts parked outside the wrought iron gates ensuring I know there’s no escape.

I continue to bathe him in the shower dressed in a t-shirt and shorts not to give him the wrong idea. Didn’t stop my mouth from watering when I washed his hard dick.

Once he started the workout routine I stopped assisting him in the shower. He hits the gym down the hall from his office. Mavis is building up his strength.

The bikers who monitor the property often come in to hang out with Mavis.

I don’t let them stay long. I tell them Mavis will return to the clubhouse soon.

Psycho has been to the house a few times.

He and Mavis often discuss new strategies to take out Toby’s warehouses.

They're adding drones to obtain visuals of the surrounding area.

I’ve never seen Toby lose his cool really. Only when he hit me. Yet he always found a way to coax me into wearing the tiny maid uniforms while ironing or cleaning the house in those cringe videos that I bet made him a fortune.

I palm the edge of the counter and squeeze my eyes shut thinking about those times I had to perform in those videos. Was Toby planning to sell me to one of those men?

Rough callused hands palm my arms, and I jump.

“Are you ok?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

I guess Mavis doesn’t believe me because he turns me to face him and stares into my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

I exhale and tell him about the videos Toby persuaded me to partake in.

“What the fuck?” Mavis’s tanned face reddens. “And why did you stay?”

“It wasn’t like this was every day. More like twice a month.”

Mavis’s blond strands are pulled up into a sexy man bun. “Did you get paid?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“He took advantage of your so-called relationship.”

“Looking back yes. I see that now. He’d take me to the club every week. I wore pretty dresses. He showed me off. He introduced me to the staff and business partners as his girlfriend.”

I drop my face in my hands. “He was showing me off to potential buyers’, wasn’t he?”

Mavis pulls me against his sweaty bare chest. He just came from his morning workout. He smells like man, mixed with sweat, and body wash.

“Yes, sweetheart, that maggot was.”

His lips brush along my hair. “He wanted top dollar for you. We believe a red headed woman who was also his girlfriend across town was sold into sex trafficking.”

My stomach bottoms out at the thought I wasn’t his only girlfriend and that he sold woman.

I peer into his eyes. “She’s just gone now?”

“No, luckily, we work with a group who will bust the sex trafficking ring and save the women.”

I release a breath. “Good, no one should be forced to have sex with men against their will.”

“I agree.”

“Says my captor.” I arch a brow.

He chuckles and kisses my lips. “I’m going to shower. Sophie, I’m feeling better. You don’t have to take care of me anymore.”

“I was cooking breakfast for us both. Your meal will be in the warmer.”

“If you say so.” He saunters out the kitchen. My eyes fall on his glistening muscled back. Royal Bastards is tattooed across the top of his back. A skull is right below the words. I want to run my tongue over it. How many women have done that to him I wonder?

The sexual tension between us has gotten heated the last few nights. I haven’t climbed in bed with Mavis. Every night he slips into my bed and holds me close.

The night before last he palmed my breasts and sucked my neck. I pulled away because a part of me is still angry at him for locking me up. Or is that the excuse I’m using to keep him at bay?

I push the bacon around in the skillet and scramble eggs in another. The toasts pops up in the toaster and I finish cooking the grits. After plating our meals, I place his in the warmer and I sit at the counter and stare into space. Fuck, do I have Stockholm syndrome?

Do I really want to leave? I don’t know. I’m so torn because of my past experience with bikers.

I chomp on a sliver of bacon as I think back on how good his hands felt on my body. It felt right.

Am I ready to be a part of someone else’s MC outside of my brother’s?

Sipping my apple juice, I try to think of life without this brooding biker. And I can’t.

Mavis pads back into the kitchen barefoot, wearing clean black basketball shorts. Droplets of water drips from his golden curly strands.

He retrieves his plate from the warmer. Doesn’t waste time grabbing a fork and digging in.

“How are you feeling?” I ask.

“Good. Going out tonight to hit another warehouse.”

“What?” I drop my fork. “Mavis, you can’t.”

He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge, cracks it open, and gulps it down.