Page 16 of Unbound By You (The Viper’s MC #1)

SILAS

H arlow prowls like a panther caged behind bars, one that’s known the freedom of a life in the wild.

Her eyes are crazed, filled with a panic like nothing I’ve seen from her before.

But I have seen it. The people I handle for the club always look like this when they finally realize the only way out is one of two paths: quick and painful or never-ending and torturous.

I don’t like either of those options for her.

“You.” She stops herself and shakes her head, continuing her short path back and forth.

“What about me, Harlow?” I encourage her, hoping it’ll break through whatever mental block is holding her back so she can finally spit it out, and we can lay everything on the table.

“Fuck it. Here we go. You’ve obviously been doing some digging into my business, so tell me, what do you think you know about Macon?”

She finally comes to a halt and fixes me with a hard, unblinking stare. Leaning back against the bedroom wall, she props one booted foot up behind her, arms crossed tightly over her breasts, which still rises and falls with the force of her heavy breaths.

“He’s your stepfather. Yet, the word on the street is that he’s a piece of shit and had you leaving your mom as soon as you were legal. Now, you’re one big happy family with a nice little paper trail of payments for all the shady-ass jobs he has you working. Does that about sum things up?”

“Not even half of it, you pompous asshole.”

“Well, enlighten me then, baby, because we’re family now. And in this family, you and me, there won’t be any secrets.”

The scoff that escapes her lips is more than just a sound. It’s a flicker of fire, the first spark of life returning to her eyes. It’s subtle, but it hits me like a victory, the reaction I’ve been chasing to prove there’s still some fight left in her.

“Macon Conrad is a pawn in someone else’s massive, dangerous game. I let Macon keep a hold of me for my mom’s sake, but that’s it. His boss, on the other hand, isn’t someone you deal with unless you’ve got your fingers in some nefarious pies.”

She eyes me, waiting for a beat to see if I will step in, but I stay quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“I’ve been doing this for a couple of years, and you managed to undo everything I’ve set up for myself in one fifteen-second announcement.

You think I belong to you because you added my name to some paper and had Branson forge my signature for the county?

” she asks, a coolness of indifference in her tone.

“You just took what’s his, and he’s not the kind of man to allow something like this to go unpunished.

I was on the very edge of his radar. Now he’ll come for you and take me regardless. ”

She talks about him like it’s settled; he marked her as his, and that’s the end of the story.

Maybe it was, once. A fate she resigned herself to.

Maybe there was a time before I showed back up when she would have given in.

But that won’t happen anymore. That claim is void, worthless.

Because she’s mine now, she just hasn’t said it out loud yet.

And as long as I’m alive, hell, maybe even long after, I won’t let anyone, especially her, forget it.

I clench my fist, calming the fire in my soul that have my fingers itching to lock her in the compound’s basement, grab my brothers, and deal with whoever this megalomaniac is.

Moving from the bed, I cage her in against the wall.

She doesn’t shrink away from my overbearing presence, only tips her chin up in defiance to keep her stony gaze locked on mine.

My fingers wrap perfectly around her slender neck, her skin smooth against my rough calluses. Her pulse remains steady as she watches intently for my next move.

“You are my wife, Harlow. He could have an army at his back, and your deepest desire to go with him, and you’d still be mine, baby.”

My lips crash into hers, driving the sentiment home. She doesn’t give in to my assault, leaving me to do my damnedest to coax her back into my arms. I got her there once before, and it’ll happen again.

Shoving her knee to the side, I wrap my free hand around her strong thigh and hitch it up on my waist before pushing my hardness to the juncture of her thighs. I’d bet my Harley she’s soaking her panties right now, even if she’s refusing to submit.

“Let me in, wildcat. You know you want to,” I tease before biting her bottom lip playfully.

The stubborn woman doesn’t open for me, but I feel the tip of her lips as they pull to the side in the slightest smile. I trace my lips across her chin and down the hollow chords of her neck. She shivers, and it’s the smallest tell, but I’ll take it.

Grinding forward, my cock aches to drive inside her warm heat, to fuck her senseless and leave my cum dripping down her suntanned thighs.

Maybe then she’d realize the marriage license was simply the cherry on top for the world to acknowledge she’s mine because I knew the moment with her in that darkened hallway all those nights ago.

“Why are you lying to yourself, baby? I know if I reach into your pants right now and trace your pussy, you’ll be wet and aching for me.” I lower my voice, even though it’s just the two of us in my room. “Just like I’m aching for you.”

She only scoffs, but when my hand moves from her throat, tracing down between her heaving breasts to the edge of her jeans, her eyes catch mine, and the challenge in those emerald orbs spurs me on.

I pop the button, and she doesn’t stop me.

My finger traces the lace edge of her underwear, and she still doesn’t stop me.

They dip below the fabric, fighting against the tight fit of her denim, but when I trace along her slit, ignoring her clit, I get my answer.

She can hate me all she wants for putting her at the center of my focus, but her body craves my touch.

I sink my fingers into her, and I get the first taste of her surrender when she moans into my neck.

“There we go, baby.” I push in deeper, moving my thumb to circle her clit. “You think I’d ever let anyone hurt you again?”

Her teeth dig into my skin as I work her up slowly.

“You think I’d ever let another man get his hands on you?”

She hums like she doesn’t quite believe my words, but her juices flood over my fingers, and her chest stutters against mine. My cock pulses, desperate to be included, but I need her to shatter for me first.

“You think I won’t kill any motherfucker who even slightly implies you’re his, wildcat? Because that blood on the edge of my blade will be almost as sweet as your cum coating my fingers right now.”

The tight fit doesn’t keep me from rubbing that sensitive place inside her, and when my thumb picks up speed and pressure, and I lean in to claim her lips, she finally lets me in.

She collapses against me, her body trembling as she gulps down shaky lungfuls of air.

I slowly withdraw my fingers from between her thighs, slick and warm with her release, and bring them to my lips.

The motion catches her eye, and her gaze lifts, wide and dazed.

I suck her release from my fingers, one by one, never looking away.

“Is it clear who you belong to, Harlow?”

“It’s your death wish, Si. I tried to warn you.”

“He might be your hell incarnate, wildcat. But there’s a reason they call me The Reaper.”