AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Forty-Five
Prez
Holding her against me is soothing for both my soul and hers. It’s strange, knowing that I may be the single thing keeping her glued together at this moment. There’s a piece of me that wants her to completely break down, let go of everything that’s been keeping her hostage for the past several years. After the shit she’s gone through, it would be selfish of me to expect her to remain perfectly put together all of the time.
No sooner than I think that, her shoulders start to shake lightly and a sniffle bounces off the walls around us. Wrapping her tighter in my hold, I stroke my fingers through the ends of her hair to soothe her. Her silence turns audible as she sobs against me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, and if I have to hold her while she showers then so be it.
“I got you, beautiful,” I mutter against her hair as I kiss her head. “You’re going to be alright, I got you. You’re safe now.” She shakes her head, her nails digging harshly into my back as she clings to me.
“I can’t stop seeing his face,” she wails angrily, nestling her face further into my neck. Just as I go to ask what she means, she continues. “It’s like a never ending reel in my brain. Moving from happiness, craziness, then the moment the bullet blasted between his eyes.” Resting my head on hers, I don’t verbally acknowledge it. I just nod as she unfurls into fits of crying. I think at one point she starts laughing, then it quickly goes back to crying.
I’m not usually the one to console others, and I will be honest in saying that I’m feeling extremely awkward right now. But I know that she needs me more than my being uncomfortable, so I digress.
“Let's get you washed up so we can go to bed,” I murmur, kissing her hair one more time. Releasing her deathly grip on me, she sits on the ledge. Her shampoo is sweetly scented, lavender and sandalwood. Usually I would just squirt the liquid straight onto my head, but hers has the pump type. A small dollop gets squished between my hands as I lather the soap. Either she doesn’t seem to notice or just doesn’t care, because she stares blankly behind me. Tipping her head back just slightly, I start massaging the soap into her scalp. Her eyes shut, and a gentle exhale releases from her as she begins to relax again.
“Don’t fall asleep on me,” I say teasingly. Her lips tip upward, but she doesn’t acknowledge it. Even if she did zonk out, I would happily do my best to keep her upright and not drowning. I don’t want to sound judgemental, but this is the quietest I have ever seen her. There’s never a dull moment with her, she will usually bring a sense of liveliness wherever she goes.
Now, it’s like that light has been dulled. The flame has been snubbed, and I’m honestly not sure how to get it back. I do know that one of her biggest passions is BDSM, yet the amount of knowledge I have on the subject is very limited. She was the one who would teach me things, show me the ropes in all the literal and metaphorical ways.
Grabbing the stem of the shower head, I rinse her hair out with gentle quickness. I follow suit with the conditioner and lather her body in soap. I give her the rag to do her pussy, but she seems less than interested. With a stern look from her, her eyes roll into her head, and she complies with the simple demand. Leaning her head against my stomach as I finish rinsing out the last of the condition, her hands slowly crawl over my thighs. Not thinking anything of it, I wring out her hair and step away.
With a stealthiness I didn’t realize she had with her level of exhaustion, she grabs the hem of my boxers and tries to pull them down. Grasping her wrists softly, I pull them away from me and bring them up for a kiss. Her pout reigns heavily on my lack of self-control; however, I am in no way, shape, or form going to give in to her until she can stand up on her own.
Finally having a solid plan in my head, I manage to keep her hands from wandering too far again. She does complain, but I don’t give in. I refuse to take advantage of her in this state.
“Please don’t leave,” she mutters as she plops down on the bed. I smirk, combing through her hair. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”
“As long as you promise not to get handsy,” I scold playfully. An echoing laugh rings from her, and it’s almost as good as the old times.
Almost.
Chapter Forty-Six
Tornado
Watching them go up the stairs alone leaves a weird cave in my chest. Knuckles, Prez, and I decided that it would be best to tell Leather what has been going on without hesitation. Though, after we saw her and the condition she was in…I’m not sure that’s a bright idea.
Just closing my eyes I can see the blood smeared across her chest and arms, her hair stuck up in ways I didn’t think was possible until that moment. Her eyes were dark, the bags severe as ever from lack of sleep. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that it’s from their torture. While she wouldn’t tell us what was going on…I could easily put two and two together.
Shaking away the negativity, the glass in my hand is suddenly refilled again. The others that accompanied us on this rescue are partying it up. For them, it was a success. Retrieving a member from something like that usually means getting them back in multiple pieces. Again, victory for them. Yet, I feel nothing but dread since we got her back. I don’t know what is exactly weighing on me, but it’s there and waiting for me to notice it.
“You alright?” Knuckles asks as he bumps shoulders with me. Not looking away from my glass, I nod and swig the burning liquid. “That’s a bullshit answer if I have ever heard one,” he scoffs, shaking his head.
“Your bullshit detector must be broken.” The table laughs obviously not hearing the underlying irritation in my voice. “Seriously, I’m just worried about Leather.” Looking toward the staircase, I’m more concerned with how she’s holding up versus the party going on down here. Which reminds me of Silent Renegade. I need to inform them of a change in pace. We don’t want Leather to feel as though it’s her fault, but we also need to implement new rules to ensure she feels safe in her own home.
“You have nothing to worry about,” Moose brushes off. “She is upstairs in good hands.” He winks with the implication, and I nearly can’t see past the red haze. Standing abruptly from the seat, I reach over and yank him from his chair to meet me at eye level.
“Want to say that again?” I growl. He audibly gulps over the music, his head shaking frantically. Shoving him backward, he topples into his chair. Chancing a glance down at Knuckles, he looks shocked but also approving. No doubt he probably felt the same way I did about that comment. I’m just one to act before thinking.
“Who would have thought we’d be sitting here having drinks with our enemies?” Sear asks, obviously trying to lighten the mood. It doesn’t work the greatest, but he’s not wrong. I used to be part of the enemy group. Silent Renegade hated us, and for good reason. If there wasn’t misconstrued material hanging over my head, I would have left years ago. In retrospect, I suppose it could be seen as a good thing that I stayed so long.
If I hadn’t, Heckles may have recruited someone else who would be more likely to finish out the job. He failed to notice that I don’t lack social skills. I can tell when someone is being genuine or if they are simply full of shit to save their own ass.
Thinking back to when I first met Leather, I can’t help but feel like a total idiot. So many conflicting emotions were swirling around my head at that time. She wasn’t anything like Heckles had described, and I tried to look for that person. I really did do my best, and I tried to coax that evil villain from the depths of her that he vividly described. She never came out. In the pit of my stomach, I knew that the portrayed image of her never existed, and yet, I still tried. And failed.
I hate how much animosity there was between us, which is from my own doing. She had every right to be wary of me, and if Prez wasn’t already in on the partial reason I was there, it would have made sense for him to not trust me. Being a double agent isn’t as easy as it seems and having the enemy breathing down your neck doesn’t make for a field trip. The enemy being Heckles.
Fun fact if it wasn’t apparent, I didn’t want to go undercover for him. But the blessing in disguise is that Daryn most likely wouldn’t have taken over Big D, and I never would have been sent here to scout for Leather. So, while it’s a shitty reason, I can conclude that there are happier reasons in the end.
