AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We could be happy. I know I can be uptight, but that's only ever been because I’ve never felt like I deserve you. You’re beautiful, and smart, and…” he sighs like he’s defeated. “I’ve tried so hard to be the man you want.”
“You're not hearing me, Tawk,” I tell him calmly. I wish I could make him understand.
“Those men treat their women like animals,” he hisses at me.
A vision of Squealer and the girl in the bedroom comes to mind. I guess the way they were doing it was rather beastly, but Tawk is wrong. When it comes to the women they care about, I’ve only ever seen tenderness from the men at the club.
“Is that what you want, Shaniya, to be a biker’s whore? You think he’ll still want you when he gets what he wants out of you?”
“That’s a cruel thing to say,” I bite back at his bitter words, and Tawk’s eyes lower to the ground, like he’s ashamed of himself.
“I love you, Shaniya, and I know I shouldn’t have waited this long to tell you that, just please think about what you're doing. This is the rest of our lives.” He stretches forward again, his mouth preparing to connect with mine, and his hands cradling my face.
“Tawk,” I mumble against his lips, trying to force him away.
“Just try… please,” he whispers against me, deepening his kiss. I try to shove him off, but this time he’s prepared and manages to hold his stance. It’s too much, it tastes deceitful.
Automatically my arm raises up, and clenching my fist, I connect it with his jaw. It breaks our contact, and he looks upon me with both shock and hurt, breathless from his efforts.
Blood drips onto his shoulder, and I realize I hit him with the hand I wear my mother's ring on. Tawk touches his fingers to the blood and then stares at his hand.
“You're making a mistake. The same mistake your mother made,” he growls at me before storming off toward his hut.
It’s the first time anybody has mentioned anything to me about my mother's past. All that goes unspoken around here. He’s never said it to me, but I know my uncle suspects one of the outlaws is my father. I just can’t see how it can be possible.
The outlaws have always hated us. Their loyalty to each other is thicker than blood, and since I’ve been spending time there I’ve been thinking about who it could potentially be.
I let myself into my cabin, sliding the wooden bolt across. Dyanni doesn’t stir, and the dim light from the oil burner is all I have when I get undressed and into bed.
My tears soak my pillow as I drift off to sleep.
Why can’t things be simple? Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with the man who knows the same life that I do? And why did Troj have to be running by the river that day I lost my mother?
I put it down to fate. Troj came to me at a time when I feared the village would be all I’d ever know. He’s my future, the only one I can see now. And I’m convinced now more than ever that my mother did send him to me.
“Thought I might find you down here.” Jessie finds me at Tayen and Calian’s cabin. They've been staying in one of the club's cabins, which is much more spacious than the one we’re rebuilding, but they’re eager to get back to the reserve.
“We got confirmation on Kullolli,” he tells me, not looking happy about the situation.
“How?” I rip up my shirt from the post and use it to wipe the sweat off my forehead.
“Prez put the feelers out in some of the local gyms. Kullolli’s been spending most of his time at Erol’s. We put ears out, and it’s him for sure.”
“Well, at least I know what I’m up against now,” I say, distracted by the stare Tawk’s giving me from the other side of the village. He’s got a fresh scrape on his face to add to the bruises I gave him.
“Did you hear me?” Jessie interrupts our stare-off.
“No,” I admit, giving him back my attention.
“Tac and Thorne left this morning, and Mads is keeping a lookout for warrants,” he repeats what he must have said before.
“That’s good,” I nod back, noting the sheepish look Shaniya gives Tawk as she passes him. She’s acting twitchy, like the two of them share a secret, and it stirs a version of anger in me that only she seems able to evoke. Especially since she’s been avoiding me all morning.
“Troj!” Jessie raises his voice.
“Yep?” I snap my attention back to him again.
“I said, I’ve got something to take care of. I’ll see you in the gym around five, yeah?”
