"Hi, boys." She gave them a smile as she walked around the front of her car.

"Boys!" The two men laughed, but Bullseye was the one who spoke. "Darlin', you better look closer." He got up from the chair and began to saunter toward the still smiling Lizzy. "I haven't been a boy in a long time."

She laughed softly, clearly undaunted by the big biker stopping directly in front of her. "Did I offend your fragile ego, big boy?" Lizzy glanced my way. "Hi, Kat."

"Hi, honey. Where's Grace?"

"Gram's in the hospital, she had a little episode. She's okay; they just want to keep her overnight. I'm here to pick up a few things." She turned away and slammed bodily into Bullseye. "Oh!"

His hands came up and wrapped around Lizzy's upper arms. The look on his face had gone from playful to intense. Their eyes met. "You call me a f.u.c.kin' boy again, darlin', and I'll be forced to show you the difference."

Just as I was about to tell Bullseye to leave her alone a shot rang out, and then another. I was too stunned to move at first, thinking that I must have imagined it. Bullseye grabbed Lizzy, pulled her to the ground and covered her with his body. Red swore harshly, jumping out of his chair and pulling his gun. He ducked behind the tree. A third shot rang out, and he returned fire in the direction of the shooter. Bullseye used the interaction to force Lizzy to crawl toward the door to Grace's house. He kept his body half over hers until she was able to open the door and slip inside.

I moved away from the window. My first instinct was to lock the door, but I was afraid to lock Red and Bullseye out, should they try to come in. My second thought was to call Lynch. I remembered the phone he'd slipped me, but as more gun-fire erupted outside I was frozen in fear. It sounded like a small army out there, and I'd never felt so helpless or frightened. There was only one way in and out of my apartment, so it wasn't as if I could run out a back door. All of a sudden the window I'd been standing at was shot out. Screaming, I hit the floor.

I could hear yelling outside but couldn't make out if it was Bullseye, Red, or someone else. The gunfire seemed to slow down and then cease all together. My heart was pounding and instinct warned me to crawl to the door. I reached up and turned the lock, holding my breath and waiting, listening. The muted voices were getting closer, and then I heard the pounding of feet coming up my stairs. If it were Red and Bullseye wouldn't they call out to warn me that it was them?

I got up and ran to my bedroom, fully intending to jump out the window. Just as I shut and locked the door someone kicked in my front door. My purse was on the bed and I grabbed it, realizing that my phone was inside. There was no time to dig it out and use it as I ran to the window. I heard the door k.n.o.b turn to my bedroom door and I froze, watching as the door was kicked in so violently that half the door frame went with it as it hit the back of the wall. Two men stormed into my room and one of them continued in my direction.

I couldn't help the cry that escaped me. I turned back to the window. I'd opened it earlier to air out my room. All I had to do was push out the screen and jump.

"Get her before she jumps!"

I felt a hand in my hair and screamed as I was pulled away from the window. I was swung around violently until I was facing the man who'd spoken. He hadn't moved away from the doorway. I strained against the a.s.shole holding me, but he easily forced me forward. The other man just stood there, a smirk covering his face as his eyes raked over my skimpy attire. Before I knew it I was inches away from him.

I cringed when he reached up and touched me cheek. "Lynch's taste in women has f.u.c.kin' improved," he smiled.

I didn't like the look in his eyes. "Don't touch me!" I hissed, turning my face from him. "And I'm not Lynch's woman."

The man behind me laughed. They were bikers, dressed just like the others I'd met. Only something was different about these two men.

"Then why did we just kill two of his brothers out in the yard?" he asked smugly.

Red and Bullseye, dead? No! Before I could think of what I was doing I lunged for him, breaking free of the man gripping my hair. I hit him with my purse and when that fell to the floor, raked my nails down his face, tearing his flesh. His laughter fueled my anger and I began to punch him wherever I could. Within seconds he had managed to grab my wrists and yank me up against him.

"b.i.t.c.h!" he snarled into my face. "I like pain." His hands tightened around my wrists until I thought the bones would break. I gasped. "I like inflicting it, too."

"Her purse is vibrating," the man behind me said. I turned my head enough to see him scoop it up. He located my phone and handed it toward the man holding me.

I found myself pushed back violently. "b.i.t.c.h gives you any more trouble, knock her out." My eyes grew round and I instinctively knew he wasn't kidding. I watched him glance down at my phone and grin before looking back up at me. "Lover boy."

Lynch. I felt tears gather in my eyes and watched helplessly as the man and Lynch texted back and forth. When he was done he tossed the phone onto my bed, then c.o.c.ked his head and gave me a speculative look that made my skin crawl. My heart began to race because I knew that they could do whatever they wanted to me. I began to struggle. The only thing I gained from it was a cruel squeeze and then a crushing arm around my waist that jerked me back against a hard c.o.c.k. The man behind me laughed and began to rub his hard-on against my b.u.t.t.

"Pig!" I swore, squirming wildly.

The man in front of me chuckled and gave his friend a knowing look. "Got a woody for our pretty friend here?"

"f.u.c.kin' know it, why do you think they call me b.o.n.e.r?" he grumbled. "We got time?"

"Wildman is expecting us; we'll have time to play later. Let's get the f.u.c.k out of here."

I dug my heels in and struggled every step of the way, determined not to make it easy for them. The man grunted and forced me ahead of him and out the door. I could barely breathe; his arm was so tight around me. He used his bulky body to b.u.mp me every step of the way. Halfway down the stairs I dug my nails into his arm, ripping at his skin. It pushed him over the edge, because he leaned forward and bit down on my shoulder like a rabid animal.

I screamed in pain, and then found myself tumbling down the rest of the steps by a violent push. Hitting the ground hard took my breath away. I lay there in agony, watching him continue down the stairs toward me.

"f.u.c.kin' c.u.n.t!" he growled to his friend, kicking me in the ribs. "b.i.t.c.h needs to be taught a lesson." His hands went to his belt.

"Not now, b.o.n.e.r."

I don't know where I found the strength, but as he reached down for me I lashed out at his bearded face, catching him beneath the eye. He yelped and jumped back before lunging for me like a vengeful bear. The look on his ugly face said he couldn't believe that I was still fighting him. I couldn't escape the hands that squeezed around my upper arms and hauled me roughly to my feet. I gasped in pain, wondering if I'd broken something while falling down the stairs. b.o.n.e.r clearly didn't care. His intent was to hurt me as much as possible.

He pushed me roughly up against the end of the wooden rail until I writhed in pain as the rail dug into my back. It became almost unbearable when he leaned his bulky body over me and put his face close to mine. I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep from crying out, but I couldn't stop the tears from leaking out.

"b.i.t.c.h!"

"b.o.n.e.r!" the other man barked in a warning tone, which b.o.n.e.r ignored.

"I'm going to f.u.c.k her up, Kirby," he gritted down into my face.

The man, Kirby, came over and pulled b.o.n.e.r off me. I sank to the ground as the two faced off. Oh, G.o.d, it hurt. I was pretty sure one of my ribs was cracked where he'd kicked me.

"Not now, man. We get her back to Wildman as planned. If there's anything left of her when he's done, we'll both get a piece of her a.s.s. Right now we need her for collateral. When Lynch and his p.u.s.s.ies return from New Hampshire and see their clubhouse destroyed they're gonna be out for blood." They stood glaring at each other for a couple of seconds.

b.o.n.e.r glanced down at me before grabbing me up by my hair. He ignored my cry of pain. "Come on, b.i.t.c.h." He began dragging me.

I reached back at the hand in my hair, trying to ease up the pressure. Kirby took a step into my s.p.a.ce. "Be ashamed to mess up this pretty face," he began, running the back of his hand over my cheek. "If I were you I'd come willingly."

I spit in his face. I'd never done anything like that before in my life but frustration and panic was threatening to cripple me. I didn't have time to enjoy the small feeling of satisfaction, because in a split second move he back handed me. He hit me so hard that my teeth cut into the inside of my cheek, and blood filled my mouth.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I don't know who said it originally, but suddenly it's exactly how I felt. If they were going to kill me I'd already be dead. In my mind Lynch was on his way, and if I could stall the two bikers determined to get me to someone named Wildman, then I would do what it took. I could take a little roughing up if I had to, I could handle the pain inflicted by their hands. Red and Bullseye had given their lives to protect me.

My tear blurry eyes scanned the area for them. Red was on the ground next to the bullet ridden tree he'd been sitting under. I didn't see Bullseye, and then my thought turned to Lizzy. Was she all right? G.o.d, I hoped so. There were no lights on inside the house. Her car and the side of the house had several bullet holes in it, and a window was shattered above Grace's pretty flowers.

"You f.u.c.kin' ready to behave?" Kirby snarled.

"Go to h.e.l.l!" I managed. "Lynch will kill you!"

The darkness filled with their evil laughter, but Kirby was the one who spoke. "By the time Lynch gets back from New Hampshire his club will be burned to the ground and his territory will be under the Red Devils' control. Wildman will have you as leverage to run what's left of the Wild Marauders out of town for good."

"You're wrong. I'm not that important to Lynch."I truly felt that way. We had a connection, a strong mutual attraction that had led to some out-of-this-world s.e.x, but that's all it was.

My feelings for him were complex and sometimes confusing, but I kept them to myself. Some men didn't want to hear how you felt about them. It made them feel uncomfortable and trapped. I knew that if I wanted to keep Lynch in my life I'd tread carefully before exposing myself like that. His club came first and always would.

I saw the look in Kirby's eyes as he contemplated what I said. He finally laughed. "Baby, I know Lynch, and the only women he f.u.c.ks more than once are his club wh.o.r.es. He never f.u.c.ks a woman outside the club twice. Never, unless they f.u.c.kin' mean something to him." I cringed away from his approaching hand but all he did was push the hair out of my face. "He's been spending a lot of time with you." The softness of his touch and tone didn't fool me.

I shook my head in denial, but remained silent as the impact of something he'd said earlier hit me. Lynch was in New Hampshire? No wonder they didn't seem to be in any hurry to get away from there. I was on my own. Before I had a chance to fully comprehend the ramifications of that, three other bikers tore through the trees.

"We couldn't find him," one of them said, directing his comment to Kirby.

"Did you check the f.u.c.kin' house?"

"It was the first place we checked. No sign of the chick, either."

OhmyG.o.d they had to be talking about Bullseye and Lizzy! I glanced at the darkened house again.

"They didn't just f.u.c.kin' disappear!" Kirby snapped angrily. "Rip the house apart! They have to be there somewhere. Find them and end them."

The three men stormed toward the house, and then I saw lights come on. I watched them through the broken window until they disappeared further into the house. Other lights were flicked on as they went. Where were Bullseye and Lizzy? I'd only been in Grace's house a few times, and only as far as her living room. The noise of doors being opened and slammed shut, and things being thrown and broken, caused me to wince.

"You'd kill an innocent girl?"

Kirby shrugged indifferently. "No one's innocent." His gaze shifted behind me, to b.o.n.e.r. "Let's head the f.u.c.k out."

I tried to pull out of b.o.n.e.r's arms, but he tightened his arm over my breast and the hand in my hair snapped my head back. "Want another bite, b.i.t.c.h?" he threatened in my ear. I jerked against him and tried to gouge his eyes. He laughed cruelly and easily subdued me.

"No one f.u.c.kin' move!"

I turned my head as much as possible to see Lynch and another man step out of the bushes, guns aimed at us. Pure relief flooded me, although I knew that a lot would still have to happen for the situation to be over. It was five against two, and my first thought was that I needed to warn him about the men inside the house. "Lynch" b.o.n.e.r slapped his hand across my mouth, and the next thing I knew a gun was being pointed at my temple. I stiffened.

Lynch didn't even look at me, keeping his narrowed gaze on Kirby, who was staring back at him with stunned surprise.

"You're screwed," Lynch said in a deadly tone to Kirby. Then he shifted his eyes to b.o.n.e.r. "You're f.u.c.kin' dead for touching my woman." Lynch's dark gaze moved over me before he finally met my eyes. His jaw clenched. I could only imagine what I looked like.

Movement drew my gaze to the window in Grace's house, and I saw one of the bikers coming back into the room. I had to warn Lynch somehow. The only thing I could think to do was to go limp. b.o.n.e.r must have thought I'd fainted, because his arms relaxed and I slipped to the ground at his feet.

"Three others are inside the house!" I rushed out. Movement above me had me looking up. b.o.n.e.r had recovered from my deception and was pointing his gun down at me, a look on his face that resembled that of a wild animal, and I knew then that he was going to pull the trigger. I shut my eyes, hearing a shot ring out almost immediately.

Several more shots followed, and I cringed each time until I realized that I was okay. I opened my eyes to see b.o.n.e.r on the ground, a neat bullet hole in the center of his forehead. Then I saw Kirby down, next to the car, but I couldn't tell if he was dead or not. Lynch and his friend ran toward me. The other bikers exited the house with their guns drawn at the same time that several Wild Marauders rode up, shooting as they came. Lynch reached me and threw himself over me.

I closed my eyes again, shaking wildly as gun-fire erupted all around us. For a minute it sounded like war, but it was over quickly. I could barely breathe with Lynch's large body covering mine, and a tiny seed of hope opened in my heart that maybe, just maybe, I meant something more to him than just s.e.x. But this was hardly the time and place to explore those feelings. Right now I was just thankful to be alive.

All too soon he was getting to his feet and pulling me with him. For a minute our eyes locked, and the back of his hand came up to smooth gently over my face. His glance lingered on a couple of places, and I knew that my face showed the signs of b.o.n.e.r's rough treatment.

"He f.u.c.kin' do this to you?" He motioned to the man at our feet. "You must have put up a good fight."

I nodded, forcing a smile. "It probably looks worse than it is." Or so I hoped. I was actually more worried about internal injuries from my tumble down the stairs. I didn't say anything to Lynch. He glanced over my head, taking a survey of the commotion going on around us. "How did you know to come?"

His eyes returned to mine. "We'll talk later, babe."

"Red's dead, prez!"

G.o.d, no! We both turned our head at the same time, to see the biker I knew as Yank in the process of standing up after examining the downed man. "Lynch," I waited until I had his attention. "Bullseye, they said he was dead too, but I think he's hiding somewhere with Lizzy."

He frowned. "Wild Marauders don't hide, and who the f.u.c.k is Lizzy?"

"She's Grace's granddaughter. Grace lives in that house. They searched the house but"

"Hey, prez, we found Bullseye!" This came from one of Lynch's men, who were just stepping around the corner of the side of the house. "We found them in a dried-out well. He's in bad shape!"

Lynch looked down at me, then around again, obviously searching for someone. He didn't speak or call out, just gave a sharp nod.

"Yeah, boss?"

Lynch reached for something in his pocket. "I want you to take Kat to my house, here's the security code to get in."

"But"

"We'll clean up the mess here. Go with Moody. You're hurt, and I want you out of the way."

"But"

"Baby, please, just f.u.c.kin' do it." He kissed me gently, and pushed me toward Moody. "Take it slow, and stay with her until I get there."

I was surprised that he didn't say to take me to the clubhouse. Then something Kirby said about a fire came back to me. Was there even a clubhouse anymore? My gaze shifted all around us. I remembered the broken window and the door in my apartment, minor damage compared to what I saw outside. I knew Grace's house would be a mess inside, too. My stomach turned at the images of the dead men lying on the ground. I knew biker life was dangerous, that they did illegal s.h.i.t, but I wasn't prepared for this. The impact of what had just taken place began to sink in, and I felt mind-numbing fear. I began to shake uncontrollably; realizing shock must be setting in.

I wanted to run away.

I couldn't deal with this! It was too much for me to comprehend and make sense of. The world I'd been raised in didn't include raw and gritty bikers who had their own rules and way of dealing with situations that the law normally handled. I was vaguely aware that Lynch was barking out orders. Moody was staring down at me, and I could see the sympathy in his eyes. I didn't know if it was because of the way I looked, or if he understood what I was suddenly feeling.

He took me by the arm and led me to his bike. I waited for him to get on before mounting behind him. "Sweetheart, wrap your arms around me and hold tight," his rough voice ordered. I nodded, clearing it of the daze I was swimming in. With everything else that had happened I didn't need to add falling off the back of a motorcycle to the list. I did as Moody said. "That's good, darlin'. We'll be at the prez's house in about ten minutes."

It was the longest ten minutes of my life. I wanted to be anywhere but where I was at that moment. A hot tub, a comfortable bed, back in a peaceful and safe life. Even as I yearned for that, the realization that Lynch wouldn't be part of it felt as though someone were plunging a knife into my heart. It hurt. It had only been a couple of weeks, and already it felt as if he'd been part of my life far longer.

Before I knew it, Moody was taking us up a long dirt drive that seemed to wind like a snake through the woods. The road was only big enough for one vehicle, which told me that Lynch was probably the only one who lived out there. I wasn't surprised when we came to a dead end that barely opened up enough to reveal an isolated, cedar two-story house. It was beautiful, and not at all what I'd expected.

Moody came to a stop directly in front of the double led-gla.s.s door, which was artfully unique in that it had the Wild Marauders MC club logo embedded in the thick gla.s.s. There were three parts done in red and black against a clear background. The top had the name of the club, Wild Marauders MC, the bottom said Crows Feet, Maine, and in the center was a skull with a bandana around his head and one eye. Clamped between his pointed teeth was a b.l.o.o.d.y knife. It was an exact replica of the logo on the backs of their cuts.

Moody reached back to a.s.sist me off the bike, and then followed suit. I walked behind him as we headed for the front door of the house. Pulling out the paper Lynch had given him, he punched in the security code into the keypad next to the front door, and then we were inside. I stood there for a minute, taking in the layout of the open concept, as Moody made sure that the door was secure and the alarm set again. Rustic, masculine, comfortable all came to mind. Spa.r.s.ely furnished, but I could tell that the few pieces that were there were of good quality. The focal point in the main room seemed to be a huge, stone fireplace that went from floor to ceiling. All in all Lynch had a beautiful home.

I swung back to Moody. "What now?"

He shrugged. "Prez could be a while. I'm gonna go into the living room and watch TV. You can join me, or do whatever the f.u.c.k it is that you women do."

Nice, I thought. I was tired, but with everything that had happened, I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep. Besides, I wanted to talk to Lynch when he came home. I sighed and followed Moody into the living room. I wasn't about to make myself at home in a place that I'd never been before, so I went to the sofa and sank down into the soft leather. Moody flicked on the TV, and I reached for the pillow stuffed in the corner.

Moody didn't have any problem getting comfortable in the big arm chair, bringing his feet up and slapping them on top of a matching ottoman. It didn't take him long to get caught up in some wrestling program, so I reached for a throw hanging on the back of the couch and brought it over me.

I was fully prepared to wait for as long as it took for Lynch to get home.

Chapter 14.

Lynch s.h.i.t! I could see it in Kat's face. She was thinking too hard. I couldn't f.u.c.king blame her considering what she'd been through. I decided that the best thing I could do was get her out of there and deal with it later. Right now we had two f.u.c.king messes to clean the f.u.c.k up, the clubhouse and here. Once s.h.i.t settled down I was going to make it our mission to take Wildman out and disperse his f.u.c.king club.