“How do I know that? They’re always around, free to help you with anything you need, and I know what that means, just so you know.”
Hunter places his hands on my upper arms and pulls me towards him, crushing my breasts against his chest. “You will see. I only have eyes for you. There is no other woman who could possibly take my attention from you.” He lowers his head and takes my lips in a blistering kiss. No matter how much I want to resist, I just can’t. This man is like my kryptonite; one look, one touch, and I forget everything.
When we finally break apart, my heart is racing, and I wish we were in our bedroom so that we could get naked. “You make me forget everything when you touch me. That’s unfair,” I mutter.
“It’s good, and you take every thought out of my mind too, so, Dakota, don’t think it’s only you.” I find myself smiling. How is it possible that this man can make me forget everything from one minute to the other? “Now let’s go eat, woman. I need to keep my strength up,” he says as he slaps me lightly on the bum, making me jump in surprise.
HUNTER 9
Last night was intense and painful, as I could feel every fibre of my body, and it felt like it was on fire. When it was over, I could feel a peace within myself that I have never felt before, but the best thing was that I could feel Dakota. I could feel her worry, and then later, before we joined the others for dinner, I could feel her anger and then her passion when we kissed, and to be honest, I nearly skipped dinner and rushed upstairs with her, but I knew that the others were expecting us there, as it had been arranged to celebrate our bond.
“Stop moving your head or I’m going to cut your ear,” Fang mutters as he swipes the hair-cutting machine over my head again. My hair has been irritating the back of my neck since yesterday, so I decided to shave it all off. I don’t usually cut my hair, but even if I do, it grows quickly. I left Dakota sleeping and came downstairs, looking for someone to cut my hair. The first one I saw was Fang, so here we are in the garage, me shirtless, sitting on a bench, and Fang standing behind me in only his low-cut jeans.
“You might need it drained; it looks infected,” Fang says as he looks at my now bare neck.
“It fucking hurt like hell,” I state. “I think he enjoyed it way too much.” And then I yelp and stand as Fang pokes at my neck. “What the hell?”
“Just checking,” he says with a grin.
“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter as I rub my hands over my now shaved head. “Thanks, bro.”
“No problem. So tell me, how does it feel to be bonded?” Fang asks as he takes the bench where I was sitting and looks up at me in curiosity. I pick up the plastic container that we usually have in the garage and take a few gulps of water before answering.
“Having a woman like Dakota who fits everything I ever wanted in a woman has me thinking about her constantly. Yesterday, after the Initiation, I could finally feel her, which is a feeling I can’t explain, to sense her worry, her passion like it’s my own, but knowing that it isn’t is the ultimate high,” I explain.
“I’m happy for you, brother. How is it with your wolf now?”
“After constantly fighting to keep him at bay, I now feel a peace like I have never felt before, but I know he’s with me. I can sense that my wild side is more engrained but not fighting to come out.” Fang nods in understanding just as I sense worry and know that Dakota has woken up.
“Need to go. Dakota has woken up, and I want to go for a ride with her today.”
“Don’t forget we have a meeting later. King postponed it because of your mating,” Fang reminds as I start making my way out of the garage.
“I will be here,” I reply before making my way to Dakota and our room. Opening the door quietly, I hear her muttering to herself, which has me smiling. I have noticed that she has a habit of doing that when she doesn’t think anyone is about.
“Hey, babe,” I call out, which has her gasping and hurriedly turning around from where she was just entering the bathroom.
“Hunter!” She gasps in surprise. “Don’t you know how to make a noise?”
“Sorry, babe.” I approach her and see her eyes widen when she realizes that I have shaved my hair.
“What did you do to your hair?” she asks, shocked.
“It was bugging my neck, so I had Fang shave it off,” I say. “Don’t worry, it will grow back quickly.”
“Is your neck hurting you? Let me see.” She doesn’t wait and walks around me until she’s looking at the back of my head. “Oh, it’s looking infected.” She gasps, her fingers lightly stroking up my back until they reach the ridges of the bites on my neck. “Is it supposed to do that?” Her light touch soothes the constant pain.
“We actually heal very quickly, but as this is a bite from our Alpha, it takes longer. Don’t worry, babe, it will be fine.”
“You know you could have let me cut your hair for you,” she says.
“I know, but you were sleeping so well that I didn’t want to wake you.” I lower my head and kiss her on the forehead. “Now, how about we go down and get you some breakfast and then go for a ride?” I see the smile that brightens her face at the idea and know that my woman is pleased.
“That sounds great. Also, is there a bus that stops close by here that will take me into town tomorrow?”
“Why the hell would you want to catch the bus into town?” I see the look of surprise on her face as she looks at me.
“Well, I have to go to work tomorrow morning. When you brought me here, the ride seemed a bit far to walk.” I just assumed she would now stay here instead of going into town and placing herself in danger. I should have known better.
“You don’t need to work any longer. You know that, don’t you?”
She frowns, her arms crossing over her chest, which tells me that she doesn’t like that idea and is ready to tell me so. “Now why would I do that?” she asks sweetly.
“You don’t need to. I just thought that it would be safer.”
“What, to hide?” she asks. “Hunter, I need to be independent; I can’t be dependent on you to pay for me. I need to feel like I have an option. Do you understand that?” Fuck, I know that she doesn’t want to be dependent on another man again because of that son of a bitch, but she’s my woman, and I’ll be damned if I don’t take care of her the way she deserves. If she wants to work, I will let her go to work, but she will go on my terms.
“You want to work, fine, but you won’t be catching any bus. I will take you and pick you up after work.” She frowns, but I continue. “I need to make sure that you are safe, Dakota, and not just from your ex but from the Hades MC too. If they know you are mine, they might try something.”
“What if you are busy? I can’t expect you to be my chauffeur,” she mutters.
“This will be temporary until we sort out this issue with your ex, and then we will get you a car.” Her arms uncross, and her hand comes to rest on my chest as a worried look crosses her face.
“Are you going to go looking for him?” she asks.
“It’s better than sitting here waiting for him to show up, don’t you think?”
“Maybe he won’t find me here. Why not just leave it? He’s dangerous. He will endeavour to hurt someone to get to me.” I can see the real fear in her eyes, and I hate the fact that this motherfucker has this kind of hold on her, but I will break it, and if he doesn’t cooperate, I will break him too.
“Don’t you want to talk to your family?” I know I will convince her with this, as I can sense the need she has in her to know how her family is doing.
“Of course I do, but he threatened them before. If he knows that I contacted them, he will hurt them.” There is a world of pain in her words, which has a vice tightening around my heart when I can sense my woman’s pain. Well, I think it’s time to resolve this.
“Come on,” I say as I take hold of her hand and turn, making my way towards the door.
“Where are we going? Hunter, I haven’t even brushed my hair yet,” she s
tates as she rushes to keep up with me as I guide the way downstairs to the office. I hear her gasp when she walks into our storage facility and sees the operation we have going. On one side, we have a limited number of parcels that come in just to keep our cover going, but on the other, we have laptops, a flat screen up against one of the walls that we sometimes have on when staking something out, and a board with photos of some of the characters we have our eye on. “What is all this?” she murmurs as she looks around as we make our way to King’s office at the back.
“Hey, darling, sleep well?” Dash greets as he walks past on his way out.
“Umm, yes, thanks,” Dakota replies, still preoccupied with what she is seeing. As we approach King’s door, his eyes rise from his laptop and take us both in in one glance.
“Come to show Dakota our operation?” King asks as he rises from his chair.
“Not really,” I state, which has King’s shoulders tensing. “I want Dakota to phone her family, but she needs to use a secure line before I know how I’m going to deal with her ex.” King frowns, as I haven’t given him a complete update yet and was going to do it at the meeting, but I want Dakota to be able to speak to her family as soon as possible. I think she has been deprived of them for long enough.
King nods and inclines his head towards a phone on his desk before he starts to make his way out of the office. At the door, he stops and looks back at me. “Meeting later,” he says, which tells me that he is waiting for an update, then. I nod in reply before he turns and leaves.
“Okay, babe, make your call,” I say. Instead of rushing to the phone like I thought she would, Dakota stands here, looking at me. By her frown, I can see that she is dying to ask me all the questions I know are coming. “I will explain everything once you have spoken to your family.” She inclines her head in thought but finally nods and then walks to the desk and the phone.
“Are you sure this is a good idea? What if he’s got the phones bugged?”
“Trust me, he won’t be able to trace this call.” I can see when she finally gives in. Her shoulders relax as she leans forward and picks up the phone before dialling. From where I’m standing, I can hear the phone start to ring, and then on the third ring, a woman’s voice answers. Immediately, Dakota’s eyes fill with tears.
“Mom,” she whispers. A silence greets her before I hear her mother answer. With that, I turn and leave her to her call, finding King and Gunner by one of the laptops.
“I’m going to take Dakota for a ride today. Tomorrow, she’s going to work.”
King looks away from the laptop and at me. “She’s going to work?” he asks with a frown.
“Yeah, she wants to continue working.”
King’s hand rises to his stubbled chin as he strokes his jaw in thought. “Okay, I will get Gunner and Frost to go set up camera surveillance outside the shop.”
“Thanks, King. I will update everyone at the meeting.”
“I want Gunner to go with the two of you on this ride,” King states, which is a surprise to Gunner, too, as he looks up from the laptop in surprise and then over at me with a frown.
“Shit, Hunter, I always knew you needed a babysitter,” he quips.
“Nope, King is just arranging it so that Dakota can compare how much better I am,” I tease, which has Gunner grinning. King shakes his head in amusement just as the phone in his pocket starts to beep. Pulling it out, he looks at the screen, then smiles, which has me curious at the identity of the caller.
“Hey,” he answers as he steps away from the two of us.
“I wonder who that is?” I say as I follow King’s movements with my eyes.
“Blue,” Gunner states as he once again looks at his laptop.
“How do you know that? Can you see our phones on your laptop?” I know that we’re track incoming and outgoing calls, but I didn’t know he could tell who it is so quickly. Gunner looks over at me again with a grin on his face.
“No, I saw the name on his phone when he pulled it out of his pocket.”
“You’re a real snoop,” I tease just as King approaches.
“Blue is on his way back. Should be here for the meeting,” he reveals.
“About damn time,” I mutter. We have all missed him. This time, he has been away longer than usual, and I can tell that King was getting impatient. As the Alpha, King does not appreciate when he isn’t aware of where we are at all times. He wants to make sure that we are always safe. That’s why he suggested the cameras outside Dakota’s work, as she is now part of our pack.
“Blue needs to find his mate so he can calm the fuck down,” King says as he looks over my shoulder towards where his office is just as I sense Dakota behind me. Turning, I see her walking out of the office. She stops and looks around until her eyes meet mine, and then she smiles. There is a happiness to her smile that wasn’t there before, and I’m elated that I’m responsible for putting it there.
“All done?” I ask.
“Thank you. It has calmed my worries. They were relieved to hear from me, as they didn’t know where I was.”
“Well then, let’s get on the road and you can tell me all about it while we ride,” I state as I walk towards her, placing my arm around her shoulders as I lean down and kiss her sweet lips.
“Hey, hold up, let me just log off,” Gunner calls.
“Catch up,” I call back.
“No problem, will be like trying to catch my grandma,” he mutters.
“You don’t have one,” I shoot back as we walk out of the room.
“Is Gunner coming with?” Dakota asks as she looks back over her shoulder.
“Yep, he wants to learn how it’s done,” I state as I hear Gunner approaching.
“What is done?” she asks.
“How to keep a woman happy,” I quip, which has Dakota grinning and Gunner grunting.
“You wish you had my technique,” Gunner mutters as he joins us.
“Is that what you call it? I would say fumblings.”
“You’re just jealous because all the women I’ve been with leave with a big smile on their face.”
“That’s their coping mechanism to keep their tears at bay of how disappointed they are at choosing the wrong brother.” Suddenly, Dakota bursts out laughing a musical sound that warms my insides.
“You are just like little boys,” she says with a big smile on her face.
“Shh, don’t tell anyone,” I tease as we enter the garage just as we hear a bike roaring up to the entrance. The smell of blood is the first thing that assaults my senses. “Shit.” I know this will mean trouble.
“King!” Gunner roars as we see Fang pulling up, his complexion pale as he hangs on to his handlebars.
“Stay here,” I state as Gunner and I race outside to hold up the bike before it falls with Fang on it. He is wearing a black T-shirt, making it more difficult to see the blood, but the left side of his jeans is soaked from the wound he has acquired.
“What the fuck, Fang?” I mutter as I hear approaching feet and know that King is hurrying towards us.
“Don’t you fucking pass out, hold on,” Gunner states as he helps him off the bike as I throw down the footrest and then follow King and Gunner on each side of Fang into the house.
“We’re going to need clean water,” Dakota says as she disappears back into the house.
When Fang is finally lying on his bed, King takes hold of the collar of his T-shirt and tears it down the middle. As the T-shirt parts, it is clear to see that his wound was acquired by a bullet. “Who the fuck shot you?”
“Ha . . .”—Fang takes in a breath—“des,” he finishes as he passes out. I can hear Gunner on the phone with the doctor. Dakota walks in with a basin full of water and dish cloths, a determined look on her face.
“Is he dead?” she asks when she sees how still Fang is.
“No, he passed out,” I reply as she sets the water on the bedside table and the cloths on the bed. “What are you doing?” She places a cloth in the water
and then sits next to Fang.
“I’m going to clean this blood away so we can see the extent of the wound.”
“He’s been shot,” I mutter, which has her head snapping around to look at me.
“Come, help me turn him,” she says as she starts to push at Fang’s shoulder.
“Why?” King asks, as he’s the one who moves onto the bed and pulls at Fang’s shoulder and hip until he’s on his side.
“To see if the bullet has gone right through. Ahh, yes, it has.” Looking up at King, she points at Fang’s back, which I can’t see from where I’m standing. “See,” She murmurs as she lifts the cloth out of the water and then proceeds to start cleaning the blood away.
“How do you know about this?” I ask, which has Dakota shrugging, not stopping her ministrations.
“My mom was a nurse, and I also spent a lot of time healing myself after one of Jason’s beatings.”
The anger that engulfs me is scorching. I see King and Gunner look at each other, then at me. It’s clear that Jason won’t be receiving a warning any longer. Dakota asks King to place pressure on Fang’s wound while she cleans the blood away and looks for other injuries. Dakota doesn’t cease to amaze me. She took complete command of the situation and is now ordering us around, in complete control.
DAKOTA 10
I am nearly finished cleaning away all the blood, when a distinguished older man enters the room. Only now do I realize that Gunner has left and only Hunter, who is leaning against the wall on the far side, and King are still in the room.
“Well, let’s see what this fool has done to himself,” the doctor says as he comes to stand next to me. “Looks like you have done a fantastic job, sweetheart. Don’t go far.”
I stand and step back to give him access to Fang. “The bullet has gone out through his back,” I say as the doctor starts to poke around the wound.
“Good, good,” he murmurs as he takes Fang’s blood pressure. “His pulse is weak. He’s going to need nourishment when he awakens.” It’s interesting that he doesn’t suggest a transfusion but nourishment.
Bound (Wolverine MC Book 1) Page 7