Maelstrom

by Susanna Strom

  “Dwight and Darryl were driving by yesterday evening, and they heard gunfire. Boyd decided to check all the houses between Valhalla and town.”

  “Shit,” Levi hissed.

  The pickup parked at the back of the house. Ripper and Boyd climbed out of the cab. They put their heads together in a hushed conversation, then Ripper pointed toward the barn. Smart. He must’ve figured that even if we didn’t get away, we’d take refuge outside the house. Let Boyd check out the empty house. Boyd nodded. Gun in hand, he pushed open the door and disappeared into the kitchen. Ripper stalked into the barn. Thirty seconds later, he emerged from the barn’s back door. He lifted the tarp over the jeep, then scanned the hillside behind the house.

  I stepped out from behind a tree and waved. Ripper nodded—good, he saw me—and I dropped into a crouch. At the sight of Ripper, Hector whined and tried to wriggle away from Hannah. She held tight to his neck, and he barked.

  “Quiet, boy,” Hannah whispered, hugging the dog close. I wrapped my fingers around Hector’s collar in case he bolted.

  Ripper jogged back toward the house. Boyd came out the kitchen door, throwing his hands in the air and shaking his head. Another hurried consultation, then the men climbed back into the pickup and drove away.

  “That was close,” Levi said. “What do we do now? If Boyd doesn’t find the shooter, do you think he’ll give up? Or come back and check again?”

  “Dunno,” I said. “As soon as he can, Ripper will let us know what Boyd says. Until then, we need to make a plan.”

  “It’s my fault,” Levi said. “If I hadn’t been teaching Hannah how to shoot, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Not your fault.” I squeezed his shoulder. It was pointless to waste time and energy on blame games. “Hannah has to learn how to defend herself. There’s no way you could have known that anybody would hear the gunfire.”

  “But—”

  “Let it go,” I ordered. “We have to focus on what we do next.”

  “Is it too dangerous to stay at the house?” Hannah asked. “If we leave, where can we go?”

  Hannah looked at me like I had the answers. Levi, too. Shit. Levi brought so many unexpected skills to the table that sometimes it was easy to forget how young he was, how young they both were.

  It was on me to come up with the plan. I sucked in a deep breath and stood up straight. “They checked all the houses between the ranch and the town. Chances are, they won’t come back.” I forced a reassuring conviction into my voice. “At the very least, if they decide to do another search, Ripper will give us a heads-up. I suspect that we’re safe staying put, and we have to stay within radio range of Valhalla, but we need to keep our guard up. Keep the radio close. Leave most of our stuff in the jeep, in case we have to take off fast.”

  Levi and Hannah nodded, relief flooding their features. I hoped to hell I’d made the right call. I pulled the jeep up next to the door and we brought the bare essentials into the house: sleeping bags, weapons, some food.

  “Instead of you going back to Valhalla, I’ll start my watch early,” Levi said. We’d planned to switch places midafternoon, but there was no point in my walking all those miles back to the ranch just to turn around a couple of hours later.

  Hannah and Levi had rehydrated a dried-chili mix. We warmed it up and ate a quick lunch. Levi was loading a backpack with water, snacks, and extra ammo when my two-way radio sounded again. We gathered around the radio.

  “We’re back at Valhalla,” Ripper said in a low voice. “Boyd thinks the gunfire was most likely from somebody passing through, maybe somebody hunting deer.”

  “So we dodged a bullet,” I said.

  “Not exactly.”

  “What do you mean?” Levi asked.

  “There’s a National Guard armory nearby full of weapons and equipment that Boyd wants for the cause. He plans to attack it. Kill the surviving soldiers. Fucker thinks I’m gonna help him. Says we’re gonna go tomorrow.”

  FORTY

  Kenzie

  Jerrilyn would have the hide of anybody who lit up around Libby, so Tuck had retreated outside for a late-night smoke. I found him in the side yard. He paced back and forth in the moonlight, a cigarette dangling from his hand.

  “Hey, Tuck.” Tilting my head, I offered the stocky biker a coy smile. I held my right hand conspicuously behind my back. “I got something for you.”

  He dropped his cigarette to the ground, stubbed out the butt, then grinned at me. “I’ll take anything you wanna give me, sweet thang.”

  I tittered. Jesus Christ. I actually tittered. “You won’t tell on me?”

  “Old Tuck would never let you get into trouble.”

  I marched up to him, putting an extra swing into my hips. Halting a mere foot away, I pulled my hand out from behind my back.

  “I swiped one of Boyd’s cold beers from the refrigerator in the garage,” I whispered. “Just for you.”

  He snagged the chilled bottle from my hand. “It’ll be our little secret.” He twisted off the cap and took a long pull on the beer, then held out the bottle to me. “Partners in crime, whaddaya say.”

  I hesitated. I hated beer, but even worse than the foul taste was the prospect of putting my mouth on a surface that had touched Tuck’s lips. There was no help for it; I had to keep up the charade. I parted my lips, inviting Tuck to tip the bottle into my mouth. With a sly smile, he upended the bottle. Beer spilled into my mouth. I swallowed, then coughed, wiping the back of my hand over my lips.

  Tuck chuckled and pounded on my back. “Too much for you, honey?”

  I nodded, my eyes watering, then cleared my throat. “I’ve never developed a taste for beer. The first time I tried it was at a party when I was seventeen. It made me sick as a dog and ever since then—” I shrugged.

  “Bet you were one of those good girls,” he said, tugging me to his side. “I like good girls. Girls who know their place. Girls who do what they’re told.”

  Tuck liked meek, deferential women. No surprise there. If only I could speak my mind or—better yet—plant my knee in his balls. I indulged in a mental image of him doubled over in pain after I nailed him in the crotch.

  Sighing, I turned a tremulous gaze to the grizzled biker. “I try to be good. I really do, but sometimes it’s hard.”

  “You mean it’s hard to share Ripper with another woman?”

  “Yes. I don’t want to lose him, so I’ll go along with it, but I don’t like it.”

  “I understand, honey.” He squeezed my shoulders sympathetically. “But you know what they say? What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Maybe you’d feel better if he weren’t the only one getting a little something extra.”

  Bile rose in my throat. He seriously thought I’d be tempted to get a little something extra with him?

  The back door rattled in its frame, the signal that Ripper was about to make an appearance. I turned in Tuck’s embrace and wrapped both arms around his waist, then slid my hands into his back pockets, cupping his ass.

  My fingers closed around the keys. Thank God. “You’re a good friend, Tuck.” I whispered in his ear.

  “Mac? You out here?” Ripper shouted.

  I pulled away from Tuck, the keys hidden in my fist. “I’ll be right there,” I called.

  Tuck winked and gestured for me to skedaddle. I blew him a kiss, whirled, and ran for the back of the house. Rounding the corner, I triumphantly held up the keys. Ripper took the keys from me and slipped them into his pocket.

  “Good job,” he murmured, hauling me against him for a hard kiss. He pulled back. “You taste like beer.”

  I made a face. “Tuck wanted to share.”

  “Yeah?” Ripper clenched his jaw. “What else did Tuck want?”

  I rolled my eyes. “He suggested a sort of tit for tat. I sleep with him as payback for you sleeping with Nyx.” Ripper scowled and narrowed his eyes, peering over my shoulder. If Tuck chose this moment to round the corner and stroll into the backyard, th
ings might get ugly.

  “Hey, it’s all good.” I touched Ripper's cheek, and he swung his gaze back to me. I grabbed his hand and pulled him through the open back door into the empty mudroom. “As long as Tuck thinks he has a shot, I can get close enough to put back the keys.”

  “I fucking hate this,” he muttered.

  “Me, too, but not as much as I hate knowing that Sahdev and Bear are prisoners.”

  He nodded, then threaded his fingers through my hair and tugged, angling my face up toward his. “Tomorrow we take Valhalla. We’ll put all this shit behind us, and you will never get close to that man again.”

  A tremor started deep in my chest. I trusted Ripper with my life. His skill, his determination, were second to none, but the past few months had taught me to take absolutely nothing for granted. Fate was fickle, and nothing could prevent it from targeting the people I loved best. Despite all his precautions, Miles had died. Ali and Jake, too. Any one of us could die during the battle for Valhalla.

  “I’m scared.”

  I regretted the words as soon as they passed my lips. I’d promised not to hide my feelings from Ripper—that had bitten me in the ass more than once—but what possible good could come from sharing my anxieties with him? He needed to be sharp tomorrow, not worried about me and my fears.

  “I understand.” His lips curved in a rueful smile. “But you gotta know that we’re ready, and these bozos are no match for us.”

  “I know.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. “We need to get a couple of hours of sleep before everything goes down.”

  “Yeah.” He shook his head. “Wish we could go get Sahdev now, but Tuck’s still up. Last thing we need would be to run into him in the hallway with Sahdev in tow.”

  “It would be safer to wait,” I agreed. “And let Sahdev get some more sleep, too.”

  Holding hands, we walked to our room, stepped over a sleeping Nyx, and stripped before climbing into bed. Ripper pulled my back against his chest. I stared silently at the wall, waiting in vain for sleep to claim me.

  If Ripper had managed to fall asleep, I didn’t want to disturb him, so I forced my twitchy limbs to still and deliberately took slow, even breaths. It was an uncharacteristically warm July night in Central Oregon. Sweat pooled between our bodies as we spooned, contributing to my restlessness.

  Tomorrow we take Valhalla.

  We needed to be sharp in mind and body, but sleep eluded me. Shit. Sleep didn’t just elude me, it pranced defiantly out of reach, thumbs in its ears, mocking me with shouts of neener neener.

  Nyx, curled up on the floor with a blanket and a pillow, had no such problems. I vaguely remembered some old saying, something to the effect that every person should have at least one flaw so that the jealous gods won’t smite them. Snoring had to be Nyx’s flaw. I’d never heard a woman snore so loudly. She brayed like a donkey. I swore the windows rattled. I laughed silently.

  “I’m awake, too,” Ripper rumbled in my ear. “What’s so funny?”

  I rolled over to face him. “Nyx,” I whispered. “She snores like a longshoreman.”

  “Like a what?”

  “Something Uncle Mel used to say. I wouldn’t expect such a drop-dead gorgeous woman to snore like that.”

  “Hmmm.”

  A smart, noncommittal answer.

  “You know, not so long ago she would have pushed all my buttons,” I said.

  A sliver of moonlight fell across his face, and his brows angled down. “What do you mean?”

  “Come on. She’s tough. She’s a tattooed goddess. She looks like the perfect woman for a badass biker.”

  Ripper groaned. “Jesus. This again? The we don’t fit bullshit?”

  “Let me finish.” Ignoring the sticky heat, I wriggled closer and laid my hands on his chest. “She looks like the perfect woman for you, like she walked off the pages of one of my romance novels. But you know what? She can’t be the right woman for you, because I already have the job.”

  Ripper reared back and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Nah. It can’t be that easy. You telling me you suddenly stopped fretting about us not being a good fit?”

  “It wasn’t sudden. It took me a while to figure out that you were more than a walking wet dream.”

  His teeth flashed white in the dim light. “Walking wet dream, huh. I’m down with that.”

  I poked him in the chest. “I finally understood that despite all our differences, you, Alejandro “Ripper” Solis, are exactly the right man for me. And if that’s the case, it makes sense that the reverse could also be true. I’m exactly the right woman for you. I’m not a tattooed goddess. Not a fun-loving party girl. I’m still working on my issues.”

  “Mac,” he breathed, cupping my face.

  “Shhh...” I pressed a fingertip to his lips and continued. “I may not be your perfect match, but I can promise that I see the real you, your loyalty, your strength, your integrity, your sense of responsibility for your people. I saw what a good friend you were to Miles, how much better you made the final months of his life. I see it all, and I honor it. No other woman could love you, or trust you, or want you more than I do.” I shrugged. “So maybe we don’t fit, but we work. And God help any woman who tries to make a move on you, because you’re mine.”

  “Well, thank fuck.” He grinned. “But I’m not gonna wear a Property of Mac necklace, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m evolved, but I ain’t that evolved.”

  “Truth be told, I like that about you,” I confessed.

  He pulled me to his chest and tucked my head beneath his chin. “So we’re good?” he asked, stroking my hair as I burrowed into his side.

  “We’re perfect.”

  We lay in silence for a while, both too wired to fall asleep.

  “Wish like hell that you and Sahdev and Nyx could climb out the bedroom window and get far away from here tonight.”

  “I know, but we’ve been over that. Libby said that they see Sahdev only in the evening when they bring him dinner, but that they take Bear out to work every morning. I have to be here in the morning to slip the key back into Tuck’s pocket before he goes to get Bear.”

  “Fuckers,” Ripper muttered. “Feeding Sahdev once a day.” He shifted, lifting his wrist to check his grandpa’s old watch. “Four-thirty. Another half hour I’ll go get Sahdev and bring him here. In the morning, once you return the key to Tuck, come back to the room. After Dwight, Darryl, Bear, and I head to the barn, you all go out the window and get far away.”

  “And if something goes wrong, I’ve got my gun.” I repeated the plan.

  “Hope to hell it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Amen.” I agreed. We lapsed into silence. I brushed my fingers over Ripper’s nipple piercing. “I’d hoped that you would get at least a couple of hours of sleep.”

  “I’ll be fine, darlin'.”

  Another minute of silence.

  “You have to go get Sahdev in less than half an hour. I don’t suppose there’s enough time for you to get any rest at all.”

  “Afraid not,” he agreed.

  I twisted the bar of metal back and forth and was rewarded by his sharp intake of breath. Without warning, Ripper pushed me onto my back and rolled on top of me. He rested his weight on his elbows and slanted his head to one side, contemplating me.

  “Ms. Dunwitty, are you trying to seduce me?”

  “If you can’t figure that out, Mr. Solis, you’re not—”

  He cut my words off with a kiss. I wriggled happily, opening my legs to him, then gasped when his cock pierced my core. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I arched my hips and met him thrust for thrust.

  This was better than sleeping, and Nyx’s snores confirmed that she was sleeping soundly.

  Perspiration combined with friction to make the stripes on my stomach and breasts sting. With a fingertip, I traced the path of a thin welt, across my right nipple to the opposite hip. I moaned, the prickly sensation only feeding my lust.

  Ripper
froze, capturing my hand in one of his. “Are you all right, Mac? Did I hurt you?”

  I gazed up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. “I like it. It hurts so good.”

  A slow smile crept across his face and he palmed my breast, reanimating the sting.

  I clung to him, pushing away all fears about the battle to come. People would probably die today, and Ripper would be at the heart of the fighting. I had to have faith that he’d survive. No member of the brigade could match his training and experience. Ripper would carry the day. I had to believe that. He was seated in my heart as deeply as his cock was seated in my sex. I couldn’t bear to think of moving forward without him.

  “Stop thinking so hard,” he grunted.

  “Make me.”

  He did.

  At precisely 5 a.m., Ripper and I dressed and stole away from our bedroom. We padded to the kitchen—if anyone spied us we’d claim we were up for an early breakfast—then I stood watch in the hall while Ripper liberated Sahdev. It was no surprise that Sahdev moved slowly and unsteadily. He’d been shackled for days and seriously underfed, but he flashed a reassuring smile when he passed me. Ripper handed me the keys and took the bottle of water, chunk of bread, and leftover piece of chicken that I’d fetched for Sahdev. Ripper and Sahdev silently made their way to our bedroom. I held my breath until they disappeared into the room, then waited a few minutes to make sure that no one else was awake before joining them.

  Nyx sat against the wall, yawning, while Ripper quietly explained the plan to Sahdev.

  “Wait until you hear the commotion outside. Should draw Tuck and Boyd outta the house. Then you, Mac, and Nyx climb out the window and head into the hills. I’ll find you once Valhalla is secured.”

  At the opposite end of the house, a door slammed and voices came from the kitchen.

  “That’s my cue.” I kissed Ripper, hugged Sahdev, then headed toward the kitchen.

  I stumbled into the room, yawning. “Anybody make coffee yet?”

  Dwight sat at the kitchen table using a fork to clean out the tread on a boot. A freaking fork, an implement people put in their mouths. He spent his days tromping around a cattle ranch, watching Bear work. I could only imagine what kind of gross gunk was embedded in the boot. Chips of dirt fell across the table’s surface. Bet anything he was going to walk away and leave the mess for somebody else—Libby or me—to clean up.