BLEED FOR HER

by Hilliard, RB

  “Did you love her?” he asked. Buck shrugged. He liked her, but he liked the sex more. Grizz gave him a knowing smirk. “You wanna know how you’ll know when it’s real?”

  “How?” Buck asked.

  “When you’re willing to bleed for her.”

  Grizz was right. Buck wouldn’t just bleed for Reyn. He would die for her.

  About a mile before they reached the warehouse, Buck’s phone started buzzing. Worried that he was leading them into another ambush, he said, “Pull over. Someone’s blowing up my phone.” Ax pulled to a stop as Buck quickly read through his texts. “Grover thinks Ryan has cameras covering both the front and the back, but he may have found another way in. Steele says not to do anything stupid before they get here.”

  “How do you want to play this?” Sledge asked. Of the three of them, Sledge had the most to lose. What got Buck was that Sledge wasn’t even around much back then. He and Aimee had just started dating and were busy screwing all the time.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Buck gritted out.

  “None of us should be here,” Sledge countered, “but we are, so how do you want to play this?”

  Buck thought about it for a moment. “Ryan’s not stupid. He’s a pussy, but he’s smart, which means he’ll stay protected at all times. I’ll get him talking. You two find his strongest guy, and take him out first. Try and get a weapon. After that, pick them off one by one. If you get a gun and can take a shot, take it. No hesitation. Are we clear?”

  “Clear,” Ax confirmed.

  “Got it,” Sledge answered.

  Buck held their eyes for a moment. “Let’s do this. Stay safe, my brothers.”

  “This is for Rider and Goose,” Ax growled.

  Ax pulled back onto the road and they rode the rest of the way in silence. They parked across the warehouse and exited the truck. As expected, they were patted down at the door and stripped of their guns. They found the knife strapped to Buck’s leg, but luckily not the one in his boot. They were led up four flights of stairs and into a large open space where Buck spotted Reyn lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. He started for her, but was stopped short by the gun shoved into his back. Reyn wasn’t moving. From where Buck was standing, he couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. Please be alive.

  “Your woman is a menace. This is the most peace I’ve had all day,” a voice called out.

  Buck tore his eyes from Reyn and slowly turned to face Dooley Shane’s son. The pussy had six men flanking him, three on either side. Buck took him in. Ryan looked like a younger version of his father.

  “Well, well, well, we meet at last. It took you long enough. I mean, seriously, how many clues did I have to leave before you finally caught on?” Younger, yet equally insane. The guy standing to his right had a ponytail.

  “Ponytail,” Buck muttered under his breath to Ax and Sledge.

  “You wanted us here and here we are. Now, tell us what the fuck you want!” Ax challenged.

  “You always were impatient,” Ryan scolded.

  “If this about your dad—” Buck started to say before Ryan cut him off.

  “No, it’s not about my dad. It’s about me!”

  “I don’t even remember you,” Sledge commented, his voice filled with disgust.

  Ryan practically vibrated with rage. “What are you talking about? I spent every afternoon for three years of my life with you guys! I looked up to you!”

  Adding salt to the already festering wound, Ax said, “I remember Dooley making you get food for us, but that’s about it.” That did the trick.

  “You were my family! You were my brothers!” Ryan shouted.

  Buck’s lip curled. “That’s funny. Where I come from, you don’t kill your brothers and you sure as hell don’t kidnap their women. You’re no brother of mine.” The guy looked as if he’d been struck.

  “I saved you. You were chained to that metal vent over there. You would have died if not for me.”

  Buck always wondered who’d let him go. Now he knew.

  Ax frowned. “So what? You let him go and then waited five years to exact your revenge?”

  “You all left me! I was fucking homeless. I had no family and nowhere to go and not one of you bothered to check in on me!”

  “Are you kidding? We didn’t know you. You weren’t our kid and you sure as hell weren’t our responsibility!” Ax shouted back at him.

  “Fuck you!” Ryan spat, and snapping his fingers, he shouted, “Lars, now!” Who names their kid Lars? Buck thought, as Ponytail broke formation and headed in their direction.

  He was almost to them when, Ax shouted, “Now!” Buck ducked left, and Sledge ducked right. As Lars lunged toward Buck, Ax stepped in and leveled him with a flying front kick to the face. Lars’s gun, which was pointed too low to begin with, discharged on his way down. Buck heard a scream as one of Ryan’s sidekicks went down.

  Ax laughed as he retrieved the gun from the floor. “Now that’s what I call killing two assholes with one bullet. Oh, wait, Lars isn’t dead yet.” Ax aimed the gun at Lars’s head and pulled the trigger.

  “Kill him!” Ryan shrieked.

  While Ax traded shots with Ryan’s men, Buck took off for Reyn. Dropping to her side, he pressed his fingers against her neck. Relief washed though him when he felt the steady thump of her heartbeat against the tips of his fingers. As he reached for his knife and quickly cut her binds, he felt cold steel press against the back of his head.

  “Up,” Ryan growled from behind him. Buck moved to stand and felt Reyn’s hand grasp the handle of his blade. He let go of it and slowly stood. That’s when he noticed that Ax and Sledge had both been subdued.

  “I’m going to enjoy killing the three of you,” Ryan snarled.

  “Funny, I haven’t seen you kill anyone yet. Then again, like father like son. Your dad never liked getting his hands dirty either,” Buck taunted.

  “That’s not true. He liked hitting women,” Ax chimed in.

  “Shut up!” Ryan shouted, while grinding the gun into the back of Buck’s head.

  “Or what? You’ll shoot us?” Sledge asked in a dry tone.

  “He’d have to have balls to do that,” Ax jeered. “All I’ve seen so far is a giant pussy.”

  “I’ll show you balls!” Ryan screeched before turning and unloading a round into Ax’s chest. Ax went down.

  As Ryan was turning back to Buck, Reyn popped up and let the knife fly, hitting Ryan dead between the eyes. He collapsed onto the ground just as Steele and his brothers stepped from the shadows. Gunshots rang out as Buck dropped to his knees and pulled Reyn into his arms.

  “I’ve got you,” he whispered into her hair, as she broke into anguished sobs.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ten days later . . .

  REYN WAS ON cloud nine. Today was the first day that Buck had let her out of his sight for more than five minutes. He was worried about her. They all were. In fact, they were worse than a bunch of nagging grannies. Other than a few lashes on her back, a knot on the back of her head, plus Ax’s bruised chest from where a bullet hit his Kevlar vest, everyone walked away from that warehouse alive and breathing that day. It could have been worse. So much worse. Reyn was fine. In fact, she was better than fine. She was alive.

  “Girl, are you sure this is what you want?” Camille asked, her voice filled with disbelief. Reyn gazed out at her living room, her eyes dropping to the floor, her mind going to that night and Tom’s lifeless hand before moving on to her entry hall and poor Rider. So much death. If she saw Tom every time she stepped foot inside this place, she couldn’t imagine what Buck saw. It wasn’t just their deaths that was driving her decision to sell, though. She no longer belonged here. This house was built for a girl who was scared to take chances . . . a girl who was terrified to love . . . a girl who was barely living. Reyn was no longer that girl.

  Her eyes returned to Camille and her lips split into a smile. “I’m sure. Call your friend and tell her I’m ready to list i
t.”

  “Love has addled your brain,” Camille muttered.

  Camille clearly did not agree with Reyn’s decision to sell the house, but she would still make the call. And she was wrong. Love hadn’t addled her, it had saved her.

  The object of her thoughts stepped into the room and she lapped up all six feet, two inches of him. His dark hair ruffled from the wind, he stalked across the floor, his sparkling blue gaze focused entirely on her. He was magnetic and beyond sexy with his tattoos and heavily whiskered face. He was hers.

  “Lord, that man is hot,” Camille murmured from beside her. Yes, he was.

  Reyn’s mind wandered back to right after the kidnapping.

  After two days of lying in bed with Glenda’s nasty smelling poultice on her back, Reyn put her foot down. Not only did she demand to take a shower, but she insisted on going downstairs for dinner.

  Due to the rainy weather, the dining room was packed. All eyes were on her as she followed Buck to an empty seat. She wasn’t sure who started the clapping, but strongly suspected it was Arse. One by one, they stood. Some of them clapped while others pounded their fists on the table. Reyn blinked back the tears as a roomful of men—a roomful of brothers—payed homage to her. A little over a week ago, this place was her prison and these people were her captors. Now, it was her home and they were her family.

  After dinner that night, Steele canceled lockdown and told everyone to get the hell out of The Cave. Reyn was sad to see them go. Buck, however, was not.

  Five days into her recovery, she was well enough to take a trip to the police station and give her statement. As Carver was still in the hospital, Reyn spoke to a less creepy and much kinder detective. She explained her history with Dooley Shane and then told him that Ryan blamed her for his father’s death and had kidnapped her as an attempt to exact revenge. He hurt her and she killed him out of self-defense. She never once mentioned Buck or the club. The detective accepted her statement, but only because there was no one alive to contradict it. Reyn could tell he suspected there was more. Carver definitely suspected there was more because he’d given Steele endless grief about it from his hospital bed.

  Tom’s funeral was the day after the kidnapping, when Reyn was helpless to do anything but lay on her stomach with an icepack on her head and let her back heal. Buck told her he’d sent flowers in her name and held her hand as she cried. She called Tom’s mother a few days later to apologize and they spoke for a good half hour. His parents didn’t blame her for what happened. They blamed the burglars who broke into her house and killed their son. As for Reyn, it would be a long time before she stopped blaming herself, if ever. Buck had tried to absolve her of all guilt, but he wasn’t there. He didn’t hear what Ryan had said to her. She was glad he never would.

  Reyn couldn’t attend Tom’s funeral, but she did manage to make it to Rider’s. The ceremony was both beautiful and heartbreakingly sad. Goose’s family didn’t approve of the club and chose to have a private ceremony, so the club held their own wake for him with his favorite two things: barbeque and beer.

  The sound of Buck’s voice pulled her back to the present. “You all done here?” he asked.

  “Pfft. No. Crazy here has decided to sell the place,” Camille grouched.

  Reyn shot her a look of irritation. The woman had zero filter. She also had no idea about Rider or what had happened.

  “Thanks, Camille,” she uttered, her eyes glued on Buck.

  “You didn’t tell me it was a secret, biotch,” Camille snapped back, as her phone rang. “It’s Jenny,” she announced.

  “Jenny is Camille’s realtor friend,” Reyn told Buck.

  Camille answered the call. “Girl, have I got a listing for you. We’re talking at least nine hundred thousand. We’re here right now, if you want to stop by.”

  While Camille gave Jenny directions, Buck pulled Reyn to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. The past ten days had been tough with her injuries and the funerals. Buck had treated her like glass and would barely even kiss her that first week. They’d fooled around some since then, but not much. Not enough. She missed his caveman, domineering ways.

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked. Damn Camille and her big mouth. Reyn had wanted to discuss it with him.

  “I can’t live here anymore, not after what happened. Maybe I’ll buy a townhome or rent a condo or something.” Buck’s arms spasmed around her. Tilting her head back, she discovered him staring down at her. Heat pooled in her belly at the look of naked hunger in his eyes.

  “Can Camille handle the realtor? I want to show you something.”

  “Camille! Buck and I are leaving. Give Jenny my number and tell her to call me if she has any questions. I’ll see you at work tomorrow!” Reyn called out.

  Buck chuckled. “I take it that’s a yes?”

  Smiling, she replied, “I would go anywhere with you, Clay Buckson. All you have to do is ask.”

  _______________

  Buck had been waiting for this moment. Even though he’d planned it a little different in his head, this was better. Relieved at the thought that he wasn’t going to have to talk Reyn into selling her place, they stepped onto the porch. Reyn took one look at his bike, and gasped. Her head swiveled in his direction and eyes filled with delight met his. Standing there with that gleam in her eyes and a blinding smile on her face, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He’d spent the past ten days tying himself up in knots with worry. He worried that Reyn may be suffering from PTSD and might need a fucking shrink. He worried that when all was said and done, she would choose not to stay and live this life with him. All of the worry disappeared when she gave him that one, fucking gorgeous look.

  “Wanna take a ride?” he asked.

  “Oh my God, are you kidding? Of course, I want to take a ride!” Her squeal of excitement hit him right where it counted: his heart and his cock.

  Buck had Tiny give Reyn a lift to her house earlier, so he could surprise her with his bike. He even made a special trip to the supply shop to get a helmet that would fit her. He pulled it out of his Saddlebag and secured it on her head.

  “You got me a helmet?” she whispered. Fuck, she was too damn cute for her own good.

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “Mine wouldn’t fit you, Babe.”

  “I love it!” she exclaimed, grinning like a goof.

  Buck shook his head, and muttered, “It’s just a helmet,” before throwing his leg over the side. He waited to feel Reyn pressed tightly against his back to start the engine.

  “You ready?” he shouted.

  “Hell yes!” she shouted back.

  Buck smiled. Then he pulled out of her driveway and onto the street. She didn’t know it yet, but he was taking her home.

  Two years after he moved back to Austin, Buck found the place. He almost didn’t buy it because it was a twenty-five-minute drive from The Cave, but in the end, he couldn’t stop himself. He called it the cabin because that’s what it was. At least, that’s what it was when he purchased it. With the help of his brothers, he’d modernized it. The master bed and bath were downstairs with the kitchen and living room. Upstairs were two bedrooms and one bath. He still had the kitchen to renovate, but he figured Reyn could help him with that. The best part about the place was the view. Buck had replaced the entire back downstairs wall with windows.

  Buck helped Reyn from the bike.

  “Is this your house?” she asked with an awestruck expression that made him smile.

  “It is. Would you like a tour?”

  “Uh, yeah,” she answered, as she grabbed his hand and all but drug him to the front door. Buck punched in the code and opened the door. “Look at these floors,” she cooed on entry. I love wide planked floors. Buck followed her from room to room as she took in his home. When they were done with the tour of the inside, he grabbed two beers from the fridge and led her out onto the deck.

  “Holy shit, you live on a lake! This is amazing,” she gasped. Buc
k waited for her to take a sip of her beer before taking it from her. Placing both bottles on the railing, he pulled her into his arms and dropped a kiss onto her pretty lips.

  “I’m glad you like my place.”

  “Are you kidding? I love it,” she gushed.

  “Good, because I want you to move in with me.”

  Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she said, “Seriously?”

  “I wasn’t joking when I said you were mine. A man like me doesn’t walk around claiming women every day, darlin’. You’re the first woman to ride on the back of my bike in over five years. The first to sleep in my bed.” Her eyes narrowed and he smiled. “I said sleep, not fuck,” he clarified. “And you’re the first to step foot inside my home. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m crazy about yo—” She jumped him before he could finish his sentence.

  “Yes! I’ll move in with you!” she shouted.

  Grinning from ear to ear, Buck lifted her up and carried her into the house. They made it as far as the kitchen before they started tearing at each other’s clothes. The bed could fucking wait. He had to have her now.

  “Let me inside you,” he said against her lips.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  In record speed, he whipped the condom from his wallet and began rolling it on. She stripped off her panties and tossed them onto the floor. Lifting her up, he waited for her to wrap her legs around his waist, before sinking inside. Like a glove, she fit perfectly around him.

  “I’m going to press you against this wall and fuck you into next week,” he warned.

  “Do it.” Her commanding tone was lighter fluid to an already blazing fire.

  Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he took her up against the wall. Hard and fast he pumped in and out of her sexy-as-sin body. She met him stroke for stroke and then some.