Shocked and totally flummoxed to think this was how these men treated women, she struggled for a response. “Um, could you get that out of my face?”
“Saw you come in the other night with the bosses. Since they had their fill of you already, no reason you can’t accommodate me.” He stroked his length, causing it to stiffen.
“Look, clearly you’ve misread the situation. Now, I’m losing my patience with your vulgar treatment. If you intend to keep that particular appendage in working order for the foreseeable future, I suggest you put it away or take it somewhere else.” Bel heard a snicker from behind and caught a glimpse of a couple of Roses gathered at the door, watching the scene unfold. Some of the other men had taken notice and hovered to catch the show. Fantastic.
The brute grabbed her braid and tried to shove the tube of flesh into her mouth. “Suck it, bitch.”
The sound of catcalls and whistling kicked up as she pulled against his attempts to push her toward his crotch. Done being polite, Bel flipped her fork and stabbed the asshole in the meaty flesh of his thigh where his pants had sagged. With a howl, he let go of her head but swung out to slap her. A dull ache reverberated up her arm where she blocked the smack, which left her right hand free to land a punch to his very exposed junk. Previously strong legs failed him. Crumpling to the floor under the force of her strike, he cried out with a high-pitched screech. The crowd grew very quiet when she stood up and reared back to kick him in the ribs. Before she unloaded the blow, strong arms wrapped around her and hauled her away from the heap on the floor.
“Holy shit, Bel.” Nate’s rich voice cut through her rage and instantly dulled the edge of her fury.
“Put me down.” Strong arms clamped around her and held firm despite the way she wiggled against him.
“No way. Just calm down. Liam is trying to keep the rest of the club from attacking you.”
“I’ll hold still. Just put me down.” A long draw of air helped to relax her but highlighted the fact she desperately needed to get away from him. Out of his arms. Away from his heady scent. Muscles quaked from exertion, her heart hammered, and desire outpaced anger by the time he finally set her down.
“What happened?” He glanced over his shoulder to see Liam and another guy kneeling on the floor with the brute who attacked her.
“That asshole decided I needed to suck his dick since I showed up in the room. I tried to get him to leave me alone, but he failed to understand. Seemed to think you two were done with me and somehow that made me available to service him.”
“Fuck.” Nate started running hands over her. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay? Nate, are you serious? I just had to stab a man in the thigh with my fork! Is this how you treat women here?” Her anger spiked again. For all that her father’s men were wild and rough, they never treated her with anything but respect. The one time someone had failed to do so, she had made it very clear what would happen, not unlike her run in with The Beast. Her father followed up by throwing the man out of the club and out of the territory. Issue resolved.
“No, we have rules to avoid these situations. We posted Celine by your door to keep you from wandering in here accidentally. The runner she sent came to let us know you were awake, but by the time we got to your room, you were already gone. Why didn’t you just stay there like we asked?”
“For starters, your guard didn’t tell me she’d sent someone to get you. She just told me to wait for you. Second, I’m not sure she could have been more petty and mean about it.” Bel sighed. “So maybe I bristled at the challenge. I didn’t think the situation through completely.” She sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him she needed to get out of that room to escape their smell and put some distance between her and them. “Sorry,” she offered, miserable at how badly things had gone.
“No, I’m sorry. One of us should have stayed in the room until you woke up so we could tell you how things work around here. We have rules in place to both protect the women from unwanted attention and to keep the boys from getting, you know, stabbed in the leg with a fork.” Nate tried to stifle a laugh but didn’t really succeed before he called out over his shoulder, “Liam, how’s Butch doing?”
Her golden captor grunted and kept working on the stab wound. The man’s pride and his junk were pretty much at the mercy of time.
“I’m going to take her back to our suite.” Nate turned her toward the door where the Roses remained. Once they moved their way, the ladies melted from the exit.
Alone in the sitting room with Nate, she tried to put as much space between them as she could. Needed to keep her head clear. “So, you better fill me in on how things work. Unless you plan on keeping me locked away like the last three days.” Arms crossed, she leaned against the wall.
With the flat of his hand, he patted the couch. “Come sit with me.”
“I’m good here.” Proximity and her…not friends.
“Okay.” His brow pinched in confusion bordering on hurt, but he pressed on. “The ladies have found establishing their own retreat offers them some breathing room from the carnal demands of the men. We work hard and we play hard. The guys have simply gotten used to the women staying scarce in the mornings unless they belong to one of the guys—which means she’s inked—or unless she’s a full-fledged member. And even those ladies tend to keep clear since it keeps conflict to a minimum.” He shrugged. “After noon, things seem to fall into a natural pattern and the two groups meld back together. And, for the record, we did not keep you locked away. We tried to give everyone a little breathing space. Penelope was a favorite among the men. I’m sorry if you felt imprisoned.”
“I get it about Penelope, but the rest is pretty ridiculous. There is no reason the women should be expected to service the men or hide out in a separate room. Where’s the self-control?”
Nate looked surprised by her response. “Well, um. It’s just how things have always worked.”
“Fine. But it’s stupid. Your men should have more self-control.” She huffed.
The door opened and Liam strode in. He stopped short when he saw Nate sitting alone on the couch. “Where’s Bel?”
Nate nodded in her direction, and Liam whirled around. “Where’d you learn to take a man down like that?”
Chapter Three
“I was bored and often alone. I couldn’t abide shopping with my sisters, which led me to work out. Exercise evolved into hand-to-hand combat training with one of the guys.” Pure stubbornness fused her feet to the ground despite how Liam invaded her space.
Using two fingers, he caressed her chin before he tipped it up and forced her gaze to meet his. “A woman who doesn’t dig shopping?” He snorted his disbelief.
“Never said I didn’t like shopping. I said I couldn’t abide my sisters, and all they did was shop. So I just skipped both.”
He grinned. “Good. We’re going shopping.”
“For what?”
“You need clothes. And I think getting you away from the family would be a good idea. Ruffled a few feathers when you took Butch down.”
“He deserved it.” Chin out in defiance, she cringed inside for being such a brat. Nate rose from the couch and joined Liam in crowding her.
“He did, baby. And we’re sorry we weren’t more diligent in making it clear you belong to us.” Liam leaned in and pressed a kiss to her trembling lips.
“I don’t belong to anyone but myself.” She needed him to back away and take his infernal smell with him.
He dropped his hand from her chin. “Don’t be foolish. We’ve given you our protection the same as we give it to the Roses and everyone who resides in our territory. Not everyone gets to be a Beast, but all in our area benefit from knowing us.”
Oh, how she wanted to benefit from knowing them. Her core ached with want enflamed by each breath scented by the very essence of Liam and Nate. “But—”
Liam marched away from her, done with the conversation. Guess he made his mi
nd up. Too bad she didn’t agree.
“Pet, there’s no point in arguing. You belong with us now.” Nate softened his tone.
“No. I’m here so my father may live. But I am not a Beast. At best, I’m chattel.” The words reminded her, and them, how little she belonged.
“Eventually you’ll understand how things are.” Liam shoved his fingers through his long blond hair, which exposed The Beasts’ emblem emblazoned around the side of his neck.
She licked her lips in an attempt to squash the desire to lick where the symbol colored his flesh. Her lashes fluttered down over her eyes and shut out the tempting sight. Lost about where the rogue urges came from, she worked at pulling an image of her mother from the hazy recess of her mind. With each passing year, it became harder to remember exactly what she looked like. The mental image got fuzzier, less distinct. “I think I have a pretty accurate view from where I sit.” Her eyelids flew up and she snapped a glare at one half of her biggest problem.
The other half of her problem snorted. “Makes no difference how you see things. Reality is all that counts around here. And the reality is we are taking you shopping.”
“Can I have a minute?” Her body, strung tight enough she could have been mistaken for a tuning fork, practically vibrated. A few minutes to calm down and get herself together were a requirement if she was going to survive a shopping trip.
“Sure, baby. You can use our bathroom or head next door to yours.” Liam waved at the respective doors.
“Be right back.” She bolted for the room she’d stayed in. It was not hers. This wasn’t home.
Nate looked at Liam and decided to get right to the point with the little time they had left. “What are we going to do about Butch? We have to set an example.”
Liam sighed and turned to him. “I know.”
Nate stepped into his body, needing the physical contact. “I wanted to punch him in the face. Punch him and keep punching him because he touched her.”
The golden man in his arms shuddered, let his head drop against his, and grunted.
He pulled back and looked at Liam. “What? You trying to say you weren’t struggling with the urge? I saw the feral look in your eyes.”
“Yeah, I wanted to pummel his face, but while he crossed a line when he put his hands on her, he didn’t exactly break any of the club rules.”
“True. But we have a twofold problem. We have to protect her but we can’t start changing long-standing club rules on a whim.”
“That’s one of the reasons we’re going shopping. Besides getting her out of here for a bit, I figure we need to hit Len’s.”
“Not very subtle, but it’s a solid approach. As for Butch, maybe a day of warehouse duty is in order?”
Liam nodded. “That should work. A day of stocking bottles and breaking down boxes ought to help him remember his place.”
“Okay, I’ll tell Sam tonight. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to have Butch in her clutches.”
“She is one evil woman.”
They laughed together. Sam was beautiful, petite, and had every Beast eating out of her hands. And if one of them happened to bite her every now and then, they got a swift punch to the face—physical or metaphorical. She cracked a mean whip and kept their warehouse running like a well-oiled machine. Nobody wanted to cross her.
“Am I interrupting something?” Bel hovered in the doorway. Wariness dulled her gaze and made the planes of her face stand out in stark relief.
“Not at all. You ready?” Liam stepped away from him and moved toward their girl.
God he liked the thought. Their girl.
“I guess.” She shrugged and let her eyes roll partway, as though a full roll would have cost too much effort. Maybe it was shock, but she seemed subdued after her run-in with Butch. Much more than when they’d first gotten back to the suite.
Ten minutes later, they strolled along the boulevard while Nate worked to draw her back out. He walked on one side of her and Liam the other. The little shops strung along the street were in various states of repair. Those whose windows had survived both The Wave and the riots after offered a crisp, clear view into the shops. Some of the others still had glass, but the panes looked thicker and contained more than a few imperfections. Nate often compared himself to post-Wave glass. Solid and sturdy but full of flaws. He pushed the melancholy thoughts away, determined to enjoy the day with his favorite person and the woman who showed every sign of joining those same ranks in record time. No way to explain it, but the warm tingle she caused every time she smiled at him zipped straight to his groin by way of his heart. And the weird part was he hadn’t even been sure he had a heart. Fun and sex defined his comfort zone, not love.
“Let’s start at Len’s place.” Liam led the way across the street.
They stepped into the shop and were immediately immersed in the smell of leather. Animal skins could be found everywhere they looked. Some already fashioned into pants, chaps, vests, and others merely tanned stretches of hide ready to be shaped into whatever a customer desired.
“We need to outfit our girl.” Nate grabbed Bel’s hand and pulled her forward. After all, shopping equaled fun, and he did fun better than anyone. The rest he could sort out later. For now, Liam looked happy. That made him happy.
Len grinned at the three of them. “Your girl, huh?”
Nate grinned and knew Liam sported the same expression. Along with amazing leather products, Len served as the hub for the local grapevine. News of their claiming her would travel fast and furious throughout their territory, and, hopefully, offer her a modicum of protection. “Bel needs some leather pants, and I’m thinking a skirt. Something short.”
“Nate that seems a little excessive,” she demurred and placed a hand on his arm.
Sparks flew from her fingertips up his biceps and straight back down to his groin. Damn he wanted her sandwiched between them and weak from their touch.
“Our dime, our call.” Rational thought faltered as he cupped her cheek and planted a kiss smack on her lips. He lingered a moment, both aware and uncaring of their audience. “Now, be a good girl and let us spoil you.”
The glare she leveled at him contained a fierceness tempered by the lingering softness creeping around the edges of her eyes from his kiss.
“So, pants and a skirt.” Liam glanced over his shoulder and assessed what she had on. “And a new vest. All custom and in black.”
“Great.” Len leaned back from the counter and called into the recesses of the shop. “Hannah! Got a lady customer.”
A few moments later, his assistant appeared. Her blonde hair trailed down her back in a ponytail, which kept the strands out of her face. Deep-brown eyes lit up when she spotted them with Bel tucked between them. “Well, hello boys. Nice to see you in here for someone other than yourselves.”
“Hannah.” They both smiled at her, but Nate brought her up to speed. “We need some stuff for Bel. Skirt, leathers, vest, and some boots, too.”
“All right. Come on, doll. We need to get you measured for your gear.” She took Bel’s hand and led her behind the curtains.
Despite the women’s departure, they could hear Bel already protesting, “Really, I don’t need—”
“Doll, if those boys dragged you in here, you either need it or they want you to have it. Either way, they’re just stubborn enough to give it to you regardless of what you want. I suggest you figure out how to accept the gift.”
Her reply got lost when the women went deeper into the recesses of the shop.
“That’s a mighty pretty lady you boys found.” Len ducked behind the counter and reappeared a moment later with some leather samples. “Here are my newest pieces.”
The three of them sifted through the hides and selected the ones they thought would make the best garments. Nate looked up when the girls came back out. “Everything good?”
“Yeah.” Bel hesitated behind the counter keeping some distance between them.
Little by little, she came around and stood to one side. Undeterred, he reached up and brushed a lock of hair away from her face.
Beside him, Liam spoke up. “What boots have you got?”
“What kind do you want?” Len turned around and started looking through his cabinets.
“Bel, got a preference?” Nate pitched his voice low and soft, afraid he might spook her. At that moment, eyes wide, with the vein in her throat pulsing, she looked like she’d run at the slightest sound. Was it them or the shopping?
She sighed, a little annoyance peeking through her apprehension. “You really aren’t going to listen to me, are you?”
Annoyance boded well, to a point. At least it showed she cared. “About what?”
“I don’t need any of this.” With an exasperated toss of her hand, she indicated the stack of leather on the counter.
“Sure you do. You can’t keep wearing the same clothes every day.” Liam leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.
Nate wanted to groan. If Liam dug in on an issue, she might, too, which would leave them in a stalemate. “Bel, you came to us with the clothes on your back. We feel responsible and want to buy some things for you to replace what you left behind. Is that really wrong?”
All the color leached from her face, and her gaze grew watery. After a long pause, she drew a deep breath and replied with a shaky, “No.”
“Good, now how about some new boots?” He smiled at her and bumped her with his hip.
A tremulous smile flitted across her lips and disappeared behind a thoughtful expression, only to turn pleased with a dash of smugness. “Okay. Maybe something Western style?”
And just like that, an image of her on her back, legs wrapped around him as he plowed into her with her boots on crashed over him. Oh, how he wanted to see that become a reality. For the love of God, please let Len have a pair. “Cowgirl boots it is.”
Len reached into the back of the cabinet and pulled out a stunning pair of black leather boots. “See if these fit. Those are vintage BTW wares I came across in an underground storage room.”
Love and Punishment Page 4