by Brook Wilder
With a deep breath of relief, she turned and started walking towards it. It looked completely abandoned and probably had more than a few mice or other small rodents, but at least it would be safer than sleeping outside without any sort of shelter.
She’d only taken a few steps towards the shack when she heard the voice. Melody froze, every instinct telling her not to make a sound, not to make a move, not to draw attention. But it was already too late for that.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here, fellas?” a deep, masculine voice said.
The words seemed to float out of the night. She couldn’t see where they were coming from, it was so dark.
A moment later, though, the sound of footsteps approached too rapidly for her to do anything but brace herself before three big, rough-looking men stepped from the shadows and surrounded her.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” one of them asked, the mean drawl in his voice making her shiver.
“You lost little girl?”
One of the men stepped closer and she could make out the leather jacket and the long beard. He whistled as he looked her up and down.
“Hang on a minute. This isn’t a little girl at all. She looks plenty grown to me.”
“Me too, Red.” The shorter one snickered from the shadows. “She looks like she’s all woman.”
“Come here, now. I won’t hurt you. I swear,” the first one said and let out a guffawing laugh, “Not much, anyway.”
Pure, greasy fear filled Melody’s throat, choking her so that she couldn’t force out a single word. She turned and tried to dash back to the highway, but her heels made moving quickly nearly impossible, and she’d barely made it a step before hard, bruising hands caught her around the middle.
The other man grabbed her arms and held her still as the third drew close.
“Now, none of that. There ain’t no place for you to go to for miles and miles and miles around here.” He sneered greasily at her as he leaned close and Melody flinched away from the hard obsidians of his eyes, so she didn’t see the way his grin faded as he glanced down at her. “What the fuck!?”
Melody jerked at the sudden change in his tone. There was a new violence in his voice when he spoke again.
“Would you fucking look at that?” he said, pointing at the tattoo that was still raw but very visible just over the top of her right breast, beneath the collar bone. “This is Enrique’s woman.”
Melody cringed at the words, partially at the ownership they implied, but much more so because his voice grew even chillier.
“Sorry honey. There’s no way we’re letting you go now. That bastard has a debt to pay with us. A debt you’re going to pay.”
They grabbed her again, and this time she had no problem opening her mouth and letting out a fearful scream. She fought against them, trying to claw them with her nails and kick as much as she could. But it was no use.
As they turned and started dragging her to an abandoned-looking farmhouse she hadn’t seen before, Melody could finally make out the patches on the back of their leathers and screamed even louder.
They were members of the Devil’s Martyrs. Gang members Enrique had screwed over and now had a hit out on if he didn’t pay up. And they had her in their clutches.
Melody struggled even harder, fighting with all her strength to get free, still screaming at the top of her lungs, when the front door of the farmhouse banged open and a large, imposing man in his fifties stalked outside with a mean scowl on his stone-like face.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” he growled, the same scowl in his voice that was in his eyes. Those eyes widened in confusion as they landed on her.
“We found this girl sneaking around the property, Hub,” one of the guys said, pushing her forward.
Melody didn’t hesitate. She used the momentum to keep going, rushing to the only other place she could see to hide, the large shack-like building that she’d seen at first from the road. Up close it was much bigger, more like a rusted-out pole barn than a shack.
Everyone was so shocked by her sudden flight that she had a good thirty-second head start before they even realized where she was heading. She slammed through the door, feeling the pain as wood splinters caught and cut at her bared shoulder, but she didn’t let it slow her down as she shut it hastily behind her.
She was thrown into complete darkness once more, amplifying the sounds outside as the gang members cursed. The man who’d stamped out of the house shouted orders in that gruff, no-nonsense voice of his.
“Well, don’t just stand around with your dicks in your hand. Go fetch her!” the man they’d called Hub ordered. It was obvious he was used to being obeyed.
Melody panicked, searching in the dark for somewhere to hide as the man’s voice continued to reach her.
“What the fuck were you doing out here, Christian! I told you to secure the fucking barn.”
“Sorry, I didn’t think…”
“That’s right you didn’t think. You really are useless, aren’t you?” Hub spat the words, anger rife in his voice. “You were probably out here with those goddamn dogs again, weren’t you? Instead of doing your job. Then none of this would have happened.”
Disoriented, Melody rushed forward, searching desperately, but there was nowhere to go. In the pitch black, it was impossible to see inches in front of her own face and she tripped over something in her path, falling hard to the dirt floor just as the doors were swung open.
The light from flashlights blinded her a second before rough hands grabbed her, hauling her back to her feet. The gang members didn’t let her go this time, as they dragged her back outside and stood her up in front of Hub and another, younger man, who stared at her with enormous blue eyes that glinted like sapphires in the night.
It was a good thing they still had a hold of her, Melody thought caustically to herself, otherwise she would just be a helpless puddle on the ground. Despair and fear had sucked all the fight out of her and she didn’t think she had anything left inside her to draw on for strength.
Hub looked at her for a long moment, the silence stretching to a breaking point.
“Wh-what are you going to do with me?” Melody finally managed, unable to take the quiet anymore.
“That’s a damn good question,” Hub said quietly.
It wasn’t soft. She didn’t think anything about this man was soft, especially not the way he was looking from her face to her tattoo and back again.
“What is Enrique’s bitch doing out here, snooping around and sticking her nose into Devil’s Martyrs’ business?”
“I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. I just… I was walking and…”
“Walking alone in the middle of nowhere?” the younger man interrupted, his blue eyes piercing as he questioned her. “Without a car? Miles and miles from anywhere?”
“I…” Melody cut off the words. She didn’t want to tell them the truth. That Enrique had left her on the side of the road in the desert like an unwanted dog. Her pride wouldn’t let her force out the words. At least she still had that.
“You what?
“I… got lost. Nature called and I had to stop and… you know… I got turned around and then I got left behind.”
Hub stepped closer and Melody could see the dark stubble shadowing his hard jawline and the doubt in his even harder eyes.
“I don’t believe you, bitch.” He looked down at the tattoo and sudden rage flashed in his eyes.
Instinctively she pulled back, bracing for the blow that would send her reeling, but it didn’t come.
“Enrique owes us a debt. Maybe he’d be willing to finally man the fuck up and pay it to get you back,” Hub wondered out loud.
Melody had to bite back her plea to let her go. Not to send her back to the man she’d once thought she loved.
“I have to think it over. It’s obvious the bitch is lying.” Hub sneered one more time, not looking at her at all as he turned away. “I’ll decide what we’re going to do with he
r. Christian, tie her up in the barn. And make sure it’s fucking locked this time!”
Hub stalked back inside, slamming the door behind him. The others still had a hold of her, dragging her towards the barn as the young blue-eyed man watched.
But Melody didn’t hear their words. All she could hear was a buzzing in her ears that wouldn’t go away. All she could see was the bright sky-blue of the man’s eyes, still watching her solemnly as she was chained unceremoniously to a post in the middle of the barn before the doors were shut and locked, leaving her in pitch darkness once more.
Chapter 4
Christian was careful not to make a sound as he crept down the stairs to the kitchen on the ground floor. He gathered what little food he could find, some leftover chicken and a stale piece of bread, grabbed a bottle of water, and snuck outside as quietly as he could. Which was pretty quiet. He was used to sneaking out to the kennels to check on the dogs at night.
That was not why he was sneaking out then, however. No, there was an entirely new type of wounded animal that needed his help.
Christian swallowed hard. He hated having to chain her up, seeing her arms bruised and bleeding from her struggle, and not being able to do a damn thing about it. But he knew his father. If he’d said a single word or showed an ounce of what Hub considered ‘weakness’, he’d only take it out on the girl. He couldn’t be responsible for making her situation any worse than it already was, and it was precarious enough without him adding any more trouble to the mix.
He’d been forced to chain her up like a stray, but he wasn’t going to make things worse for her.
The image of her dark brown eyes, wide and terrified on his as she had been chained, had seared itself inside his head and Christian didn’t think he’d ever be able to banish it again. It haunted him for hours after he’d left her alone in the dark.
He hadn’t been able to sleep. All he could picture was that beautiful woman, tied up and trembling so hard she rattled the chains wrapped around her wrists. He’d fought with himself as the night crept by at a snail’s pace outside.
He knew there would be hell to pay if he was caught, but there wasn’t anything he could do. He couldn’t stop himself. He had to help her. He had to at least try.
Christian had thought about asking Bianca for help last night, but he knew it would be no use. This house actually belonged to her, but when she and Hub had gotten together she’d offered to let the Devil’s Martyrs use it as a safehouse.
She was a stern woman, as tough as old nails. Probably tougher than Hub when push came to shove. He knew she’d been through hell in her younger days, even though Christian had never come out and asked her for her story. It was none of his business. But even though she had a soft spot for those who were down on her luck, she’d have no mercy for some dumb bird that wandered into enemy territory. And more than likely, she’d go straight to Hub and tell him whatever Christian had said.
So, he’d bitten his tongue and kept his silence until everyone had passed out for the night before sneaking outside.
Christian didn’t look behind him as he crept across the yard, sticking to the deepest, darkest shadows. He didn’t stop moving until he had the doors of the barn open just enough for him to slide through and quickly close behind him.
Only then did he pause to draw in a deep breath and turn on the small lantern that he’d also brought out with him. It gave off just enough light to illuminate a circle a few feet in each direction but not enough to be visible from inside the farmhouse.
“Hello?” Christian whispered tentatively, “You still here?”
A humor-filled snort met his question.
“I’m chained to a steel post. Where the hell would I go?”
Christian shook his head, grateful that the light was dim enough to hide the flush of embarrassment that flamed across his face.
“Oh, right,” he muttered as he walked towards the center of the barn.
Slowly, inch by inch, the amber light of the lantern drew back the shadows around the girl until he could make out her huddled form. She was crouched, leaning against the beam with her arms twisted at an awkward angle from the chains being twined too tight.
“Here, let me help you,” Christian offered, reaching forward to grasp the chains and loosen them.
He stopped when she flinched away from him as if he’d struck her. He froze for a minute, just looking down at her.
He saw the same fear in her melting dark eyes that he did in the animals that had been forced to fight for their lives for the entertainment of others. That same terror and mistrust that only came from being hurt by the ones that should care the most.
Christian didn’t move any closer to her. He just knelt slowly until his knees hit the hard floor, grimacing at how cold it was even through the thick denim of his jeans. One by one he unpacked the items of food he had brought, spreading them out in front of him before holding up his empty hands.
“I’m just going to loosen the chains, so you can eat, alright?” he whispered softly, waiting for her nod before moving around to do just that.
Once there was enough slack for her to reach the leftovers, he backed away again, giving her plenty of space.
She watched him with those eyes of hers. Dark, mysterious, utterly captivating. Her long brown hair had half fallen out to lay thick and glossy across once shoulder, but it still wasn’t enough to hide the bruises and cuts from before that were only now starting to scab over.
Christian pulled a clean cloth and some anti-bacterial cream from his pocket as she ate.
“That cut looks pretty bad.” His voice was just as gentle as it had been when he was trying to help the puppy with the broken leg. “Why don’t I clean it. You don’t need it getting infected now, right?”
She just looked at him for a long moment.
“I can do it.” She shrugged her arms and the sound of clanking metal filled the barn, “If you just unchain me, I...”
“I can’t do that,” he said, interrupting. “I can’t untie you. But I can help with the wound. I’m good with injuries,” he added with a bashful shrug of his own.
He sent her a questioning look and finally she gave in with a sigh.
“Oh, all right.”
She huffed out, and he was glad to see some fight still burning inside her. He kept one eye on her face and one on her wound as he knelt beside her, gently cleaning away the dirt and dried blood from the raw skin scraped away from her shoulder.
“I’m Christian, by the way,” he said softly after a moment, more to break the suddenly tense silence than anything else.
Sitting there, so close to her, her beauty was even more apparent and that dress she was wearing left very little to the imagination. It hugged her lush, rounded curves like a second skin. The way she was sitting, with her legs tucked underneath her, hiked the hem of it even higher up on her thighs and he had to stop himself from staring at the miles of creamy skin. It was all too easy to imagine those long legs wrapped around his hips.
Christian shook off the thoughts, trying to keep his mind from going any further into the gutter.
“You know, it’s polite to tell someone your name when they introduce themselves.”
“Oh, is that what we’re doing?” She snorted again and this time the humor even reached her eyes as she looked up at him in challenge. “Introducing ourselves? Having a pleasant chat? I think being kidnapped and chained in a barn is a damn good reason to forget my manners for a moment, don’t you?”
Christian cleared his throat roughly, but he didn’t look away and he didn’t flinch back from her tirade.
“Look, I know this situation isn’t ideal, but…”
“Ideal?! Ideal! No, that’s not the word I would use. I would say it’s fu…”
“Shh. Keep your voice down!” Christian hissed in a hushed whisper, gesturing her to silence. He cocked his head, listening for the tell-tale sound of the door creaking open but after a moment the quiet outside remained unbroken. “If Hu
b finds out I’m here helping you…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It will just end up being a lot worse for you. Just cooperate and you’ll get out unharmed, alright?”
She cocked her head, staring at him, and for a second it was as if she could see all the way through him, all the way to his soul. Could see all the secret wants and desires of his heart.
“Hub is your boss, right? Of the gang I mean? The Devil’s Martyrs.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“It just seems like he’s used to giving orders,” she said with a shrug. “And being obeyed.”