WRAITH (Iron Kings MC, #1)

by Franca Storm

“Hide or hold back,” she finished for me, looking excited at the prospect.

  “Exactly.”

  “Don’t you see? You just need an anchor, Finn.”

  Something I’d never had before, because I'd stood at a distance and cut myself off from everyone and everything to spare them from my darkness and the brutal fallout of me losing it. As a result, I didn’t have roots or powerful connections, which were required to establish an anchor. So I’d never considered going that route as a method of control.

  “I don’t know, sweetheart, I—”

  She grasped my arm, catching me off guard. “I’ve put my trust in you at every turn. It’s time for you to trust in me.”

  23

  ~Ashley~

  HE WAS UNEASY.

  I got it. It was hard for him. I knew he trusted me to an extent, just not all the way yet.

  He’d depended only on himself his whole life and when he’d tried to alter that and let people in, that awful black ops team he’d belonged to had screwed him over in the worst way possible, even trying to take his life.

  I’d known it for a while now and I’d thought giving him time would’ve been enough. But it hadn’t been. That had become brutally clear tonight when his solution to his resurfacing struggle with the dark had been to end things with us, to push me away, rather than asking for my help and pulling together with me.

  “Okay,” he finally conceded.

  I swallowed hard, struggling to work up the nerve now that he’d given me the green light.

  My heart was pounding in my ears.

  I could feel my whole body shaking.

  Conflicting emotions were coursing through me.

  Determination to do this for him.

  Excitement and anticipation that it could change everything for him, for us.

  And trepidation toward the act itself.

  I might’ve come out of my shell a lot, sexually speaking, but Finn had always been the one to take the dominant role, to lead me along, to guide me with his experience and skill. But what I planned to do here was a step beyond what’d become our norm.

  I drew in a breath, summoning my courage.

  And then I stepped up close, pressing my hand to his dick. He grunted and jerked at my unexpectedly brazen touch.

  I began to slide my hand up and down his length through his pants, feeling him growing harder from my every determined stroke.

  “Ashley,” he gritted out, in a warning tone.

  I looked up at him, pained by what I saw from him.

  He had his eyes squeezed shut. His jaw was clenched tightly, like he was gritting his teeth within. I glanced down at his hands to see that his fingertips were digging into his thighs. His entire body was coiled tight, majorly on edge.

  “Finn?” I said, leaning into him.

  My breath against his cheek had his eyes snapping open. There was a dark desire sparking in them, something disturbingly carnal.

  I swallowed hard. Oh God.

  “I can’t,” he rasped. “I can’t let you take control. It’s too dangerous.”

  I shook my head and grasped his belt. “Relax. You’re not dangerous to me.”

  Unbuckling his belt and popping his fly, I reached in to free his cock, but his hand clamped down around my wrist. “I could lose myself. You mean too much to me to allow that to happen.”

  “I trust that you won’t.”

  “You shouldn’t.” A feral growl rumbled from him, as he slid his hand into my hair. He fisted it, tugging roughly, forcing my gaze to his, the burning intensity there almost enough to choke me. “You make me want to, Ashley. You’re the only woman I’ve ever known who’s had me wanting to break all my rules. And I’m right on the edge already with all the bullshit that’s been happening lately.” He grasped my hips, making me yelp from the suddenness of it, as he rolled his hips, grinding hard between my legs. “I want to know what it’s like to snap and unleash all over you, to hear your delicious whimpers and screams of ecstasy, you begging me for more, even though a part of you knows you can’t take another second of me.”

  “Finn,” I choked out.

  He released my hair and leaned in close, resting his forehead against mine, as he told me on a pained whisper, “But you’re so incredibly innocent. I’ll ruin you if I lose control.”

  With that, he just assumed his reasoning had won out, that all was said and done, and he batted my hand from his dick and maneuvered around me.

  “It’s unbelievably sad that you can never be your true self with anyone, that you always keep yourself locked up tight and imprisoned with all your rules.”

  He stopped short at my words, his back to me. “Don’t,” he ground out.

  But I was nowhere near done. “I mean, how can you ever experience true pleasure, true happiness or freedom, when you never let yourself go, when you’re never fully open?”

  “I know what you’re doing. Don’t.”

  “What am I doing?”

  “You’re trying to get inside my head.”

  “What I’m doing is trying to help you, Finn. You just need to let me.”

  Before he could stop me, I closed the distance between us and shoved him onto the bed. Taking advantage of his shock at my bold, unprecedented move, I used the opportunity to unbuckle his belt, my determination usurping my nerves and inexperience.

  I had his pants and boxers down to his thighs exceedingly quickly.

  Swallowing hard at the intimidating sight of his thick, hard dick jutting out proud and tall, I gathered my nerves and sank to my knees.

  My tongue darted out and licked the circumference of his head.

  I heard his breath hitch.

  I delivered another lick, this one long and slow, then I dipped my head and suckled.

  “Shit,” I heard him rasp.

  His hands grasped my shoulders.

  I paused, looking up at him.

  The moment our gazes clashed, his grip on my shoulders went lax, his dick jerking in my mouth.

  24

  ~Wraith~

  SHE WAS MY UNDOING.

  I wasn’t completely sure how it’d even gotten to this point. She’d moved so quickly with me distracted and caught up in my own head. As soon as reality had slammed back into me, though, I’d been ready to put a stop to her plans.

  Until she’d fucking well looked up at me.

  Jesus Christ. The sight of those doe eyes of hers gazing up at me with determined need, her full lips wrapped around my cock wanting so much to please me, to help me, to free me… it’d short-circuited my brain.

  I knew I should just walk away, that I shouldn’t allow this to happen. I shouldn’t give up any control to her. It was bad enough that I’d already relinquished some through allowing her to take the reins with my cock, even just for a little while and during the hallway quickie.

  She’d managed to get under my skin. I wasn’t sure she even knew just how many of my buttons she’d actually pushed in such a short timeframe, making it all the more intense and difficult to get a handle on.

  That was probably why I found myself lifting my hands from her shoulders and resting them either side of me, silently giving her the reins.

  I saw her hesitate. Was it shock that I’d given her control, or uncertainty with what she was about to do, giving head for the first time?

  I got my answer in the next second when she cradled my balls, then opened her mouth wide and took the entire length of me right to the back of her throat.

  “Fuck!” I cried out, digging my fingers into the mattress.

  She gagged right away and drew back a little, finding her sweet spot, what she could actually take. She was bold to attempt deep throating right off the bat. I hadn’t expected that.

  It took her a second to find her rhythm, but once she did, I was in heaven as she rolled my balls between her fingers. I threw my head back, grunting and savoring the pleasure.

  Perhaps, I could do it then. Savor it like a normal person.

  But then she rak
ed her nails down my thighs.

  The bite of pain had my head snapping forward. Fuck. She was calling the monster out.

  I reached out and fisted my hand in her hair.

  A little cry of surprise escaped her, the sound vibrating along my cock, making me groan at the delicious sensation.

  Stop. Don’t do it.

  I was about to drop my hand.

  But then her teeth grazed my shaft.

  Fucking hell!

  The monster breached the surface.

  Both my hands plunged into her hair, fisting wildly.

  She whimpered from the bite of pain as I pulled at her roots.

  Using it as leverage, I pumped her mouth up and down my cock.

  She managed to keep up with it.

  The pleasure became too much then, taking me over, and I rolled my hips, thrusting my cock down her throat, as I held her steady by her hair, at my mercy, while I fucked her face.

  Shockingly, she moaned out around the mouthful of cock stuffed down her throat. Her hips undulated. She was getting off on the roughness, the brutality, me losing my shit and unleashing on her.

  Her sheer determination to meet me on my level, her accepting all of me, even the darkest parts, the understanding there… it was incredible.

  It had something shifting in me.

  Something I’d never thought possible.

  The monster quieted, retreating.

  The urge to devour, break and ruin that usually consumed me when I was this far along beyond my control, was nowhere to be found.

  All the pain and darkness that drove me to seek out that rough and brutal physical connection to satiate the monster was clinging to something else now.

  The love I felt for her.

  It was… soothing it, snuffing out all the dark.

  I released her hair and she pulled back in surprise, my cock falling from her lips.

  Sweeping her off her feet, I swung her around and laid her down on the bed. Climbing on and straddling her, I leaned in and looked deeply into her beautiful eyes. “I love you.”

  She frowned in confusion. “I love you too, Finn. But what—?”

  “I want to take my time with you,” I said, pushing off her robe. The treat beneath had my breath catching in my throat. All lace. Neon-pink. A bustier and a goddamn thong. I ran my hand the length of her, taking my time feeling up the sexy lingerie. And then I tugged the thong off and pulled down the cups of her bustier, bearing her perky breasts. I circled her cherry-tipped nipples with my tongue. “Savor every delicious inch of you.” I feasted on the swell of her full, perky breasts, then made my way down her body, my lips hot on her soft skin. She trembled, her breath coming in short, erratic bursts. “You deserve to be worshipped, little warrior.” She giggled as I swirled my tongue inside her navel.

  I smiled to myself, then trailed a warm, wet path down to her pubic bone, sweeping across the top of her pussy.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  I grabbed a condom off the top of my bedside table, then ripped off my t-shirt. I sheathed myself, her glazed eyes on me the entire time.

  “Please,” she urged me, as I took my cock in my hand and rubbed it up and down her slick pussy.

  Gathering her in my arms, I crushed her to me, needing her as close as physically possible. And then I slid in deep, both of us groaning at the delicious way we fit together.

  I sawed in and out of her, my thrusts deep and erotically slow, savoring the exquisite feel of her walls bearing down around me, intent on keeping my cock buried inside her.

  I took her mouth, my kiss hot and heavy. She moaned out, her body yielding to me wholly.

  I gave her everything I had, pouring my pent-up need and emotions into it. Everything I’d been keeping locked down for far too long.

  Her body trembled, her back arching, as I ground against her swollen clit. She was ready to come. I pulled my mouth from hers, commanding, “Drench my cock, sweetheart.”

  I thrust hard, then swiveled my hips, bearing down on her sweet clit, and she came apart. Her wild shrieks were like beautiful music to my ears. I held her tight to me, savoring every tremble of ecstasy, watching her face twist in pure pleasure, as she clamped down around me. All of it was too much, sending me over the edge into orgasmic oblivion. Her tight pussy contracted furiously, milking me relentlessly, until not a drop remained, and I was utterly spent.

  “That felt different,” she eked out, still panting and trying to come back down to earth. “You let go and nothing bad happened. It worked, Finn.”

  “Yeah.” I grasped her hips and flipped us, so she didn’t have to take my weight bearing down on her. I reached out and stroked a soft path down her cheek. “All because of you. You’re my anchor.”

  25

  ~Wraith~

  WHAT A RUSH.

  It’d been way too long since I’d felt the exhilaration of tearing down an empty road on my Harley at breakneck speed.

  Motorcycles tended to draw attention and I’d been living a life that couldn’t tolerate that. So, I’d forbidden myself from riding for years.

  I’d forgotten just what I’d been missing all of this time.

  There was nothing else quite like it in the world.

  Freeing.

  Euphoric.

  It was a goddamn part of me.

  I smiled to myself. Anarchy had been right. I was meant for this life. At thirty-eight years old, it’d been a hell of a long time coming.

  It was horrifying how one decision could derail your whole life and throw you off course in such a huge way. My greatest regret was joining Nemesis. It’d almost ruined me completely.

  But regrets were the antithesis to hope. And after years of being forced to stand still and basically press the pause button on my life, I was finally moving forward.

  A great deal of that was due to Ashley. She truly was the light to my dark. The other night was indisputable proof.

  She’d freed me.

  She’d found a way to help me control the monster in a way like never before.

  I’d never had it come out like that, then simply retreat. But it had, for her. That night and both times we’d tried it since over the last week. I was still trying to wrap my head around it, the relief it brought me and the huge change it made to my life.

  While my morale was up, the rest of the club was about to get a boost too.

  My work shoring up club security was finally complete. All the boys had fulfilled their preparation duties for the coming war too. Both our offense and defense were ready.

  To get everyone into the right headspace for what was coming, Scott had arranged a morale-boosting barbecue in the ample half-acre clubhouse yard.

  I was just finishing up a sweep of the borders, then I was heading up there.

  My earpiece buzzed, a call coming through.

  I gave it a tap. “Wraith.”

  “Baby.”

  I smiled at the sound of her sweet voice in my ear.

  “Little warrior. I’ll be heading up to the clubhouse in fifteen. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I’m not there.”

  “What?”

  “Relax, I’m just going to be a bit later than we agreed. I’m downtown finalizing the location for TRUE INK.”

  I hesitated, fighting to push down my immediate, instinctual reaction to lay into her for breaking the protection detail protocol I’d set up.

  Safeguarding her twenty-four-seven, while allowing her the freedom to move about as she wished, required a complicated system and a strict schedule. I had all club members working shifts on her, so there wasn’t a single moment that she was without eyes on her. Unlike when she’d lived here before, I’d ordered everyone to keep out of sight and not to interfere with anything she did, unless it was absolutely called for.

  And now she’d upset all my work, my carefully constructed system.

  My frustration was mollified somewhat, because I knew she hadn’t done it to cause trouble. Fo
r one, she didn’t know about the system. All she knew was that she was being protected.

  Plus, I understood her reasoning. She was so excited about opening her tattoo parlor, of her dream finally becoming a reality. With the worry of the overarching threat I was glad she was focusing on the positive, on the future. The least I could do was to support that.

  But her safety still came first. Always. “All the boys are up at the barbecue. There’s no one scheduled on the clock right now to watch over you. I need you to head to a public space. Legacies will do. Wait there until I can get to you.”

  “Finn,” she said, chuckling with amusement, clearly assuming I was just being overprotective. “It’s the middle of the day and on club territory.”

  “We don’t want to tempt fate.”

  She huffed. “Fine. I’ll head there right now.”

  “Good. Thank you. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

  “I love you, even when you are being paranoid.”

  She hung up and I drew in a calming breath, then sped up towards the final border that I needed to check. One of the cameras I’d installed had gone dark a few minutes ago. Scott and I had figured it was just a fluke, some kind of technical issue. But we had to be sure.

  I made the left turn that led out to the border.

  Adrenaline shot through me when I caught sight of a figure in the middle of the road.

  I drew closer.

  Approximately three hundred feet out.

  I slowed my speed.

  One hundred and fifty feet.

  A man staggered forward in clear pain, an oversized hoodie covering his facial features.

  Fifty feet.

  I started to slow to a stop and pulled off to the side.

  I dismounted quickly, pulling my helmet off and hanging it off the handlebars, then drew my gun and approached.

  “Identify yourself!” I called out.

  No answer.

  “State your business here!” I boomed again, cocking my gun.

  The guy stopped walking, seemingly waiting for me to reach him.

  Cautiously, I closed the distance between us, on high alert, my finger hot on the trigger.

  Slowly, he reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing himself.