by Unknown
Animal had never been attached to a woman and Sammy was no different, he told himself, ignoring the beast who roared out that he was an idiot. He didn’t need her and he would have tired of her soon, he was sure. Most of his sexual relationships lasted about six to eight months and they’d been together for five now so reason would state that he would have been over her in another two or three months anyway.
“Really, a shrew? Fine. If that’s the way you want it then get the fuck out of my house and take that bag of toys with your sorry ass. I don’t want to deal with this bullshit this morning anyway. Make sure I don’t see you around here again! I will shoot you if you try to pull any of the crap you’ve done in the past. Now get out, I need to get to the diner,” Sammy growled.
Animal wanted to insist she take every word back and tie her to the bed but he knew it was for the best if he just did as she said and left. He almost couldn’t stand the thoughts swirling in his head of not seeing her again but he also couldn’t allow her to be hurt because he was unable to control himself with her.
His stomach twisted in dread and he felt like he was being ripped apart by the dual needs that were roaring around inside him. One need was to leave before he couldn’t and made the mistake of touching her and the other was to take her into his arms and force every word she had just said to be retracted because each one had hurt like a blow.
Curtly nodding, he walked to the bed grabbing the clamps and vibrators off the dresser and slamming them into the bag before dressing quickly. Turning, he stormed out the door after one last longing look at her standing there watching him with her arms crossed and her eyes filled with some emotion he couldn’t place.
Sammy waited until Animal had walked out before she allowed the tears she felt stinging her eyes to fall in a river of sorrow that nearly ripped her apart. Everything had been wonderful only an hour ago when she woke beside him and felt the love she held for him flow over her. She hadn’t expected to lose him so soon after learning that she had given him her heart.
She couldn’t contain the pain and a racking sob shook her body as she let out a cry of denial as she listened to Animal’s bike roaring away. She was shattered in a way she never realized she could be shattered. It was too much for her to take and she felt the collapse of her legs and the hard bite of the carpet’s pile on her bare knees when she fell to the floor on them. Her sobs shaking her whole body, she laid down on the floor where she had fallen, letting the pain of loss overtake her. Her promise to Hal forgotten, she allowed herself to mourn the loss of the man she loved in a river of tears that lasted far longer than the ones she had cried the night Tom had nearly killed her.
Chapter 22
Sammy was sitting in the living room of her apartment wondering when she would have to move out. She hadn’t made it to the diner five weeks ago when Animal left her after calling off their relationship. It had taken her six hours to even get up off the floor and then if it hadn’t been for Sarah coming over she likely wouldn’t have gotten up that night. She was ashamed of her lack of forethought over the consequences of that action because the next day Hal had fired her. She couldn’t blame him really, it was the fifth time she had been late.
Sammy so far had refused to allow Sarah to convince her to work for Reaper. She didn’t want to take the chance of running into Animal yet. She didn’t know if she would take it well because she was still lost in the wave of grief that had overtaken her at the end of their relationship. The idea of standing in front of him and not being able to touch him was almost too much to bear.
Sarah was in rare form over the past few weeks and Sammy was pissed that she wouldn’t leave her alone since she’d told Sarah about Animal leaving her over a welt he put on her hip. Sammy hadn’t shared the story that Animal had told her about Lisa with Sarah; it wasn’t right for her to tell Sarah about that night so she wasn’t going to. Since Sarah didn’t know the whole story as to why Animal was so upset over a small injury that hadn’t even been that bad, she was being annoying. She kept bitching about how the man was an idiot and that he should just get the fuck over it.
Sammy wasn’t in the mood to listen to it after only two weeks so for the past three she had been doing her best to avoid Sarah whenever possible. She was looking for another job and didn’t have much time to waste anyway.
According to Sarah, Animal had left town with Pansy and Iron three weeks ago to search for some information the MC needed. Sammy was glad that at least for a little while she didn’t have to worry about running into him because she wasn’t ready for that yet. Thinking about it made her head spin and she shook it to dislodge those thoughts because she didn’t want to think about him or she would end up in a heap of tears for the millionth time. Sammy wasn’t going to do that again.
The first week she had allowed herself a never-ending pity party but at the end of that week she had vowed to stop acting like the world was ending. Yes, she loved him and yes, it broke her to know he didn’t love her back but at some point she needed to move on with life. She wasn’t weak and she wouldn’t act like it.
Sammy stood, stretching her arms up over her head before looking at the time, seeing that it was almost five. Having interviewed with two managers this morning, she put the search for a job on hold for a short time to see if she had gotten either the hostess job for the local restaurant or the daycare attendant one. She caught movement out the window from the corner of her eye and saw that Sarah’s car was pulling up in the yard and sighed.
Damn, she really wasn’t in the mood for this tonight. She needed to start thinking about looking for a less expensive place to live. She had only enough credits for two more months unless she found a job that paid as much as the diner had. She was thinking that perhaps moving now despite loving this place would be a better idea. If she found a less expensive place she would be able to worry about credits less and that meant she needed to start packing her stuff up.
Moving into the kitchen, she grabbed a juice and waited, leaning on the counter, wondering if she could just ignore the door, but she knew it would do her no good. Sarah had the key so that would be a waste of her time. She knew Sarah well enough to know that she had brought the key with her in case Sammy did ignore her knock.
Walking to the door, she opened it to find Sarah directing two of the prospects who had been taking up space in her yard to pull a suitcase out of the back of her car. Sammy’s brows raised; was Sarah thinking she was moving in with her? Dear God, she hoped not because she was not going to allow that. She loved her girl but with the way she’d been annoying Sammy lately, she would end up killing Sarah.
Sammy stared dumbfounded as they walked towards her where she stood in the doorway with her hand on the door watching them get closer. Please, please don’t let her want to move in, Sammy silently implored whatever higher being was listening. Not that Reaper would be likely to allow Sarah to stay with her for very long anyway, thank God.
When the prospect that had gotten stuck carrying the case from the trunk was a few feet away, Sarah let out a sigh, shaking her head. “Sammy, you need to move so that Garrett can bring the case inside.”
Sammy held her ground blocking the door. “I don’t know if I want him to bring that inside, Sarah. What the hell is this?” she demanded.
“It’s clothes and make-up. You and I are going out tonight. Now get your ass out of the way, damn it,” Sarah growled, her eyes narrowed on Sammy, a look that told Sammy her friend wasn’t taking no for an answer. Damn, she was stubborn. It had once been an endearing trait but lately it was just freaking annoying.
“Sarah, I am not in the mood to go out tonight. I have to start packing up the house so that when I find a cheaper place I can move,” Sammy told her, rolling her eyes.
“Why are you looking for a cheaper place when you love this little apartment?” Sarah asked her, surprise clear in her voice.
“I can’t afford to wait and see if I get a job somewhere that pays enough to keep this place. I need to find so
mething while I still have a small reserve,” Sammy told her, hands on her hips and a dark scowl on her face.
“You can’t be serious, Sammy! I swear, you are the most stubborn woman I know. Let Reaper help you and stop worrying thinking it’s charity because it’s not. If the first job doesn’t work, he would find you another one. If you would stop acting like a mule and start letting us help you, I wouldn’t have to keep pestering you. How you can be submissive with that attitude is beyond me,” Sarah exclaimed, her face covered with a sour expression.
Garrett let out an odd-sounding snort that had Sammy’s glare turned on him because she knew that had been a muffled laugh. Sammy took a sip of her juice still in the doorway blocking it because she wasn’t going to allow Sarah to bully her into doing something she wasn’t ready for tonight.
“Move out of the way, damn it,” Sarah demanded, her frustration clear in every word. Garrett was waiting a few steps away, holding the suitcase and looking bored.
“I am not letting you bring that thing in here so that you can try to force me into going out tonight. I wasn’t joking when I said I was going to start packing things up to move out. I am going to be doing that tonight even if you don’t like it. Now, why don’t you take your bag and go pester your old man.” Sammy propped her foot on the doorjamb behind her, standing sideways in the doorway and blocking it.
“Ha, I know you think you’re serious about moving out but I am too. You need to allow me to help you get over this and stop being so stubborn. Sammy, you can let me in now or I can go get Reaper and he can deal with you. It’s your choice,” Sarah told her with a wicked smile.
Damn, she hated that the threat of dealing with Reaper, who never listened to reason when he was being overbearing, was working. She didn’t have the energy to deal with this tonight. It was a choice between two crappy options and she was going with Sarah because at least she sometimes listened to reason, unlike Reaper.
“Fine, but I am not going out,” Sammy growled as she stepped back from the doorway allowing Garrett to bring in the case.
“Perfect,” Sarah said smugly and Sammy had the urge to hit her best friend because she could be such a bitch sometimes.
Four hours later Sammy was walking into Spangles wondering how the hell she had gotten here. She was surprised when she was waved into the club without a cover charge. She guessed they didn’t get the memo that she and Animal weren’t an item anymore but since she was short on credits she didn’t correct the woman’s mistake. Sarah was behind her and Lock and Burner followed Sarah into the club as well. Sammy snorted when thinking of Sarah’s shadows, who had shown up about ten minutes before they left for the club, likely at Reaper’s command. He trusted Sarah, but likely not the men at this club.
She would find that funny if she wasn’t walking into a club she hadn’t wanted to see again, ever. It wasn’t that she had changed her ways and didn’t want to be a submissive anymore, oh no, it was that she didn’t want to be anywhere Animal might be with another woman. Sarah however had spent two hours talking her into this because he was still out of town.
Sammy wasn’t happy about it but she had decided it was the lesser of two evils when Sarah had begun talking about how worried she was about her and she might have to start setting her up with guys because she needed to get over the ‘asshole.’ Sammy could have corrected Sarah and shared the truth about Animal’s past but she hadn’t felt it was her place to explain Animal’s pain to her.
“Wow, it’s packed, huh,” Sarah said loudly to be heard over the pounding beat of the music. Sammy looked around at the bodies packed into the room realizing that Sarah was right, it was a very busy night. Seeing a table off to the left of the dance floor, Sammy indicated her intent to head towards it with a gesture and Sarah nodded.
They sat down a few moments later and Sammy watched the dancers, wistfully remembering a time when she would have been out there dancing with them. Sighing, she leaned back in the booth. Lock and Burner weren’t at their table but they hovered along the wall nearby watching them.
“I want a drink,” Sarah said, waving a waitress over.
When the waitress took their order, Sammy wondered how long she would have to pretend to enjoy herself before she could leave. Maybe she should get out there and dance because it might convince Sarah that she was okay. As much as she hated the suffocating focus that Sarah had on making her better, she was glad that Sarah cared. That was why she had agreed to come here after Sarah had expressed her worry for her. She didn’t want her to worry. Sarah had enough to worry about without adding her to the list.
The waitress returned with their drinks and Sammy took a sip of the lime margarita she had ordered. She was watching the dance floor and didn’t see Mark approaching the table so when he laid a hand on her shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Whoa there. Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Mark laughed as he leaned in close to speak.
“It’s okay. How are you?” Sammy asked, smiling at him.
“Doing well. Where’s your shadow? I would expect him to be here with you,” Mark asked, seeming surprised to find her without Animal, confirming her suspicions that he hadn’t told anyone they weren’t together anymore. That was both unnerving and gratifying; unnerving because now she had to explain why he wasn’t with her and gratifying because it meant he hadn’t been into the club since they broke it off. She wasn’t really sure what to say to explain her breakup with Animal because they hadn’t really been in a relationship.
“Animal and I are not an item anymore,” Sammy explained, hoping he didn’t press for more.
“I see,” Mark said and smiled, his eyes turning a melted chocolate color she remembered meant he was beginning to get aroused. Shit, she didn’t want to have to rebuke him but she wasn’t here to pick up a man. That was when Sarah got up abruptly and stood beside the table.
“I have to leave,” Sarah told them and Sammy narrowed her eyes at her friend, who smiled with a false brightness Sammy knew was faked. “Josh is being a bear for Reaper. Mark, can you keep Sammy company for a while because I hate to leave her by herself.”
Sammy glared at her, knowing exactly what her friend was doing. She was trying to leave Sammy alone with Mark. It was ridiculous of her to think that Sammy didn’t know what she was trying to do. Sarah was a horrible matchmaker and she wasn’t subtle at all, even though she thought she was.
“I think Reaper can handle him for a few hours so that we can spend some time together, don’t you?” Sammy asked through her clenched teeth, her glare hard.
“Oh, I don’t think so, no. He texted me that Josh is really fussy and he can’t handle it anymore. I really have to go but Mark’s here and he can keep you company so don’t leave on my account. Mark, it was good to see you again and Sammy, we will talk later,” Sarah said, ignoring her and moving away from the table with clear intent to leave, her two shadows, Lock and Burner, following her out.
Mark let out a laugh as he slid into the booth next to her laying his arm along the back of the seat over her shoulders. Leaning in close enough to be heard over the music, he whispered, “She’s not very subtle, is she?”
Sammy didn’t know why but those words struck her as funny and she laughed for the first time in weeks. A full belly laugh that made some of the tension that had gripped her for weeks slip away and she remembered that she had always really liked Mark.
Animal walked into Spangles with a single firm resolve clear in his mind. He was here to find a woman to fuck. He had spent weeks with pent up desires for Sammy torturing him and he had had enough. He was forcing himself to find a woman tonight. After five weeks of celibacy, he shouldn’t find it hard to do. He passed through the door into the main club waving to Mary who was the cover clerk tonight as he passed her.
He was surprised to find so many people inside when he walked through the entryway. Bodies were almost pressed together it was so packed. Good, he firmly decided. That meant he could have his pick of the s
ubmissives to take to his room and he would, he told himself firmly.
Heading to his table in the VIP area, he sat down, waving a waiter over. He had just returned to town a few hours ago with Iron and Pansy. Iron had asked him if he wanted to play poker after they talked to Reaper but Animal had already decided that he was going to get Sammy out of his system tonight. He wasn’t ever going to get to have Sammy again and there was no way in hell he was becoming a eunuch. He was here because he needed to get her out of his head but as he sat watching the women walking by and smiling coyly, he realized he wasn’t interested.
His cock remained limp like a wet noodle and he was not even tempted by the displays of cleavage. A bold woman actually crawled over on her hands and knees trying to hand him the leash to her collar but he didn’t take it. He was searching for someone that did interest him when he saw Sammy across the room.
His whole being stilled and the woman trying to get his attention from the floor at his feet was ignored. His breath caught as he took in her face haloed by her strawberry blonde hair. She was smiling widely and laughing and she wasn’t alone, he realized, his hands clenching on the table in front of him as he tried to reason with his inner beast. Animal had resolved that he couldn’t have her but as he watched Mark lean in, his arm along the back of the seat, whispering in her ear, his mind was overtaken in a blindingly hot spike of uncontrollable fury.
No one would touch Sammy, the beast roared as he stood, not even noticing the woman who fell back on her ass because he had almost stepped on her. He was moving across the room towards them in seconds, shoving people out of his way, ignoring their cries of protest. His only thought was to prevent any man from touching what was his.
Storming up to their table he reached out, grabbing Mark by the back of the neck and ripping him away from Sammy, tossing him to the floor behind him. His nostrils flared and he growled low and deep. The sound was animalistic as he stood over the other man breathing hard and ready for a fight. Sammy was still in the booth looking on in shock.