Draco and the others had just arrived when I took off like the demons of hell were on my tail. Bjarni grabbed the first bike standing next to mine and took off after me. I’m sure when we get back, the owner of his bike is not going to be all that pleased with him, but not many confront Bjarni, not only because of his imposing size but also because he’s deadly.
Bjarni is our Sargent at Arms, and everyone knows he doesn’t take prisoners. He takes a while to upset, but if you do, you know that it will be the end of you. Walking outside, I realize that Brandr, Draco, and Wulf followed us and are now standing over the guy who broke into Talia’s place. As soon as I see him, the anger that I supressed because of being around Talia rises once again.
I make my way towards them, not paying attention to anything besides the asshole who thought that he could frighten my woman. “Woah,” Wulf grunts as he stands before me, blocking my path to him. “We can’t do this here. Too many eyes. Besides, he’s so high that you won’t get anything useful out of him until he comes down.”
“I don’t want to get anything out of him. I want him to hurt,” I mutter as I glare at the asshole over Wulf’s shoulder.
“You will get your chance later,” Draco states as he starts to walk towards me and then stops as his eyes catch something behind me. “What the . . . ?”
I glance back and then tense. “What the fuck?” I roar as I see Burkhart carrying Talia in his arms.
“Before you start foaming at the mouth,” Burkhart says sarcastically as he draws nearer, “this was the fastest and easiest way. Besides, I didn’t hurt her.” I can feel the blood coursing through my veins as my anger rises. My eyes centre on his hands wrapped around my woman.
“Take your hands off my woman.” My voice is a guttural sound that warns everyone how close I am to losing my shit. Everything that has happened since I met Talia is taking a toll on me. I never for once thought that my emotions would be so out of control once I met my mate.
“Sure, should I just drop her here?” Burkhart asks with a raised brow. I take a step towards him but feel Wulf’s arms around me.
“Enough,” Draco mutters as he steps next to us. “Tor is sending a car to take the motherfucker behind us, and at the same time, we will transport your mate. Until then, you need to get a hold of your fucking emotions.” I know he’s right, but Burkhart’s arms around her is playing havoc with my mind. I knew having a mate changed your life, that once we found our mate, we lived to please her and make sure she was safe, but this is an overwhelming feeling that takes over my whole being. I haven’t even touched her yet. How can I be so possessive of her when we aren’t even bonded?
“Anyone ask for a cage?” I hear Ceric quip as he pulls up in a black SUV. From the corner of my eye, I see Brandr and Bjarni dragging the asshole towards the back seat of the SUV. Bion, who is in the passenger seat, steps out as he sees Burkhart carrying my woman.
“Is she hurt?” he asks as he looks her over.
“Nope, she will be waking up in no time. Therefore, we need to get a move on.” He starts to strap her into the front seat.
“Let go,” I mutter as I struggle against Wulf’s hold.
“Not yet,” he states. Burkhart steps back from the car and closes the SUV door.
“Damn, I always miss the fun,” Ceric teases as he looks at me. “Looks like your woman is tickled pink to have met you.” I hear Wulf groan behind me.
“That’s just bad, Brother,” Brandr says as he steps back from the car, shaking his head. Bjarni is already sitting in the back seat next to the asshole.
“What?” Ceric asks with a raised brow. “I thought it was quite good, pink hair and all.” Wulf loosens his arms and steps back.
“Your jokes are becoming worse by the day,” Bion quips as he makes his way towards the bike that Bjarni was riding.
“Are we good?” Burkhart asks as he approaches me. I know that he would never hurt a woman, but when I saw him holding Talia, my brain stopped working and all I wanted to do was wrench her away from him. I nod to let him know that I’m fine. “Good, let’s make a move on, then, before she wakes up.” He straddles his bike.
I don’t need any more prodding. I stride towards my bike, get on, and am off following the SUV before the others can say anything else. I need to try to convince Talia to stay at the compound for her protection but also for my own peace of mind. I can’t take her as my mate yet because of the danger to the other women, but I need to make sure she’s kept safe. I won’t tell her yet that she’s mine, as she might not believe me, but I will make sure that everyone at the compound knows who she belongs to.
Ceric brings the SUV to a stop in front of the compound. Before I can park my bike, the passenger door flies open, and Talia jumps out and looks around with a scowl on her face. My cock tightens as I see her breasts heaving with every breath she takes. When her eyes land on me, she hurries towards me, the anger on her face making me harder. Fuck, if I don’t get a hold of myself, she will notice the effect she has on me.
Kicking out the side stand, I continue sitting. “What the hell do you think you were doing?” she says with one of her hands on her waist, her voice raspy with anger. Damn, but my woman is beautiful when angry. All I want to do is pull her towards me and cover her angry lips with mine, kissing her until she forgets her anger, forgets everything except my kiss, my touch.
“I need you to be safe,” I answer as I cross my arms, making sure not to reach for her as everything in my being is screaming for me to do.
“It’s not your place to keep me safe, and definitely not without my consent,” she grumbles, her eyes flashing her anger.
“You’re wrong, and you will find out soon that it is my right to keep you safe. I’m sorry about the way we got you here, but it was the fastest way to get you away from your home and to safety. I don’t know why that asshole came into your house, but I will find out, and until I’m one hundred percent certain you’re safe, you will stay here at the compound.” I will not budge when it comes to her safety, no matter how much she insists.
“You do know this is kidnapping, don’t you?” she argues as she takes another step towards me. If I stretch out my arm, I will be able to touch her perfect face, but I resist.
“If you look at it like that, but at least you will be safe,” I state, barely holding in a smile as she grunts in frustration. My woman has fire in her blood, passion that reaches out and engulfs me with its fury.
“No one has ever been able to hold me against my will, and you won’t be the first one,” she mutters as she snaps around. Only then do I notice that my brothers are all sitting on their bikes, listening to our conversation with wide smiles on their faces. Ceric has walked around the SUV and is leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest and a shit-eating smile on his face.
“She’s going to fit right in,” he quips, and then laughs when I lift my hand and show him the finger.
“Where am I?” she asks as she looks around at everyone.
“You’re at the Elementals MC’s Cape Town compound,” Ceric answers with a wide smile. The asshole is loving this. “I’m Ceric,” he introduces. I see that Talia finally realizes there are others watching her, as her cheeks fill with colour. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” With those words, he starts to point to the others.
“That there is Wulf. He’s our VP.” Wulf inclines his head at her. “Over there is Brandr and Bion.” Each one nods in greeting. “And on that side is Draco. He’s the Elementals MC’s president.”
“Do you know that he took me without my consent?” she asks as she walks towards Draco. I see him raise an eyebrow.
“Actually, it was me, not him,” Burkhart says as he walks towards us from the other side of the SUV.
“You,” she mutters as she points a finger at him. “Don’t you dare come near me again or I will brain you with something.” At her words, everyone bursts out laughing. “This isn’t funny. I mean it.”
“She does mean it,” Bur
khart says with a grin. “Talia here can move objects with her mind.” I see Talia tense at his words, but she doesn’t back down. If anything, she stands up a little straighter. After what happened with the camera when I was installing it, I already suspected.
“Great, that’s all we need. Nova will probably convince her to fly them away or something,” Ceric grumbles with a dejected look on his face, making Burkhart laugh.
“So, you can move stuff with your mind?” Draco asks as he strides towards Talia.
“What of it?” she asks, raising her chin.
“Just curious. Soon, you will meet the other women, and all of them have their own gifts,” Draco explains.
“What do you mean their own gifts?” she asks with a frown.
“You will see.” With those words, he turns and strides away towards the entrance of the compound. Talia looks over her shoulder at me. I can see the curiosity in her eyes. Only then do I realize what Draco has done. Talia will be curious enough to go inside so that she can meet the other women. Just with a few words, Draco managed to appease her anxiety.
“I’ll introduce you to my woman. Her name is Aria,” Brandr says as he starts to walk past her and then stops, indicating the entrance where Draco disappeared. Talia stands for a few seconds but then nods and accompanies Brandr. I exhale, only then realizing that I was holding my breath, waiting for her to make up her mind.
“You are so screwed,” Ceric quips as he grins at me.
“I’m going to love every minute,” I chirp as I finally stand to follow the others. A few minutes earlier, I saw Bjarni carrying an unconscious asshole who is going to squeal as soon as I get my hands on him. I want to know what exactly her brother wants from her, and then I will make sure that he never bothers her again.
Walking into the bar area, I see that Brandr has guided Talia towards a table at the far end of the bar where all the women are sitting. Looking around, I notice that only two of the Cape Town brothers are present.
“Celmund.” My head snaps around as I hear Jasmine’s voice, a radiant smile on her face. “We’ve missed you.” I feel myself smile, and the muscles in my back relax slightly as I take in my family. I’ve missed having my brothers and their women around.
“Not as much as I’ve missed you guys,” I say. I see Talia looking over at me just as Brandr reaches Aria.
“Sunshine, this is Talia. She belongs to Celmund.” At his words, I tense when I see the shock on Talia’s face. Oh boy, here comes trouble, but to my surprise, she doesn’t comment on that and accepts Aria’s embrace with a smile on her face, even though I can tell she’s tense.
“Really?” Nova chirps as she quickly stands from where she was sitting next to Brielle and approaches Aria and Talia. “I’m Nova. I’m with that handsome lug who just walked in.” She winks at Ceric. He throws back his head and laughs uproariously. I see Talia look over her shoulder at Ceric and then back at Nova with a smile on her face.
“Nice to meet you. You have good taste.” What the fuck? I glare at Ceric as he strides towards the women. He winks at me as he slides his arms around Nova’s waist.
“So, what can you do?” Nova asks as she leans back against Ceric. At Talia’s confused look, Nova raises her hand and motions around. “All of us can do something. I can persuade people to do my bidding.”
“Wow, that sounds so cool.” Talia gasps. “I don’t do anything as amazing as that. I can move things with my mind.” I think that’s pretty amazing, but it seems like she doesn’t find her gift special.
“You can move anything?” Nova asks curiously, a twinkle in her eye.
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” Ceric growls in her ear.
“Yes, I can, but it gives me terrible headaches afterwards,” she confesses. At her words, I tense. I catch Bion’s eye across the room, and he nods, letting me know that he heard and we’ll talk about it. I will not have her in pain if there is a way to prevent it.
“You should try using your gift when Celmund is around. You might find that your headache isn’t as bad, if you get one at all. I’m Brielle, by the way.” I see Talia’s cheeks fill with colour at Brielle’s suggestion.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” she murmurs. “Why would you think my headache would be better if he’s around?” I see one of her eyebrows rise in query. All I want to do is take her in my arms and kiss and cuddle her until there is no doubt in her mind and everyone else’s who she belongs to.
“Trust me, he will have a soothing effect on you,” Brielle suggests.
“Actually, it’s true.” Her eyes meet mine for a second before she lowers them. “When I first met him, I was coming down with one of my headaches when he appeared. His voice soothed me before I even saw him.” At her words, I feel my heart lurch in happiness. Knowing that I made my woman feel good gives me pleasure.
I have gone from worrying about finding the Keres to focusing on one tiny woman. A woman I have no doubt will bring me much happiness in the future. I need to make sure that we eradicate the Keres responsible for the devices in the other women, because unless we find the culprit, I will not be able to bond with Talia, and that is unacceptable.
TALIA 6
The men all disappeared behind two big wooden doors a couple minutes ago, when more guys arrived. I don’t know what they feed these bikers, but they are as hot as hell. Celmund followed Brandr and me into the building, but he didn’t approach, just stood to one side listening to our conversation.
I don’t know what they mean when they refer to me as belonging to him. It must be some biker thing. All I know is that when he’s around, he does things to me that I have never felt before. He hasn’t even touched me, and I thirst for his nearness. I look around at the women who have been introduced to me. They all seem happy, and their men seem so imposing, but when I’m near these women, I can see the love and caring they have for them.
“How did you meet Celmund?” Jasmine asks from the other side of the table. When the men were called into a meeting, Nova guided me to a table where I met the rest of the women. Since sitting, they have all taken turns asking me questions, and instead of feeling exposed like I usually do when people want to know about me, I feel at ease. It’s clear that these women are friendly and clearly like each other.
Explaining our encounter at the hair salon and how I pranked him by moving the camera, I have the women laughing. “I can just imagine his face,” Aria says. “Finally technology that doesn’t do what he wants.” The women all laugh.
Gabriela must have noticed my curiosity. “Celmund is the Elementals’ tech guy. Anything you need, anyone you need found, that man can do it,” she reveals.
“Various people have mentioned that I belong to him. Why is that?” I finally ask. Now that the men are out of the way, I can ease my curiosity.
“Oh boy, are you saying that you don’t know?” Scarlett asks with a raised brow.
“I would have thought that Celmund would have been better at this after seeing all of us,” Gabriela grumbles.
“What don’t I know?” Their ramblings are making me more confused.
“Girl, let’s just say that you’re in for the pounding of your life,” Nova teases. “Just between us, you will never want it to stop.” I can see the smiles and nods from the others at Nova’s words.
“What she means is that you’re Celmund’s woman. He might not have said anything to you yet, but I’m sure you can feel it. All of us could when we first met them,” Aria says.
“I don’t even know him. How can I be his woman?” I know that I feel some kind of pull towards him, but his woman? They must be mistaken, because there is no way I would allow myself to be involved with someone who will kidnap me with an excuse that it’s to protect me. Speaking of kidnapping, I look around and see that there is one guy behind the bar cleaning glasses, and another by the main door on his cell.
“I know you might not listen to me, but don’t do what you are thinking.” My head snaps around to where Aria is sitting. “
I can hear your thoughts,” she confesses. I feel my jaw drop at her words. She has been listening to everything I have been thinking. My cheeks start to heat when I think of the things I was thinking about Celmund.
“What is on her mind?” Nova asks with a raised brow as she looks at me. “By your blush, I’m sure I can guess.”
“You can do that with everyone?” I ask curiously.
“Everyone except the men,” she confesses.
“Why not them?” I would have thought she would want to hear what they were thinking.
“Our men are special. With time, you will see that,” Brielle says.
“Will you tell them if I leave?” I ask Aria. No use trying to hide it if she already knows what I was thinking.
“Are you in danger?” she asks with a raised brow.
“I don’t think so, but I might be,” I confess. All the women stop what they are doing, and their conversation comes to a stop as they look at me. Looking around, I can see the worry on their faces. “It might not be dangerous, but my brother is trying to get me to help him and some of his . . . friends.” I don’t usually open up about my brother unless absolutely necessary, but at the moment, I need to tell them something.
“My brother got mixed up with the wrong crowd when he was younger and started to use drugs.” Jasmine places her hand over mine and squeezes gently. I look over at her and smile. “He needs my gift so that he can break into someplace, but I refuse to help him. Therefore, he had one of his accomplices break into my house, but Burkhart stopped him before he could get to me.”
“Seems like this is going to be more exciting than I thought,” Nova says with a smile.
“Girl, I don’t think we need any more excitement than looking for the Keres with his finger on your lives.” I see Nova shrug as she leans back in her chair.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“A month ago, we found out that most of us have devices in our bodies that can explode at the touch of a button,” Scarlett reveals. At my gasp, she continues. “Celmund was here trying to find the person responsible for the activation device.” The women continue by explaining how most of them got the devices injected into their bodies and how they found out that they were in danger.
CELMUND: Elemental's MC (book 7) Page 4