by Sam Crescent
She’d taken a step back from everything.
Death wasn’t going to allow her to hide for much longer. He’d given her a couple of days, and he wasn’t going to wait much longer. What he told her hadn’t been a lie. He wouldn’t force her to be with him.
The last couple of nights he’d brought himself off with the image of her spread out before him waiting for his pleasure. He’d not told any of the brothers about the brand he’d seen on her thigh. She would have to see it every day to get dressed. What was it like for her to see the brand?
Death didn’t know what to make of it himself. Thinking about the brand he decided to go and visit the man who handled their ink. If he could get it to look like something else, she might be able to forget about the past.
“There in the corner by the window,” Lexie said, pulling his attention back to what he was doing.
“For fuck’s sake, Lex, pick a spot,” Devil said.
“I’ve picked. In the corner.”
They placed the tree in the corner. It was huge but would look amazing when all the decorations and lights were on it.
Glancing around him he saw the couples were wrapped around each other looking at the tree. Ripper stood behind Judi with his hands on her stomach. Devil held Lexie’s neck as they stared up. Curse rested his head on Mia’s, and Pussy looked at his own woman. For the first time ever Death saw the sadness in Pussy’s eyes.
“I wish you could see it, baby,” he said.
Death was close enough to hear him talking to the woman.
“I’m sorry.” She always apologized for her eyesight.
“Don’t be sorry.” Pussy kissed her temple. “It’s a pretty big tree. It’s well over seven feet tall. We’ll have to get a ladder to put the angel on top.” Pussy stroked her hair as he began to tell her about the tree. “It’s a giant green fir tree, baby. I begged for one covered in fake snow, but this got the vote.”
“It’s a traditional tree?” Sasha asked.
“Yeah.”
“Fake snow would have looked awesome.”
“When we decorate it I’ll describe it to you then. I’m not good at this, baby. All I’ve got is it’s big and green.”
Sasha giggled, reaching up to touch Pussy’s cheek. “It’s perfect.”
Glancing behind him, Death saw Brianna staring up at the tree with tears in her eyes. It was one of the first raw emotions he’d seen her have. She hadn’t moved but stared at the tree. Suddenly, she turned and walked back toward the kitchen.
Not staying around to watch the rest of the club, he followed her into the kitchen, concerned. She was pacing up and down shaking her hands out.
“Stop it, Brianna, stop it,” she said.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
She jerked around, looking at him. The tears were falling down her cheeks. He reacted, stepping in close to her. Brianna took a step back, but he wouldn’t let her leave. He snagged her hand pulling her close. She fought him. Wrapping his arms around her, he wouldn’t let her go. He held her tight to him.
“It’s okay. I’m here.”
Brianna shook without a sound coming out of her. Her arms didn’t go around him. They stayed still, not touching him anymore than she had to.
“I’m not going to let you go. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.” Resting his head on her neck, he didn’t pull away or stop. The scent of roses invaded his senses. His cock hardened at the softness of her body. When her silent sobbing stopped, he still didn’t let her go.
Slowly, he felt her arms start to close around him. Brianna didn’t push him away. She held onto him. Death felt the victory course through his body. There was no way he was going to let Dick get near her. She was all his, and he wasn’t going to let her go.
“I’ve got you.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Pulling away, he cupped her face. She didn’t release him, holding onto his waist.
“You’ve got nothing to feel sorry about.” He wiped the tears from under her eyes. It had been months since they’d taken her away from hell. She’d stayed at the clubhouse, cleaning, cooking, and not once giving away any part of herself. This felt new to Death. He’d witnessed the pain within her eyes.
“My family died at Christmas. The tree, it brought everything back.”
“You don’t have to tell me why you cried. I’m not going to stop you from feeling, Brianna.” He stared down into her green eyes. She was so young and had the whole world at her fingertips.
You want her for your own.
He’d never hurt her. Death would go out of his way to care for her.
“I’ve not cried in such a long time.”
“You can cry whenever you want. Why do you cry silently?”
“I wasn’t allowed to be heard, Death. No one wants to listen to a thing cry.”
His temper rose. “You’re not a thing.” Taking her hand away from him, he pressed her palm to her chest. “You’re a living, breathing person. Forget him, Brianna. Learn to live. Whatever that fucker did to you, he’s not going to come for you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“He gave you back to your uncle.” Death gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. She didn’t fight him, not once. “I’ll be here to take him out if he comes for you. I’m not going to let you go.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you. I’m going to wait until you’re ready to give me what I want. No one is ever going to take you from me, Brianna.” He leaned down, breathing her in. When he could stand it no longer, he claimed her lips, tasting her again.
She whimpered. Her hands went from his waist up to his arms. He expected her to push him away. Brianna gripped him tighter, kissing him back. Her response to him thrilled him to the core. Moving her back to the wall, he sank his fingers into her hair. The red length was left wild around her. He held her head as he took possession of her lips. Running his tongue along her bottom lip, he eased his way inside, waiting for her to open up in response.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said in between kisses. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks flushed. She was responding to him. Death pulled away to stare into her eyes. “Did you want my kiss?”
“Yes.”
This was all new territory.
“Show me,” he said.
“What?”
“Show me you want my kiss.”
He’d never have her mistaking his intentions. Brianna was going to be part of this relationship equally.
She stared at his chest for several seconds. Her hands were still lying on his arms. Death waited to see what she’d do. He saw the hard buds of her nipples pressing against the shirt she wore.
Was she wet? He was desperate to find out yet waited. All good things came to those who waited.
Slowly, she glided her hands up his arms going to his neck. She rested her fingers against the pulse beside his neck. Her gaze stayed on her hands where they lay before gliding around his neck. She went to her toes drawing his head down to hers. Death didn’t make her fight for his lips.
He made sure she pulled him down. At first she pressed her lips to his, smashing them together. The action was awkward. Was this what Ripper had gone through? Cutting the thought off, he knew Brianna was different from Judi.
They were two different women with two different paths. Neither of them were the same kind of woman.
Her other hand circled his neck, and she finally let go. She didn’t press hard but claimed his lips in a proper kiss. His cock tightened to the point of pain. The hard buds of her nipples pressed against his chest.
Death gripped her ass drawing her close to him. She moaned, deepening the kiss, plunging her tongue into his mouth. The kiss went from sweet to naughty in a matter of seconds. He thrust his cock against her stomach, wanting to sink inside her tight cunt.
“Death,” she said, whimpering.
“I know, baby. I know.” He squeezed her ass one final time then pulled away. Death too
k her hands from around his body and held them out in front of them.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m not going to take you, Brianna. I want you. You’ve got ‘til Friday to make a decision.” He reached out, stroking her cheek.
She didn’t say anything and he turned away, going back out toward the main part of the club. Judi and Lexie were looking through boxes of decorations.
Grabbing his jacket from the chair he made his way out toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Snake asked. June was sat beside him, stroking his leg showing Snake what she wanted.
“I’m going out for a ride.”
“I’m coming.”
Snake got up from the sofa and followed him outside.
“Should you be riding with a broken nose?”
“I don’t give a fuck. I need to get out of here.” They climbed on their bikes. He didn’t want the confines of a helmet, and he saw Snake didn’t even bother with a helmet either. They rode out of the compound. It was cold out, and the roads had been treated because of the snow. The sides of the roads had mounds of snow. The festive season was present everywhere they went. Death drove toward town, wanting some time away from the club and the women.
Snake parked his bike next to Death’s. Entering the diner, he took a seat near the window. The diner wasn’t busy, and they were served within moments by one of the women Mia had spoken with. When they’d first come to Piston County, they’d struggled to be served. The years were passing quickly, and more of the locals were accepting them within the town.
“Thank fuck for that,” Snake said. “I didn’t think we were going to get served. I sure miss Mia working here.”
Curse no longer wanted Mia working the multiple jobs she was once doing. The last Death heard Mia was studying for her degree in business or some shit like that.
“Why the need for a ride?” Snake asked.
“Brianna.”
The waitress came to the table. Death saw the name tag read Charlie.
“Thanks, love,” Snake said, winking at her.
She didn’t respond, pouring the coffee into the cup. He saw she was already married.
When they were alone once again, Snake fired another question at him about Brianna.
“Why are you taking your time? She’s there to be taken.”
“Brianna isn’t like every other woman.” Death sipped at the coffee, grabbing the sugar and cream resting in the basket on the table.
“She’s not like every other woman, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to wait around for her. June told me what Dick did. Why don’t you leave her in the hands of someone else?”
“You warned her about the shit that’s about to happen and now you’re advising me to leave her to Dick? That fucker would scar her for life.”
“Do you really think she’s not scarred already?” Snake asked. “We all see she’s fucked over.”
“She’s not fucked over.” Brianna was still a woman underneath all the pain she’d been through. There was nothing wrong with her. She wasn’t broken inside or fucked over. The biggest problem with Brianna was her training. He was going to make sure to smash down all of her training until the only thing left was the real woman within. It would take time, but he didn’t care. She deserved to have someone who cared about her.
“Only you would pick a woman who’s a challenge. Fucking crazy if you ask me,” Snake said.
“I’m not asking you.”
****
Brianna touched her lips from where Death had kissed her. Her whole body ached once again. Wetness flooded her pussy, and it was all because of him. Licking her lips she was sure she could still taste him.
Moving away from the wall, she walked toward the fridge grabbing out the four chickens stored there. With the whole club within one space required her to cook a lot more for all of the men.
She set about preparing the chickens, washing them before stuffing them with a dressing she’d made earlier. Seasoning the chickens, she poured a little oil on each, and placed each chicken within the oven.
“Can I help?”
Brianna turned to see Judi standing in the doorway. Her arms were folded underneath her breasts.
“I’ve got it covered if you want to go back to decorating,” Brianna said.
Judi wrinkled her nose. “I can’t. Lexie’s having a fit about the decorations. This is the first Christmas spent in the club. The decorations are crap. We’re going to have to go shopping to finish the tree. It’s a shame as I really want to see that monster all lit up looking beautiful.”
“You can peel the carrots and parsnips,” Brianna said.
She watched Judi hobble toward the kitchen counter where she’d put the vegetables. The pots were large enough to feed the crowd.
Moving toward the sink, Brianna started to peel the potatoes. She didn’t say anything, and the silence seemed strange to her. During her months at the clubhouse she’d not taken the time to talk to anyone.
“Are you always this quiet?” Judi asked.
“I was just thinking I should talk, but I don’t know what to talk about.”
“Talk about anything. It helps to just talk.”
“I’ve got nothing to say.” Brianna placed the potatoes into a large pot. In no time her hands were wrinkly from having her hands in the water for so long.
“I was a whore at a young age,” Judi said, startling Brianna.
Turning toward the other woman, she saw Judi was smiling back at her.
“I’m not lying to you. I was a whore. I ended up living with my aunt who sold me to a pimp, and he sold me out to men. Devil and the boys saved me when I was seventeen. They saved me.”
There was no pain in Judi’s eyes as she smiled back at Brianna.
“I, erm, I didn’t know.”
“It’s all in the past. I’ve not given it much thought in a long time.” She stopped peeling to touch her stomach. “What happened doesn’t define me. I’m going to be a damn good mom to my kid.”
“Does Ripper know what happened?” Brianna asked.
“He was there when I was being beaten by a pimp. Ripper knows everything about me. There are no secrets between us. I’m just telling you so you know it’s easy to talk about once you allow yourself to start talking.”
Brianna went back to the potatoes, peeling them.
“You can talk to me or you can talk to Death,” Judi said.
“There’s not a lot to talk about. Not really.”
“What happened to you shouldn’t have happened.”
Brianna finished peeling the last potato before moving to the counter where Judi stood. She took out each potato cutting them up before putting them in a separate saucepan.
“I don’t even know the man’s name,” she said. “I was only ever allowed to call him Master. He’s all I’ve ever known.” Brianna stopped talking as she took each potato and cut them up before adding to another pot then grabbing another potato. “It wasn’t all bad. There were times it was hard, especially when he had friends.” She stopped talking as she turned to look at Judi. “He was my first. I’d not had sex or done anything until I was with him.”
“He trained you?”
She nodded. “He trained me to take it without complaining. I learned it was a lot easier to just let it happen. The sooner I let it happen, the easier it was. It would be over. Providing I gave him what he wanted, I was left alone.”
“It wasn’t always like that?”
“No, sometimes he liked to hurt. He liked to provoke me until I couldn’t stay silent or still. It wasn’t always like that. I think he wanted me to fight him at times.” Brianna shrugged. “My time with him wasn’t all bad. I didn’t end up like a lot of those girls that Devil and the crew saved.”
Judi didn’t say anything for a long time. Brianna continued to cut the potatoes, her thoughts going back to Death and the kiss he’d asked for.
He was the first man to ask her to prove she wanted him. When
he pulled away from her, she’d not wanted it to end.
“What do you think of Death?” Judi asked.
“I like him. He’s the first man I’ve ever felt comfortable with.”
“What about Dick?”
Brianna stopped, turning to look at Judi. “He kissed me.”
“Did the kiss make you feel anything?”
“No. I stayed still because I know it’ll be easier if I don’t do anything.”
“You’ve got to stop acting like you’re still in his home. This is the clubhouse, Brianna. Wake up, snap out of the control he has. You’re away from his control. You’re not your own person while you’re still acting like pain is going to come.” Judi placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s what I did, and I was suddenly able to breathe easier. You’re different. I didn’t have just one man to satisfy. I was ordered to satisfy an abundance of men.”
Brianna didn’t correct Judi on her assumption she’d only been with one man. Master did have a lot of friends he liked to share her with. He liked to brag about how he owned a woman who didn’t do anything on her own.
Brianna hated the control he had over her. Judi was right. She was acting like she was still with Master when she wasn’t.
Freedom.
She was free, and she needed to start realizing it.
They finished doing the vegetables. The scent of chicken filled the air, making her mouth water and her stomach growl. Mia walked into the kitchen and got stuck in as well.
“What are we doing?” Mia asked.
“Roast chicken.” Judi answered as Brianna was basting the meat.
They were joined by Lexie. “I feel sorry for Sasha, I really do.”
“Why?” Judi asked. “Pussy adores her.”
“Nothing. He’s just being classic Pussy winding Devil up with Simon.” Lexie took a carrot stick, sitting at the table.
Brianna liked the family feel the women were showing.
“Is it true about Simon and Tabitha?” Mia asked, washing out the mugs to make drinks.