Captured Devil's Blaze MC Book 1

by Jordan Marie

  “Sweetheart, I don’t need help to get into women’s pants. They see me coming and that shit just magically falls off.”

  “I’m sure,” I tell him, shaking my head. I’d argue with him, but after watching him and Sabre in action, I don’t even try. My phone beeps and I pull it out of my back pocket.

  “Well, look there. Looks like Skull and the boys are back,” Latch says, using his drink to point to the security monitor that shows bikes and cars pulling into the parking lot outside. “You coming to say hi to your man?” he asks. I don’t look up though. I have a text from my father. It’s a file and I can’t see what it is because it hasn’t downloaded completely.

  “What? Oh, go ahead. I’ll follow you in a minute. I want to… freshen up.”

  “Women. Geez, you spend all day mooning over Skull and now you’re putting off going to see him. I can tell you he won’t care what the fuck you look like. He’d rather you meet him first, then freshen up.”

  “Go on, will you? I’ll be there in a bit.”

  He says something else, but I don’t hear it. My attention has turned to my phone. The file pops up; it’s a video. The screen shows a silver and red building that says Edna’s Truck Stop on the outside. My hand shakes as my thumb reaches up to hit the play button on the screen.

  I watch as the scene unfolds, sending my body into shock. At first I can’t see what’s happening, but then it becomes all too clear. Men are diving to the ground and crawling behind bikes and cars as gunfire erupts everywhere. The camera zooms in, and from that angle I see a shattered window to the diner.

  Then I see it. Skull is standing there and his arm is bleeding. The video shuts off, but another message arrived while I was watching. I hit play again—not wanting to know, but afraid not to. This time, Skull stands there looking out at a line of bodies. There are paramedics covering them in sheets and ambulances with their lights flashing. The video stops just in time for a text to appear on my screen:

  I spared him this time. I won’t the next, Beth. The choice is yours.

  My fingers shaking, I text back: Why are you doing this?

  One painstakingly long minute later, I get a response: If I don’t take him out or end this, Colin won’t rest until he has you. I can’t allow you to be used against me, Beth. You need to make a choice. Skull’s life is in your hands.

  I hear voices coming through the doors. My heart pounds against my chest and a cold sweat covers my skin. It’s time. After what I just saw, can I truly make any other decision? At one point in that video, a red dot had been on Skull’s head. He could have killed the man I love; he had him in the gun-sight and Skull’s death would have been my fault.

  I take a breath. I close my eyes. My hand grips the locket around my neck. I don’t think I have any hope or faith left. Now, all I have is the will to make sure that Skull doesn’t die for loving me.

  I make my fingers move: I’ll be at the hospital tomorrow morning.

  Once I text him back, I put my phone up and walk around just in time to catch Skull entering the room. I run and wrap him up in my arms, letting the tears fall.

  “Shh. I’m okay, querida. It’s just a small wound. Barely more than a scratch,” Skull says, trying to calm me. He thinks I’m upset over the wound. I am, but that’s not why the tears are flowing unchecked.

  I’m going to have to give him up. I can’t keep Skull. He’s not mine. He never was. The truth of that nearly destroys me. I stand there in the middle of the room surrounded by his men and let him hold me while I cry out my pain—or at least a little of it.

  It’s been a fucked-up day. I just got Diesel and his men settled. They’re in sleeping bags in the main entrance to the bunker. Fucker refused my offer of bedrooms, told me I was getting soft. Hell, maybe I am. I’d take a warm bed over that fucking hard floor any day of the week.

  A warm bed with Beth in it is even better.

  I softly close the door to our room, hoping she’s asleep. I should have known better. She’s sitting up in bed doing something on her phone. She looks up when I come in and shuts her phone off, setting it on the bedside table.

  “Everything okay?” she asks, her voice worn out and hoarse. She cried for an hour today after I got home. Even when I finally got her to calm down by showing her that the wound wasn’t that bad, she still cried. This is taking a toll on her. I see the worry and the pain etched on her face and I fucking hate it. I need to end this fucking war; I just don’t know how, short of cutting someone’s head off. Trouble is, I can’t tell whose head I should take. Colin’s or Redmond’s? And where the fuck has Matthew been all this time? I can’t even find the son of a bitch in France where Beth thought he was. I keep thinking I’m missing the big picture here. It’s driving me crazy.

  “Yes, querida. Just had to make sure Diesel and his crew were settled for the night.”

  “You have his men here and Cade’s. How many more do you think it will have to take? How many more lives will be on the line because of me?” she asks, her voice weak and quiet. I almost have to strain to hear the question.

  I sigh deeply. I knew it would come to this. I hope I have the right words to tackle her worries. There’s nothing she can do about it now; I’m never letting her go.

  “Querida,” I start, but she waves me off.

  “You know I’m right, Skull. If not for me, none of this would be happening.”

  I throw my clothes to the floor and join her in the bed. Getting settled under the covers, I pull her body next to mine.

  “We didn’t start this, mi cielo. The only person to blame here is Colin and Redmond.” Her body tenses in my arms and I stroke her arm tenderly.

  “Redmond?” she asks.

  “Si. He’s Edmund’s brother. Word has it that he’s the one pulling the strings, not Colin. There’s a pull for power going on in the Donahues’ camp, querida. I think we’re just getting caught in the crossfire.”

  “What will you do?”

  “Keep attacking until the main target slips up. He will; they always do.”

  She doesn’t say anything else, so I just continue to stroke her skin, letting my touch calm her.

  “No matter what happens, Skull, I want you to know that the day you walked into that small coffee shop and sat down at my table was the best day of my life.”

  Something in her tone worries me. I pull back and lift her face up to talk to me. “We’re going to be okay, querida. This will pass and things will get better. I need you to believe that. I need you to believe in me.”

  Her eyes seem to bore into mine, and I see a million questions, but she asks me none of them. Instead, she buries her head into my chest and places a kiss above my heart.

  “I know you’re extending the lockdown and tightening security, but do you think you could let me go to the hospital to spend the day with Beast? They’re removing his bandages tomorrow and checking out the results from the first surgery.”

  “Is he talking to anyone yet?” I ask. They brought Beast out slowly, but he’s not talking to anyone. The doctors are starting to worry his voice has been affected.

  “No. He ignores everyone. I just don’t want him to be alone. You have the place surrounded. I’d be okay.”

  “I don’t know, mi cielo. I don’t like the idea of you being away from the compound.”

  “I’ll be fine. I promise to keep at least one of your men with me at all times.”

  I smile. She doesn’t know it yet, but she won’t have a choice. I don’t feel right letting her go, but Latch spent the evening telling me how she cleaned the place from top to bottom. If I don’t give her something to do, she’s going to work herself to death.

  “Okay, mi cielo. But you will come home early. Tomorrow, I will be busy early on setting up our next attack, but after that, I want you in my arms for the remainder of the day.”

  “I’m pretty sure that can be arranged,” she says with a smile, but the smile doesn’t touch her eyes. Gone is that playful front she had before I left. I
know it’s because I was shot. I just don’t know how to fix it.

  “It better be. I’m practically wasting away from lack of attention here,” I tell her, trying to lighten up the somber mood.

  “Is that so?”

  “Complete truth,” I sigh.

  “I’ll have to see if I can fix that then,” she says, sliding under the covers. My baby does like sucking on my cock. When I feel her hand wrap around it, I groan.

  “I like a woman who takes matters into her own… hands,” I whisper, my fingers combing through her hair as she loves on my cock, my shaft disappearing into her mouth. I don’t even mind the sting of pain that comes with using my arm.

  It’s more than worth it.

  “You’re looking beautiful, sunshine,” my father tells me when I walk into the kitchen. Of course, Pistol is by my side. If Skull had any idea, the man would be dead—and he really needs to be. I thought about bringing a gun with me and doing the job myself. I didn’t, though. One thing stopped me: he told me Katie was alive.

  “Please cut the crap,” I say tiredly. “I’ve cried all night and morning. You caused those tears and I look like hell. I’m here because I don’t have a choice and we both know that. You didn’t give me a choice.”

  “Elizabeth—”

  “I want to know about Katie. You said she was alive. Where is she? Does she know what a bastard our father is? Why hasn’t she ever reached out to me?”

  “You need to watch yourself, Elizabeth.”

  “You have five minutes and then I’m walking out of here. All thoughts of a bargain is off the table.”

  “What makes you think I would let you walk away?”

  When he asks that question, I finally see the mask he’s been trying to wear slip. There’s an evil, cold bastard lurking under his attempts to try and be my father. Suddenly, I worry about the life my sister endured. It never occurred to me that I might have gotten the better deal.

  “If you don’t let me go, your plan fails. Skull will know that you took me, and he will move both Heaven and Earth to get me back again, because that’s what you do when you love and care for someone, father. You put them above anything—especially yourself.”

  “Is that what you think your boyfriend is doing?”

  “I know it is. It’s also the only reason I’m here. I love two people in this world, Skull and my sister, so stop pulling your punches. I want proof Katie is alive. Then, I want to know flat-out what you expect in exchange for leaving Skull and his men alone.”

  “It’s a pity I didn’t choose you, Elizabeth. I see myself in you. You could have ruled alongside me. Your sister never had a head for business. She keeps her thoughts consumed with animals and that damn farm she owns. I blame Isabel’s genes for that failing.”

  My sister owns a farm?

  “Your time’s running out,” I tell him. I’m trying to copy Skull; I’ve seen him when he’s ordering his crew around. I do, however, sit down at a stool in the corner because my legs are weak and if they give out on me, there’s no amount of acting in the world that will bluff me out of that. Then the Devil will know he has me. That’s who he is to me now: the Devil. I apparently never had a father. I was just the spawn of Satan. The truth of that hurts me. Then again, my disappointment in my parents is something that’s lasted a long time.

  “Your boyfriend is getting ready to attack tomorrow. He will take out several things I hold dear. I’m letting that pass because of you—”

  “Naturally,” I interrupt him, unable to contain my sarcasm. It gets me another look from the Devil and another piece of his mask slipping. I don’t know why I find joy in that, but I do.

  “I know the time of the attacks and where they’ve planted the charges. I even have the codes and where the cameras and video feeds are. So, you see, I am truly the one in charge here.”

  “Let me guess how you would have gotten all that information.” I look over at Pistol and he has the gall to look satisfied with himself. “I really hope I get to see Skull kill you someday,” I tell him directly. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer snake.”

  He makes a step towards me, but Satan calls him off. At least I wiped that look off of Pistol’s face. Score one for me, even if it was a small one.

  “So, you have all the info. What does that have to do with me?”

  “We have the feed at the yacht spliced. I’m going to have it appear that when Skull blows up the yacht, he does so with you onboard.”

  The glee in his eyes chills me. He’s such a cold and evil man. How can he be the same man who used to rock me to sleep and tell me bedtime stories? How did this happen?

  “So you’re killing me,” I mutter in a monotone. I don’t really have emotion about it. Without Skull, I already feel dead. How hard would life be to live without him? I can’t do it.

  “No, sunshine. I just need for your boyfriend and Colin to believe I have, then there’s no more leverage against me, no weaknesses.”

  “I don’t get it. Why not just kill me for real and eliminate these ‘weaknesses’ as you put it?”

  He looks disappointed in me, not bothering to answer my question. Instead, he looks at me and asks the one thing I’m not ready to answer.

  “Do we have a deal?”

  “What about Katie? I want to see Katie.”

  “When it is safe, I will take you to see her.”

  “Safe? What does that mean?”

  “I have plans for you, Elizabeth. Katie is my insurance plan. First, you need to walk the line.”

  With that, another piece of the Devil’s mask slips. The thought of what plans he could possibly have for me scares the hell out of me. I swallow it down. One thing at a time.

  “How do I know that if I agree to this you won’t kill Skull anyway?”

  “Killing Skull won’t accomplish anything. He’s just a nuisance—inconsequential at best. It’s the bigger picture I’m trying to secure, for you, for Katie, and for myself.”

  Call me crazy, but I don’t want to know what the bigger picture is. I’m afraid of the bigger picture; it’s all I can do to keep my thoughts on this one. I’ve still not decided. Skull asked me to believe in him, and I do.

  I take a deep breath and prepare to turn the Devil down, telling him to go back to Hell where he belongs, when he surprises me.

  “You’re indecisive. I thought that would be the case. Truly, you are a lot like me, sunshine. Always weighing your options. It’s very smart. Perhaps I have something that will make you decide.”

  A cold chill runs through me at his statement. “What’s that?”

  “Pistol. It’s time.”

  I watch as Pistol walks away to a small supply closet. He reaches inside the closet and, when he turns back around, my stomach clenches, my body quakes with fear, and a cold sweat breaks out over me.

  Pistol drags Katie toward me. She’s changed since I saw her last, that’s true. She’s got the same hair as I do, the same eyes, and the same tears—because we’re both crying. Her shirt is torn and smudged with dirt, her hair knotted up, her face bruised, and her pants torn.

  I look back at the Devil like he’s lost his mind. “How can you do this to your own daughter?” It’s a stupid question. After all, what he’s doing to me doesn’t exactly nominate him for father of the year either.

  “Someday, I will answer your questions, sunshine. For now, all I need is your answer. Yes or no?”

  He reaches out his hand. I look at him, then back at my sister. Then, I do it. I strike a deal with the Devil. All I had to promise him was my soul.

  “You okay, mi cielo?”

  We’re sitting in the main room of the bunker. There’s music playing and the bar is open. By our standards, it’s a quiet party. A few of the girls are dancing, but even Sabre and Latch have pulled it in tonight. Hard to celebrate when you’ve lost some good men.

  Beth sits in my lap while I’m playing poker with Diesel, Sabre, and Briar. Beth tried to excuse herself and go back to our room, but I just cou
ldn’t talk myself into letting her go. I pulled her down on my lap and ignored her protests. Having her at the hospital today without me was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. I don’t know how to tell her she can’t do that again. She’s already talking about going back in the morning. I love that she feels for my brother and wants to help Beast, but she’s not responsible and I won’t have her blaming herself forever.

  “I’m okay. Just thinking,” she says, giving me a small smile.

  I wrap my arm around her and squeeze. Then, I whisper into her ear where only she can hear me. “Mi cielo, did I tell you how much I love that dress you’re wearing?”

  “It’s the one I was wearing when we first met,” she whispers.

  I play my card on the table, then find her ear again. “It’s driving me crazy. I’m dying to slide my hands up under it, rip off your panties, and fuck you right here, right now.”

  “I wouldn’t say no.”

  My dick pushes so hard against the zipper of my jeans, the fucker probably has marks branded on it. Beth wiggles in my lap, letting me know our talk is getting to her too. “Makes my cock so fucking hard to feel your ass against it. Every time you move, I want to carry you into our room and fuck you so hard you can’t walk tomorrow.”

  She drapes an arm around my neck and pulls my ear to her lips now.

  “Skull. Please. I need you inside of me. I want you to fuck me so hard that I feel you inside of me for months,” she whispers, a hint of desperation in her voice.

  The fact that she needs me so much settles inside of me. I throw the cards on the table. “I fold,” I tell them, standing up with Beth in my arms.

  “Where you going, boss? We just started…” Sabre complains.

  “I’m going to go fuck my woman,” I growl back. Beth buries her head in my chest.

  “Go get her, ese!” shouts Diesel as the others holler out lewd remarks.

  I leave their shouting behind and walk down the hall to our room.

  I’m barely in the room when I feel her teeth nibble up my neck, then her sweet little tongue following the same path. Her hands dive under my shirt as she drags her nails across my stomach.