by Lewis, R. J.
Anyway, I didn’t want to die. I liked my life lately. I was being fucked by a god of a man on a daily basis, was still free to see my friends and grandmother, still making good money at a job next to said god of a man. The only complaint was that I was surrounded by Borden’s men in the process.
Or Borden himself.
I had to be honest, it wasn’t so bad when he was around. He was unpredictable, and I always felt my pulse race in anticipation when he lingered nearby. Sometimes he’d just look at me, his face clear of emotion save for those icy blue eyes which bore into me with a lust that made me tingle everywhere. He wouldn’t touch me in those moments. Just stare and admire me the way a person admired a delicate piece of art.
And sometimes he just fucked me, out of nowhere, right when I least expected it. I could be making coffee in the kitchen and find myself bent over with my cheek pressed against the kitchen counter and his cock deep inside of me. Muttering things in my ear. Biting at my shoulder. Pounding into me until I came so hard around him my vision would lose focus, and he’d just carry on until he came, marking me.
There was no consistency with him. No night time sex sessions all neatly planned out and pencilled in. The spontaneity was glorious. I loved being used for his pleasure, which was a sick admission, I knew. But…it made my body fiery hot with need. Horny Emma was currently satiated and quiet.
No complaints here.
“Can I know who’s down there at least?” I asked, purposely steering clear of images of Borden inside of me, working me like the strings on a guitar. “I mean, how come Linda gets to walk in and out, and smirk at me like I’m beneath her, and I’m stuck here?”
“Linda is different.”
“Different how?”
“She doesn’t belong to Borden.”
Yeah, but I bet she wanted to. She hated me, probably as much as Hawke did. Only difference was I caught her staring at Borden at times and her look was so penetrating and filled with emotion. She cared for him, and it was no wonder she was always such a bitch to me. Whereas Hawke’s hatred was immediate and without real reason, and it only extinguished in the presence of Borden. He reminded me of a stray cat Granny used to take in some nights when I was a child. She called her Joy, and I never understood that, because that fucking cat wasn’t joyful in the slightest. She scratched and clawed, growled at me whenever I was within five feet of her, and hissed like I’d burned her with red-hot oil. Yet she pranced around Granny like a lover reciting a sonnet to its beloved, rested on Granny’s shoulders at night, and purred into Granny’s ear as she was stroked in ways that if it were done by me, I’d have ended up looking like I’d gone through a fucking shredder.
Joy and Hawke would have been perfect for each other. They both just wanted to watch the world burn.
“Just tell me who’s down there,” I pressed Graeme.
“Quit it, Emma. You’re starting to bother me.”
“I’m the one feeling bothered! I’ve been kept in the dark.”
Graeme opened his mouth again when the door suddenly opened, and Borden strode into the room, with dick Hawke following. Graeme looked relieved by their arrival, and I just glowered at Borden as he rounded the desk and took my face into his hands. Without warning, he bent down and kissed me quickly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t passionate enough to wipe away my scowl. He backed away, a curious look in his eye as he asked, “What the fuck is wrong with your face, doll? You eat something you shouldn’t have?”
My brows shot up and he chuckled, plopping down on his office chair.
“What am I doing here?” I asked tiredly. “I could have stayed home.”
“I’ve got business to take care of, and I need you here with me so we can keep an eye on you,” Borden explained.
“What business?”
“Private business,” Hawke interjected, looking annoyed by me, but then again he was always annoyed by me.
“I’m not talking to you,” I snarled at him before I looked back at Borden. “Who’s downstairs? It sounds like a herd of elephants.”
“I’d rather the elephants,” Borden replied, his amused face fading away. “We’ve got bikers here. The Warlord chapter from outside of town.”
My mouth dropped. “You’re dealing with bikers?”
“I wasn’t before, but now…Well, now I’m exploring my options.”
“Why?”
“For your protection,” Hawke cut in. “Not because Borden wants to. The President of the Warlords has been hounding him for over a year straight, so it goes to show how far Borden’s going for you. A little appreciation wouldn’t kill.”
“Why add that?” I whipped back, pointing at him as I stared at Borden. “Why does he have to add the appreciation part like I’m some sort of spoiled cow?”
“He talks to everybody like that, doll,” Borden replied on a shrug. “You know Hawke’s a dick and it’s not personal. He has a point in the centre of it all.”
I ignored Hawke’s smug look and said bitterly, “And his point under that bullshit is that I need protection?”
“Yes.”
“And this has to do with bikers?”
“Yes.”
I glanced at them all, searching for more answers, but they weren’t saying anything else. Bikers were bad. The city was lucky not to have had its share of them, but that was because Borden was here. Still, I heard things. Knew enough to know they weren’t just a bunch of jolly guys that created a cute little club just so they could ride their big Harleys around town and look cool.
“I don’t understand,” I finally said. “Explain it to me. Why would bikers offer protection?”
“It’s simple,” Borden explained. “I haven’t found the culprit behind the threat. On top of that, I can’t afford to have you vulnerable, and my guys on the streets have turned up nothing. The bikers, on the other hand, are better at finding people than I am. They deal, and with all their customers coming through, they’ve developed connections – very valuable connections. They know people. If I ally with them, I have a better chance at finding the threat, annihilating that threat, and making sure you’re safe in the process.”
“What do the bikers get in return?”
Hawke smirked, glimpsing at Borden. “At least she asks the right fucking questions.”
Borden’s lips twitched, but his eyes remained cool on mine. “They get the port, Emma.”
My mouth went dry and an uneasy feeling came over me. “To bring their drugs in.”
“To bring their product in. Whatever product that is, that’s their own business.”
I raised a brow, sceptical. He wasn’t fooling me.
“Is it a one-time thing?” I asked him.
“No,” he answered. “It’ll be for as long as the deal is standing.”
“So…?”
“So it could be forever at this stage.”
“This is a strong alliance,” Hawke added, looking at me without contempt for once. “We could be impenetrable after this. That club has been owning the towns they’ve been marking their territory in for over two decades. They’re strong, and in a world where snakes hide in alleyways threatening to tear us apart, that’s what we need. Strength.”
I still felt unconvinced.
“Don’t you find this a little too serendipitous?” I replied, glancing between Hawke and Borden. “You get a text threatening my life, and the only people you want to turn to are the ones who have been trying to use your port to bring their product in. How do you know this President hasn’t orchestrated the entire thing just so they can have access to it?”
“While that’s an intelligent guess, I know that he hasn’t,” Borden said, firmly.
“How do you know that, though?” I stressed, pushing for a definitive answer I knew he couldn’t just give me. “He’s a biker and probably a criminal. How do you know you can trust him?”
“Because,” Hawke cut in, his face going hard, “he’s my brother.”
Three
Emma
<
br /> There is shocked, and then there is shocked.
Shocked was what I was. The entire room fell silent, and a million more questions buzzed through my mind. I didn’t know where to begin. I stared at Hawke for several moments, and he turned away from me, as if concerned I’d read everything on his face. The guy had secrets, and judging by the way Borden didn’t react, I knew he was aware of every one of them.
With another sigh, Borden inched closer to me and took my hands into his own. He brought his face closer to mine, so close I felt his breaths against my mouth. So close I was swimming in the blue depths of his eyes as he searched my own.
“Stop overthinking it,” he whispered to me. “Hawke and I have gone over this, and I wouldn’t be here inviting a group of savages if I wasn’t sure about this guy.”
As he spoke those words, I glimpsed at Hawke again. He just nodded, agreeing with Borden’s words, and I hated to admit that it helped ease my concerns.
“Don’t worry,” Borden continued. “I promise everything will be alright. I know what I’m doing.”
His gentle words were soothing. I shut my eyes and leaned into him. He kissed me gently, communicating through his kisses that all was fine. I believed it despite the warning I felt at the pit of my stomach.
“Fucking hell,” Hawke cursed from across the room. “Get a fucking room or something.”
Borden’s lips shot up, and he let Hawke’s words slide like usual. I kind of wished he’d be a dick to him like he was with everybody else. He pulled away, and I resumed staring into his eyes like a lovesick puppy that I was. No shame in that either.
I felt a little foolish for questioning him. Of course Borden would know what he was doing, and who to trust. Why would I have doubted that for a second?
“Okay,” I whispered to him. “You know what you’re doing.”
“I’m touched you believe in me,” he replied, dryly.
“You’re the almighty Borden, I sort of have no choice right now.”
“That’s right,” he replied lightly, before quietly adding, “I like that you referred to my place as your home, by the way.”
My smile stretched wide at the look of gentleness in him. “Did that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?”
“Jesus,” Hawke interrupted again, “they really fucking carry on, don’t they?”
I rolled my eyes. “You need Borden’s attention, Hawke? Are you jealous?”
“Yeah, right.” He scoffed.
Tearing my eyes from Borden, I turned to Hawke. “So what’s your brother like anyway? He’s gotta be real tough to be the president, huh?”
He shrugged absently. “Hector is… Hector. I’m sure I’ll have to put him in his place at some point.”
“Why?”
He winced. “He’s...he’s got a few weaknesses, particularly never knowing when to keep his mouth shut.”
“Loose tongue,” Graeme added on a firm nod. “I’ve met that man. Not a big fan.”
Jeesh. The way everybody looked, you’d think the man was a complete asshole. You couldn’t find somebody more of an asshole than Borden, though.
As if on cue, a series of loud knocks interrupted us, signalling the arrival of a man I was suddenly itching to meet.
“That’ll be him,” Hawke said, striding to it.
Borden was too busy staring at me to acknowledge him. He kissed my hand before letting go and resituated himself at his desk. All signs of affection immediately evaporated. He was going into Borden-mode. Jaw locked, face impassive, lips drawn in a straight line. Borden-mode was sexy just as it was scary, and my heart jumped in my chest.
Hawke opened the door and a deep, gravelly voice immediately sounded out. “Well, shit, look at you.”
I watched the door widen and a tall and broad man stepped through, giving Hawke a few hard pats on the back. The man was younger than I’d have expected him to be for a President of an MC. He was probably in his early thirties, dark short hair, and a completely clean shaven olive toned face. I kind of expected a bearded man with a giant gut. Instead, it was a solid man the same mammoth height as Hawke, and for a split second, I could see the uncanny resemblance between them, but Hawke was more unkempt, whereas this man was just damn good looking all around. It kind of made me wonder what Hawke looked like underneath his dreadful garb that was his facial hair.
“It’s been a while,” he told Hawke, his eyes looking him over closely. “You look like a fucking homeless man.”
Hawke just shrugged. “I can’t just walk around with my face showing, now can I?”
“No, I suppose not.”
What the hell did that mean?
“You still look like a sissy ass bitch,” Hawke then remarked, his mouth twitching at the end. “Can’t grow a beard to save your life? Shit hasn’t changed, I see.”
“Fuck you, the bitches dig me how I am. You’d know that if you were around.”
Something dark flashed in Hawke’s eyes as he moved to let Hector through. Then he shut the door and crossed his arms, watching his brother carefully. Hector nodded his head at Graeme in greeting, and Graeme gave a half-ass nod in return. Then the big biker looked over at Borden, and then at me. His face softened a little, amusement skirting his features as he took me in. I straightened myself up in the chair, looking back at him, not wanting to look away like my mind was instructing me to. His mouth widened into a grin before he directed his stare at Borden.
“This is a big fucking surprise, Borden. I didn’t think this day would ever come,” he said, collapsing into the chair in front of us. He leaned back in it, his legs spread wide as he made himself absolutely comfortable. These were the movements of a man in power; one that didn’t fear Borden in the least. It was definitely out of the norm for me to witness, and I glanced at Borden, trying to assess his reaction at Hector’s behaviour. Borden was still a blank canvas, though.
When he didn’t respond straight away, Hector glimpsed at me again. Once more, he didn’t care that he was openly ogling me, and I started to get a little nervous. I wasn’t used to this anymore. Borden was very possessive. I’d seen his cutthroat glares at men we passed, and they always whipped their heads away in fear, to the point where nobody really looked at me anymore.
This man didn’t seem to give a flying shit.
Hector wasn’t necessarily looking at me the way those men did. There wasn’t anything lustful when his eyes roamed me, though he licked his lips briefly as if appreciating me. Mostly, he was just curious, and I understood why.
Borden didn’t just let any woman into his world.
“The babe is fuckable,” Hector remarked, his eyes locked on my face. “Who is she?”
“Mine,” Borden finally said, his voice hard, that backbone of authority bleeding through. I knew that tone well. It was a warning, one that wouldn’t be repeated if this dick continued talking about how “fuckable” I was.
Hector chuckled, nodding at him. “Fair enough that she’s yours and all, but what’s a hot piece of ass doing in your office while we’re here to discuss business? A woman’s place is outside that door. Preferably on her knees, in my opinion.”
Oh, no he didn’t.
Sexist pig.
My lips curled up in anger, and I glared at him. He caught the look and just smiled. It was an easy going smile – a very nice smile – a mouth full of straight white teeth that made every feature on his face glow with mischief. It was one those goddamn smiles that unfortunately had the power to put you at ease. He enjoyed riling someone up, and I was the one he was targeting. I felt my cheeks suddenly redden, and I finally tore my eyes off of him, looking directly at Borden, a man who made me feel the complete opposite of ease.
Borden remained impassive. With an almost bored tone, he replied, “She’s here because your end of the bargain involves her.”
“How so?”
“We got a threat,” Hawke cut in from behind him, his voice suddenly cold. “So get your fucking shit together and learn some respect. The girl is Bor
den’s, and you’re meant to be mindful of other people’s property.”
Property? Bloody hell, sexist pigs must run in the family.
The tension in the room suddenly spiked. Taken off guard, Hector glanced over his shoulder at his brother, and I suddenly realized what was going on here. Hawke was the older brother, and he was giving his younger one a scolding. Obviously shitty, Hector tensed a little before smiling forcefully at him, bottling up his anger.