His Lady: The Wounded Souls

by Leah Sharelle

  “Message received loud and clear, Mannix. Jesus, man, ease up,” he said with a growl as he ripped his hand from my grasp and shook it.

  Deck chuckled beside me. “Jimmy, how ya doin’? You’re lucky my enforcer doesn’t take your head off, mate. Now point us in the direction of his wayward woman so I can get back to mine.” Deck didn’t like being away from Charlotte and Shiloh, especially with Charlotte being pregnant and Rogue still on the loose with a traitor informant working with him.

  It pissed me off that someone we supposedly trusted—because we still had no idea who the informant was—was giving him information, sensitive information on our women. Deck, in particular, felt responsible because Rogue had initially intended to go after him, but when Deck met Charlotte, then made her his, and brought her into the club, Rogue decided there was a better way to hit us. This prick was having fun, for fuck’s sake. He had already terrorised three of the girls and Shiloh, which, in my mind, was abhorrent.

  Memories of that night in the Bar and Grill, being stuck in that supply cupboard while Rainn and Mia were in the crosshairs of Rogue’s rifle, enveloped my mind. Rainn’s scream of terror will haunt me until my last breath. Then she disappeared.

  Gritting my teeth, I followed Jimmy behind the bar and into a well-lit hallway.

  I liked how he had the passageway lit brightly and made a mental note to do something similar at Body and Souls. Rainn had mentioned not long ago that a few of the girls were uncomfortable going to and from the stage down one of the back hallways. Storing away that information, I stalked closer to where I could hear the music coming. I recognised it as one of Rainn’s favourite songs. The hairs on the back of my neck spiked at the thought of getting my eyes on my lady once again. It had been far too long.

  Jimmy pushed open a huge door, and instantly, the music got louder, and the steady thump of ‘Hands in the Sky’ pulsed in my chest. Six gold dance poles lined a small stage, and right in the middle was my lady. My breath caught in my throat, and somehow, I forgot how to breathe, and my vision blurred at the sight of my redheaded vixen.

  “Jesus,” I growled, ignoring the need to palm my cock behind my military pants. The woman had me mesmerised. Every time Rainn got anywhere near a pole, she had me harder than one. She was a nymph who, basically, cast her spell over me. If she could get a bull nose ring through my nose, it would make it easier for her to drag me behind her. Fuck, I needed to slip into her warmth. Tight, hot, and fucking awesome were the first words that came to mind when I thought about sex with Rainn. Her body was a work of art, and I wasn’t just referring to her tattoos. She worked me just like she worked those poles with sensual, carnal passion, and one hell of a sexual appetite. That was my Rainn—fucking perfect.

  We watched unnoticed. Rainn’s back was to us, and she seemed deep in thought, gripping the pole with one hand. I knew without even seeing her face that she was silently mouthing the steps that were without a doubt swirling around in her sexy head. I had watched her practice enough to know. There wasn’t much I didn’t know about her. I knew every inch of her tempting body, how she liked to be kissed, where she liked to be kissed, and how far I could push her seductive body while I had her tied to my bed.

  “You wanna move this along, Mannix? Or would you rather go off to the corner and rub one out? I wanna get the fuck out of here,” Deck said, obviously annoyed.

  For fuck’s sake! God forbid he missed a few hours of Charlotte’s pregnancy. What was he going to miss? Charlotte throwing up for the tenth time in a day? Eating a whole pan of Stella’s vanilla slices, and then sobbing her heart out because she felt fat? I could do with a few hours without that. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the sweet woman, but fuck me, she was one big ball of emotional, hormonal mess. Alannah had just been a full-on bitch during her pregnancies. She kicked me out of our bed for nine months and spent a lot of time at my cousin’s place. Of course, now I knew why. Shaking off the toxic memories, I focused back on my mission.

  Rainn. Fuck! Just her name was an aphrodisiac to my libido.

  “Fuck off, Deck.” My fist hit the wall of muscle that was my sergeant-at-arms’ shoulder. Damn, the man was solid. He was the only one of my brothers who had me in the ring, not that the others didn’t give me a run for my money. Steel could fight, but I didn’t feel right taking him on, and it pissed him off that I wouldn’t fight him, but I promised our mother I wouldn’t. Booth was good, but the prick liked to use his head, and I’d had my nose broken a few times by that arsehole over the years. Darth preferred a good old-fashioned knife fight, so he was usually left out of the ring. I liked my body in one piece, thank you. Creed was a fucking excellent fighter, as was Ford, but he didn’t really count since his speciality was Krav Maga. We all had self-defence and military training, but Ford was a master at it. Literally. My speciality was bare-knuckled boxing and backstreet brawling. So was Deck’s, and we fought well together.

  “Rainn, you got company,” Jimmy called out.

  “Yeah, who?”

  “Guess,” I said, my voice low and controlled, not at all sounding like the crazy that was going on inside me. I watched as Rainn’s shoulders slumped, her back still to me, but I heard the gasp that came from her sultry lips, and if I were a betting man, I would put a fuck tonne on her being wet right now.

  “I guess I don’t have to ask how you found me. Do I, Jimmy?”

  “I told you, sweetheart, if they called, I wasn’t going to lie.”

  The endearment he used pissed me off. Rainn wasn’t anyone’s sweetheart. No fucking way. She was all mine.

  “You couldn’t have warned me?”

  “Sweetheart, you know you have to.”

  “No, Jimmy, I don’t.”

  “Sweetheart, there is never going to be a good time, but it is only going to get worse the longer you put it off.”

  Again, I watched as Rainn’s shoulders slumped.

  My head was pinging back and forth between Jimmy and Rainn while they held their coded conversation as if Deck and I weren’t even standing there. What the fuck were they talking about? And why the fuck wouldn’t Rainn turn to face me? I went to stalk towards Rainn when Deck’s large hand reached and halted my path. I turned my head and glared at him. Not a minute ago he wanted me to move things along, didn’t he?

  “Brother?”

  Deck shook his head ever so slightly, his piercing blue eyes looking over Rainn, seeing something I wasn’t.

  “Rainn, sweetie, you okay?” Deck’s question came out in a soft, soothing tone. He was in Shiloh mode. We all had that voice after years of dealing with Shiloh and her demands, but why was he using it on Rainn.

  “Hi, Deck. No, Deck, I’m not. Do you think you can get Beast here to go back out the way you came and forget all about seeing me here?”

  What the fuck? She wants me to just leave and not take her with me? What the hell is going on? Seriously close to losing my shit, I said the first thing that popped into my head.

  “If you got a problem with me, Rainn, then fucking turn around, and say it to my fucking face. You took off and left without any detail, turned my club upside down with worry for you. You hide out here like you don’t have a care in the world. What the fuck is your problem? Who the fuck do you think you are?” I was seething now. For three weeks, I had been beside myself with fear that Rogue would find her, and we wouldn’t even know it, and here she was, dancing in another strip club and couldn’t even face me. Yeah, I was pissed.

  “Mannix,” Deck warned me again, but I was too lost in my own anger to take any notice or pull myself back. If she couldn’t give a shit about her safety, then why the hell did we?

  Rainn made a sound like a growled laugh. It held no humour at all. Rigid tension now replaced the defeated slump that had been in her body. Rainn was angry. Good. It was about time she showed something other than cowardice. Jesus, only a goddamn killer was after her. She had heard the phone call and could put two and two together to figure out she was next in his fucked-up gam
e of revenge.

  “You are such an arsehole, Mannix Steel. Do you really think I don’t care about the club? About Shiloh’s safety or Charlotte’s or Mia’s or Stella’s. I left so they could be safe,” she yelled at me, but her back was still facing me.

  “Can’t face me, Rainn? Too scared to look me in the eyes and tell me the real reason why you just left without one word to anyone? You haven’t even asked how your friends are and how they coped with you just taking off and leaving them. Good old Rainn, the tough one who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but herself.”

  Okay, if Deck doesn’t shut me up, I may just go too far here. If I haven’t already, that is. I’d had the displeasure of being on the receiving end of Rainn’s famous temper, and it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. She had actually punched me in the gut when I wasn’t expecting it and winded the fuck out of me. It had taken me an hour between her sweet thighs before she promised not to tell any of my brothers that she had sucker punched me.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, brother, will you stop your trap from spewing out any more shit,” Deck said with a growl.

  But it was too late. I had woken a hungry bear, and she was about to unleash hell on earth on me.

  Rainn whipped around, stalked down off the stage, and headed right for me. I didn’t have time to take in her gorgeous red hair or her emerald green eyes or her beautiful porcelain skin. Nope, she came right at me, her fist swinging, and hit me directly in the eye. The sting from her fist was nothing compared to the shock. The little vixen actually punched me.

  Fuck. Holding my hand over my battered eye, I growled.

  “Really, Rainn? In the fucking eye?”

  “Yes, you Beast, and if you’re not careful, those balls of yours will be more black than blue. You want to know if I’m scared, Mannix? Well, let me show you just how bloody scared I am.” The venom in her voice was also laced with fear. She really was scared. Of what? Standing back from me, she grabbed hold of her zipper on her hoodie and yanked it down.

  “I’m freaking terrified, Mannix,” she shouted as she revealed her body under the sloppy jumper. Instead of her perfectly toned, slim dancer’s body, I stared stupidly at the perfect rounded mound of her tummy. The flower tattoo, which sat flat on her lower hip, was now a little distorted by—a baby bump. A big fucking baby bump.

  “Here you go. This is the reason why I left without a word. Is this reason good enough for ya?” Rainn spat at me.

  But I couldn’t take my eyes off her belly long enough to hush her. My world was crashing around me. I couldn’t breathe, and I could taste the anger rising in my throat. Memories swarmed me again. I just needed to know one thing, and then I was getting back on my bike and leaving this fucking joint. With or without Rainn.

  “Who the fuck is the father? Because I know it ain’t me.”

  No fucking way.

  Chapter 6

  RAINN

  Who the fuck is the father? Because I know it ain’t me.

  What a dick. I knew I was going to have some resistance from Mannix when he found out, which was one of the reasons I was hiding from him, but I didn’t know he was going to be completely unreasonable and an arsehole about it. In fact, I was appalled at his attitude from the minute he started talking when he first walked into the room and found me.

  He was a hard man, but he hid it well behind his sexy humour. He had an easy-going nature most of the time, and I really loved that about him. He was a great boss and a fair one. He cared about his workers and made sure they had their every need taken care of at the strip club. I couldn’t fault him there or at the compound, dealing with a sleepy, grumpy Shiloh.

  And then there was this Mannix, the speaking through his arse Mannix, angry idiot Mannix. If he thought I was going anywhere with him, he had another thing coming. He had a better chance of pigs flying out of his arse.

  Pulling my hoodie off, I tossed it onto my small, borrowed couch. Who the hell did he think he was? I got that we had an open relationship or arrangement, but it hurt that he honestly thought I had been with someone else and got pregnant. It had been like that since the very beginning when Mannix asked me to his room one night at the compound. It was then I discovered Mannix Steel was a dynamo in bed.

  The morning after, we agreed to ‘hook-up’ but with no strings. At the time, I was more than happy with such an arrangement. I didn’t want the complications of a boyfriend telling me what to do and when to do it. I had dumped my high school sweetheart for that very reason. He had gone from sweet to possessive once we finished school. He didn’t like my reincarnation from blonde to ruby-red hair or the tattoos that adorned my body.

  As soon as we split, I vowed no more men would tell me what to do or how to dress, and it had been a great way to live. Then I met the guys from the Wounded Souls.

  At first, it started out just attending a few of their parties and hanging out at the compound all weekend. I remembered Mannix being at the parties. He was the joker of the group, a chilled out and relaxed sort of a guy, who would spend most of the night playing pool. Mannix liked to play pool—a lot.

  And when they auditioned for dancers at their new strip club, I flounced in and demanded Mannix hire me. Yep, I demanded. I just marched into the strip club all full of attitude, danced for him, and I got the job. Then for years, I danced for Mannix Steel and hooked up with him, and I was happy, but then things changed. Mannix changed them, and I changed them. Hook-ups just weren’t enough anymore. I wanted more.

  “Rainn? Can I come in?” Deck asked, bringing me out of my daydream. Dreams were useless, dangerous to the heart. They worked for some, but unfortunately, they didn’t for me.

  “Depends if that arsehole is with you or not,” I called back and heard Deck’s deep chuckle on the other side of the door.

  “It’s safe, sweetie. Jimmy has him contained in the bar.”

  Going to the door, I opened it just enough and saw only Deck standing on the front porch of my small rented cottage behind the strip club. Nodding, I stood aside and let Deck enter, my eyes still searching for my beast. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Deck. Nope, it wasn’t him I was worried about.

  “How’s Shiloh?” I asked as I swept past Deck and led him into the small lounge room. The space was perfect for me, but with the mammoth SAA occupying the room too, it suddenly felt small.

  Deck’s eyes narrowed at me, his head shaking.

  “Righto. Is that how we are playing this, then? Okay, fine. Shiloh is great. She is excited about her new baby brother on the way. We took her training wheels off her bike the other day, and so far, we have made two trips to the ER The first one wasn’t too serious, but the second one resulted in a lost front tooth and two stitches in her top lip,” he told me as he took a seat on the couch. Those damn blue eyes penetrated and saw things he shouldn’t.

  “Is she okay?” I asked quickly. Shiloh always had a tendency to be a bit of a daredevil. How could she not with the men of the club raising her?

  “She’s fine now. Charlotte was more upset than Squirt. Darth took the bike out to the back of the compound where he, Mannix, and Creed blew it to smithereens,” he said with a laugh.

  I joined in, imagining the big men giving the bike some explosive justice.

  “Oh, lord. How did that go down?”

  Deck’s smile turned sly.

  “Jason had to do some damage control down at the station when several reports were made of bombs going off. But other than the guys having to promise to behave themselves and keep the explosives under lock and key from now on, all is good. Now—” Deck leaned forward. Resting his hands on his thighs, he levelled me with a hard glare. “What on earth were you thinking, Rainn? That bastard is out there gunning for you. The club is fucking frantic, and your flock is going crazy with worry. My pregnant wife is driving me crazy with questions. Mia got in trouble from not only Steel but Booth when she finally admitted she knew about your condition—”

  “They can’t be mad at Mia. I never told her a
nything. My stomach showed—”

  “I know, Rainn. Once Booth calmed down, and Steel punched him in the jaw for raising his voice at his wife, Mia explained everything about that night that we didn’t hear. Mannix wasn’t in on the meeting, so we decided not to let him in on that information, which I assume you guessed by his reaction just now.”

  I let my head drop. This was getting out of control. No one was supposed to be getting in any sort of trouble.

  That was why I left in the first place, but I should have known Mia would never let me be in any kind of danger. She was the sweetheart of the flock and didn’t have a vindictive bone in her body—even after the mean things I had said to her about falling pregnant to Steel. I was a real bitch to her, to all of them really but especially to Mia. It was unfair of me to expect her to remain silent. Ashamed of myself, I felt my eyes fill with tears. Hormones were my enemy.

  “I panicked, Deck. I couldn’t take any more of the danger, the looking over our shoulders. I thought if I left, Rogue wouldn’t target Shiloh or the three pregnant women at the compound anymore. I had to stop it.” Tears flowed freely down my face. Lucky for me, I had foregone make-up that morning.

  Deck stood quickly and stalked over to me. His arms were around me a second later. Engulfed in his big arms, I allowed myself to soak up the comfort they offered. Being on my own for three weeks and dealing with hormones and guilt had taken its toll. Physically and mentally, I was spent. I thought I could do this alone, have my baby, and raise it with love. I could still do that, but deep down, I knew I needed my friends. Being a single parent was never on my radar. Hell, being a parent at all never was.

  A small flutter leapt in my lower abdomen, and then my breath left me. Holding still, I kept my head against Deck’s chest. “Did you feel that?” I whispered.

  “I do believe your little enforcer just kicked me.” He chuckled, taking his hands from around me and placing them on either side of my bump.

  Another small kick came from inside me. Holy shit, it was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. A large smile formed on my lips.