by K E Osborn
He thrusts deeper, the sounds coming from him are carnal, animalistic, hungry as he pounds into me. His grip on me tightens as my airway is becoming restricted. My hands instinctively move to his around my neck, and I claw at his fingers.
“Wraith,” I scream, but it only comes out as a breathy squeak.
Panic surges through me as I buck against him, my body now going into fight mode. My fingernails scratch at the flesh of his hand as I kick my ass back into him forcefully.
He groans, then suddenly pulls out of me, his hand dropping from my throat as he takes a huge step away from me.
I gasp for much-needed air as my oxygen-deprived body falls back onto the carpet. My fingers move to my throat trying to erase his chokehold as my eyes well with tears.
I have no idea what the fuck just happened.
I shift my gaze to him, his eyes are distant, vacant, as he stands naked, fighting for his own breath. Silence falls over us, neither of us knowing what to say. But what hurts even more is he won’t even look at me.
“Wraith,” I whisper, my throat a little raspy.
He hesitates, but his eyes slowly find mine, and when they do, his chest heaves like he’s having trouble holding himself together. “Kharlie… fuck.” He runs his hand through his hair, his body trembling.
He didn’t know it was me.
Was he lost in his past?
Is this how he gets off?
Do women actually like this?
“Where… did you go?” I grate out.
A cold, blank expression crosses his face. He walks over grabbing his jeans, then yanks them on. His eyes are so wide, the whites are showing around his irises. His breathing sounds like he’s about to hyperventilate. Then I watch a single bead of sweat trickle down his temple.
“Wraith.” I cough a little, and his body shudders, but he continues getting dressed. “Talk to me!”
He walks past me toward the door.
“Talon, stop!” Somehow I find my voice.
Wraith hesitates at the door, his body rocking back and forth with his frantic breaths but doesn’t turn back.
I’ve never felt more exposed in my life than I have sitting naked on his floor begging for his attention. My heart hammers so hard it might burst through my chest wall as tears start to well in my eyes.
He reaches for the handle and the dam wall breaks.
He fucked me, choked me, and is now retreating without even talking this over.
What a pussy.
What a damn asshole.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs so quietly I barely hear it. Then he rushes out the door, slamming it shut behind him, leaving me by myself in his room.
And at this point, I’ve never felt more alone.
“Jesus, Prinie, will you stop zoning in and out. Has he hurt you? Physically?” Zero snaps.
Shaking my head slightly to rid my mind of the distant memory, I sit taller to try and convey the confidence I want to fake. “No, Wraith would never hurt me.”
“I don’t understand how you have such faith in him. I know him damn well, and his fascination with women… his sexual preferences, and the things he likes to do to them…” Zero cringes. “Shit, Prinie, I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
“Pretty hard when we live in the same clubhouse, don’t you think?” I wrinkle my nose up at him.
“Not for long.”
I freeze on the spot. “What? What the hell does that mean?”
“Fucker broke a cardinal rule, Prinie. He’s losing his patch.”
I gasp, gripping the bedsheets so tight my knuckles turn white. “No! Absolutely not! You cannot do that to him.”
“Watch me.” Zero stands.
I grip his arm, holding on, to make sure he doesn’t leave before I have my say. “Zero, stop! He’s your best friend. You can’t strip his patch.”
He shrugs out of my grip. “I can… and what’s more, I will.” He moves for the door.
“Krew… if Wraith leaves… then I leave, too.”
Resting his head on the woodgrain, he lets out a long exhale, then turns to face me. “Why? Why would you threaten that, Prinie? When I went through all that shit to get you back.”
“Because it’s the only way to show you that you’re doing the wrong thing.”
His jaw ticks. “Wraith means that much to you?”
“No, but he means that much to you! I can’t be the reason Wraith has to leave this club. I won’t have you kick him out because of me either. Are Wraith and I in a good place? No. Definitely not. But I don’t want him leaving the one place which can keep him grounded. The one place where he feels needed. The one place he calls home and has a damn family.”
“How the hell am I supposed to look at him the same? Treat him as my VP?”
“Take a teaspoon of concrete and harden the fuck up, brother. I’m sorry, Zero, but I’m not the helpless little sister you paint me out to be. And Wraith? He’s no longer that broken, out of juvie guy, you met and rescued off the streets. We’re both stronger than you give us credit for. Maybe you need to loosen the reigns. Let us be our own people.”
“Ha! Last time I let you be your own person you damn-well drove to Chicago, lived in a sister chapter’s clubhouse for a year, and nearly got shot by Irish mobsters. How’d that work out for you?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Zero, it doesn’t suit you.”
He exhales, running his fingers through his long hair, the stress is taking its toll on him. The silence is deafening while his mind ticks over with what he’s about to say. “Wraith can stay, but there will be conditions. And don’t think for one single fucking second I approve of you two doing anything together. In fact, I’m putting Phantom on you as a guard for a while.”
“Jesus, a-fucking-gain?” I groan.
“Yeah. Wraith’s volatile. I don’t need him snapping and taking out his shit on you.”
Rolling my eyes, I wave my hand through the air. “Fine! Do whatever the fuck you want. Phantom and I get along great.”
“I know you do. Keep. Away. From. Wraith. I mean it, Prinie!” Zero warns while opening my door.
“Yes, Dad,” I sneer back as he walks out, closing it behind him with a little more force than necessary.
Flopping on my bed, I roll over, planting my face in my pillow, then scream into it as loudly as possible. My high-pitched shriek is muffled by the pillow as I pour all my frustrations out into the feather down. Drawing in a deep breath, I try to calm myself before pulling back.
I never thought that night between Wraith and me would become public knowledge. The sordid details still remain between us. At least I haven’t said anything to anyone nor do I ever plan to. I wouldn’t do that to Wraith. As much as he infuriates me, I’m well aware of how much shit that would land Wraith in if Zero ever found out he choked me during sex—and not in the fun kind of way.
Sitting at the edge of my bed, a gentle knocking raps on my door. I’m sure it’s female. Men tend to pound while women have a gentler touch.
“Come in,” I call out.
The door creaks open, and Rayne steps through. I guess I should call her Cherry now she’s been claimed by my brother, but she’ll always be Rayne to me. She walks in closing the door behind her with a warm smile. Then she moves over to my bed, shifts in beside me, and pulls me to her for an embrace. “I love you.”
I needed to hear that.
After going at it with Wraith, then Zero yelling at me for what felt like hours, I need to know someone’s on my side. I relax into her embrace, clinging onto her tightly. “Everything is so fucked up.”
Cherry pulls back from me, her eyes drooping a little. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
My fingers twiddle in my lap. “I… I don’t know.”
“I’m not mad, Prinie. I get it. I just thought we told each other everything back in Chicago.”
My eyes meet hers.
I want to tell her.
I want to tell her everything that happened that night with Wra
ith.
But she’s Zero’s Old Lady now, and she might feel obligated to relay the information back to him. I can’t risk it, no matter how close a friend she is.
“I’m sorry. I knew how big of a deal this was, especially for Zero. Wraith fucking his sister? That shit is a massive offense in this club. I didn’t think I could tell anyone.”
Her hand comes out resting on my knee. “The way you’re at each other’s throats, though, you gave yourselves away. The chemistry between you two is palpable.”
I jerk my head back. “Really? I thought it just seems like we hate each other?”
She snorts. “To the brothers maybe, but to us girls… heck no. Wraith looks at you like he wants to rip your clothes off… again.”
“I don’t think it’s in the cards now. Zero will make damn sure of that.”
“I’m sorry it’s turned out this way for you, Prinie. One thing I’ve learned, when Zero sets his mind on something, it can’t be shifted.”
Don’t I know it?
“Yeah, I’m glad I was able to talk Zero out of kicking Wraith out of the club.”
Cherry scrunches up her face. “Geez, it is tense between them, isn’t it? I mean, I get it. If there is one thing I know more than anything since my time began here, it’s that Zero adores the freaking ground you walk on. The thought of anyone doing anything wrong by you would be killing him. The fact it’s his VP, who also happens to be his best friend, yeah… I can see why he needed to be talked off the ledge.”
“Do you think I’m being stupid?”
Cherry grabs my hand in hers, a caring expression crossing her face. “For caring about Wraith? Oh, Prinie, no. You can’t help who your heart desires. You’ve known Wraith for years. He’s a part of your life here. Honestly… I’ve known something was happening with you two from the moment I first saw you together. Granted, I didn’t believe it would come out this way, nor do I understand his history, or you guys together, but it’s clear you both care about each other, or this wouldn’t be such a big deal.”
I want to tell her.
I want to open up.
To feel like I have someone I can talk to about what really happened that night. Get another opinion. In another time and place, Cherry would be that person. But now she’s the Old Lady of my brother, her loyalty is no longer mine.
Sure, she’s my best friend, but she’s the first lady of this club.
Her loyalty is how it should be—to Zero.
Always.
Anything I tell her will go straight to him.
I’m not stupid enough to think girl code comes before club code.
“Wraith and me… we’re not a good match. We’re both hot-headed. There’s too much arguing. I need someone calm. Someone easy going. Someone who’s willing to fight for me.”
Cherry smirks. “Someone like Phantom?”
“Yeah, exactly, someone like Phantom.”
Cherry wraps her arm around me, pulling me into her embrace. “But he’s not Wraith, is he?”
I let out a heavy exhale cuddling into her side. “No… no, he’s not.”
Why can’t shit be simple?
Why does everything have to always come back to Wraith?
He doesn’t want me.
He’s no good for me.
So why should I continue to pine for the man who scared the shit out of me?
WRAITH
We’re all in church, while Zero conducts a call to Hawke to discuss our treaty. Hawke runs on a weird time schedule—he’s always up at stupid hours, which works in our favor right now. He believes it’s a one-on-one conversation, it’s why the rest of us stay silent, but Zero wants all of us to hear what’s happening, so Zero has it on speaker, and we’re all in on whatever shit Hawke sprouts.
“So, like I said Hawke, once a month the Snow White capsules will be ready for distribution. You’ll get your cut, and we’ll get ours. This will run on a monthly basis for the foreseeable future.”
“Forty-sixty, that’s how this is going, right?” Hawke asks again.
“Jesus man, do you have a memory problem. Yes, we get sixty, you get forty. Do I need to tattoo it to your damn forehead?”
“Don’t be a wiseass, Zero. Play nice. Just crosschecking. Okay, we’ll expect the first shipment at the end of the month.”
“Let’s see how this goes, Hawke. I am hoping we can put aside decades of unrest between us with this deal.”
Hawke grunts. “You do the right thing… I’ll do the right thing, and you make sure to take care of that little Cherry Bomb of yours. She’s integral to all of this.”
“I plan on looking after her real good. Talk later, Hawke.”
Zero ends the call, sliding his cell across the table a little harder than he probably meant to.
I raise my brow. “So, that went well,” I mumble.
Zero side-eyes me, then turns, completely ignoring me. “Neon, find the appropriate buyers. Maybe the Vegas brothers, or NOLA will take some of the load?”
“Sure, I’m on it. Actually, I was thinking about transportation. We need to buy a pharmaceutical truck for the deliveries. We should do them ourselves to cut costs, and it will help with any discrepancies which might come into play.”
Zero dips his chin. “I like it. Search through our accounts, find the funds, then purchase something. Get it done. Let me know how it goes. For now, I think we’re done here.” He slams his gavel on the table, then everyone stands to walk out.
I go to exit, but Zero grabs my wrist. “Hang back.”
My muscles tense as Texas, being the last to leave, closes the door of the chapel behind him. I slump back in my seat preparing for another earful which I more than likely deserve.
Zero folds his arms over his chest. “I shouldn’t have come at you like that.”
I jerk my head back in shock.
I wasn’t expecting that.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on, or has gone on with you and Prinie, and I don’t want to. But honestly, man, you’ve been part of this club for a long-ass time. I’ve watched you grow. I’ve watched you fall apart. I’ve been there to put you back together. Hell, you’ve been there for me more times than I care to recall. We’re brothers, so the code means something to me. What I don’t understand… is this some sort of a game to you?”
“Prinie was never a game. Ever.”
“I know what you’re capable of if you lose control, and it scares me, Wraith.”
Memories of my hands around Prinie’s neck flood my mind. “I understand all too well, but I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Then you need to stay the hell away from her!” Zero exhales, running his hand over his bearded chin. “I love you, man, like you’re my own flesh and blood, but you scare the hell out of me when it comes to Prinie. She means everything to me. If I have to choose between her safety and you…”
“I understand… I don’t want to be that man with her.”
Zero reaches out gripping my forearm. “I don’t know that you have it in you to change, brother.”
A sledgehammer smacks straight in my chest, so intensely I can’t breathe. I sit as he stands, then walks for the door. “I love you, brother, but I love her more. That’s all I’m saying.” He walks out the chapel leaving me reeling.
Zero was always the first to believe in me, hearing he doesn’t now has me questioning it myself.
My predilections are too far fucking gone for her.
Maybe Zero is one hundred percent right.
I need to steer clear at all costs.
Standing, I walk out of the chapel, feeling all kinds of fucked-up in the head right now. Heading for the rear door to outside, I spot Prinie observing me. I should clear the air with her, but after my talk with Zero and him warning me off, I can’t be anywhere near her. So, I continue walking as Mack waddles alongside me. I need a damn cigarette, something to quiet my raging thoughts. I make my way to the unlit fire pit, slumping down on the seat, then lighting up.
The hit of nicotine fills my lungs, soothing the ache in my chest as I try to calm my nerves. The pebbles on the ground start to shift with someone’s footsteps, so I spin around noticing Prinie making her way out to me. All calm evaporates in an instant as she slides into a seat next to me.
I sit up taller, my eyes going wide as I scan around to check if anyone’s watching. “I can’t be seen talking to you—”
“That’s bullshit! Zero can’t dictate who we can and can’t talk to.”
Exhaling, I slump back down into the seat taking another drag. “Prinie, I’m bad for you. You know why.”
She subtly clenches her thighs together like she’s turned on, and that movement confuses me.
“Surely, we can talk and be civil.”
“I can’t, Prinie. I can’t be around you. All I want to do is pin you against a wall and kiss you to high hell… but I can’t. And I won’t.”
Her eyes widen in shock. “Wow! Honesty from you… that’s a refreshing change.”
“You need to leave.”
Defiantly taking a stand, she folds her arms over her chest.
She’s not budging, the beautiful, stubborn woman, so I stand to leave.
Prinie reaches out gripping my arm. A tingle shoots straight to my chest making me turn back, and when I do, she’s right up in my space. Her smell invades my senses, the scent she’s wearing is amazing, just like I remember.
It’s intoxicating.
Drowning me in regret.
I’m losing my willpower as I inch closer. The air around us begins to charge and sizzle with electricity as I stare into her gorgeous autumn leaf colored eyes. She’s luring me in like a siren to a sailor.
My breath hitches, my heart rapid-firing when all I see is her.
“I’m not angry about what happened that night, Wraith. It’s about what came after.” Her tone is soft, delicate, and she’s almost pleading with me.
I wince, my stomach churning, hating myself a little bit more, but I know it was for the best that I pulled away that night. That I retreated from her.
I step back, breaking the astonishing connection between us. “It’s almost morning. Go to bed, princess,” I tell her then step back completely, pulling my arm free and regrettably walk back inside the clubhouse.