“You’re staying until I have decided that you’ve explained why you didn’t tell me what was going on fourteen years ago to my satisfaction,” Iron told her through gritted teeth.
Roz felt her heart sink. It wasn’t that he cared, it was that he was still mad at her and wanted to punish her for deciding to die rather than wait on him to come back for her. She shook her head, wanting to believe that her Toby was still inside this obviously cruel man but she couldn’t see how he could be.
Who was Iron now?
He most certainly wasn’t the loving man who’d left her to seek out a better life for them. He was a cold and almost heartless man. She heard the echo of Sarah’s words in her head suddenly. Roz remembered the surprise in Sarah’s voice as she’d said ‘if you’d asked me yesterday I would have said he didn’t have a heart’ and now she knew that was likely very true. What had changed him so drastically? How could a good man become so hard?
“You aren’t serious?”
“Oh, but I am, Rosalind. You’re staying and trying to leave without a word isn’t going to happen again. Believe me, if I have to chain you up you will be staying here,” Iron growled, stepping towards her menacingly.
“Really? Are you freaking kidding me, Iron? Chain me up? You would do that, seriously?” she asked, shocked that he had actually said those words to her and she watched him warily.
“If you try to leave without this being settled, then hell yeah I will. You’re acting like a damned child and not a grown woman. I’m not that boy you walked all over when we were younger, Rosalind, don’t push me,” Iron growled at her, hovering over her threateningly, his hands clenching and unclenching in anger as he watched her.
Roz stared at Iron in disbelief. Did he really think that she was the same as she’d been fourteen years ago? She wasn’t the same girl he had left waiting on him in Cartersville when she was eighteen either. She was a thirty-two year old woman, not a child, and his attitude wasn’t going to fly.
“Iron, I know you’re not the same. Nothing proved that more than you walking out without a word the other day when I told you what happened to make me do something so drastic just to get away from Hank. You need to realize that I am not that girl you remember either. I’ve been on my own for fourteen years now, Iron. I’m not helplessly following behind you anymore so you can just get over yourself.” Roz turned, intending to walk away. She’d had enough of his insults for one day. He treated her like she was a child and she wasn’t and hadn’t been one for a long damned time. It infuriated her that he thought that he had a right to be angry with her for not trusting him. She couldn’t believe that he thought her having heard from him twice in a two year period was enough to make her trust he would help her when she got into trouble.
Iron stood staring at Roz’s back as she stormed away because she was right and he was acting like a prick but he couldn’t seem to help himself at the moment. His head was all mixed up over Roz and her reappearance. He moved before he thought about it, grabbing her shoulders to spin her around and crowding her back against a tree behind them.
“I don’t think you do know or you wouldn’t be acting like such a little witch. You wouldn’t have been on your own if you’d told me about what was going on when he was hitting you and your mother, Rosalind.” Iron was pressing his nose against hers, his nostrils flaring in anger.
“Stop manhandling me, damn it! You don’t get to be angry at me because you don’t like the way I handled it. You left me there alone and I had to deal with it!” Roz jerked her arms trying to dislodge his hands from her shoulders but he wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t argue that she was wrong, he had left her, but he couldn’t seem to accept the fact that she’d had so little trust in him. He pressed her back into the tree hard, his body crowding hers.
“You should have told me, Roz. You chose not to and I am pissed because you know that if you had, I would have been there to take care of you!” Iron growled in her face, his glare dark, almost deadly.
“When, Iron? When was I supposed to tell you? Let me see, the first time you called it wasn’t an issue and by the second time it had been so long I didn’t know if you even cared anymore! I got two five-minute calls in two years, Toby! You’re just angry because you thought I would be waiting on you and I wasn’t. You never considered even for a moment that I wouldn’t be right where you left me when you were ready to pick up where you left off and that’s the real reason you’re so damned mad at me.” Roz’s nostrils flared and she jerked again trying to get away from him. Unable to handle the emotional upheaval this conversation was causing, she knew that she just needed to get away from him before she started crying.
“No, I’m mad because I could have prevented the whole damned thing from happening to you, Rosalind! I would have come the minute you said you were in trouble and nothing on this earth would have stopped me, and the fact that you don’t know that is what makes me so mad I can’t see straight.” Iron was yelling in her face and she felt a shiver of fear slip down her spine because she didn’t know him anymore and this situation could get out of hand very quickly if he chose not to show some restraint on his strength.
“Well I didn’t and I can’t change that, Tob––Iron. I can’t change it. It’s done and there isn’t anything either of us can do to make it different no matter how much we might want to,” Roz finally said after a long deep breath, calming her voice and trying not to allow her fear of him show. She found that she was still more than a little angry with him herself, which shocked her because she thought she’d let that anger go a long time ago.
“Damn it, Roz,” Iron growled his forehead pressing into hers as he closed his eyes leaning into her. She was pressed back against the tree and his hands were hard on her arms but his grip had loosened. “Just promise you won’t try to leave yet. I need some time to deal with this. I can’t even process this fully yet and it’s increasing my anger because I hate feeling like I’m out of control.”
“Iron, we both need time to process this. Do you think this is any easier for me? Let me tell you, it’s not,” Roz snorted, laughing as she closed her own eyes, leaning back into the tree. She didn’t know how to handle this any better than he did. She wasn’t throwing her anger at him at every turn but she knew that she wasn’t dealing with this with any more grace than he was. She should have tried to talk to him before just walking away like everything they’d had before didn’t matter.
“I don’t know what to think at this point. All I know is I need to think about this and what it means. You’ve been dead for a long time and now you suddenly aren’t. It’s not settling well,” Iron whispered and she opened her eyes, meeting his green ones.
“Yeah, I get that,” Roz finally said, feeling a squeezing in her heart at the thoughts running around in her own head.
Iron leaned in, kissing her on the nose in a gesture so familiar that she wanted to cry because it wasn’t the loving caress it had once been, it was just an automatic response to her being in this position again. Roz angrily wondered how many women had received that kiss on their nose from him in the last fourteen years with an ache so fierce her knees almost gave out on her.
“I’m going to go home but I will be back tomorrow and we can talk about this––whatever this is. I’m too keyed up to have this discussion right now. Okay?”
Iron was still pressing his forehead to hers, his eyes looking intently into hers, and she felt his words pulling at her. She wanted to believe that this was a tiny bump in the road they could work out but at the moment it seemed more like a giant sink hole.
“Okay,” Roz responded and Iron pulled back, looking at her for another long moment before he stepped back and walked to his bike. Climbing on, he glanced back at her one last time.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Iron told her, then cranked the bike and within moments he was gone. Roz stood staring after him with a feeling of loss settling into her very bones because she didn’t think they would ever find the love they once shared
again. It was too late for them and that made tears fill her eyes again as she walked back inside the rec center.
Chapter 8
Roz sat in Sammy’s front living room five days later sipping some tea. Roz was enjoying spending time with her and Sarah. They were fun and neither of them took any shit from their men. Roz could respect that she wasn’t the type to bow down to a man either. That was why she was avoiding Iron because even though he had said he’d be back the next morning, he hadn’t bothered to show up to talk.
Roz felt anger shoot through her veins. It burned her up that he hadn’t come by that day. She should just leave but she kind of liked it here. Besides, she wouldn’t put it past him to try chaining her up like he’d said he would. She was quite sure that she wouldn’t find that pleasing; she really wasn’t a bondage kind of girl.
Yesterday he had shown up at the rec center and tried to break down the door to her room because she wouldn’t let him in and he’d yelled through the door that he was losing patience with her.
Ha, she was already out of patience with him; he was a prick and she wasn’t going to be at his beck and call. She was not that girl anymore and he couldn’t yank her around expecting her to wait on him to come to her when he was good and ready.
Hell no, that wasn’t who she was anymore.
“So what’s going on with you and Iron? Animal says you’ve got the man all tied up in knots,” Sammy said, looking hopeful that Roz would share some juicy gossip with her. She smiled into her cup, taking another sip before setting it on the table. Sammy was damned nosy, that was for sure. She couldn’t remember the number of times in the last few days Sammy had pumped her for information about her and Iron.
“He is just being a jerk and I am not dealing with that. I’m no longer a child that he can boss around and it’s pissing him off,” Roz told Sammy, not willing to tell her more about her and Iron’s problems.
“Huh, you know I don’t think I’ve ever known him to be out of control like he is lately. He’s been talking to Animal a lot and I think he might be planning to cuff you to his bed.” Sammy wiggled her eyebrows up and down causing a snort of laughter to escape Roz at her obvious enjoyment of the bondage she and her ‘old man’ were into. It really seemed wrong calling Animal, who was a sickeningly hot piece of man candy, ‘old.’ Not that he was hotter than Iron was, Roz thought, feeling a shiver of desire run down her spine as she thought of Iron’s sexy abs and his tight ass.
“Yeah, so not my cup of tea,” Roz informed her, shaking her head.
“You don’t know what you’re missing, sister, unless you’ve tried it. Have you?”
Roz felt a blush staining her cheeks because she hadn’t had sex with anyone except Iron and they’d been too young to explore that kind of kinky stuff. She wondered if he had done that with another woman. The thought sent a spike of jealousy through her that made her rub her chest because she didn’t really want to know the answer to that question.
Laci entering the room followed by Sarah saved her from answering that prying question. Roz let out a loud whistle at the outfit Sarah had put her in. She was wearing a light blue skirt that reached to just above her knees and a low cut top that made her look about four years older than her eighteen years.
“Wow, Laci, you look great in that outfit,” Roz told her, smiling at her.
“You really think so?” she asked, a shy smile on her face.
“Oh, yeah. Those boys at the club aren’t going to know what hit them, my dear,” Sammy told her, grinning widely. “Are we ready?”
“Yes, I think so,” Sarah said, grabbing her purse off the end table.
Gathering their things, they all went outside and piled into Sarah’s car to head over to Tricky Bitches, a local bar that was owned by three sisters. It was the only bar in the area besides Spangles, the bondage club, and the Blue Bird which was a strip club owned by the Blue Bandits.
Getting out of the car, Roz felt excited. It had been a while since she’d gone to a place like this. The last time had been with her friend Tara and she’d had a really good time because she loved to dance. She had always loved dancing had but rarely got out to do it anymore so tonight was going to be a rare treat.
Entering the club, Sarah turned to look at them after she paid the cover and their hands were stamped.
“Okay, we likely have about thirty minutes before Reaper and the boys show up so try not to get into trouble before then. Reaper will not be happy if he has to rescue me again.”
Sammy seemed to think this was hilarious and she laughed so hard she doubled over with it. She earned a glare from Sarah and a confused look from Laci.
“What’s so funny?” Roz asked her, looking from Sarah to Sammy and back again.
Having recovered somewhat, Sammy finally panted out, “The idea that Sarah needs anyone to save her, ever.”
“Shut up, bitch. Just because I don’t need him to rescue me doesn’t mean I don’t want him to,” Sarah complained, glowering at Sammy.
“Yes, and Reaper pretends you need him but it’s fucking funny and you know it,” Sammy told her, still chuckling. Roz wasn’t sure what the heck they were talking about but she didn’t doubt that Sarah could handle herself in any situation. She had an air of capability about her.
Roz saw a slight twitch of Sarah’s lips as she turned back to enter the club with a clipped “Let’s just go dance” thrown over her shoulder. Roz was all for that and seconds later the four of them hit the dance floor.
“Where are you headed?” Iron asked Animal when he stormed past him in the clubhouse. He had read a text someone sent him a moment ago and dropped the cue stick he’d been using to stomp out the door. Rebel was still yelling at Animal that he was a fucking ass because he’d been winning until Animal quit to storm out.
“I have to go get my woman from Tricky Bitches before she allows some idiot to sign his own death warrant. That woman has no respect for others’ safety,” Animal growled. his scowl dark and his eyes gleaming with a sexual vibe that made Iron snort out a little laugh at the other man’s predicament.
At least Roz just locked herself in her room and tried to ignore him. He hadn’t meant to get involved with a raid the day he was supposed to be talking to her about their relationship but it couldn’t be helped. He had gone over there that night but she’d been asleep on the couch and he had sat there watching her sleep for over an hour. The spinning emotions in his head had seemed to settle inside him as he watched the way she slowly breathed in and out while she lay there.
He’d left close to dawn, not wanting to wake her because he would bet she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time. That was a mistake; he should have woken her up because the next day when he had tried to explain what happened, she’d given him the cold shoulder and locked him out of her room after dashing into it before he could stop her. He had decided to let her cool down, which had been his second mistake because five days later he still hadn’t caught her alone so they could talk.
Yesterday he’d tried to break into the room she was staying in at the rec center but it had a steel door and it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon despite his banging on it. He’d also scared the other women who were still staying there and he’d felt like an ass. Iron sighed, wondering how long she would make him wait before she agreed to talk to him.
“Huh, you’d think after months of training she wouldn’t pull this crap with you,” Iron teased, earning a glare and then a wicked smile that made him pause. The smile on Animal’s face made him nervous because it meant that he had something up his sleeve.
“Yeah, except my woman isn’t the only one there, you know.”
“Ah well, she and Sarah are always trying to get into trouble together so that is nothing new,” Iron told him smiling, relieved that he didn’t have anything to say that he was truly concerned over. That was until Animal’s next words wiped the smile right off his face.
“I didn’t mean Sarah. Roz and Laci are there with them,” Animal s
aid, his smile spreading. “Guess since Roz is single she wants to check out the options and that must be why my woman took her there.”
Iron felt fury spreading through him in a scalding hot mix of possessiveness and anger.
“She isn’t fucking single, asshole,” he gritted out between clenched teeth. She had better not be trying to pick up another man. It was bad enough thinking of her having sex over the years when they were apart but if she let another man touch her now that he knew she was alive, he would fucking kill the son of a bitch. Hell, he might even go back and kill anyone who’d ever touched her if she would tell him who they were. He was that fucked up over Roz. He felt a clawing pit of rage in his stomach every time he thought about it.
“Huh, maybe you ought to tell her that because she seems to think she is,” Animal told him, laughing a little while continuing down the stairs.
“Let’s just fucking get there before I have to kill someone,” Iron told him, ignoring Animal’s knowing smile. He stormed down the stairs with the intent to let Roz know exactly whom she belonged to. He wasn’t ready to say he wanted a relationship but there was no way in hell he was letting another man anywhere near her. That just wasn’t fucking happening. He didn’t bother to respond to Animal’s parting taunt as they climbed on their bikes.
“Maybe you should train her better, Iron.” Animal’s snide laughter faded away as he roared off headed towards Tricky Bitches.
Chapter 9
Pulling up, Iron parked his bike in front of Tricky Bitches, seeing that Reaper had also just pulled up with Bull and Burner getting off their bikes next to him. Iron moved over to them and they walked towards the door. Animal pulled in beside his hog, climbing off his own bike and following them into the building. They paid the cover and headed inside, each of them looking for the small group of women they were here to get.
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