“Can we not talk about this anymore?” Talking about Rack and the Captains had drained me.
“We’re done for now.”
Ugh. For now? “How about we’re done talking about that for forever?”
Maniac chuckled. “You still got a long way to go.”
“I’m fine, Maniac. There isn’t anything more I can do about it.” That was true. It happened. I couldn’t go back and change it.
“You’re not fine, but you will be.”
I laid my head on his shoulder and sighed. “You wanna watch a movie?”
“Only if I get to pick,” he rumbled.
It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. “Deal. You pick the movie, and I’ll get the cake.”
“Mmm, cake.”
I patted him on the stomach. “I figured you would like that idea.” I was finding the way into Maniac's good graces was through his stomach.
I wonder if the same was for his heart?
*
Maniac
I pointed the remote at the TV and turned it off. The movie had ended an hour ago, and I had watched two reruns of Roseanne while Wren slept tucked under my arm.
After she had crawled out of my lap on the porch, she had cut two huge slices of cake while I picked Indiana Jones to watch. She had grumbled her protest when she had seen what I had put on, but I reminded her she had agreed to my movie pick.
We had started out watching the movie side by side on the couch with both of our feet kicked up on the coffee table. After I finished the best piece of cake I had ever eaten, I set my plate on the table and helped Wren finish off hers. I was a sucker for anything she made, her chocolate cake included.
An hour into the movie, she started to nod off with her head kinked to the side. I managed to maneuver her to lie down with me with little protest. Our long ride and talk on the porch had taken its toll on her.
My mind went to the things she had said while I stared into the darkness.
Her words had fueled the fire that had been burning deep inside me. I knew horrible things had happened to her, but knowing exactly what it was pissed me the fuck off.
A man who had a woman in the palm of his hand sells her in a fucking card game? Rack and the rest of the Hell Captains didn’t deserve to live.
And I was going to be the man to make sure they didn’t breathe for much longer.
The Hell Captains were dead.
*
Chapter 11
Wren
My firm pillow gently moved up and down.
I cracked open one eye to see I was in bed, but I wasn’t alone.
Maniac was sprawled out on my bed, his bare shoulder beneath my head, and my hand splayed on his stomach.
Well, this is nice.
But how had it happened? I remembered complaining about Maniac’s movie choice, eating cake, and then from what I can gather, I had passed out. But how did I get into bed with Maniac?
“Jesus, darlin’. I can hear your brain churning away.”
I tilted my head back and looked into his eyes. “You cannot hear me thinking.”
He quirked his eyebrow and gave me a lazy smile. “Trust me, I can.”
“Then I’ll just ask you instead of thinking. How did we get into bed?”
Maniac ran his fingers through his hair. “We fell asleep on the couch. I picked you up to put you in bed, and you refused to let me go when I tried to lay you down.”
My eyes bugged out. “Say what?” There was no way in hell that happened.
“Swear on my bike. You wouldn’t let me go,” he replied smugly.
Talk about my subconscious knowing what I really wanted. “I was really tired.” Not like that explained anything.
“You were, darlin’. You were out not even halfway through the movie.”
I curled my hand that was on his stomach in a ball and tried to ignore the feel of his skin. “That’s because I don’t like that movie.”
“I’m going to ignore the fact you just said that.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know I don’t like that movie.”
“And you know I couldn’t watch Dirty Dancing again without have to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.”
“Such a vivid statement for so early in the morning.”
Maniac pulled his phone from his pocket. “It’s nine-thirty. Hardly early by anyone’s standards.”
I buried my face into his neck and inhaled deeply. “How is it you smell so good?”
“Not sure how to answer that one.”
“It was more of a statement,” I mumbled. I couldn’t even blame the wine for my random statements since I was stone cold sober. “One I should have kept it in my head.”
“Too much bullshit in there, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. Something I seemed to do a lot when he was around. “Your theory lacks facts and research.”
“Facts and research? How about the fact I know you got bullshit up there because you told me. There is your research, too. Went straight to the source.”
“Just stop talking,” I murmured. I wasn’t going to be able to win an argument against him when my brain was foggy and all I wanted was a huge ass cup of coffee. “I should move the coffee maker next to the bed.”
“It’s a one room cabin, darlin’. It ain’t far away.”
Smartass. “It would be better if it were right next to me so I didn’t have to get out of bed.”
Maniac slid out from under me and rolled off the bed. “Breakfast in bed?”
He looked down at me, and I couldn’t help but stare at his naked chest. My mouth went dry and every thought left my head. Maniac cleared his throat, and I tore my eyes of his chest. “Uh, what was the question?” I asked sheepishly.
“Breakfast in bed?”
I looked around blankly. “Uh, I’m not sure I understand the question?” Was he going to make me breakfast, or was he breakfast?
He planted his hands on the bed and leaned down to me. “You keep looking at me like that, and I’ll give you exactly what your mind is thinking.”
How in the hell did he know what I was thinking? I blinked slowly and tried to clear my mind. He can’t read your mind, Wren. You’re just panting after him like a dog in heat. “I’d love breakfast in bed. Eggs, sausage,” my eyes flicked down to his crotch, “and um, eggs.”
“You said eggs twice.”
I gulped and looked up into his green eyes. “What can I say, I’m into eggs.” Add that to the list of things I never thought I would say.
“You sure you don’t want another kind of breakfast?”
I shook my head. “Nope, nope. Totally just want eggs.”
“With more eggs,” he clarified.
Such a smartass. “Can we go back to sleep and forget everything?”
“No. Not this time, darlin’. I say we eat breakfast and then take a ride down to Weston for the day.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Um, do we have to go to Weston? I’d rather take a ride to nowhere.”
Maniac shook his head. “I wasn’t asking what you wanted to do.”
He strolled into the kitchen and filled the coffee pot with water. “I thought we were supposed to be laying low because of the Hell Captains?”
He shut off the faucet and dumped the water into the back of the coffee maker. “I’m gonna try something different. Well, I take that back. I want to try something different, but I need to run it by the club before I go through with it.”
“And what is that?”
He grimaced and grabbed the huge container of coffee. “Club business.”
I watched the muscles in his back stretch and twist as he reached up into the cabinet and pulled down the pack of filters. “But doesn’t it have to do with me?”
“No.”
“But the only reason you guys have to deal with the Hell Captains is because of me. Last I checked, that is the definition of being the reason why something is happening.” I doubt the Hell Captains were even on the Fallen Lords radar before Cora asked them t
o help me. The Hell Captains weren’t on the same level as the Lords. The Captains were a club where all they did was party, while the Lords had their shit together.
“I told you yesterday you don’t have to worry about it. They aren’t going to touch you, and you just need to focus on getting back to the Wren you were before you got involved with them.”
That sounded way easier than it actually was. I couldn’t even remember who that woman was. Hell, did I really want to go back to being the woman who thought she was able to change a man? “What am I supposed to be doing while you’re busy talking about me?”
He dropped a filter into the coffee machine, dumped way too much coffee into it, and flipped on the machine. “We’re not talking about you, darlin’.” He turned around, leaned against the counter, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, you can hang out with all the chicks, and catch up with Jezebel.”
I lifted my head from the pillow. “Jez is there?”
“Yeah. She’s been at the clubhouse since the guys picked her up.”
Say what? “Don’t you think that should have been something you told me two weeks ago when it happened?”
He smugly shook his head. “I mean, I would have if I knew you wouldn’t have demanded to go see her right away.”
“She’s basically my only friend, and I haven’t seen her in years. I think that should have been the first words out of your mouth to me when you found out.” I jumped out of bed and pulled open the top drawer of my dresser. How in the hell did he think it was okay to keep this from me?
“You didn’t really ask what was going on with her, so I didn’t think you wanted to know.”
I grabbed clean panties and a bra and slammed the drawer shut. “I didn’t ask because I figured they were just staying down there with her.”
He shook his head. “We got too much going on in Weston to have me and then two other guys gone. Wrecker made the call to pack up her shit and move her to the clubhouse.”
“So you guys have a ten-year-old living at the clubhouse?” Oh, sweet Jesus, I bet Jezebel was going crazy.
“Yeah,” he replied like it wasn’t the worst idea ever.
“We need to go.” We needed to go two weeks ago, but I was trying to control my rage.
“We will, once we eat.”
I glared at him over my shoulder. “Stick a bagel in your mouth, and you’ll be fine.”
“I’m not sure I like your tone, darlin’.”
After I pulled out a pair of jeans and a black long sleeve thermal, I stalked to the bathroom. “You brought this tone on yourself, Maniac.” I slammed the bathroom door shut behind me and hauled my shirt over my head. “Who the hell does he think he is?” I mumbled under my breath.
“Heard that,” he shouted.
Gah. Damn this tiny cabin with paper-thin walls.
I quickly changed my clothes, throwing my dirty ones on the floor. Normally, I tried to keep the cabin neat and clean since it was so tiny, but right now, I didn’t care about it. “Well, you shouldn’t be able to talk right now because you should be shoving food in your face so we can leave.” I pulled a brush through my hair, grabbed a hair tie, and piled it up on top of my head.
I threw open the door, and Maniac was standing in the same spot, but now he was sipping on a cup of coffee. “I’m not sure why you’re so concerned about your friend being at the clubhouse without you. It’s not like we’re a bunch of barbarians walking around beating our chests and banging any woman we see.”
I leveled my glare on him. “Each and every one of you are alphas who think you’re right. Always.”
“Don’t know where you would have gotten an idea like that from.”
Was he serious? “Let’s see. You kidnapped me. I’m pretty sure Pipe moved in next to Nikki when she specifically left because of him. I’m not sure what alpha thing Nickel did to Karmen, but she’s now about to pop out a baby so I’m sure there was something.” I grabbed my chucks from under the bed. “So, can we go before one of your buddies goes all alpha on poor Jezebel.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not giving your girl enough credit here.”
I hopped from one foot to the other and pulled on my shoes. “I’ve seen you guys in action, hell, I just woke up in bed with you. I don’t think a nun stands a chance against any of you.”
“There’s a compliment in there somewhere,” he muttered.
There was. They were smooth as hell while being gruff, rough, and bossy alphas. They were all a deadly combination. “No comment.” I made my way to the kitchen and decided since he insisted on eating breakfast, I would take over and get us out the door quicker. “Egg sandwich okay?”
He nodded and sipped his coffee while I grabbed a fry pan and set it on the stove.
“I texted Jezebel last week. She didn’t mention anything about being in the same state as me, let alone the fact she was living at the clubhouse.” I poured a little leftover bacon grease into the pan, cracked two eggs into it, then grabbed two bagels from the fridge.
“She was told not to tell you.”
I slowly turned to Maniac. “Controlling alphas,” I growled.
He shrugged. “We’re just keeping everyone safe.”
“You’re delusional.” How was me knowing Jez was at the clubhouse going to make me unsafe? The man was full of hot air.
I popped one of the bagels in the toaster, broke the yoke on the eggs, and grabbed two slices of cheese from the fridge. Maniac watched, not saying a word about his controlling ways.
While I understood what he was saying, and why he did it, I was still a little miffed about the fact he hadn’t told me Jez was at the clubhouse.
After I flipped the eggs, I grabbed the toasted bagel from the toaster, dropped in the other one, and laid the cheese on each egg. “So, am I actually going to get to talk to Jez, or are you going to lock me in your room while you talk to Wrecker.”
Maniac rolled his eyes and finished his coffee. “You’re being rather irrational about this, darlin’.”
Irrational wasn’t the word. Miffed was better. “You need to look at this from my point of view. How would you feel if I knew things that have to do with you, and I didn’t tell you them?”
“If you didn’t tell me about them because they might get me in trouble or hurt me, I would understand it. But you’re not going to know anything like that about me, so your argument is invalid.”
I gritted my teeth and tore off two sections of paper towel. While I slathered butter onto each of the bagels, Maniac pushed off the counter and turned off the stove. “I didn’t want you to go off halfcocked and get yourself in trouble with the Hell Captains. When I say they are dangerous, I mean it.”
I flipped the eggs onto the bagels that were sitting on the paper towels. “You’re talking to the person who lived with them for four months. I know exactly what kind of men they are.” I grabbed the top half of Maniac’s bagel and smashed it down onto the egg. “Eat so we can leave.”
“Now who’s being the bossy one?” he muttered.
“I am because you’re a butthead.”
He shook his head and ripped into the egg sandwich. Even standing in the kitchen, arguing with me, the man was gorgeous. Being shirtless, I could see most of his tattoos from the half sleeve he had on his upper right arm, to the words Fallen Lords stretched across the top of his back. I had gotten a good view of that one when he had walked to the kitchen earlier. He had what looked like two dates over his heart, along with the words mom and dad by them.
“You gonna eat or stand there staring at me all day. I gotta be honest with you, darlin’. You keep that up, and we’ll never leave this cabin.”
My jaw dropped. “Say what?” I gasped.
“Keep looking at my body like you’re a starving man, and I’ll show you exactly what. But I will give you a hint since I know you’re more than speechless right now.”
I nodded. Hints were good. Hints could help me figure out what the hell I was supposed to do with Man
iac. “I’m listening.”
He leaned in, his lips a breath away from mine. “Sleeping all night, having your body pressed up against mine was almost more than I could take. Your soft moans and sighs in your sleep are enough to drive a man crazy with need. The next time I manage to get you into bed, you can bet your sweet ass there is going to be more than sleeping.”
My breath caught. Next time?
He nodded at the sandwich in my hand. “Eat. I’ll get dressed and then we can head to Weston. It’s long ride, and it’ll give you some time to think about what I said.” He leaned back, refilled his coffee cup, and walked into the bathroom.
I blew a wisp of hair out of my eyes and leaned against the counter. “Holy mackerel,” I muttered. Just when I thought I had the upper hand, Maniac had to go and show me just how little I could control the way I felt about him.
Yes, he was an alpha.
Yes, he did whatever he wanted.
Yes, he was an asshole some of the time.
But, and this was a big but, those things weren’t bad.
He was an alpha, but he cared about me. He only wanted to make sure I was safe.
While he did whatever he wanted, he always took my feelings and what I wanted to do into consideration.
And he was an asshole. But did it make sense he was an asshole with a purpose?
So, he was an alpha who did whatever he wanted and unleashed his asshole attitude every now and then when the time called for it. At least I knew it, right?
I sighed and closed my eyes.
As long as the man kept his shirt on and didn’t touch me, I would be fine.
But with my next breath, I hoped for the exact opposite.
I was screwed.
*
Chapter 12
Maniac
“You good?”
Wren looked up at me. “What happens if I’m not good?”
“I’ll find a way to make you good?”
She blushed, and her eyes wandered to over my shoulder. “I’m afraid to ask how you would make it good.”
Fallen Lords MC: Books 1-3 Page 45