Out of the Darkness: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  The moment I passed through the door I was hit with the scent of stale beer and sweat mixed with an almost metallic aroma of what I could only guess was blood.

  God, this bar was a pit.

  The place was crowded. Not like The Tap Room, but the clientele was about a thousand times rowdier. The vinyl on most of the booths and barstools was torn, some of the chair and table legs looked like they were being held together with duct tape, and I didn’t even want to think about what fluids had spilled on the floor to make it as sticky as it was.

  I kept my shoulders square and my chin up as I shoved through the pulsating crowd, scanning the long room in search of one particular man. I’d only made it a couple yards in when a hand clamped around my elbow and jerked me to a stop.

  My head whipped around, my eyes going to the man’s fingers before slowly traveling up over an excessively hairy arm, a stained grey tee beneath a leather vest, to a scraggly beard, and finally landing on an unattractive face.

  “Seems like my night just started lookin’ up.”

  The loser with a serious beer gut and tobacco stained teeth gave me a lecherous grin that only succeeded in pissing me off further.

  I let out a caustic laugh. “My man, you could have a magic lamp in your pocket with a goddamn genie inside, and you’d still never be that lucky. I’m sure there’s some drunk piece of bar trash around here wearing beer goggles thick enough to think you’re a catch, so I suggest you stay in your lane and go find her.”

  Without giving him a chance to rebut or a backward glance, I jerked my arm from his grasp and continued on my way. I only got a few feet farther when I spotted him, standing nearly a full head above most everyone in the bar.

  A path cleared in front and a haze of red coated my vision as I got my first full look at him, or more to the point, the bottled blonde currently latched onto him like one of those freaking suckerfish you always see stuck to the side of aquariums.

  He was turned in her direction, putting his back to me as I came to a stop a foot away. “Fucking seriously?” I hissed.

  At the sound of my voice, Xander shot up straight and jerked around to face me. “Sage? What—”

  “This is why you bailed on me tonight?” I barked, stabbing my finger toward Barfly Barbie before letting out an incredulous laugh. “Really?”

  “Excuse me, but he’s with me,” the chick snapped, but Xander spoke before I could say anything to her.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Xander barked, looking about as mad as I felt. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “Oh, you’re right about that. And if this place is your scene and these are the people you want to hang with, I’m thinking I shouldn’t be around you either.”

  I took a step back and began to turn when I was stopped by Xander grabbing my wrist. He looked down at me, his eyes flashing. “This isn’t a safe place. What the fuck were you thinkin’, comin’ here by yourself?”

  “I was thinking that I spent forty-five minutes sitting at a table all by myself, waiting for a man I thought was my friend to show up, looking like a complete idiot,” I clipped. “I was thinking that same asshole read every one of the messages I sent him tonight, asking where he was, and didn’t even have enough respect for me to reply. And I was thinking that it was my right to look him in his face so I could tell him to go fuck himself.”

  I caught his wince, but I was beyond caring.

  “Jesus, baby. Who the fuck is this bitch? She’s totally harshin’ my buzz,” Barfly Barbie stated.

  I looked over at her and took in her leopard print bustier and micro-mini pleather skirt. I had to hand it to Xander, the chick was hot. I just hoped she was worth him fucking up our friendship. “You know what? I’m done. You guys have fun.” I looked back at Xander. “And if I were you, I’d double bag it, for sure.”

  I shook his hold off and turned on my heels, starting for the door.

  I could feel him behind me and picked up the pace. “Sage, wait—”

  “Oh, hell no,” I shouted over my shoulder as I kept moving. “I’ve waited for you enough tonight, and I’m done. Like I said, you can go fuck yourself!”

  Being so much smaller, I was able to squeeze through the crowd easier than he could. I was almost home free when the beer-gutted biker from earlier cut me off.

  “You know, you got a smart fuckin’ mouth. Lucky for you, I know just what to do with bitches who talk too goddamn much.” He grabbed my arm again, this time his fingers squeezing to the point of pain.

  “Really, asshole? I swear to god if you don’t get your hand off me, you’ll be leaving here in a fucking ambulance.” I gave my arm a jerk, which only made his grip tighten so much I winced. There was going to be a bruise there tomorrow for sure.

  He got closer, the stench of cigarettes and pure rage radiating from him. “Maybe you won’t be such a fuckin’ smartass with that mouth and cunt stuffed full of cock, huh? Me and my boys’ll fuck that fight right outta you.”

  I caught movement from the corner of my eye. His boys were moving in, ready to do their leader’s bidding.

  Over my dead fucking body.

  My other arm shot out, grabbing a discarded beer bottle from the bar a few inches away. With a swing, I smashed it upside his head. The fat ass dropped like a sack of bricks, out for the count.

  I had a few moments after that to brace while his buds shook off their shock at my taking their leader out. As soon as they regained what little wits they had, they’d jump to their boy’s defense. I had to be ready.

  But before any of them could move, I heard a loud crash from behind me, followed by an angry roar that turned my blood to ice.

  Before any of the other guys circling could advance, Xander came smashing into the fray.

  And then shit really hit the fan.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sage

  I’d never seen anything like it in my life. And considering I’d seen my dad and his buddies in more than one drunken brawl—each of them more than capable of holding their own—that was really saying something.

  Xander took on five guys at once. Five. And he wiped the freaking floor with them. It was like he was possessed or something. I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or if he was just impervious to pain, but it was like the blows the other guys landed were nothing.

  It all happened so fast I could barely keep up. One second I was holding a piece of broken brown glass in my hand, and the next I was being dragged through the pile of bodies scattered around the sticky floor—only one of which was my doing.

  People parted like the Red Sea for Xander, and I had to run to keep up with his long, furious strides eating up the distance between us and the door. “Xander, slow down,” I snapped when I stumbled over my heels. He didn’t listen. A second later we cleared the door to the bar and made it to the parking lot.

  “Fuck me,” the guy manning the door grunted as soon as he saw us, his eyes going big at the sight of an infuriated Xander. “Christ, Caine. If I’d known she was yours, no way in fuck I woulda let her in.”

  “I’m not his,” I bit back at the man just before I tripped again. “Xander!” I shouted, giving my wrist a vicious tug. “Slow. Down!” He didn’t let go, but my yank forced him to at least stop.

  He spun around, his face like thunder as he bent toward me and bellowed, “What the fuck were you thinking?” right in my face, and for the first time, I was actually scared of him.

  “Let me go,” I said, my voice coming out shaky and quiet, but it was as if he didn’t hear me.

  “Do you have any goddamn clue what could’ve happened to you in there? Have you lost your goddamn mind? Do you have any idea what those assholes could’ve done to you? What they wanted to do to you?”

  Oh, I was more than aware. “I had it under control,” I gritted between clenched teeth. “I took the ring leader down without any help from you, thank you very much.”

  “And those other pricks were just waiting to pounce! It would’ve been five
on one. And newsflash, Shortcake. I don’t care how big a badass you think you are. You. Would. Have. Lost! And not a goddamn soul in there but me would’ve helped.”

  His face morphed just then, his lips turning up in a sneer so ugly it chilled me to my bones as he took a step in closer. His fingers around my wrist tightened, reminding me of just how much smaller than him I was and that he had the power to break me with minimal effort. “What is it, little girl? Were you in the mood for a rough and dirty fuck? That why you came out here tonight? Lookin’ for that little touch of fear to get you off? You know, if you had a taste for danger, all you had to do was say so. I’d have given it to you good, baby. And you wouldn’t have had to start a bar fight to get it.”

  Righteous indignation combatted my fear, and my back went straight like liquid steel had just been poured down my spine. Before I knew it was happening, my arm reared back and I slapped him so hard the sound of my palm colliding with his cheek cracked through the night air like lightning.

  My palm stung like I’d just stuck it in an ant bed, and my fingerprints formed instantly on the patch of skin above his beard, but I didn’t care. “Fuck you,” I shouted, lifting up on my toes to get even closer. “I wouldn’t have had to come here tonight if you hadn’t been a complete fucking dick and stood me up! You’re supposed to be my friend. But apparently your word to me doesn’t mean shit when you’re in the mood to get your dick wet in some bar skank!”

  His voice lowered, but that didn’t mean the anger was gone. It was still there, bubbling and boiling at the surface as he hissed, “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about.”

  “You’re right. You said it yourself, after all. I don’t even know you. And guess what, asshole. If this is the real you”—I waved my arm toward the bar—“I don’t want to know you. God!” I boomed, throwing my free arm out and shouting to the sky. “What is it, Xander? Do you want me to hate you? Is that it?”

  “Yes,” he thundered so loudly I felt that one word course through my body, causing my limbs to tremble as I stood there, flabbergasted.

  “What?” I managed to get out in a pained whisper. It felt like I’d just been hit in the stomach so hard all the air expelled from my lungs.

  He suddenly released my arm like my skin burned him and took two gigantic steps back, raking his hands through his hair. “I need to make you hate me, because I can’t hate you,” he said on a growl. “I’ve wanted you from the moment you threw me attitude outside that goddamn coffee shop, and I can’t make myself stop, no matter how fuckin’ hard I try. So, yeah, I have to make you hate me so you’ll be the one to walk away, because I can’t.”

  “I don’t—walk away? Why? I don’t understand.”

  “I’m fucking toxic, Sage. Don’t you see that? I’m poison, and the longer you’re around, the more I put you at risk of letting my bullshit infect you.”

  “Oh my god.” A bubble of incredulous laughter burst past my lips before I clipped, “You’re unbelievable! All I see standing in front of me right now is a coward. You said I don’t know you? Well, guess what, Xander? You don’t know me, either. Especially if you think I’m so weak-willed I’d actually let someone else have influence over my life. You think you’re so powerful your bullshit could actually taint me? Clue the hell in. No one dictates a thing in my life except me! And I’ll tell you this. I am stronger than you, because you might not be able to walk away, but I sure as hell can. And I don’t need to hate you to do it. All it took was for me to see that you don’t bring anything to my life worth having.”

  With that, I spun on my awesome shoes and started for my car. I made it exactly one step before I was grabbed and whipped back around. But, this time, instead of keeping my wrist in his hand Xander used his grip on me to pull until I collided with his chest. The instant I did, those big arms came around me, squeezing tight and lifting me off the ground while his head came down and his lips smashed against mine.

  I froze for approximately half a second before my brain reengaged and I went into action. Squeezing my hands between our bodies, I pressed my palms into him and shoved hard at the same time I kicked my feet out, hoping to connect with his shins. He put me down, but only loosened his hold instead of letting me go completely.

  A fire burned deep in my belly, fueled by rage and lust, and I reared back, giving him another shove that forced him to drop his arms and take a step back. “You.” And another. “Stupid.” Then another. “Asshole.”

  Then something between us snapped. The lust snuffed out everything else I was feeling, and I lunged—literally. Flying through that short distance, I looped my arms around his neck and crashed my lips against his.

  Xander got with the program immediately, bending low and running his massive palms down my outer thighs before squeezing.

  I read what that touch meant and gave a little hop, wrapping my legs around his waist as our mouths battled. His tongue forced its way past my lips only for me to use my own to push it back. It was an angry, brutal push and pull. We both took and took with that kiss. I took each of his panted breaths into my lungs, and he did the same.

  One of his hands snaked down, cupping the cheek of my ass and giving it a hard squeeze as I raked my nails over his back and scalp.

  A moan slipped past my lips and down his throat when I felt the huge hard-on straining behind his fly brush against my most sensitive place, making me wet.

  Oxygen became imperative, and finally forced us apart after what felt like an eternity of the hottest, most volatile make-out session I’d ever had.

  “Let’s go,” Xander grunted, placing me on my feet and holding me upright as my unsteady legs gave a wobble. When he knew I had them under control, he slid his long fingers between mine and started pulling me in the opposite direction of my car.

  “Where are we going?” He didn’t bother give me an answer. “Wait . . .” I tried again, glancing back over my shoulder. “My car.”

  He stopped in front of the doorman. “Butch, eyes on that Mustang all night,” he ordered in a clipped voice, pointing back at my baby. “I find so much as a scratch on that ride tomorrow, I’m taking it outta you. Physically.”

  “Not a scratch,” the guy repeated. “Got it.” He then looked to me, one corner of his mouth trembling with the need to grin. “Fine ass ride, sweetness.”

  “Thanks,” I called back as I was dragged farther away. “She’s my bab—” My last word was cut off on a startled yelp when Xander gave my hand a tug that sent me flying. “What the hell?” I cried, looking up at him. “Stop throwing me around like a goddamn ragdoll!”

  His lips came down in another kiss, this one much faster, but no less hard and effective. Then he threw a long leg over his Harley and straddled it. “Climb on, Shortcake.”

  “Xander, I don’t—”

  Fisting the front of my shirt, he kissed me again, this time sliding his tongue in and flicking the tip against mine in a way that made me shiver. When he pulled back and spoke again, his voice was much softer. “Climb on, baby.”

  In a lust drunk haze, I did as ordered, stepping onto the foothold and carefully throwing my still-wobbly leg over.

  Once I was settled, he reached back and grabbed my hands, pulling them around his waist so I was pinned to his back from my chest all the way to where his hips were nestled between my thighs.

  “Need you to touch me,” he ground out, guiding one of my hands lower until it came to rest on his erection. Just the feel of it beneath the denim was enough to set me on fire. I ran the heel of my palm down its impressive length before grabbing it the best I could and squeezing, pulling a grunt from deep within Xander’s chest.

  “That’s it, Sage. Keep strokin’ me.” Then the bike kicked to life, and we were off.

  I kept my ministrations slow and steady as we rode, just enough to keep him on edge, but not nearly enough to push him over. Pressing my tits harder against his back, I leaned in to speak close to his ear.

  “Keep it steady,” I commanded on an
upward slide of my hand.

  “I will.”

  The chill of the wind across my skin did nothing to calm my heated body as he wound his bike along the mountain roads. The longer I touched him the hotter I became. It wasn’t nearly enough for me. I was ravenous. Using my chin to brush his hair aside, I latched onto the cord of his neck, licking and sucking his skin as I continued to massage his cock.

  I could hear his growl over the wind whipping past us, and it drove me wild. I continued to work him as I ground myself against his ass, so desperate for some sort of relief that I ached.

  “Hurry, baby,” I breathed into his ear before drawing the lobe into my mouth and biting down.

  Before I knew it, we’d come to a stop. I looked up, and the one beam of his headlight lit up the side of Xander’s cabin. I had no idea how he managed to concentrate, let alone keep us from crashing, because I couldn’t focus on anything but him.

  “Off,” he grunted, sounding positively feral.

  It took me a second to coordinate my limbs enough to climb off, but the instant my feet hit gravel, he was shooting up and grabbing hold of me just as he’d done in the parking lot of Rebels.

  He walked to the house through the pitch black with his lips fused with mine, not missing a single step or tripping once.

  I would have taken the time to be impressed when he made it up the steps and into the house that same way, but I was too busy concentrating on how to absorb into him to focus on anything else.

  He kicked the door shut with his big, booted foot, and only once we were inside did he put me down. But it wasn’t to let me go. His hands came around and grasped my hips so firmly I couldn’t get away if I tried—not that I wanted to.

  When he looked down at me, his eyes completely glazed over, I knew I was in for one hell of a night.

  Then he spoke. “The moment you climbed on my bike tonight, you became mine. Now there’s no going back.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a threat or a promise.