Heart of Steel

by Cathleen Cole

  What the hell is wrong with these people? Furiously, I flattened my left hand against his side and tried to push away from him. The look he shot at me as he, once again, tightened his arm, made every bit of moisture flee my mouth. He glared down at me, his eyes flashing dangerously. It was a warning to stay put.

  I considered my options. I could elbow this guy, like I had the last, and run, but that would mean leaving Bridget. I couldn’t even find her in the crowd of tall bikers. The crowd cheered as the two men went down on the floor and they started wrestling for the best position. I went back to my plans. I could stand here and let this guy manhandle me.

  Nope, not an option, I thought grimly. I settled for plan C.

  I snuck a sideways glance at his face. He was back to watching the fight. The sound of bone hitting bone and grunts of pain filled the air when the crowd wasn’t cheering. Someone had turned the music off when the fight started.

  “Hey Steel!” Someone called and gray eyes looked over and focused on someone across the room. Steel? Why did bikers always have oddball names? He raised his other arm, signaling to two guys who started pushing their way to where the fighters were still pummeling each other. I couldn’t tell if Gunnar was drunk too, but even drunk, both of these guys could fight. They seemed pretty evenly matched.

  As the guys rushed the ring, I realized they were about to break the fight up. That meant my window of opportunity to get away from Steel was closing fast. His thickly muscled bicep was heavy around my shoulder and despite liking how he smelled I wasn’t about to hang around here for another minute.

  As he watched the others I quickly ducked, bending almost all the way forward. Once his hand had slipped off my hip, I stepped back and then to the side, accidentally hitting the top of my head on his side as I ducked the rest of the way under his arm. I didn’t hesitate for a minute. Once I’d cleared his body, I ran.

  I didn’t hear him over the noise, but I knew he was coming after me. My heart pounding, I darted around the outside of the circle, trying to find Bridget. I caught a flash of pink out of the corner of my eye and slowed for a fraction of a second. That was all it took. It felt like a freight train rammed into me from behind. Two muscular arms wrapped around me, one under my breasts, the other over my hips, and Steel picked me up. I dangled there as he took a few more steps. He’d been trying to stop. Rather than run me over he’d just brought me along with him.

  Once he set me back on my feet, I started struggling again. There was no way I was going to stand here and wait to be dragged upstairs. I yelped in surprise when Steel whipped me around to face him. Stormy gray eyes searched mine for a heartbeat. Before I knew what was happening my world turned upside down. He’d thrown me over his shoulder.

  Oh. My. God. I was fuming. I didn’t think guys did this kind of shit anymore. I pounded my fists on his back.

  “Put me down, you fucking asshole!”

  Chapter 11

  Steel

  The brunette was a wildcat. She was punching my back as hard as she could. They weren’t dainty little slaps either. The girl could throw fists. Luckily, since she was currently draped over my shoulder, there wasn’t any real power behind her hits. Not that it would have stopped me either way. I slapped my free hand across her ass. Chuckling at her yelp, I listened to her cuss me out, but it made her stop hitting me.

  Gunnar and I had just walked into the clubhouse when we saw our girls being led across the floor towards the stairs going up to the bedrooms. We had to run over to Cade’s house and had missed their arrival. Normally, that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but an hour earlier five of our MC’s nomads had shown up unexpectedly. That was why we were at Cade’s in the first place. These guys traveled around to the different chapters in our MC. We had chapters all over the country and they stuck around for a while until they moved on again, never staying in one place for long.

  All our brothers who were here permanently had been warned not to touch the two girls Gunnar and I were bringing tonight. That message hadn’t been passed on to these assholes. Two of them were good guys. The other three, there was a reason they didn’t belong anywhere.

  I carried her all the way to Cade’s house. Striding up the porch steps I was about to step in when the door opened. I might have laughed at the look on Cade’s face as he saw us there in the doorway if the girl hadn’t started struggling again. An impressive string of profanity spewed out of her mouth. I could see my president trying not to laugh as he stepped aside to let me into his house.

  We had fifteen acres that the clubhouse sat on. We’d built homes for the president and VP. Once the rest of the officers, myself included, got sick of living in the dorm-style rooms that sat on the top floor of the clubhouse, we’d build homes for ourselves as well. Usually, the guys moved out once they got married and started having kids. Cade and Riggs just liked having their own space. I found it easier to stay in the clubhouse so I could keep an eye on things.

  Cade strode out of the house, shutting the door behind him without saying anything. I heard her make a sound of frustration. “I’m getting a headache. Put me down. Now.” I smirked at the authority in her voice. She wasn’t in any position to be making demands. But I didn’t plan on carrying her over my shoulder all night. I swung her down and set her on her feet. She swayed as all the blood rushed back to her head, so I held onto her shoulder to steady her.

  She stepped back, swatting at my hand on her shoulder, and her eyes darted around the house. She was looking for the exit points. “I need you to stay here for a bit.” I tried not to growl, but my deep voice didn’t sound reassuring at the best of times. It certainly didn’t now, judging by the look on her face. Seeing Ty with his hands on her had sent rage rocketing through me. I was still riding the high. I sighed when she flinched.

  “Look, just have a seat.” I gestured to the couch behind her. “I’m not going to do anything to you. Those guys you were with aren’t usually here, and they didn’t know that you and your friend were off-limits.” Her gorgeous eyes flashed up to mine. “Gunnar is giving them the message.”

  Chapter 12

  Remi

  “Off-limits? Why would you have to tell them that people are off-limits? I’m pretty sure anyone with a brain knows you don’t fucking touch without consent.” Except the guys hadn’t bothered with that. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they would have just stopped to talk to us, but his next words sent an icy dread swirling through my stomach.

  “These aren’t frat parties. There is a different set of rules here.” He ran a hand over his short, dark hair. “If a woman isn’t someone’s old lady, kid, or isn’t claimed, it’s assumed they’re a club bunny.” My brows drew together in confusion.

  “A club bunny?”

  “Women who specifically come to these parties to get drunk and fuck. Most of the time no one bothers asking because they’re fully aware of what they’re here for.” My mouth dropped open. Women wanted that? I mean, yeah, a lot of the guys here were gorgeous, so I guess I couldn’t fully blame them.

  “Those guys thought we were here to…” I trailed off, realizing that I was sitting in a random house, alone, with this guy. My eyes slid to the front door.

  “Do. Not. Run.” He growled it out between gritted teeth. He must have read my expression. “Until we get shit straightened up out there, it’s not safe for you to be running around. A couple of those nomads aren’t known for being gentlemen.”

  I scoffed. Like any of these guys were even close to the realm of gentlemen. But I got what he was saying. They were worse than bad. A thought occurred to me. “Bridget!”

  “She’s fine. Trip was hanging onto her until Gunnar finished pounding the message into Red’s face.” He crossed those huge arms over his chest. I took this completely inappropriate time to study his tattoos. It was hard not to notice the one across the front of his throat. I peeked at his left arm and could tell by the pattern that it continued up under his shirt. I wondered how far up
his shoulder it went.

  “Look, if you promise not to take off, I’ll go grab you a drink.” I nodded my assent. He gave me a hard look before he went through the doorway, leaving me to think about the life choices that had landed me here.

  It was like Alice in Wonderland. Bridget said these guys lived a different lifestyle, but I hadn’t realized what she’d meant until now. My thoughts were a complete jumble. I guess Steel had just been trying to help me. But I still didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Eyeballing his huge frame standing in the kitchen I estimated that was about zero feet.

  I was also still worried about Bridget. At the same time, I’d been mentally throwing every curse word in the book at her since I was first slung over Steel’s shoulder. I would say I couldn’t believe that she got us into this mess, but really, I could. The situations she’d managed to get us into hadn’t been this bad in a while. The last time was in the funhouse with that clown… I shuddered at the memory but shook the thoughts away when Steel walked back in with two glasses.

  He handed one to me, then pulled the coffee table backward, one-handed. He sat down on it, facing me. I glanced down into my glass and tried to figure out what I was about to drink. Drinking wasn’t something I indulged in often, but if it could chase away the cold in the pit of my stomach that flared up anytime I thought about what could have happened, then I’d happily drink a whole bottle.

  Steel took a long swallow of his and I lifted my glass. Something occurred to me and I quickly dropped it back down. Steel’s eyebrows rose as he studied my face. A look of recognition appeared on his face and then he rolled his eyes at me. He leaned forward and snatched the glass out of my hand. He drank a small amount out of my glass and then handed it back to me. He must have been able to see the conflict on my face. It was unnerving how well this man could read me. I’d never really considered whether I was easily readable before now. I wondered if I was or if he was just good at it?

  “Hey.” He waited until my eyes met his. “I won’t rape you. I won’t drug you. I won’t hurt you. I would never do anything like that to any woman. But I especially wouldn’t do anything to you.” His tone was so starkly honest that it left no doubt that he was telling the truth.

  His declaration eased some of the indecision warring in my brain. I took a swallow of what turned out to be whiskey. I coughed into my hand. I hated whiskey. Steel smirked, then stretched his long legs out in front of him. His boots were now sitting next to me in front of the couch.

  “What’s your name?”

  I responded without thinking about it. “Remi.” As soon as it was out of my mouth, I wondered if I should have told him that.

  Oh well, at least he doesn’t know my last name.

  “Steel.”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  Something I couldn’t read flashed in his eyes. “How do you know my name?” His voice was deadly calm, emphasis on the deadly.

  “Oh, I heard someone at the fight call for you. You answered it, so I figured that was you.” I finished lamely as he just watched me quietly. I had never been around another guy that made me this nervous. He reminded me of a predator. He said he wouldn’t hurt me, and I believed him. But when he went still and intense like that, it was like he was a large cat, maybe a tiger or a mountain lion.

  I took another sip of my drink and then licked the whiskey off my lips. He relaxed slightly when I reminded him that someone had used his name. His gaze dropped to my mouth and held there so long that I finally cleared my throat. He looked back up and focused on my eyes. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. I’d never seen eyes the color of his before. They were beautiful and hypnotizing. I broke the contact.

  I rolled the glass between my palms. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about what happened tonight. Maybe it was an unintentional fuck up that happened because of a miscommunication and lack of knowledge of the rules. How was I supposed to feel about Bridget potentially dating Gunnar? Knowing that these are the kinds of situations she could be in on any given day? I peeked up and saw Steel still watching me. How should I feel about that? He wasn’t watching me with friendly concern.

  Despite my lack of dating for the past year, I wasn’t a nun. I knew when a man was interested in me. I couldn’t lie to myself either, I was sexually interested in him. God, I hope it’s only sexual.

  Who wouldn’t be attracted to this guy? I thought as I eyed him as discreetly as I could. But something told me this man only did things on his terms, and I would need things to happen my way right now. There were so many things that were a night and day difference between his world and mine that even if I had the time, I wasn’t sure I could give myself over to him. The way he was looking at me had my brain, heart, and libido going to war with each other. I was getting tied up in knots and he was sitting there looking completely calm.

  “If you think any harder, your brain will stall.” I looked up and gave him a soft laugh.

  “I’ve been known to overanalyze occasionally.” That was putting it mildly. I mentally shrugged. I didn’t consider it to be an overly negative trait. In relationships, it sure was. But in other areas of my life? Examining a problem from every angle often helped me see the best course of action without having to fail first.

  “What would make you feel better?” I blinked and asked myself the same question. “Would it help if I answered some questions? About myself. Maybe a little about the club, although there isn’t much, I can tell you there.” I nodded with a small smile. I was surprised he was willing to tell me anything. I wondered if this was the first time he’d offered to talk with someone. I hadn’t been around him long, but it seemed like he wasn’t much of a talker. Steel made a ‘go-ahead’ gesture.

  “Steel. Metal or action?”

  He looked at me strangely. “Metal.”

  “Uh-huh and is that your real name or nickname?”

  “It’s my road name.” He said shortly. I chuckled to myself with how brisk and short his answers were.

  “What’s the difference between a road name and a nickname? One sounds tougher?” He glowered at me and crossed his muscular arms but didn’t answer. I decided I should probably stop teasing the guy who could drag me out back and kill me without anyone knowing.

  I looked down at the tattoos on his arm. They went all the way up from his wrist to disappear beneath the sleeve of his t-shirt. I wonder how many more he had? A naughty voice whispered in my head and asked where else he had them? I felt my face heat up. The ringtone on my phone blared into the silence, making me jump.

  I pulled my phone out and groaned when Uncle Caleb’s name showed up. I started to answer, but before I could, Steel’s hand shot out and gripped my wrist, pulling it toward him. I looked at him incredulously and tried to pull my hand, with my phone in it, back toward me. He tightened his grip, and it felt like he was seconds away from grinding the bone in my arm down to powder. Fury flashed in his eyes.

  “What the hell, Steel?”

  “Boyfriend?” His accusation came out short and choppy. I was so confused I gave in and let him pull my hand close enough that he could read it. He frowned when he saw Uncle Caleb on the screen. “Don’t tell him where you are.” He released my wrist, and I answered the phone while staring at him like he’d grown another head. I don’t know why he cared if it was a boyfriend calling.

  “Hey Uncle Caleb, is everything okay?”

  I heard him pause before answering. “Where are you?”

  “I’m at a party with Bridget.” I shifted in my seat.

  Steel hadn’t stopped doing that intense stare thing. Stop it, I mouthed at him.

  His eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline and though he looked amused at my demand he didn’t stop what he was doing.

  I gave him a frustrated look. Maybe he didn’t realize he was constantly giving me a broody stare?

  “Seriously, Remi? You’re out partying when you know we have a lot to do tomorrow?” I sighed at the disappointment in his tone.

&nb
sp; “I’ll be in tomorrow, Uncle Caleb. I promise. I just needed to blow off a little steam.” His silence stretched out longer than was comfortable.

  “You should be focusing on school. You should be focusing on the company. What you shouldn’t be doing is partying.” He snapped. I closed my eyes and tried to take steadying breaths.

  I am not going to lose my cool, I chanted in my head, I am not going to lose my cool, I am not going…

  “Your father would be heartbroken to see you throwing his company away so you can go and get wasted.”

  That fucking did it. “You know what, Uncle Caleb?” I shouted into the phone, too pissed off to notice the dangerous look Steel shot at me.

  “Maybe dad would be fucking disappointed that his lazy ass brother is pressuring his twenty-one-year-old daughter into killing herself trying to finish school and graduate early so that she can run his company. The company that you promised him, on his fucking death bed, that you would run for the next three years so that I could get my degree and learn the ropes.”

  Tears of frustration and exhaustion stung my eyes. The tension was so thick I could feel it across the connection. It had been a hell of a night so far, and I was close to my breaking point. Honestly, with how hard it’d been since dad died; I’ve been at my breaking point for months.

  “You know what, Remi?” I flinched at his cold tone and the way he threw my words back in my face. “Why don’t you take the weekend off? I’ll deal with the vendors tomorrow and I’ll see you Monday night.” The connection cut off. He wasn’t being nice, giving me the weekend off. No, that was a punishment. A fuck you, I don’t want to see your face for a few days. I loved my uncle; I really did, but the stress of dad’s death and running the company had us at each other’s throats more days than not. It felt like he was constantly pushing me to hurry up. Finish school faster. Learn the business faster. Do everything better. Sometimes it felt like he wanted me to quit. Only he always insisted he didn’t want Mackenzie’s.