Wild Heart (28 page)

“I’ve never been to the top of a mountain,” he smiled down at her. “But, I’d like to go if you’re taking me.”

“Ok, we are going this weekend. We can take my dad too, he loves Buck Bald. You can drive to the top and look out onto all three states, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.”

“I love when you talk about things you’re passionate about. Your eyes light up differently than they normally do. Almost as if they’re sparkling. I can always tell when you truly love something because of these beautiful eyes.” He rolled laying her down onto the bed and kissing her gently.

His hands traveled to the hem of her shirt, lifting it over her breasts and kissed his way down. She felt the warmth of his touch washing over her, leaving her skin on fire from his trail of kisses. His lips wrapped around her taut nipple as he caressed it with his tongue. He stilled, looking up into her eyes, “I wonder if you have that look when you talk about me?”

Her hands made their way to his face, gently brushing her fingers across his beard. She propped herself up on her elbow as she stared into his eyes. “You see, I have this man. He completes me, makes me feel whole again. I never imagined that I’d be where I am right now, but we were fated. Brought together by destiny and for the first time in my life I have found someone that I never want to leave.” She smiled as his lips came down against hers, “You taught me to care for someone so much it hurts, Knox. I can never let that go. You breathed life back into me and if you ever leave I will be soulless.”

His lips met hers with fervor as his hand traveled down, pulling her panties down. His words were desperate and loving as they whispered in her ear. “Aye, it’s there.”

“Knox?”

“Aye, Baby?”

“Love me.”

“I always will.”

CASH

They scoured the house, but she wasn’t there, she was nowhere to be found and now they were back at square one. Cash took in the look on Knox’s face as he emerged from the back of the house. This shit was getting deeper than they had originally thought and it was time to start calling in some reinforcements. Cash made his way out to his Bronco grabbing his radio and calling into the station. He was able to get ahold of Carla Williams, he knew he could trust her since she worked with the Kings on the side. She called his cell and he answered it quickly, hoping she could help shed some light on the situation.

“Hey, Carla, I need some help.” He explained what had happened up until this point, asking her for any other information on the situation.

“Give me just a second to pull something up. We got a call a day or so ago, bunch of bikers heading up past Mrs. Alma Jean’s farm. Said they kept scaring the cows.” He could hear her typing feverishly on her laptop. “We went up there, but most of them had cleared out. I am pretty sure that Cooper had mentioned it wasn’t the regular local club.”

“What’s that address?” Cash asked as his heart skipped. Maybe by a stroke of luck they would find her.

“Twenty seven, Green Dairy Road. You are gonna go all the way to the end and it’ll be the driveway to your left. I will meet you up there.”

“Ten-four. Thank you, Carla.” Cash hung up the phone and sprinted back toward the door of the house. As he got closer he could hear shouting coming from inside the door. He walked in to find Knox, Charon, and Jameson surrounding one of the Renegades who’d made it through the raid alive.

“Where is she?” Knox shouted toward the man, his gun aimed at the side of his head. “Or so help me, I will send you to whatever God you worship.”

“Fuck you, King.” The man spit into Knox’s face. Cash watched as the hatred on Knox’s face flamed and the stock of his pistol slammed hard across the man’s face. Blood splattering out against the floor from his busted mouth.

“If you don’t tell me where she is I am going to cut you open. Starting with your balls.” Knox tucked his pistol into the back of his pants as he withdrew a switchblade knife from his pocket and ripped the man’s pants open. The man squirmed as Knox pressed the blade of the knife against his bare flesh.

“You wanna know where she is? She’s throat deep in Renegade cock right now. Wanted information on your club and she wouldn’t talk so we tried to fuck it out of her. But the dirty whore liked it, begged for more.” He grinned his bloody face up at Knox. His words tearing into the very fiber of Cash’s soul. “When the fucking didn’t work we tied her ass down and beat it out of her. She’s probably dead now.” He let out a deep laugh as he stared up at Knox. “Probably got a bullet in her fucking head because of…”

His voice cut off as Cash sent a bullet straight through his temple, splattering blood and other matter across the small kitchen. His lifeless head twitched as he took his last breath. Cash let out a deep growl as he slammed his fist down onto the counter next to him. He hadn’t been able to take any more of the repulsive words that had come from the man’s mouth. He wouldn’t, couldn’t believe that Ani was dead. It wasn’t possible.

“Easy, man,” Jameson said reaching for his shoulder, but he snatched away from his grasp and left out the door, needing a moment for everything that had just happened to sink in.

He prayed that the man had just been ranting and that Ani wasn’t hurt. His stomach dropped as he fell to his knees in the driveway in front of his Bronco. He heaved, spilling the bile from his stomach onto the ground as the realization that he’d just ended a life grew in his head. He heard the footsteps coming up behind him and tried to pull himself together. “I know where they had her. I don’t know if she’s still there,” he said looking back at Knox.

“Earned my trust back there, Cop.” Knox came over next to him as Cash stood from the ground. “Now you listen and you listen good; Ani isn’t dead. I would know if she was and she isn’t. So we go to this place and we bring the fucking pain. I’m out for blood. I’ll kill every last fucking one of them if that’s what it takes. I’m getting her back.”

“Ten-four.” Cash let out a deep breath, “Follow me.” He jumped into his Bronco and took off toward the address Carla had given him.

ANI

Ani’s eyes fluttered open as the smell of putrid smoke drifted into her nose. She looked up at her re-bound hands, “No, no, no!” She shouted as she pulled against them, jumping when she heard a throat clear from the corner of the room.

“You didn’t listen to me,” Chief blew a puff of smoke in her direction. “I told you to stay on the bed and you didn’t listen. Now look at you; beaten, bruised. I don’t like my women like that.”

“I’m not your woman!” she screamed out toward him, snatching her hand and feeling the bind give. She tried to keep from looking up at her arm in an effort to not give it away.

“You’re gonna be whatever the fuck I say you are!” He jumped from the chair and rushed over toward her. She could smell the sweet smell of whiskey and cigarettes on his breath causing her stomach to flip. He stumbled back knocking into the dresser, making the top drawer to slide open before falling forward onto the bed on top of her. She peered over and saw the flash of silver from the top drawer.

Her brain was going a thousand miles an hour. She knew if she was going to make any attempt to get out this would be her chance. He was drunk and he wasn’t thinking straight. She fought against vile feeling that flowed throughout her at the thought of what she was about to attempt and she prayed it would work.

“Chief, please untie me.” She looked into his blood shot eyes, “Please, Baby. Please I want to touch you.”

He eyed up at her suspiciously, drunkenly his lips crashed into hers and she resisted the urge to fight him. Sucking his bottom lip into her mouth and biting down hard in an effort to please him. His eyes flashed wildly at her as he tugged at her first binding, loosening it just enough for her to slip her hand out. Again she resisted her urge to immediately untie her other hand and instead ran her loose hand down his stomach.

“Gonna fuck you again, Baby. Gonna be nice this time,” his words were slurred as he tugged at her other hand restraint.

“Please,” she leaned up to him grabbing his neck and kissing him as she peered out of the corner of her eye at the open drawer. She maneuvered herself on top of him, slowly peeling off her shirt. She felt his hands at her hips and she leaned down to his neck, whispering into his ear. “Close your eyes, Baby.”

She watched as he did and slowly ground down onto his semi-hard erection. She reached slowly over to the drawer, slipping her hand in and grabbing the scissors. His eyes fluttered open and she playfully covered them with her other hand. She planted her lips against his as she pulled the scissors out and slid them under the pillow. Her heart was racing, she didn’t know what she was doing. She’d never hurt another human being, but she felt at this point that the innocent and loving creature Knox so often spoke of had all but broken into pieces. It was her against the world, she had no one else to rely on other than herself and she had to be strong if she wanted to make it out of this alive. She would make sure that this man never laid his hands on another woman for the rest of his short sad life.

She propped herself up just above his face, a sinister smile spreading across her face as he looked up at her. She stared down, looking at him before raising her hands up and sending the end of the scissors straight down into his chest. He bowed his body under her as she jumped from the bed and grabbed her shirt. He grabbed for her as she stepped back outside of his reach. “You stupid bitch!” He gurgled out, gasping for breath. She’d hit him in the lung and now she’d leave him to drown in his own blood.

She snatched the shirt on over her head and ran toward the door, flinging it open she ran smack into what felt like a wall on the other side. She looked up at the large man who’d subdued her earlier and took off running down the hallway. He followed behind her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back toward him. She let out a scream as she kicked and thrashed her arms, trying to tear away from his grasp. He brought his hand up to her mouth and she bit down until she could taste his blood and he dropped her down to the ground.

She scrambled to get to her feet, kicking at him forcefully when he grabbed her ankle. She made it a few feet away from him when she tripped and fell down on top of the coffee table. He lumbered over to her, standing above her as his hand came down across her face. She brought her foot up, planting it hard in the center of his chest and knocking him back. She rolled from the table, but he was back too quickly, picking her up and wrapping his hands around her swollen neck. She felt the pressure closing off her airway as she gasped for breath.

“Put her down!” She heard a familiar voice from behind her as the rest of her body fought to stay alert. She glanced over and saw Butcher standing in the doorway with his pistol drawn. “This wasn’t the plan! She wasn’t supposed to get hurt; you were just supposed to get their guns!”

“Fuck you, King!” the large man yelled out as he dropped her feet back to the floor and turned her to face Butcher, his pistol pressed hard against her temple. “Put down your gun or she dies.”

“Damn it!” She watched as he fumbled for something in his pocket. “A.T.F., asshole, now put her the fuck down and you won’t get the death penalty.” He held up a gold badge.

Ani’s heart dropped; Butcher was a Federal Agent? He’d been around the club since before Ani had and he was at every club function. God only knew what incriminating information he had on them. Hope flashed in her stomach, maybe he’d be able to get her out of this whole situation. She looked into his eyes, pleading him to help her as he stepped closer to her attacker. She could see the angst in his eyes as he reached his hand out toward her. “Just give me the girl and you go free.” One more step closer and she could feel the large man’s body tighten behind her. “Ani, it’s gonna be…” His words were cut short as a loud bang came from behind her, sending a bullet straight into Butcher’s chest. She looked into his eyes as he slumped down onto the ground.