Page 34 of Savage King

“But it wasn’t really together, was it?” Odin prodded gently, reading the truth between the lines. Gods, she hated how weak and vulnerable she was right then. She despised the fact that Odin now knew her biggest failures.

Would be take back all he’d said? Would he look upon her failures with Aaron as a strike against her? Would he wipe his hands of her, thinking she couldn’t possibly be good enough or strong enough to take on anything meaningful with him?

“We’d been married nearly two years by the time I realized he’d been cheating on me since the beginning. I filed for divorce two days before our second wedding anniversary, and I haven’t looked back. That was two years ago. Since then, he’s made it his mission to make my life miserable; showing up at the gym to taunt me, bringing his new wife—the last woman he cheated on me with—around to throw her flawlessness in my face. She’s pregnant, you know.” The words were like rotten lemons on her tongue. “During our marriage, Aaron promised me we would work on having children once he his training was underway and I could take a break away from the mat. One year in, he was still putting me off, wearing condoms even though he knew I was on the pill. It wasn’t until I’d refused to sign the promotional contract that last time that he told me he was glad he didn’t get me pregnant because I was a fat, ugly weight around his neck, and he never wanted children with me. That he’d even considered getting a vasectomy in secret, just to keep me dangling on the promise of children.”

“Fuck, fuck,fuck!” he growled furiously, making Skathi tense and lean away.

Silence, heavy, thick, and intense filled the bed between them. She held her breath, waiting for him to make his excuses and leave her there, naked, trembling, and broken once again.

“Come on,” Odin said, rolling away from her to throw the blankets off his large body.

Her breath exploded from her chest, relief filling her. “What? Where are we going?” She was too worn out from sex and emotionally exhausted from the bad memory dump. Going out was the very last thing on her to do list in that moment. Snuggling up under the comforter next to the sexiest man in existence sounded much better.

“I’m taking you for a ride,” he informed her, leaning in and pressing a hard kiss to her forehead.

She curled her lips and lifted a single eyebrow, wondering if that was a euphemism.

He must’ve read her thoughts or saw the wry grin on her face because he snorted and narrowed his eyes teasingly.

“Not like that—though, we will be doingthatagain later. I want to take you for a ride on my bike. Ever been on the back of a bike?”

“Sure. My uncle Skeld had an old Triumph he’d bought before I was born. He gave me rides whenever our family visited his in the summer.”

“Ever been on the back of an American beast?”

“Not on hisback, no,” she replied, smirking, her gaze dropping to his naked dick…which seemed to grow an inch as she watched.

Throwing his head back, Odin roared with laughter, making her insides warm with the sound. For a man who was built like a forbidding mountain, there was a lightness to him that called to her, inviting her in to enjoy what so few got the honor of seeing.

“Let’s go,” he commanded, slapping her butt cheek through the thin sheet. “I want to stop at Danny’s for some pie after.”

Odin rose from the bed gloriously naked, his hind end made up of twin marble balls that flexed as he bent to pick up his jeans.

“Stop staring and get out of bed, baby. I promise you can look your fill when we get back.”

Groaning at the thought of more naked Odin later—and the promise of Danny’s pie—Skathi left the bed, dressed in jeans, boots, and an oversized knit sweater before grabbing her leather jacket from the hall closet and following Odin outside to his Harley.

Her arms around the hard-packed muscle of his waist, a growling beast between her thighs, the glittering desert night sky above their heads, and the wind whipping at her hair. They sped down desert highways, following the asphalt vein through the wilds, filling her heart with the thrill of the ride and the blessedness of mental silence.

Skathi knew peace.

Odin gave her peace.

Sitting at his desk in the back room of La Rosita, a cartel owned money laundering front that happened to serve the best chicken enchiladas in Vegas, Alfanzo watched the live feed from the body cam Jose was wearing.

The one thing the man loved more than raping ass was setting fires, and he was on his game tonight.

“Fence cut, we’re going in. No one around.”

Just as his inside man had said. The gun range closed at nine and opened again at eleven the next day, which gave them a large window in which they could cause havoc. And that was his favorite thing to do. Without getting his own hands dirty, of course. Why do the filthy work when there were others willing and especially suited for it, like Jose?

Unlike the gun locker where all the guns and ammo were stored which was locked up tighter than a nun’s cunt, the building, outbuildings, and outdoor ranges were protected only by fencing topped with razor wire and a couple late model security cameras that were only pointed at the front parking lot.

They weren’t going in through the parking lot.

With the gun range closed for the night, his men were infiltrating with the purpose of making things difficult for Slim and the Savage Raiders. The key was making it look like an inside job, something that would make both parties wary of continuing their business together. The more suspicions drawn on either side, the better for Alfanzo. He wanted them at war with one another so he could step in, offer to buy the place and give Slim an out of MC difficulties, and walk away with a victory for the Chavez cartel…and more money and power in his own pocket.

“The place is deserted,Jefe,” Jose reported, his breathing labored. For all the fucking and beating he did, Jose was a big fucker without much stamina. “We’re headed to the outdoor range. The traitor insider was right, this place is just waiting for a match to send it all straight to hell.” There was an unholy yet childlike glee in Jose’s voice.

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