Page 47 of Complete Me
I move quickly, carrying Kinsey tightly with one arm, my other gripping my gun, ready to fight if I need to. No one will take her from me again. Rolo, Jesse, and I make our way over cracked pavement and broken-down vehicles, and the entire time, Kinsey whimpers into my neck, breaking my fucking heart. I’m torn between not letting her go and wanting to turn back to torture every single one of those motherfuckers who dared take her, who dared to scare her or cause her pain.
If it’s the last thing I do, I will find their president and I’ll make him regret the day he ever revived the Iron Wolves.
Rolo holds up the space we cut open in the chain-link fence, and I holster my gun, holding Kinsey tightly as I step through, careful not to snag her on any of the rusted metal. Kinsey refuses to let me go, and I’m not ready to not have my arms around her. So instead of unwinding her legs from my waist and setting her on the back of my bike, I keep her where she is, adjusting us so that she’s straddling my lap. Her tiny body is weightless in my arms as she buries herself against my chest, and I start the bike. It roars to life beneath us, and Kinsey shivers against me.
“Hold on, sweetheart. No sudden movements, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Home.”
Kinsey jerks up, instantly breaking the one demand I just gave her. At least I hadn’t started moving yet, and my feet are still planted on the ground.
“No! No, please, Reid! They’ll lock me up! Move me back in with my parents, or worse . . . with Sawyer! Anywhere but Aspen Ridge, Reid. Please. I’m begging you. I’m not . . . I’m not ready. I can’t.” Her voice chokes on a sob, and my heart can’t take her desperation, her fear. After everything she’s been through, I can’t fucking do it to her. She needs a minute to heal without everyone suffocating her. Her eyes are wild as she pleads, and I never want to make this woman beg me for anything.
So I take her to the only place where I know she’ll be safe. The one place I never wanted her to know about.
The clubhouse.
CHAPTER 13
kinsey
I’m safe.
I’m safe.
I’m safe.
I repeat those two words in my head over and over again. Maybe if I say them enough times, I’ll start to believe them. I curl further into Reid’s big chest, breathing in the warm, comforting smell of rich leather and cedarwood. He’s so large that my arms can’t completely wrap around his waist, so I grip his shirt where it’s tucked under the thick leather vest he’s wearing. The thought stirs something inside me because now I’m recognizing the vest as the same type the assholes who kidnapped me sported.
I’m not stupid, I know it means they’re members of a motorcycle club, but Reid’s not. He lives with us in Aspen Ridge. Yeah, he rides a bike, but that doesn’t mean you're in a club. Right? The questions I have give my overworked, tired, terrified brain the reprieve it needs to not have a nervous breakdown on the front of this motorcycle.
My eyes are heavy from exhaustion andterror, but the adrenaline is still coursing through me at an overwhelming rate. I don’t know if I’ll ever sleep again after what I’ve gone through. The rumble of Reid’s bike under us is calming, the wind whipping my hair around my face violently, but I feel safe tucked into him, breathing in his familiar scent.
Time goes by differently on the bike with him; it could have been ten minutes or an hour, but he starts to slow down after a while, and I take a moment to look around. I couldn’t go back to Aspen Ridge right now. Every fear my brothers have has been used as their fuel to be overbearing and overprotective for as long as I can remember, and now? All those fears just became reality. They’ll never let me out of their sight again, and even though I just went through the most traumatic experience of my life, I refuse to let it control me. Refuse to let them control me. I won’t go back into a cage, especially not one with even smaller walls. I love them more than anything, and I understand where they’re coming from, but this is my life, and I’m going to live it how I want.
Tall gates open for us as Reid drives up a long dirt road, dust billowing behind and around us. Without stopping to talk to the people in similar leather vests, he drives the motorcycle up the path toward a huge black building. It stands tall, even against the mountain backdrop it rests against, ominous and foreboding. I guess it makes sense considering who must live here. A motorcycle club.
We slow to a stop in front of it, Reid’s legs dropping down to the ground and holding the bike steady with his legs. His hands release the handlebars before rubbing up and down my back, my sides, my shoulders. His hands are everywhere as if he’s trying to make sure that I’m real.
I swear I can hear him breathing me in as he leans down and buries his face in my hair. I inwardly cringe, given the state I’m in. I haven’t showered in what feels like days, and since I’velost all concept of time since being locked in the dark room with the windows boarded up, it very well could be that long.
“Wh—” I clear my throat, attempting to force it to stay steady and failing miserably. “Where are we, Reid?”
“You good, Rogue?” someone says from behind us.
Rogue? That’s what those two men said before they took me. They wanted Rogue. They meant, Reid?
“Yeah, Rolo, I’ve got it from here,” Reid calls back in return.
His strong hands rub up and down my back in a tight squeeze, and I never want him to let me go.
“I need to get you inside, Kins. Are you ready?”
“Where are we?”
“I’ll explain everything, but let’s get inside first.”
