Page 15 of Her Feral Biker
My head dropped forward abruptly as the man holding my hair released the pressure completely. I nearly face planted in the gravel, catching myself at the last moment on already bruised palms. Grit bit into my skin but I didn’t care, gasping in precious air that had been restricted for too long. Pain radiated through my neck and spine but the relief of being able to arch mybody in the other direction was a singular pleasure. I’d take it, even if he only allowed it for a moment.
Above me, Prinze cursed fluently in his own language. A shot went off, then another. Something hot and wet splattered my back. I yelped, flattening myself to the gravel that I’d just tried to prevent myself from falling into and cowered, covering my head with my hands. Pain bit into me at the sounds of scuffling. Grunts seemed to come from all sides. Someone stepped on my leg, and another body tripped on me.
I peered up cautiously, and found myself face to face with one of Prinze’s muscle men—only this one stared back at me unblinkingly. His eyes were open and fixed. Blood streaked his pale face. I scrambled back from his death mask, shoving myself backward until I ran into a hard surface. Then I looked up.
And up.
Right into Lake’s hard face.
Blood covered his arms and most of his ink, splattered across his face and beard. And dark fluid dripped from the pair of sharp, slightly curved blades he held at his sides as he stared down at me.
“Princess.” He sheathed the blades, bending to slide his hands beneath my arms and lifted me to his chest. “He hurt you.”
It wasn't a question, and so I didn’t answer it as one. Instead, I pressed my cheek to his chest, seeking the warmth of him.
“You came.”
Lake let out a harsh sound, halfway between a hiss and a growl. “I never meant to leave you, princess. Just went for a ride to clear my head. I should have come straight to you. Though you needed— Fuck. It doesn’t matter what I thought.” His large hand curved around my cheek. His fingers laced through my hair as he cupped my head and crushed me to his chest. “Tell me where you’re hurt.”
“I’m okay.” And surprisingly, I was. I was cold, and suspected I was covered in someone else’s blood, but now that Lake was here, I was alright. Mostly. Okay, that last bit was a lie. But I’d figure it out, as long as I wasn’t alone anytime soon. “Don’t let go?”
“Princess—” Lake’s arms tightened around me as I shook, then I realized it wasn’t me who was shaking.
It was him.
I frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” His voice seemed distant as he released me and stepped back. “I’m not the safest person to be around right now.”
“You alright, Titan?” A man I didn’t know but had seen with Lake before approached us cautiously.
I remembered from my research on motorcycle clubs that the members had other names, and that Lake had started to introduce himself to me as something else that first night, then changed his mind, given me his other name. I didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing. But he stepped back, away from me, and his hands dropped to his sides.
I dropped mine too, and looked around for the first time.
Men bearing the same insignia on their vests and jackets as Lake milled around the parking lot. Three bodies were laid out around us. I wrapped my arms around myself, looking at faces, and hated that I had to count.
“I’m good.” Lake drew my attention as he stared at the newcomer.
“Are you sure? I can take her home.” The man watched Lake—Titan—cautiously.
“I can’t go home.” They both turned to stare at me. I shrugged. “Prinze, the mafia boy.” —I stole one of Lake’s term’s, though I couldn’t smile about it tonight— “He said that my father paid him to ruin my business, to buy it from me. I– I’mnot sure why. But Prinze was going to kill me. I can’t go back there. That’s not my home.”
The new man nodded slowly. “Alright. Where do you want to go?”
I opened my mouth, but it was Lake who answered.
“I’ll take her back to the clubhouse for tonight.” The other King looked like he might object, but Lake cut him off. “Have you got a better idea? She has no home, and she can’t stay here. Kola walked away. Ran, actually.” His gaze slid to me. “I’m sorry I didn’t kill him for you. The other three are dead. I have a place where you can stay, if you’ll take it. But it comes with conditions.” He shrugged off his jacket and held it out. “The first one is that you wear this.”
The other man looked like he might still object, but I waved him down, barely able to hold my torn dress together. I looked up into Lake’s eyes, unreadable in the darkness.
“I’ll take it.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
LAKE
My jacket looked damn good on her. Too good. My hands still shook as she slipped the leather on over her torn dress. The boys helped clean up the mess I’d made of the back of her shop so it looked like we’d never been there at all until only Annalise, myself and Nomad were left.
