Page 17 of Double the Dilemma

“No.” No matter what happened, he wasn’t going to let her out of this room.

Her eyes stared into his, and he let her see his determination. He wasn’t letting her go. He meant what he said, and he wasn’t backing down. If she wanted to fight, he would oblige her. Maybe that was what she needed to believe him. To realize that he wasn’t going to stop. That he was a man of his word and he wouldn’t let her down, no matter how hard she tried to push him away.

After a moment of only their breathing filling the space, she let out a snarl and yanked the knife away, tossing itin rage, letting it land in the wall to his left. “Why are you doing this, Razor?” she yelled. “Why can’t you just let me go? This has nothing to do with you.” Then she stalked away from him and stood in the middle of the room on the large mats they had set up.

“It has everything to do with me!” he yelled back, shoving away from the door and stalking towards her. “I told you I want you. A life with you. That means that when you have some psycho hunting you and trying to kill you, I’m not about to stand back and let you run into danger head on without some help and back up. Especially when you have not only me, but a whole fucking club at your back ready to fight.”

“This isn’t your fight. This is mine. Do you not understand that? I do not need a big, bad biker to fight my battles. I’ve been fighting them on my own just fine.”

“Then why the hell are you running?” he demanded.

Her eyes flashed and she curled her lip at him. “You think I’m running because I’m afraid? Don’t be an idiot, Razor. I’m leaving town so that Sena doesn’t go after Esme, Gabe, or any other kid or woman around here. Because she will. She is not sane, and she probably knows all about this place, about you, and about them. She doesn’t care if she kills a kid; she tried to kill the kids in our foster home a couple of times for fun. And she was only sixteen then. You think she won’t kill Esme, Royal, or Harlow? She killed multiple women that had the unfortunate condition of looking like me. She will never stop, and when I finally deal with her, it won’t be at the expense of the people I care about.”

“You really think that she would be able to touch them?” he returned incredulously. “More than half this club are former military that were trained as some of the best in their fields. Code has this fucking place wired for sound, especially after what happened with the Cartel. She will not touch them. And she won’t touch you, especially here. We can protect you here.”

She let out a sound of frustration and shoved him back. There was enough power in it to have him backing up a couple of steps before he righted himself. “I don’t want you to protect me!” she screamed. “I don’t need a man to protect me. I can protect myself. I can handle Sena, and I don’t need a man or your club to do it for me. I have my own training, and this time, I’m ready for her.”

“Fine,” he conceded tightly, “I know you can protect yourself, but surely you know the benefits of having backup. Someone who can make sure that you’re covered. That is going to be me. Because in case you haven’t figured it out, I care about what happens to you.”

“Why?” she demanded, staring up at him. “Why do you want a woman who doesn’t want you back?”

“Because I know you’re lying when you say you don’t want me,” he replied immediately. “You’re lying to yourself, and to me. I know you were holding back out there, because if you wanted to get away, you’d have just knocked me out and gotten the hell out on your own. You won’t hurt me because you care about me. Maybe not as much as I care about you, but we can work on that. It’s time for you to stop running, Rissa, and start trusting. Start realizing you don’t have to be alone anymore. You have people who want you around, who care what happens to you, and a man who would burn everything down to make sure you’re safe and have everything you could possibly ever want.” He stepped forward until they were only a few inches apart. “Give me a chance to show you what we could have, Karissa. Let me prove it to you, and together we can figure out how to take care of Sena.”

She stared up at him silently. There were so many emotions in her eyes that he felt a small kernel of hope set in his gut. Maybe, just maybe, he was getting through to her.

“I’m sorry, Razor, but I can’t,” she finally said. Disappointment and irritation filled him. Though he didn’t have much time to really think about it, because she swiftly brought up her knee and nailed him right in the balls.

CHAPTERNINE

KARISSA

She almost felt bad as he fell to the floor, groaning and cupping himself, gagging. But she was running on anger, hurt, guilt, and determination to get the hell out of here. She would have to figure something out when she got to the top of the basement stairs, but she would. She was smart and resourceful. Leaving her car behind was necessary, and she had no problem walking until she could call Glitch to send someone. She’d be a bit ahead of schedule, but it was fine.

It had to be.

When she reached the door, she lifted her hand to turn the bolt, only to let out a yell of surprise when she was wrenched back and then flying through the air. She landed with a thud on her back on the mats, but she was rolling, even as she gasped for breath, training kicking in.

Razor stood over her a few feet away, his face thunderous, chest heaving, and still a bit pale from the groin shot. “You want to do this the hard way, fine,” he said darkly. “I’m done playing nice, Karissa, and apparently so are you. You want to leave, you have to get through me first. But I’m warning you right the hell now, that once I get my hands on you, you’re not leaving, and you’re going to get the spanking of your life for this.”

“You’re not going to fight me,” she said knowingly. “You have a rule about hurting women.”

“I’m not going to beat you,” he snapped, fury making his eyes even darker. “But you want to get your anger out, you can do it to me. I can take it. Whatever you want to dish out, I’ll take every punch, kick, slap, or bite, you give. But I will not willingly let you walk out that door.”

“For fucks sakes!” she screamed. She was done with it all. Done with Razor and his overbearing ways, his constant need to force himself into her life, and the way he made her blood heat, even now. Because he would take everything she gave until he physically couldn’t anymore. He would let her beat him to pulp if it was what it took, and that wasn’t fair. He knew nothing about her training. About what she was, what she had been made to be when the situation called for it.

Razor didn’t even flinch at her outburst. He just held her gaze. “Try to leave, Karissa,” he told her again. “Tell yourself it’s for the best, and tell yourself you don’t need me. Don’t want me. Don’t want what I’m offering. Do it and leave.” It was a challenge. A dare. Goading her to try.

Desperation made her spine straighten, and her body move fast. She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t let herself hope. Couldn’t let herself dream for even a second that she could have what Esme had. Because that was exactly what Razor was offering. Her secret desire she never let herself think about. Never let herself hope for. Ever.

She swept her leg out, kicking his legs out from under him. He let out a grunt of pain as he hit the mat, and she jumped over him quickly, heading for the door. Suddenly, his hand was around her ankle, wrenching her down and she fell with a cry. His grip on her ankle was like steel, and she rolled, her training helping her to wrench it away by bringing her other foot down on his forearm, making him release her with a grunt.

She rolled away, and then rose to the balls of her feet as he shook out his arm and watched her. Her blood heated even more as his eyes watched her like a panther ready to attack at any moment. There was a feral kind of look in his eyes, one that she recognized in herself. They both wanted different things, but they were willing to fight for it. “I don’t want to hurt you, Razor,” she said in warning. “Maybe you’re okay with it, but I doubt your brothers are going to feel the same.”

“There is not a man in this club that doesn’t know you’re a dangerous woman,” Razor returned, keeping still. “And most will probably cheer you on. But they won’t be happy to know that you’re out there trying to be Xena The Warrior Princess on your own. We’re a bit cave-like when it comes to that kind of thing.”

She snorted; he was right about that. Though, wasn’t it ironic that he unknowingly was calling her by the code name from her team? “You really should work on that,” she agreed, “because nowadays, women can do everything men can, including protect themselves.” What was he doing, trying to distract her? She wondered if he really thought that was going to work. She was almost tempted to let him try it out and see how far he could get, but she didn’t have time to waste.

Swiftly, he was moving, and she barely had enough time to pivot on her heel and maneuver her body out of the way when he launched himself at her. She brought her hand down onto his shoulder, hitting hard enough to have him grunt, but then he rolled into her and within seconds they were rolling over the mats.

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