Precarious

I land on a tall, solid man. I hook my arms and the chains around his neck, pulling back tightly. I’m half on his side, half on his back. “Motherfucker,” he curses, reaching up with thickly ringed fingers and taking hold of the chain. It’s at that angle I see the tattoos on his knuckles and realize it’s Beau.

“You can’t take me against my will,” I growl, tugging back tighter. “I won’t go down without a fight, you son-of-a-bitch!”

“Fuck, Rhyder, get this fuckin’ woman off me.”

I tug as hard as I can, causing a bellow to leave his mouth. He throws his head back, jerking his body, trying to flick me off. A large arm goes around my waist, pulling me backwards as Beau shoves the chains off his neck, and I’m thrown to the ground with a thump. I cry out, pain ripping through my body. It takes me a moment to roll, and I’m so angry when I do. How dare he? How fucking dare he steal me and think he’s just going to get away with it?

“And to think I—”

I roll all the way over, ready to abuse Beau, but stop abruptly when I see around about twenty bikers staring down at me with angry expressions on their faces.

“Oh boy,” I breathe.

“Yeah,” Beau growls, leaning down and hurling me up. “Oh fuckin’ boy all right.”

He shoves me towards a large cabin and a huge shed that is behind the group of bikers. They part as I step through, some of them baring their teeth at me in not-so-nice gestures. I put my head down. That was a failure on my behalf, it would seem. Beau . . . or Krypt as he calls himself, keeps shoving me, forcing my aching feet to move.

Before we reach the door, a large biker steps in front of us. I stop dead and stare up at him, my mouth dropping open. He’s huge. Like, mega. He’s at least six-foot two, with shoulders bigger and thicker than any shoulders I’ve ever seen on a man. He’s got the lightest blue eyes and thick, dark hair that is long and sitting just below his shoulders. I don’t even dare try to count the tattoos winding up his arms.

“You better be sure this girl ain’t gonna get us into trouble, Krypt. We don’t need any more shit,” he barks.

Krypt steps forward just as the other biker swings on his jacket, pulling it firmly over his massive shoulders. I see numerous patches on the leather, including one that states he’s the “President”. So he basically runs the club? I have read enough about bikers to figure that much out.

“She ain’t gonna cause any more trouble,” Krypt grates.

“She better fuckin’ not, or I’ll put her on her fuckin’ ass.”

With wide eyes, I gape at him. He flashes me a feral grin. “Yeah, babe, that’s what I fuckin’ said.”

He steps past us, walking off to join the rest of the bikers. Krypt drags me inside, pulling me through the doors until we stop in the living room of the cabin. It’s actually a nice space, surprisingly. There are polished wooden floors and a big wooden kitchen. The furniture is very masculine, all black and biker-ish.

“Why did you take me?” I ask as Krypt drags me down a hall.

“Because you’re fuckin’ evidence, and there ain’t no way in fuck we’re lettin’ you go back and tell them what happened. There is big shit goin’ down and you ain’t goin’ to ruin what we’ve put in place.”

“I think this is the most I’ve ever heard you speak. I was starting to think you had a condition.”

He snorts. “Code out here, woman. Don’t speak when you’re locked away.”

“You killed people. It’s your own fault you were locked away.”

He stiffens and spins around, clutching my shoulders and shaking me just slightly. “You want to fuckin’ survive?”

I open my mouth, but he cuts me off. “Well?” he barks.

“Yes!” I snap.

“Then shut your mouth, do as you’re told, and don’t fuckin’ mention me or my club again.”

“Your club?”

He growls at me.

“What are you going to do with me?” I ask as he turns and starts dragging me down the hall again.

“I have no fuckin’ idea right now, but until I find out you’re my prisoner.”

Prisoner?

I want to gag.

“I’m hurt.”

“Can see that. I’m not fuckin’ blind.”

“There’s no need to speak to me like that,” I bite out.

He spins to me again. “Don’t feel fuckin’ nice, does it?”

I recoil and flinch. “I’ve never spoken to you like that.”

He chuckles, but his smile is cold and deadly. “Yeah, you were the only one.”

I say nothing as he continues to lead me to wherever it is we’re going. We stop at a room, and he shoves me inside. It’s a big room with a double bed, a ragged couch and what seems to be a bathroom off to the side. He pulls me across the faded green rug on the floor, and forces me to sit on the bed.

“First thing,” he says, reaching under the bed and pulling out a first-aid kit. “You even try to run, we’ll kill you.”

“You’d kill an innocent woman?”

He looks at me, his eyes burning into mine. “If she threatened our club and everything we’ve worked for, yeah.”

A cold chill runs through me.

“You keep your mouth shut,” he continues. “And we’ll have no problems. This is a club life, and trust me, babe, it’s not what your spoiled ass is used to.”