“Babe, fuck, babe.”

  His erratic pumping shows he’s been triggered at the same time as me. He throws back his head and groans loudly, then stays in position while I feel his dick twitching inside me.

  He opens his eyes and gives me a glorious smile, which fast fades.

  “What’s this?” He wipes at the tears escaping from my eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

  I shake my head side to side while trying to find the words. “I’m happy. I just never—”

  “Never came on a dick?” He raises an eyebrow.

  With one hand holding on to him, I raise the other and wipe away my embarrassing tears. “You’ve got some moves,” I compliment him.

  His fingers caress my forehead and his smile returns. “Must have.” He grins. “You feel pretty good yourself.”

  He rolls off me, pulling me into his side and cuddling me. “Hell, babe, I know it’s a cliché, but once I’ve disposed of this condom, I could go to sleep.”

  I suppose it’s a sign neither of us are as young as we once were as a nap seems pretty good to me, too.

  An hour later he wakes me, and we go for a repeat. This time he shows me that there are more positions than just the missionary one when he pulls me onto my knees and breaches me from behind. Again, he takes me to heights I’ve never before reached.

  This time I think it’s me who’s the first to go to sleep.

  I startle awake, not sure what’s awoken me, until the scent of a man reaches me, and I realise it’s Marvel ready for round three. I’d question whether I’ve got it in me, but am confident that Marvel’s talented mouth, fingers and cock will prove more than tempting.

  A heavy thump makes me frown. “You okay?” I ask, sleepily.

  A harsh light shines straight into my eyes, and an alien deep voice rasps, “Get up and come with me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Marvel…

  “Whoa. What the actual fuck?” I’ve started to raise my head but have to let it sink back onto the pillow.

  It feels like I really laid one on last night. My head’s banging as if there’s a marching band tramping through my skull with a heavy emphasis on their bass drums.

  “Take it easy, man.”

  I recognise the voice but have no idea why he’s in my room, disturbing my sleep. Which, from the throbbing in my temples, I sorely need. This is one I’ll have to sleep off.

  “Go the fuck away.” Getting out each word is painful. Feeling as bad as I do, it’s unfair he’s here to wake me. I’m so fucked I can’t even remember getting drunk. Maybe it’s a lesson I should start taking things easier. My old bones clearly can’t cope with the volume of alcohol they once could. I close my eyes, hoping the prospect is going to go away.

  “Marvel, stay with me. Prez? Yeah, I got a fuckin’ problem. I’m at Virginia’s. She’s missing and Marvel’s gotten a blow to his head. Blood everywhere and he seems pretty much out of it.”

  What the hell is he going on about? I close my eyes, hoping he’ll take the hint and leave me alone. A man’s got a right to be left to suffer his hangover anyway he wants. By torturing me, he’s made damn sure he’s not getting my vote when the time comes.

  “What happened, Marvel? Where’s Virginia?”

  The hand on my shoulder isn’t rough, but he’s stopping me from dozing off. Damn him.

  Virginia? Her name brings a small smile to my face, but even turning up my mouth causes pain. The memory though? That’s something I do remember. “Best fuckin’ sex of my life,” I murmur, then start to drift off.

  Razza, who definitely won’t be getting his patch if I have anything to do with it, shakes my shoulder again. “Stay with me, man.”

  Somehow, I can’t summon up the strength to push him away. Even snarling at him to get lost seems to be beyond me.

  Painfully, I turn my head to the side, the action taking moments longer than it should, me needing to pause to regain my equilibrium after every inch gained. Once in position, I open my eyes to glance at the Harley alarm clock one of the kids once got me for Christmas as a joke. Then blink, and blink again. It’s not there.

  My befuddled mind tries to compute what I’m seeing instead. A bedside table, yes, but not mine.

  I’m in someone else’s bed.

  I seem to be facing a window covered in flowery curtains I don’t remember seeing before. They’re not keeping out much light, and the brightness makes me squeeze my eyes shut. Without sight, I concentrate on my other senses. My ears find the sound of multiple motorbikes and as my head protests, I appreciate what citizens moan about. Hell, they’re loud.

  I breathe in deeply to try to conquer the banging in my head, and perfume assails me. Not the type you buy in a shop, but one I’d bottle if I had the chance—the unmistakable odour of sex, a man’s cum and a woman’s arousal, doused with a healthy dose of sweat.

  Virginia. Oh yeah, I fucked her good. Dirtied the sheets up that’s for certain, and that’s all I remember before I passed out.

  “Tried to keep him awake, Prez, but he keeps drifting off.”

  I’m just starting to get a grip on what happened the night before, and as memories come back to me of how great it was to slide inside Virginia’s sweet cunt, I wish they’d all fuck off. Leave me to suffer my pain and enjoy my recollections.

  But how did I end up tying one on? I don’t even remember having a drink.

  I feel a cool cloth probing at my scalp. I groan. It hurts, but there’s something soothing about it as well.

  “Reckon he needs a hospital?”

  “Shall I call an ambulance?”

  What the fuck are Hound and Throttle talking about?

  “We need him to come around.” Prez’s voice sounds overly loud. “I need to know what the fuck’s gone down, else we won’t find what’s happened to Virginia. I get the feeling time’s of the essence, Brothers.”

  What are they talking about?

  But her name resounds in my brain, and I try smiling again. “Virginia,” I breathe out.

  I feel fingers gripping my shoulder. “Yeah, Brother. Virginia. Need you to talk to me, Marvel. Where’s she gone? You know who’s taken her?”

  What’s the prez blathering on about?

  “Marvel,” he barks sharply. “Marvel. Need you back with us, Brother. Hound, can you try to sit him up?”

  “What about his head, Prez?”

  I hear an exhale of breath. “Losing Virginia would hurt him more than anything else we do. I need him to talk. Just be gentle about it.”

  “Fuck it!” I try to scream but I think it comes out as a croak as hands are placed under my shoulders and I’m dragged up. Pillows are plumped and propped behind me, and soon I’m sitting up. “Gonna be sick,” I warn them, before leaning over and projecting the contents of my stomach onto the floor. Even in the state I’m in, I think it’s odd I can’t taste the alcohol I must have downed the night before.

  “Marvel,” Prez snaps, making my head throb. “Where the fuck is Virginia?”

  “Here, I got him some water.”

  Someone, the prospect, I think, puts an opened bottle into my hands. I take a sip and then another, pleased to wash the taste of vomit out of my mouth.

  Virginia.

  Oh, yeah. I fucked her. I fucked her good. I’m pretty certain she enjoyed it. I lick my lips—I can still taste her, and fuck me, she tasted sweet.

  That’s where I am. I’m in her bed.

  I crack my eyes open and look to the side to see an indentation on the pillow where Virginia’s head had lain. Why’s she gotten up without me? Did she drink too last night? I’ll be fucked, but I can’t remember.

  “Marvel, are you listening to me?” The bed dips as Prez sits down. “I know you’re in a world of hurt, Brother, but you’ve got to pull yourself together and answer my questions now.”

  It’s the concern in his voice that gets through to me. If I’d gotten drunk and was suffering, he’d more likely laugh. Or, if by doing so I’d neglected some duty, he’d be annoyed. But to sound sympathetic?

  I touch my hand to where my head aches the worst, feeling a large bump. When I pull my fingers away and look at them, they’re sticky with blood.

  “What the fuck?” I narrow my eyes as I stare at my hand.

  Prez’s hand takes a grip of my chin and gently raises my face. “Marvel, looks like you were fuckin’ attacked, and Virginia’s gone. Need to know what you remember.”

  My eyelids flutter as I try to focus my eyes and multi-task as I process his words. I was attacked? Not drunk but hurt.

  Virginia’s gone?

  Immediately I sit up straight, but my head spins. Prez holds me up. I stare up into eyes filled with pain which must mirror my own.

  “I know fuck all, Prez.” I swallow hard as the implications hit. “Fuck it. Last thing I remember was passing out after Virginia and I… Well, after we did what we did.” And like a man, I’d rolled over and closed my eyes. I’d literally passed out. “What do you fuckin’ mean, she’s gone?”

  “Taken,” Wizard clarifies. “Prospect came by this morning and noticed the front door open. Looks like there’s been a scuffle, table’s knocked over in the living room. He came in and found you passed out with a huge fuckin’ lump on your head.”

  Virginia’s been taken?

  “Coward must have knocked you out while you were sleeping,” Hound’s deep voice sounds.

  Coward is right. And then he took Virginia. He took my woman.

  As I start to struggle to get myself up, Prez pushes me back down. “You’re in no state to do anything, Marvel.”

  “Need to find her,” I rasp out, trying to force the pain and dizziness down.

  “We’ll find her,” Prez states firmly. “Need to get you sorted and your ass to a hospital, I just wanted to find out what you knew first.”

  All I know is what he’s told me. That some motherfucker hit me while I was sleeping, then kidnapped the woman from my fucking side.

  “I don’t need a fuckin’ hospital. I need to be out searching.”

  His hand is holding me down, and I’m so weak I fail to push him away. “You’ve got a concussion.”

  “Won’t be the first,” I challenge him.

  He eyes me carefully. “Ain’t no point trying to look for her unless we have a place where we can start. Her abductor didn’t leave no helpful calling card. Best we get back to the compound and start putting our heads together.”

  And I’ll have to get mine to work. Though the thought that Virginia’s in the hands of someone who wants to hurt her has done more to clear my brain faster than anything else could.

  “I’ve got to find her.” I plead with my eyes. “Wiz, help me please.”

  He grimaces. “We’ll find her.”

  It sounds like a promise, but what he can’t assure me is whether that will be dead or alive.

  He seems to read my mind as he adds, “If he just wanted to kill her, he’d have done it here.”

  It would be a comforting thought had I not read that threatening letter that suggested whoever had written it wanted her to suffer first.

  Hound appears. “Virginia’s car’s here.” He assesses the state that I’m in and frowns. “The prospect can drive Marvel back in that.”

  I’d argue I’m perfectly capable of riding my bike, but I know that’s a lie.

  Now it’s Throttle’s turn to re-enter. “I’ve had a good look around, Prez. Can’t find a fuckin’ thing to say who it was or whether it was more than one. There are no footprints inside or out.” He pauses and nods my way. “He gonna be alright?”

  Prez grunts, narrows his eyes as he looks at me, then replies, “Time will tell.”

  My only answer would be I’ll never be fine until Virginia is back in my arms. One taste of her last night was definitely not enough.

  “Let’s get you dressed and back to the compound.”

  “I can do it,” I growl, waving off Prez’s help. When a man can’t get out of his own fucking bed in the morning, he’s due for his grave.

  Getting vertical takes far more effort than it should, but I try to swallow my exclamations wrought by pain down. Prez’s watching me carefully, and if I give him any cause for alarm, I know he’ll pack me off to the emergency room. That’s the last place I need to be, being prodded and poked and stuffed full of painkillers that will fuck with my mind.

  I need all my wits about me to find Virginia, even if I know I’m in no state to go riding around.

  I can’t think about our search not being successful. I can’t think that I won’t be bringing her home.

  The blow to my head seems to have brought me to my senses. Davina’s had far too much control over my life and now I’m determined not to let the past cloud my mind. I’d be a fool to let Virginia go. Last night only proved how compatible we are. Sure, she’s not got the sexual repertoire of the sweet butts, but I’m certain there are things I can teach her, and make her forget Ralph ever touched her with his filthy hands.

  I can’t lose her. Not now when I know when I find her, I’ll be claiming her.

  I’ll have a woman of my own, and one who I can be certain would never betray me.

  I’ve betrayed her.

  With sudden clarity, I realise I stayed to protect her, and yet I let her down. Fucking myself senseless so someone got the jump on me.

  Whatever’s happened to her is all down to me.

  “Fuck, Marvel.” Wizard makes a grab for me as I let out an anguished wail and sink back down on the bed, not even caring I’m still naked.

  “Prez…” I clutch at his arm. “They took her while I was out of it. I should have protected her.”

  His eyes gentle as they fall on me. “Looks like you didn’t have much choice. We’ll find her, Brother. Fuckin’ promise we’ll find her.”

  Much as I want him to reassure me, he can make no such commitment. The pain in my head is one thing. The pain in the organ that’s somehow still beating and pumping blood around my body? Well, that’s far worse. That’s the wound which will destroy me.

  I’ve got to get her back.

  There’s no other option. Not for my sanity. She’s become far too important to me to lose her now.

  I let them dress me. Unabashed I sit there, letting Throttle step my feet through my boxers, and then as he puts each leg in my jeans. Hound supports me as the enforcer pulls them up, going so far as to zip me in and buckle my belt. Then I’m sitting again as Razza puts my t-shirt over my head then feeds my arms through the sleeves, just as I’ve so often seen the little kids dressed in the clubhouse.

  It’s Wizard himself who puts my boots on my feet. And it’s him who carefully carries my cut out to the car, placing it on my lap once Hound and Throttle have eased me into the seat.

  As he leans over me to do up the seatbelt, I hold up my hand. I swallow rapidly.

  “You gonna be sick?”

  “Just give me a moment.”

  I probably look green. I certainly feel it. But I concentrate on breathing in fresh air and after a moment, my head stops spinning. “I’m okay.”

  He looks like he doubts it but closes my door. Then with a gentle rap on the roof, gives Razza the signal that he’s good to go.

  The journey to the compound is painful. I lean back my head and suffer the dizziness and nauseousness.

  Virginia needs me.

  That’s the only thing that matters and is the thought which drives me to stay conscious and alert.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Virginia…

  I come awake slowly, my eyelids feeling heavy as if glued shut. As I blink to get them to open, I realise that’s not the only place I’m feeling uncomfortable. For some reason, I’m seated, not lying, and my arms appear to be locked in place behind me.

  Am I still in the throes of a nightmare?

  I wish I was, but this discomfort feels all too real.

  Where the hell am I? I’m not in my bed. My breathing speeds up.

  Raising my chin from where it’s drooping on my chest, mortified when I realise I’m drooling, I open my eyes to find I’m sitting on a wooden chair in a room that’s otherwise unfurnished. When I try to move my feet, I find they, too, are secured.

  Then it all slams back into me so violently I flinch.

  Instantly I remember something had startled me awake, how I’d thought at first it was just Marvel moving. Then there’d been that godawful sound which I hadn’t at first been able to identify. I recall even sleepily asking Marvel if he was okay. But it wasn’t him who’d answered, it was a masked stranger, and he’d instructed me to get up and go with him.

  I’d cried out for Marvel, wondering why he wasn’t awake and fighting the intruder off. But when a light had been shone onto the bed, with horror, I realised the bastard had hit Marvel hard enough to knock him out, and that already blood was oozing from a nasty cut on his head.

  I barely had time to gasp in horror before the stranger had his hand on my arm, dragging me out of bed.

  I screamed, but the only man who could have saved me had been knocked unconscious and lay as still as a stone. Sleep befuddled I tried to struggle, holding onto the doorjamb as I was dragged out of the room and into my lounge area.

  I wanted to check on Marvel. I punched and kicked like some kind of savage animal, successful to a small extent when he staggered off balance and sent my small table flying. Even that noise didn’t rouse the man I’d left bleeding in my bed.

  “Stop fuckin’ fighting. You won’t win.” His voice was muffled by the cloth over his face. As he advanced toward me, I stepped backward. My eyes flicked around me but landed on no handy weapon. As he stalked me, I moved back again, my motion stopped by the counter behind me.

  “Don’t do this,” I warned him. “Just leave and I won’t say anything. Let me go check on—”

  “Oh, I’m leaving. You’re coming with me.”

  No. No I wasn’t. God knew what would happen if he got me away. I doubted I’d enjoy anything he’s got planned for me. Could I get past him? Run to the front door and shout a warning?

  I’d no other plan. I feinted one way then the other, but he was far too fast and seemed to anticipate my every move. He grabbed me, spun me around, and forced me over the counter. I kicked out again then felt a prick in my neck.

 

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