The weeble wobble turned to me. “We’re leaving. You have to comewithus.”
I knew fighting them was going to be futile, and my body was screaming in pain from the slightestmotion.
They handcuffed my wrists together and removed the shackle from my ankle. They rushed my aching body out of a small storage facility. It took everything in my power to even put one foot in front of the other as my feet shuffled along. The cool night air wrapped around me as I was led to a black van with tinted windows. I frantically tried to take in my surroundings, but I didn’t recognize a damn thing in the pitch-black parking lot. Gravel crunched under my sneakers as they opened the back doors to the dentedvehicle.
The two men helped me into the back and locked the chain of the handcuffs to the metal side like I was on a damn prison transfer mission. I supposed that wasn’t too far off—I was a prisoner,afterall.
The van pulled out of the lot and started to head what I assumed to be farther away from my home. I could have sworn I heard the throaty sound of a Harley or even a few behind us, but I couldn’t see out the back window. I hoped it was my Dad and Ryder coming to ambush the van and that the nightmare would end, but it was only wishfulthinking.
The drive lasted for at least an hour, probably longer. We pulled into another warehouse-looking parking lot and I was ushered into another tiny room. The only difference was that there was no bed in this one, just a cold concrete floor with an old wool blanket balled up in the corner that smell likerancidpiss.
I curled up in the corner of the room. Softly, I sobbed and rocked. My entire body was screaming in pain. My mind was drowning in sorrow. My instincts were telling me that I was a goner. The only thing I could do was remind myself that I needed to stay strong for my child. That little peanut of a life was the only glint of solace I had. Finally, I cried myself to a dream-filledsleep.
“Thank God for bikinis.”Ryder smacked my ass as I walked by him with a towel in hand in our honeymoonsuite.
“Are we going down to the beach or what?” I was waiting for him at the door while he was lazily sprawled out ontothebed.
Jumping up, Ryder threw his arms around me. “I have other plans for you right now,” he growled before throwing me down onto the pillow-topmattress.
He pulled at the strings on my pink two-piece, letting it fall to the side. After stripping down, Ryder crawled on top of me. He slowly kissed his way from my belly button tomylips.
Staring into my eyes, he whispered, “What do you want, Mrs.Walsh?”
The sound of my new name sent chills down my spine. “Make lovetome.”
“As you wish, wifey.” The smile that was glued to Ryder’s lips soaked into my memory. It was absolutely captivating as his green eyes smolderedwithlust.
In that moment, we weren’t just having sex, we were showing each other just how much we loved each other. Slow gentle kisses, lingering stares, low moans. Our gaze stayed locked as Ryder slowly thrust into me, his fingers knotted into my hair. I gripped his sides as euphoria consumed bodyofus.
It was a moment that I never wanted to end. We were complete. Our love was tangible. Everything feltperfect.
Chapter7
Ryder
On my bike,I followed Abel back to his house. It had been a little over a day since Raine went missing and I was barely in my right mind. I knew I needed to keep it together and that I was no good to anyone, especially Raine and our baby, freaking the fuck out and raging all the time. But, how could I not be going absolutely fucking bat-shit crazy? All that was keeping me going was knowing she was out there and I was going to rescue her. Nothing else in the worldmattered.
“When’s the last time either of you slept?” Crickett asked right as we walked through thefrontdoor.
We both shrugged, evading thequestion.
“What can I do? How can I help?” She was bouncing her knee, standing in front of the stove, cooking what smelled like chili. Her face was still swollen. I hated seeing the bruises on her body. They made me so much more worried about the shape Rainewasin.
“Get your ass to the bar and stay there, woman. You’re supposed to be on lockdown, just like everyone else. Just because you’re my old lady doesn’t mean you can do whatever the fuck you want. You shouldn’t be here alone,” Abel barked at her as he went over to hisgunsafe.
Collin came trotting down the stairs. “She’s not. I needed to shower and change and Mom needed tokeepbusy.”
Abel stopped fiddling with the lock on the safe and grabbed his son by the neck, throwing him against the wall. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. How is my own son this goddamn stupid? You’re acting like you don’t give a fuck that your sister is missing or that your mother almost died in a car accidentyesterday!”
I put my hand on Abel’s shoulder. “We’re all here together. They’re safe. Let’s not let this get worse by adding in a family feud to the shit storm that is alreadyforming.”
Abel slowly pulled a deep breath in through gritted teeth, letting go ofCollin.
“Sorry. You said we couldn’t be alone, and there were two of us here.” He tried to explain, but Abel held up his hand tostophim.
“Save it, son. I meant that we all ride in pairs. You should have brought Holt, Red or Jesse with you, anyone forfuck’ssake.”
Crickett threw a dishrag at Abel’s face. “What? Do I not count as a person orsomeshit?”
