She stared at him, her eyes flashing. “How do you know what I like? You and I haven’t seen each other since we were fools in high school who thought the world was ours. You don’t know a damn thing about me.”
He grinned. “I thought you were submissive.”
“Fuck you!” She leaned back, placing her hand over her mouth as her body shook. Then a peel of laughter escaped from her lips.
He joined in, laughing loudly. “It felt good,non?Chérie, you’re about as submissive as the women at the club. This life isn’t for you. I’ve come to take you away.”
Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she gulped huge breaths of air. After she calmed down, she took a tissue and blew her nose. “If I were the only one involved in all this, I’d go with you in a heartbeat, but it’s not so simple.”
“You want to stay with him?”
“It’s not a matter ofwant. Things are complicated.”
“I’m not going to beg you to come. I’m helping you out as a friend and because we have a history together, but if you tell me you don’t want to go with me, I’ll wish you a good life and walk out of it. It’s your choice.”
In a monotone voice, she said, “I’ll stay with Frederick.Merci, Roche… for everything.”
Rock exhaled slowly, a bitter smile whispering on his lips as he shook his head. “Okay, Clotille. Have a good life.” He whirled around and marched out of the room, a heaviness descending on him. All he wanted to do was jump on his Harley and ride it fast and hard all the way back to Pinewood Springs.You tried to help but she wants this bullshit. Your hands are now clean of it.
He went down the stairs and walked toward the French doors. Just before he stepped outside, her voice echoed through the house. “Roche!Attends!Are you still here?” Panic played on the edges of her words. Warmth radiated throughout his body as he silently walked back to the staircase. She stood at the top of the stairs gripping the bannister, her knuckles white. Her watery gaze scanned his face as she rocked in place.
Stone-faced, he crossed his arms. “Hurry it up.”
A slow grin spread as the color slowly came back to her face. She spun around and scurried to her bedroom.
“I got my bike, so don’t bring a bunch of shit,” he yelled after her.
He figured they’d be back at the clubhouse in a couple hours.I wonder what the fuck Banger’s gonna say about this.
He knew his president wouldn’t be happy.
And at that instant, he didn’t give a damn.
***
Frederick opened thedoor at exactly five o’clock, his gaze turning dark when he didn’t see her kneeling on the floor, waiting for him. Anger sizzled inside him and he took long strides into the family room, expecting to see her sitting on the couch. She’d lost track of time before when she’d become too immersed in a book. The family room was empty and an eerie silence blanketed the house.
He ran upstairs calling her name, but there was no answer. When he saw that her small room was empty, he knew she’d left him. Disbelief mixed with raw anger and sadness befell him. He sat on the edge of the bed trying to make sense of what had happened. Frederick pinpointed the restlessness he’d sensed in her beginning when he’d had the outlaw group watch his house.There’s something not lining up. I caught her talking to that muscle head in the kitchen, the same one who stopped by our table at the restaurant. Has she left me forhim?The idea seemed inconceivable. He could give her the world. Maybe he’d been too hard on her after the incident with the biker in the kitchen. He’d been so angry it’d taken him over an hour to cool down before he’d punished her for her disobedience.
He picked up the phone and dialed her number, but it went straight to voice mail.Maybe she’s been hurt. Kidnapped.He rushed downstairs to his office and turned on the monitors, rewinding the tapes to see what had happened. He leaned forward and stared at the screen, the rage creeping through his body threatening to explode. The snowy screen confirmed what he’d known since he’d realized she wasn’t there: she’d run off.
We had an agreement. If the cunt wants to break it off, there will be hell to pay.
Frederick had never been the forgiving type, and he had no intention of changing that.
His pet would regret humiliating him like this.
He was bringing her back. And then she would pay for what she did to him: slowly, painfully, until she was hoarse from begging for mercy. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.
He’d take her out of her misery.
He’d choke her until her body crumpled down on the floor in a lifeless heap.
Chapter Nine
Clotille’s hair whippedaround her face as the Harley sped past evergreens and pine trees. Each curve made her stomach lurch and she buried her face in Rock’s back, not daring to look down at the steep drop-offs on the narrow, twisting road where guardrails didn’t exist. Every once in a while she’d sneak a quick glance at Rock, whose eyes were fixed straight ahead as he maneuvered the scariest road she’d ever been on. The wind tangled his hair and she longed to run her fingers through it, but she didn’t dare release her death grip on him. She closed her eyes again and made herself concentrate on Rock’s hard stomach muscles under her hands and his scent of leather, cloves, and earth that filled her nostrils. She’d always thought he was incredibly handsome, but he had matured into a panty-melting hunk. She squirmed a bit on the leather seat as she remembered how powerful his thrusts inside her had been that night they made love in the park when they were teens. How little she’d known about pleasing a man back then.
After forty minutes of terror around the mountain pass, they finally hit a long stretch of road. She breathed a sigh of relief that they’d made it in one piece. Expecting him to take her into town, she was surprised when he turned down a narrow dirt road. They bumped around for several minutes before stopping at a concrete and steel security booth. The man sitting inside waved at Rock, opening the gates so they could ride in.
