“I honestly don’t know,” I mutter, my mind completely blank right now. It could have been Bugs, or maybe Thane really did want revenge after what happened with my brother? Maybe it was the mother. Fuck, I don’t know!
Pulling down the visor little bulbs light up the small space and I check out what is hurting my face so badly. Brushing the hair from my cheek, I notice my right eye is already turning purple, and my cheek is split and bleeding pretty badly. It hurts just as bad as it looks. That asshole did a real number on me. Shutting the visor, I cross my arms. My elbows and knees burn from crawling on the asphalt.
“How long have you been here?” Emotion thick in my voice, I have to fight from crying.
“Does it matter?” His cold response has me look at him, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the road.
He emits confidence with his strong shoulders and large biceps. His strong jaw stubbed with light stubble indicating he hasn’t shaved in a few days. I know him from the club, we’ve chatted here and there and even came together to get Piper’s baby room together. I’m not going to deny that there’s a physical attraction between us. In fact, it’s one reason I tried to avoid him because what I was feeling was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s as if my survival instincts told me we’d end in heartbreak, so I never let our eyes lock and linger more than a few seconds. Now, I’m in the same vehicle with him with nowhere to escape and our chemistry is at an all-time high now that he just swooped in and saved me.
Jesus, if my dad only knew the tension between us, he’d kill me and sacrifice Big Chief to our worst enemies.
The radio makes a loud tone, warning everyone of a tornado in the area.
“I should have known Dad would have sent someone,” I say out loud, wiping my cheek from the dripping blood.
I thought I was sly sneaking off in the middle of the night but you can’t bullshit a bullshitter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful Big Chief is here. I don’t know what would have happened if he wasn’t.
Dad was right though, it’s not safe for me to be away from the club. I’m born a Devil, and that makes me different. I have to stay with my pack.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my fingers coming to my mouth as I stare at the window. The words hard to spit out because of the rage in my heart. I was wrong to leave and coming to terms with it isn’t so easy.
“You don’t have to thank me, D.”
He stops the truck and my head whips in his direction. Why are we stopping? He scoots across the seat and wraps his large arms around me. I tense, my heart thudding against my chest. The smell of his leather cut and cowboy cologne bringing me home. Um, what is he doing?
“You’re safe now,” he mutters into my ear.
I relax, tears stinging my eyes. Trying to push through the emotion, I open my mouth to say something but choke on the words. I sink into his chest and I fucking cry harder than I ever have. Mother Nature screams and throws things just outside the truck, and I break down in the arms of a man that is five times bigger than me and my kryptonite. Not many men affect me like this, and not one person in this world has seen me like this. But him.
Two men in the entire world I tried to avoid, yet fate seems to keep throwing them in my path. At what point do I stop trying to avoid the unavoidable and let love and war play out its destruction.
“Let’s drive a little farther and then park for the night, get your face cleaned up,” he says into the top of my head, his breath hot.
Pulling away from him, I nod, wiping the tears from under my eyes. Jesus, listen to me thinking about love and fate. I sound like a damn idiot. A naïve little girl with a crush. I shuffle back to my side of the truck, but Big Chief isn’t having it. He grabs my inner thigh with his large hand and pulls me to his side in one quick jerk. The bold move has me by surprise, but I don’t fight him. I want him close to me right now, so I stay. The warmth and scent of his body makes me feel safe and douse the anger I have inside of me, a spark of rage warming inside my belly at just the thoughts of my lack of control tonight. I wanted to hurt and kill those guys and I couldn’t. I was hopeless, fightless. It’s not a feeling I’m coping well with. My father taught me to be a fighter and tough, and I was anything but that tonight.