Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Great sobs racked my body as I lost all the control I’d fought so hard to retain. I’d almost made it, too. Had I just kept my mouth shut and followed Cyrus inside, I could have kept all this to myself. Instead, everything -- shock, grief, fear, longing -- all of it came rushing at me with the force and speed of a bullet train. I was eighteen, pregnant, and I had no place to live. No job. No way to survive on my own. I couldn’t ask my brother for help because he didn’t know about any of my situation, and I didn’t want him to.
“Shh… shh…” Strong arms surrounded me, and I clung to the warm body pulling me against it. “I gotcha, honey. I gotcha.”
“It all hit her?”
“Yeah. I ain’t good at expressin’ myself either.” That was Cyrus. He was the man who had me. I could feel his chin resting on the top of my head, moving back and forth soothingly. Then his lips as he kissed my hair. I adjusted my grip tighter around his neck, putting myself closer against him. It was the worst possible thing I could do but I couldn’t stop myself. I buried my face in his neck and sobbed like a little baby.
“Get her to your room, Cyrus. I’ll get her something to calm her down.”
“She’ll be fine. If I need you, I’ll text. She just needs some breathing room and time to process.”
“You get tired of the little crybaby, Cyrus, you come see me. Jezlynn’ll take care of you.”
I stiffened, pushing away from Cyrus until he set me down on my feet. I turned to the woman who’d spoke. It wasn’t hard to figure out which one it was. She was front and center, clinging to Cyrus’s arm the second he put me down.
“You want him, bitch?” I tilted my head as I studied her. “Well? Do you?”
Jezlynn glanced up at Cyrus who was impassive, then around at the other men surrounding us. One woman giggled, and I thought I heard whispers but couldn’t understand what they said.
“Oh, I’ve had him, little mouse. Several times. I just want to have him again.” She gave me a superior smirk, putting her shoulders back and thrusting her breasts. “And again… and again… and again.”
I wish I could say I thought really hard about what I did next, but the fact was, I was completely out of control. I threw a punch, putting all my weight behind it. Right in Jezlynn’s left tit.
The other woman screamed, stepping away from Cyrus and clutching her arms to her chest. “You bitch!”
“You ain’t seen bitch yet.” Somehow, my voice was as low and deadly as any badass in any biker compound. It was the same tone of voice my brother, Donovan, had used on the prospect who’d tried to sneak me into the Salvation’s Bane compound two years ago.
Jezlynn looked from Cyrus to Stitches. There were other men around us, but I wasn’t sure of their names. Other than those two men, I hadn’t met the others. I’d seen a few of them, but when I’d made a mad dash out of the compound earlier, I had done my best to keep my head down.
“You guys gonna let her get away with that?” Jezlynn whined. Bitch. “She’s not part of Iron Tzars!” The other woman stuck her chin up, though she still held her tit. “I am!”
“You get to live because I haven’t put out the word Odette’s with me yet. Now you know. Next time you fuckin’ touch her or even look at her the wrong way, I’ll slit your throat myself.”
I blinked up at Cyrus. Though his voice was calm, his gaze was hard. I knew these men were hard-asses. I’d heard Donovan say it more than once of the men in Iron Tzars. They were relatively new to Salvation’s Bane, only since they’d formed an alliance with Bones in Kentucky and their former president had been recruited by Black Reign. I didn’t know the particulars, but I’d heard their recruitment wasn’t necessarily a request for Warlock to join. It had been a demand. I saw it now. The men Donovan saw when he looked at them.
Jezlynn gasped and took a step back. Was she really frightened of Cyrus? Surely, she knew he’d never hurt a woman. That wasn’t who he was. Was it? ‘Course, I’d only met him once, but that was the image I’d built up in my mind. Cyrus as a protector. Not someone who hurt women and children.
“I suggest you take the other women and be someplace else.” Another man moved forward, stepping slightly between Cyrus and Jezlynn.
“She’s not one of us! Why are so many women invading our space?” She waved a hand at the other woman behind us. “They’re all too scared to say anything, but they think so too! We’re part of Tzars! All these women you’ve brought in from the outside don’t belong!”