Chaos Conquers All (11 page)

He was trying to protect her and what did she do? She shit all over the man.

“It’s a fucking shitty situation, Nikki. The way it all went down. In the end though, it’s what was best. You and he come from two totally different worlds. Those worlds can’t ever exist in harmony with one another and neither of you would be happy in the others world,” she paused as an officer entered the corridor in front of them and disappeared through another door, “Sooner or later you’re going to have to cut him out completely Nikki ‘cause that man can’t let go. You lot keep this shit up much longer and one or both your worlds are going to explode.”

She’d come here to spring her brothers and instead she was getting pearls of wisdom from the dirty Detective.

“You only have to look at the man to know this underhanded shit is not him. Even the small shit eats away at him but he still does it for you.”

Nikki knew what she’d done. The reality of it stayed with her and she didn’t need to eat any more shit over it at least for today.

“And you? What’s your excuse?” she asked Rachael.

Rachael shrugged at her as she opened the door to the waiting area, “I’m a realist. I know the score. I am fully aware of the possible consequences of my actions.”

Standing in the waiting room despite King’s orders were Tex and Rock. While Rock’s head immediately swung their way, Tex’s gaze stayed on the door ahead of them. Rock proceeded to eye fuck Rachael in a way that made even Nikki uncomfortable.

“Plus, I’m a sucker for a bad boy,” Rachael whispered before sliding straight into business mode.

Aren’t we all?

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Trace entered the long hallway leading to the waiting area. An ominous feeling had slowly been building inside him while he’d been sitting in that holding cell. He had that bastard in his hands and he let him get away. Now Bridges knew they were onto him. They’d lost the element of surprise. He’d let his emotions get the better of him and he’d fucked shit up again. Now the club and Nikki were at risk more than ever. In less than twenty four hours they would be running another shipment and Trace knew that Bridges was going to hit them and this time he was going to hit them bad.

He glanced toward the exit as the officer collected his belongings. Nikki was standing on the other side of the windowed exit door. Her eyes were on the floor and she looked quite tense. God he wished he could go back in time to when shit was far less complicated. He wished he could go back to that field where they made love for the first time and stay there revelling in her body. Things were way too far gone for them to return to that. He needed to stop living in that head space and accept that things had changed, that Nikki had changed.

“If that’s all your things, I’ll get you to sign here please,” the officer interrupted his thoughts.

He signed the paperwork and headed out into the lobby.

Brodie and Jay were already waiting with the others when he exited. Nikki opened her mouth to say something but he didn’t need to hear it. He grabbed a hold of her pulling her hard against his chest. Then he kissed her ravenously. He felt her freeze in surprise then her body began to relax. Her hands went up to his forearms and tightened there. He wanted to show her he was sorry about Black, about a lot of things and that he didn’t just still want her but he still loved her too. He slowed the kiss down stroking her tongue with his. She softened against him and her own tongue joined his in an intricate slow dance. God he loved this woman and there was no way he was ever going to let her go.

The cat calls started and Trace drew back from Nikki smiling softly. She smiled back but the weariness showed in her eyes. He wondered how long it had been since she slept. She’d disappeared while he and Tex had been catching some z’s and if she hadn’t slept then she must have been going on nearly forty eight hours without any rest.

“Geez bro, anyone would think you’d been inside for four years not four hours,” Rock laughed.

“Yeah well sometimes you just gotta show your woman some love,” he replied.

“Amen to that brother,” Rock said as he went back to eyeing the detective.

“Let’s get out of here shall we? We’ll talk back at the clubhouse,” he said to Nikki as he swung an arm around her shoulders and headed for the door.

They sat in silence during the ride back to the clubhouse. Given the others in the vehicle, he hadn’t been able to fill the silence with the other things he’d wanted to say to her. Instead of talking to her he’d rested his hand on her thigh and stroked it gently as she drove. By the time they reached the clubhouse his desperation had subsided even if his need to kill Bridges hadn’t. He was going to murder that man slow and brutal for what he did to Nikki. 

Sixteen hours. Sixteen hours. Nikki’s eyes were firmly glued to the clock on the wall. She had sixteen hours left. She was running out of time and she was tired. She was so god damn tired she’d nearly lost her shit in church. Tex had gone from ignoring her to glaring at her and she wasn’t sure if this time things had gone too far for him. Trace had forgiven her, like he always did and god she wished he would hate her too. Instead he was watching her like a hawk and the concern in his face was too obvious. The pair of them made her want to scream and cry at the same time and all she could do was hold it in.

She ruined everything the day she let Cole into her life. Now it was all falling apart in front of her and she could barely lift a finger to stop it. Even her anger wasn’t helping to sustain her anymore. She needed a cold shower and some caffeine and then she needed to think. There was no damn time for sleeping.

“Throw me an energy drink,” she called to Brodie who was rifling around behind the bar.

He threw her a can and she headed straight for her bathroom.

Black was gone. He’d kicked Jay in the head as soon as the truck had stopped. Black gave Trace the same treatment when he had opened the truck door. Then Black had slipped away into Cole’s vehicle. She chugged down the can before undressing herself. Had Black told Cole about their little conversation? No he wouldn’t have. He’d only be dropping himself in the shit if he told his boss he’d outed him. She needed to get to that bastard somehow. The question was how. She stepped into the shower and winced at the freezing cold spray. Think Nikki, think. How would she contact Black without Cole knowing? Daisy’s phone. If the boys had picked up Daisy’s phone she could contact him from there.

“Christ Baby Girl, this water is freezing,” Trace exclaimed as his hand reached past her to the taps.

“Yeah well I’m getting out now,” she told him as she attempted to get out of the shower.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he replied.

She turned around to face him. His lean, toned body was totally exposed. He kicked his discarded clothes out of the way and stepped into the shower as the water turned warm. Almost out of instinct her gaze travelled down his body and she watched as his penis began to stir and harden. Her brain told her she didn’t have time for this but as he lifted her chin and she looked him in the eye her heart told her she didn’t have time not to.

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Trace knew she was hurting. They were all hurting. Tex hadn’t taken his eyes off her since they’d returned from the cop shop. He’d stared at Nikki with open anger on his face until she’d quickly escaped to her room. He had no idea what was going on in Tex’s head but he didn’t like it. Nikki was the victim in this situation. Bridges had lied to her and manipulated her and used her for his own sick amusement. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to know that you slept with the man who killed your mother and one of your brothers, and was bent on destroying your family.

Nikki had sat in her chair avoiding everyone’s eye contact. Even when she spoke she looked at the wall behind whoever she was speaking to. She looked tired and distracted. She might’ve thought she was doing enough to hide it but he knew her too well. Her hands were balled tightly into fists and her nails were pressing so hard into her palms that he thought she would draw blood any second. Even though she wouldn’t look him in the eyes he could see hers had turned that stormy grey which always signalled her inner turmoil. She was keeping that shit locked up inside and it was going to boil over and soon. As he’d sat and watched her he hadn’t been able to shake that ominous feeling. It drove him to go after her.  It fed his need to hold her and touch her. It made him desperate for her which is why he’d followed her into the shower.

He leaned in and kissed her softly and slowly. He was going to take his time and he was going to make damn sure she felt the love. He broke off the kiss and hugged her to him pressing their bodies together from head to toe. God he loved the feel of her warm soft skin against his. He watched her as she began to relax into him. He lathered up his hands and began to work the tense knots of muscle in her back. She clung to him. Her arms hung around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder. Holding her in his arms always made him feel like twice the man he was.

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Nikki tightened her hold on Trace as his hands slipped lower. He scooped her up wrapping her legs around his waist. She could feel his erection pressed between them as he walked her over to the ledge at the edge of the shower. He nuzzled at her head coaxing her to bring her mouth to his. She looked up at him and nearly turned away. His eyes were filled with need, love and desperation. She felt his pain loud and clear and her heart ached for him. She wasn’t worthy of his devotion and yet he chose to give it to her any way. She had to do better than this for him.

He set her on the wide ledge she’d had built into her shower and leaned into their kiss. She leaned back against the tiled wall and he loosened her legs from around his waist. His mouth left hers travelling down her neck licking and nibbling her skin leisurely. His hands moved up to cup her breasts and his thumbs brushed across her nipples causing a rush of blood to her clit. His mouth continued on its path joining his hands at her breasts. She gasped as his tongue flicked across one tight little bud. Her hands travelled down his back and she could feel the tension in his muscles. He was holding back. As always, putting her needs before his. She needed to start doing the same for him.

“Trace,” she called him trying to drag him back up her body.

He shook his head, his mouth still locked onto her nipple. The pull and shake sent another bolt of sexual electricity straight to her clit. She moaned low and she felt his hand slide between her thighs.

“Please,” she begged him as she grabbed at his arms again.

He released her nipple and looked up at her as he spoke, “No Baby Girl. We do it my way.”

She opened her mouth to protest but she didn’t get a word out before Trace spoke.

“I need to do it my way,” he told her, emphasising the word need.

The look on his face made it clear that he wasn’t interested in debating the subject. Nikki let go of his arms and leaned back as Trace’s mouth moved down her body. If that’s what he needed, that is what she would let him do, for now.

His kissed his way across her stomach as his hands began massaging her aching calves. Her tired body groaned with pleasure. She closed her eyes as he dipped his tongue between her lower lips. Long, slow, leisurely licks across her clit stoked the fire burning low in her abdomen. Unconsciously, she began to rock into his mouth. He responded to her instinctive invitation. He slid two fingers into her entrance and began moving them at an easy pace. With every lick of his tongue and every stroke of his fingers she grew wetter. The ache inside her built to extreme proportions and every inch of her body was screaming out to go over the edge.

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Trace knew Nikki was close. He could feel it in the tautness of her body, in the squeezing of her thighs and the flutter of her inner walls. He wanted to take her over the edge but he wasn’t done yet and he knew in her current state of fatigue and stress she could only handle so much. He pulled his fingers free and leaned back looking down at her glistening sex. She was so damn wet and it just made him want to go on eating her. He loved the taste of her almost as much as he loved the feel of her.

Trace felt her eyes on him as she waited to see what he would do. He stood up and spread her juices over his now throbbing length. He took his cock in hand and slid it slowly between the lips of her sex.

“Trace,” she said his name with such reverence that he nearly gave in to his own body’s demand to slide inside her.

He didn’t give in though. Instead he changed angles sliding the head of his penis up over her clit. She bucked and moaned as he made contact. She was trembling with need and he loved it. He needed her to need him. He slid his cock back and forth using it to stroke her swollen nub. The thrust and withdraw through her wet slit made his cock tingle and his balls ache. Her breathy sounds became moans as he ground himself against her.

She was so god damn beautiful like this. Spread out underneath him, her skin was flushed with desire, her juicy pink bottom lip caught between her teeth and those clear blue eyes filled with emotion. This was where he got to see the dark depths of her psyche. She had nothing to hide behind when it was just the two of them stripped back like this. Her eyes flickered shut as he hit her clit on a particularly good angle. He knew that signal. He stopped and her eyes flew open. He changed positions pausing at her entrance.

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Nikki was strung out physically and emotionally. Trace had built her up and held her at the precipice for too long. Her body was screaming for release, her brain was overtired mush and her chest pained her like it was about to collapse. He was gazing at her intently. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to find out what was going on in her head.

“I need you to look at me, Baby Girl. No more lies. No more hiding,” he told her.

No more hiding. No more lies. She reached up to touch his face. Her palm cupped his cheek and he turned his face into it placing a kiss on her hand. He had no idea what he was asking of her but if that is what he wanted then that is what she would give him.

She nodded at him and he slowly slid inside her. She was so wet that he seated himself in one stroke and still her body arched instinctively trying to take more of him. He watched her face intently as he worked himself in and out of her slowly. She watched him back. Every furrow of his brow, every clench of his jaw and every exhale of his breath. But it was his eyes that she watched the most. She saw the concern, the forgiveness and ultimately the complete adoration in his gaze. Tears threatened to spill over as the rollercoaster of emotions she had been on, finally started working their way to the surface. She wanted to close her eyes and reinforce the wall around that pain. She didn’t let her gaze leave his face and not once did she let her eyes close. When she reached the peak, the sting in her heart matched the liquid fire that spread through her signalling her impending orgasm.

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Nikki fell apart underneath him and the naked emotion in her eyes broke his heart in two. His body wasn’t interested in his heart. He’d worked himself up to the point where nothing would stop his release and when she came he followed right along with her. There were a few moments of silence before Nikki’s sobs became audible and the tears spilled down her face. He scooped her up and crushed her to his chest.

“Sssshhhh Baby Girl, it’s okay,” he soothed as he stroked her hair and held her.

“I’m sorry,” Nikki’s voice wobbled as she spoke. “I’m so sorry. I fucked up so badly,” she continued sobbing her way through the words.

Trace slid his hand under Nikki’s face and lifted it.

“Hey Baby Girl. We’ve been over this. We’ve all made mistakes here. None of us is innocent in that regard,” Trace told her. “I understand the place you were in. I don’t blame you. Bridges took advantage of you. How could you have known who that bastard really was?” he tried his best to reassure her.

“It’s not just him. There’s something else,” she paused as several more sobs wracked her body, “I killed them. I killed the prospects.”

Suddenly it was like their world was in slow motion. She killed the prospects?

“Reaper was sick and he couldn’t shoot. I went with him. He told me they were working with Bridges. He said they betrayed us. He said they were going to kill King and Tex. He told me we had orders. King gave him orders. I shot them. Jesus Christ, I fucking shot them,” she blubbered her way through the disjointed sentences.

A sound like a growl came from behind them. He looked up to find Tex standing in the bathroom, fury like he’d never seen plastered across Tex’s face.

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Nikki’s sobbing turned to bawling as he stood there in silence, his anger rising rapidly. Fucking Reaper. He had to know that if the club found out she killed those prospects her life would be put to a vote. How could he do that to his own daughter? If that man wasn’t dead, he’d kill him all over again. An angry growl rumbled in his chest as he thought about what he’d do if he got his hands on Reaper.

“Tex,” Trace called to him a frown on his face.

He watched as Nikki shook Trace off and got to her feet. Her face was covered in tears and her wet hair was plastered to her cheeks. It was her eyes that stopped him dead. The torment in them told him how messed up she was inside, how messed up she was over Bridges and the prospects. He couldn’t bear to witness the pain there and he turned away from her.