REIGN: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (28 page)

~
9
~

“You WHAT?” Ace
cried in Gunner’s face.

“I couldn’t…I
couldn’t fucking help it, Ace. I haven’t felt this way towards a woman
in...goddammit, I can’t even tell you!”

“So you go and sleep
with our hostage? She polish your knob real good? And now you want to make her
one of us? You’re out of your damn mind, Gunner. You can’t do this; she
ain’t
cut out for it. She’ll go squealing first thing once
you let her out. She’ll be running down that road like a bat out of hell. You
done it this time, Gunner. I knew we should never let anyone your age in
charge. Dammit!”

“She won’t run, and
she won’t tell, once we tell her the truth!”

“Oh, the truth. The
truth will set you free, huh? The truth will make that bitch shut up? You got a
funny notion of the power of the truth, Gunner.” Ace was pacing behind the bar.
“I need a fucking drink.”

Ace poured a
generous glass of whiskey for himself. Looking at Gunner, he sneered and poured
a second glass.

“You can stop this
now. It was one time. You can let go. Let someone else film the damn videos.
Fall out of her life. Make her forget you. Never see her again. We can make
that happen,” Ace said, rubbing his head after taking a long drink.

“Ace, I can’t do
that. I…I love her,” Gunner said, swilling a good portion of his own glass. Ace
looked at him and shook his head.

“You are a damn
fool, Gunner. You figure it out then. But just so you know, if that…if that
bitch brings us down, we’ll throw you to the flames and save our asses. ‘Cause
that’s exactly what you’re doing to us right now.” Ace slammed the rest of his
drink before picking his helmet up off the bar and heading towards the door.
“You figure out something good, boy. For your own damn sake.”

Gunner stared into
his glass, swirling the brown liquid around and around. He looked up,
watery-eyed, and took a long sip. Then he looked out towards the shed.

~
10
~

It was a full day
before I saw Gunner again. At first, I felt certain he would come back and let
me out. Then, as time passed, I grew nervous. What if I’d been wrong? What if
this was a one-time thing? What if I’d just allowed myself to be used by the
very person who was holding me captive – like Stockholm syndrome? Eventually,
amidst alternating waves of anger and sadness, I fell asleep.

The next day, I
woke up alone in the room. I knew that it should probably be about time for
someone to come in with food; I’d started eating after the third day, when the
hunger pains got too much for me. But the hours just stretched on with no
visitors, no food, no Gunner. Until eventually, I heard the door open.

“I have something I
need to tell you,” Gunner said as he entered the room. He sat down heavily on
the plastic folding chair set in front of the mattress. I looked up at him and
could see pain and confusion in his eyes. It scared me; I knew that he wasn’t
about to tell me something good.

“You…you can tell
me,” I said cautiously.

“It’s about your
father,” he said slowly. I felt a jolt of panic run through me. My father? Was
he dead? Was he sick? Was he not going to pay the ransom? I waited as Gunner
sat, silent, apparently deep in thought. Every moment that passed was like an
eternity.

“He’s not going to
pay the ransom, Serena,” he said, finally looking at me with honesty in his
eyes. Okay, okay, don’t panic, it could be okay, he could be saying that
they’re going to let me go, he wouldn’t hurt me, okay, I thought as my
breathing sped up and my heart raced.

“Are you going to
kill me?” I asked, blatantly. I figured it was really the only way to go, to
ask straight out. He was silent for a moment, studying me.

“No, Serena. We’re
not going to kill you. Your father is not going to pay the ransom because there
is no ransom. We didn’t take you as a hostage. The job that we did for your
father? This is it. This is the job. He paid us to take you. To scare you. Into
obeying him, I guess,” Gunner said. Each word washed through me like water.

I couldn’t even
begin to understand what they meant, couldn’t process what he was telling me.
My own father had me kidnapped? He wanted me to suffer in this dirty little
room, sleep on a moldy mattress, fear for my life? He hired someone to bash me
on the head, to hurt Juliana? Gunner studied my face, watching my reaction. He
must have noticed as my confusion gave way: first, to relief, then to sadness,
then to anger.

“Why would he do
this to me?” I cried out as tears began to fall, unbidden, from my eyes.

“He said you needed
to learn a lesson. We don’t ask questions. We just take the cash,” Gunner said.
Suddenly, my anger took over.

“And you? You knew
this whole time? This whole time we were talking, and I confided in you, you
knew? You knew and you didn’t tell me? How could you – how can you sit here and
tell me this so calmly? Like it’s good news? I trusted you!” I screamed at him,
standing up. Now I was looking down on him, my fists rolled into balls of rage.
I could see the way my words hurt him but didn’t care. I didn’t care about
anything in that moment.

“I know, and that’s
why I’m telling you now. We were supposed to release you in two days, and you
were never supposed to know,” he said. I began to pace back and forth,
seething. I felt betrayed and horrified – both by my father and by Gunner.
“But, Serena….”

“Don’t. Just
don’t…just…please…” I said, my words and thoughts breaking down as I looked at
him. I felt my anger begin to slip away as a tired sort of sorrow filled me. I
sat down on the mattress and held my head in my hands. Gunner got up from the
chair and came to sit down beside me. He put his arm around my shoulder and
pulled me close to him. Despite everything, his hand on my shoulder still
filled me with comfort, and desire.

“I’m not mad at
you, I’m just so…so hurt…” I said between sniffles.

“I know,” Gunner
said, and I felt him rest his chin on the top of my head. “I know.”

We sat in silence
for a long while, Gunner holding me as I thought about what I’d just learned.
Eventually, my thoughts were drawn away from the past and towards the future.
Looking up at him, I couldn’t help but ask.

“What happens to me
now?” Gunner looked down on me, his eyes soft and warm.

“Now, we are going
to leave this room. I am going to take you next door; I live right here, right
next to this shed. You are going to take a shower. You are going to lie down in
a real bed, with real pillows and real blankets. That’s what’s going to happen
now.” The thought of taking a hot shower and laying down in a bed made me cry
again, but this time it was from happiness. I didn’t care what would happen to
me after all that. I just needed something to hold onto in the moment, and
having some semblance of humanity was enough.

~
11
~

Gunner led me out
into the blinding daylight; I blinked rapidly, my eyes unaccustomed to
sunlight, only the single bulb of the shed where I’d been kept. When I could
finally focus, I saw that we were in a sort of dirt parking lot; there was a
large building, a bar, with beer signs on the windows, with many motorcycles
parked out front. There was no sign of life except the distant, soft din of men
yelling and laughing inside the building.

Gunner led me
around to the back of the bar; there was a staircase leading up to a door. I
supposed he lived above the bar, to keep an eye on everything, and be available
at all times. I figured him for the leader.

Gunner’s room,
beyond the door, was small but cozy. The walls were painted a dark green, and
there wasn’t much furniture: a bureau, a loveseat, a desk. But the bed was
gigantic and looked like something out of a catalogue, with beautiful wooden
posts and an old quilt for bedding. I was shocked at the contrast between
Gunner’s hard exterior and the room he chose to live in: I was expecting empty
liquor bottles everywhere, cigarette burns on the carpet, and posters of chicks
on bikes.

“The bathroom is
right through that door,” Gunner said, pointing. “There should be towels and
everything. The only shampoo is for men – sorry, I didn’t have time to go get
something for you.”

“It’s sweet to even
think about it,” I said. To be honest, I was rather unnerved by the whole
situation. To go from a grey room and moldy mattress back to civilization – it
was very overwhelming. I stood awkwardly in the doorway, trying to get my
bearings.

“It’s okay. Go
ahead,” Gunner said, pulling me inside by the hand. He led me to the bathroom
and opened the door. “You’re safe here.” I looked up at him as he spoke and
knew he was telling the truth.

That shower was,
hands-down, the best shower of my life. I’d never felt so dirty, and I’d never
felt so clean as I did afterwards. I almost felt like singing while I washed my
hair, but I refrained – Gunner was being nice, that didn’t mean he needed to be
subjected to my less-than-ideal singing voice. As I stepped out and wrapped
myself in a towel, I realized that the only clothing I had was the dress I’d
been wearing for the past week, and I didn’t want to put it back on.

I poked my head out
the door to ask Gunner if he had some clothes I could wear, but he was nowhere
in sight. I panicked; I was still traumatized by the whole ordeal, and my mind
raced with awful possibilities. Throwing the bathroom door open, I called out
for him.

The room was small,
with no kitchen or other rooms except for the bathroom, so I don’t know what I
expected, but he wasn’t there. I stood in the center of the room, clutching the
towel to me, on the verge of tears as horrible scenarios played out in my head:
he’s going to have the whole club come up
and rape me, he left and they’ll kill me, he went to go get my father and HE’LL
kill me…

I heard the
doorknob turning and nearly grabbed a lamp for protection; when Gunner appeared
in the doorframe I felt all my fears vanish. He took one look at me, though,
and must have known how scared I’d been. He rushed towards me, taking me in his
arms.

“I’m so sorry,
Serena. I just went to get you something to eat,” he said. Standing there, in
the middle of the room, with his arms around me, feeling the heat from his body
and smelling the sweet, sour sweat from his neck, I began to get aroused.

It was probably
aided by the adrenaline that had been coursing through my body, but I clutched
him to me and allowed myself to get lost in my desire. I kissed his neck,
tasting the sweat, and then again, and again. Gunner suddenly broke away,
holding me at arms length. His eyes were deep and hungry.

Suddenly, he ripped
the towel away from my body, leaving me entirely exposed. I stood silently as
his eyes roamed over my curves, his gaze turning me on even more. When his eyes
finally met mine again, they were demanding.

“Lie down,” he said,
his voice rough and gravelly. Without waiting for me to respond on my own, he
grabbed my waist and threw me onto end of the bed; still staring into my eyes,
he pushed me hard, onto my back. As I bounced back onto the mattress, I watched
him unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants, revealing his semi-erect cock,
still massive even though it wasn’t fully hard.

I didn’t have long
to admire, though; the next thing I knew, Gunner was on top of me, kissing my
neck and earlobes, sending shivers throughout my body. He slowly began to kiss
lower and lower. As he traced my collarbone with his tongue, I felt his rough,
calloused hands on my breasts, gently kneading them and fondling them. The
feeling of his cracked palms against my erect nipples made me moan; soon,
Gunner was kissing my breasts, his lips avoiding my nipples, which were begging
for attention.

“Oh, please,” I
moaned, not even sure what I was begging for. Slowly, Gunner’s kisses drew
nearer and nearer to the center of each breast, until finally I felt his lips
fall on one of my nipples while he gently twisted the other. The sensation made
me cry out and I could feel my pussy dampening as he slowly sucked and nibbled
on each breast, one at a time, using his fingers to play with the other nipple,
tugging it gently and rolling it between his calloused fingertips.

Each time the rough
fingers would be replaced by his soft, warm tongue I groaned in ecstasy. I
never wanted it to end, but eventually Gunner’s mouth trailed even further
down, planting kisses along my quivering torso, each one making my stomach jump
as his stubble tickled my sensitive flesh.

Gunner kissed and
licked his way down to my legs; he spread my thighs, massaging them with his
hands, and hovered above my glistening pussy. Gunner’s hot breath was enough to
make me moan as his lips drew near to my engorged clit; I could almost feel the
nerves there jumping as he approached. I squirmed under his hands and my body
strained towards him, but he simply drew back and looked up at me with a wicked
grin.

“Good things come
to those who wait,” he said, his voice rough and gravelly. Still looking up at
me, he began to kiss the insides of my thighs, moving his lips from one to the
other as he slowly made his way back down towards my pussy. The scruff on his
face tickled my tender, excited flesh with each kiss and I bit my lip, trying
to restrain my desire to simply grab his head and pull his mouth onto my clit.

Slowly, so slowly,
I could feel him get closer and closer; my clit was throbbing from need when he
finally reached his tongue out and licked it gently, causing me to cry out as
the heavenly sensation of relief flow through me. Gunner began licking my clit
gingerly, rolling it around with his tongue and occasionally flicking it
roughly. Each sensation was like daggers of pure ecstasy, and my thighs closed around
his head automatically.

As he teased my
clit with his tongue I felt him press two fingers against my moist slit; they
slipped in easily, and he began to probe my pussy slowly. I was squirming at
this point from the constant stimulation on my clit. I felt his fingers inside
me slowly curl into a sort of beckoning motion and a jolt of heat rushed
through me as he pressed hard against something inside me. The feeling was
deeper and more pleasurable than anything I’d ever experienced before as he massaged
the spot, driving me to cry out.

He began licking my
clit harder, more earnestly, and I could feel his tongue moving swiftly around
and over the sensitive button, driving me closer and closer towards climax.
Heat was rushing through me like a wild fire and I could feel myself growing
tense; he was massaging the spot inside me harder, now, and each gentle push
against it made me want more.

Without thinking
about it or even realizing it, I grabbed the back of Gunner’s head, pulling him
closer towards me. He pressed hard with his fingers against my pussy and at the
same time I felt a sharp shock as his teeth gently grazed my clit.

“Oh god, oh fuck,
please don’t stop, please…” I cried out, my thighs pressed around his head,
clutching him to me as he licked me into a frenzy; finally, when I thought I
couldn’t take another moment, I felt his teeth graze my clit again as fireworks
exploded inside me and the tension that had been building finally released in a
wave of pleasure.

My limbs turned to
jelly as all the muscles in my body gave way to the searing delight that was
coursing through me as I came. I felt my pussy tighten and then relax around
Gunner’s fingers, the feeling fading slowly as my orgasm subsided. I relaxed my
grip on Gunner’s head and he crawled upwards towards me, his hard cock exposed
and trailing along the sensitive skin on my thighs. I smiled up at him,
panting, as he supported himself over me.

Leaning down, his
lips met mine and we kissed. I could taste my own juices in his mouth as our
tongues met and swirled together, every nerve in my body still alive and
craving more of him. I could feel his hardness pressed against my soaked slit.
I grabbed his hips and pulled him down towards me, gasping as the head of his
enormous cock entered me, stretching me once again with its massive size.

Gunner groaned as
he felt his dick welcomed by the warm wetness of me, and immediately thrust his
cock deep inside me, grabbing me around the torso to draw me closer to him. I
cried out at the sudden entrance, my pussy still sensitive from the orgasm that
had just ripped through me. Gunner began to pump, slowly, into me; our eyes
locked and I could feel his intensity as he thrust into me. Lost in the
blissful sensation of his throbbing hard cock inside me, I could only close my
eyes and moan as he sped up, each stroke coming in deeper and harder than the
one before.

I could feel the
now-familiar heat creeping into my fingers and cheeks, gaining speed and
intensity with each pump. I could hear our bodies smacking together with each
powerful thrust, and the smell of his sweat filled me with an animalistic
desire. I grabbed his hips again and clutched him to me, but Gunner suddenly
grabbed my legs and pushed them upwards, towards my chest. With my knees bent
between us, I felt Gunner’s cock drive even deeper into my pussy, hitting
places I’d never even known about.

My eyes popped open
at the intense new pleasure and my head rolled back against the pillow. I could
feel the pressure rising inside me as he slammed into me, rapidly pumping his
cock into me and driving me closer and closer to orgasm. Looking up, I saw
Gunner staring down at me, his eyes burning with desire and passion.

That was the last
thing I remember seeing; a moment later, I heard Gunner let out a wild cry and
drive into me furiously, one last time. I felt his hot cum hitting my pussy
walls and the sensation was too much: my legs shook furiously as another orgasm
ripped through me, tearing my senses to shreds and sending waves of white hot
electricity throughout my body. Gunner unloaded shot after shot of hot, thick
cum into my pussy, each new burst adding to my own orgasm as my pussy milked
his cock.

I felt like my body
was being stretched to the limits of pleasure until finally, like a storm
subsiding, I was left panting, tingling, and overwhelmed by bliss. Gunner
collapsed on top of me as I let my legs fall. I felt his hot breath against my
neck, and could taste the sweat dripping off him. He kissed me tenderly behind
my earlobe, making me sigh and shudder.

“I love you,
Serena,” he whispered. My heart was pounding from the amazing sensations and
from those words I’d wanted to hear.

“I love you too,
Gunner,” I whispered back. He rolled off me and lay on his back, eyes closed. I
turned on my side and threw one leg over his, my arm across his torso. When I
woke up, he was gone.