Cade appeared in front of me, taking my scantily clad body and battered face in with a mask of fury and concern. Quick as anything, his face changed and he gazed at me with an expression so gentle I almost cried. Yes, that was what made me cry, not the man who had just punched me in the face and was about to pull out my teeth.
I was so weird.
“I’m going to get you down, okay, baby,” he murmured in a voice so soft it was hard to believe he had possibly killed two men.
He reached up with a long knife and cut me free of the rope holding me to the ceiling. I collapsed into his arms, unable to hold my weight. His arms circled around me, holding me tight. Brock appeared in front of us, shrugging off his cut then his shirt, handing it to Cade who grunted thanks.
“Arms up, baby,” Cade ordered quietly.
I obeyed silently and he pulled the shirt over my head covering me. He cupped my neck with his hands, his face like thunder as he examined my battered face.
He gathered me in his arms and glanced at Brock. “I’m getting Gwen out of here.”
Brock just nodded.
“You two on cleanup, the boys are on their way,” he barked before striding towards the door.
I regarded the bloody scene clinically, none of it sinking in.
Brock gave Cade a hard look, then directed a softer one at me.
That was all I saw before Cade took us through a dirty house and out onto the street. We were in a seriously dodgy neighborhood, nowhere that looked familiar, and I wondered where the hell these bastards had taken me. I didn’t have much time to contemplate this as an SUV screeched in front of us at the curb. I jumped for a moment, thinking it was more of the Spiders.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s just Lucky,” Cade told me quietly.
Lucky jumped out of the driver’s seat and hissed when he saw me, his normally carefree face marred with fury.
“Those fuckers dead?” he barked at Cade, his voice feral.
“Yep,” Cade clipped. “You take my bike, I’ll take Gwen in the cage.”
Lucky nodded tightly, starting toward the house. He stopped in front of me, stroking my cheek softly and wordlessly before continuing.
Cade opened the passenger door, depositing me carefully on the seat before buckling me up. Our eyes locked for a beat, something passing from him I didn’t entirely understand, but something important. I didn’t get long to scrutinize it as he closed my door and rounded the car.
He took off quickly, weaving through the streets at speed.
“Where are we?” I whispered, trying to find a familiar landmark.
“Barnett, next town over,” he replied, eyes focused on the road.
That would make sense as to why I didn’t recognize where we were. Silence descended as we left the town behind, the road looking all but abandoned. I felt overwhelmed, but numb at the same time, my brain not being able to handle all the crazy shit that had just happened.
My face was hurting like a motherfucker, not to mention my ribs, which were on fire. I gingerly touched my lip, wincing at the pain that erupted. Cade must’ve seen this because he slammed on his breaks and pulled off the road. He was out of the car and by my side at lightning speed before unbuckling me and turning my body to face him. He lightly touched my face, eyes hard.
“You hurt anywhere else?” he asked evenly, voice flat.
I gulped and glanced down at my torso, not being fooled by his flat tone. I knew he was barely restraining his fury, but he would see my ribs sooner or later. His eyes followed mine and he lifted the edge of Brock’s tee up to expose my ribs. I heard his hiss of breath as his eyes encountered the purplish bruise already forming. His stare came level with mine, eyes glittering with caged fury.
“They touch you?” he managed to grind out.
I knew how much he feared the answer, he was barely holding on.
I clasped my hands around his neck, pulling him between my legs. “He didn’t touch me, you got there in time. I knew you would,” I spoke softy.
His eyes focused on my lip, the bruise that I knew was already forming on my cheekbone. His huge palm spanned my ribs, touch feather light.
“I didn’t get there in time, the fucker put his hands on you. Had you hanging off the fucking ceiling in your underwear.” His voice was almost a snarl. “He marked you. You’re hurt.”
“You don’t get it, Cade, I knew you would come. I’ve been in that situation before, and I was paralyzed with fear last time…”
Cade’s eyes became midnight at my words, body stiff.
I tightened my grip on his neck. “This time I wasn’t paralyzed with fear, I didn’t feel hopeless. Because I knew you would come for me.” My voice was fierce.
Cade stared at me for a second as if he was mentally pulling himself together. He closed his eyes then plastered my body into his, my butt left the seat and I had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist. He held me tight, face in my hair.
“Fuck, baby, when I got that call you’d been taken.” He sucked in an audible breath. “I never want to relive that moment, for as long as I fuckin’ live. You were gone for four hours, longest four hours of my life. Knew the boys were one step away from locking me down, but I couldn’t have that. I knew how terrified you would’ve been, hating the way we left things. I walked through that door, not knowing what I was going to find, but if you hadn’t been whole baby, I would be Bull, breathing, existing, but not living.”
He pulled his head back, resting his forehead on mine. “Need you, Gwen, like I need air. This life is fucked, it ain’t what you deserve, but I’m going to clean this shit up now. It will never touch you again.”
His voice was firm, resolved and I believed him.
“I can’t promise you I’m going to be a choirboy, that’ll never be me. But I am getting the club away from any kind of business that could get you hurt, ‘cause I am never putting you in danger again, for as long as I fuckin’ live. And I intend that to be a good long while, so I can make my life with you, put a ring on your finger, my babies in your belly.”
My breath left me in a whoosh, this was a shit ton of information to take in at one go. Babies? Marriage? I had never even considered this, my life having been focused on my career, my friends. Now I had this declaration on the side of the road after being kidnapped and beaten — this day was definitely crazy.
I gazed into Cade’s eyes, not knowing how to reply but somehow knowing I wanted all of that with him. I didn’t know what to say, so I kissed him. He complied for a moment before gently pulling away.
“Gwen, your lip, I’ll hurt you.” He sounded conflicted, I could see the desire in his eyes, the same need that I had to be close to him, to connect with him.
“I don’t care,” I whispered against his mouth, resuming the kiss.
His reservations forgotten, Cade attacked my mouth with a ferocity that I had never experienced. It was beyond a kiss, it was a promise, a claim. I ignored the pain in my lip, he pushed me back against the car, mouth never leaving mine. I felt his hardness pressing up against me and I moaned, wrapping myself against him even tighter.
Cade stopped the kiss, eyes on mine. “Jesus, Gwen, fuck.” He shook his head slightly as if he was trying to get his thoughts straight. “As much as I would love to get inside you, I am not doing it on the side of a road, with you hurt. We need to get you to a hospital.”