I lean into him, unable to fight the connection simmering between us. “You forget something, Savage. I really like it when you snap.”
“Fuck, Sadie…” He inhales sharply. “You should probably get to class before I do something I’ll regret.”
“Later, then?” I ask, hopeful.
“I don’t know. Prez wants us to—”
“And what about me, huh? What about what I want?”
His nostrils flare, carnal need rolling off him. I’m two seconds from asking him to make good on his word and take me away from here. But something catches Rhett’s eye over my shoulder, dousing me in ice water.
“You should go in. I need to speak to Jax for a second.”
I glance back and see the source of Rhett’s sudden interest. “Fine.” I don’t bother to disguise the hurt in my voice. “I’ll see you later.”
The two of them watch me all the way, until I’m entering the school building.
“Everything good?” Dane is waiting at my locker for me.
“Yeah, fine.” I yank it open and grab my books, except something’s wrong. “What is—”
“Sadie?” Concern coats Dane’s words as I stagger back, icy-cold dread flooding me. “The fuck?” He plucks the photograph from my locker and cusses under his breath.
“What is it?” Quinn rushes over to my side. “What’s wrong?”
“A photo…” I croak. “There was a photo in my locker.”
“A photo?” She glances from me to Dane and back again. “Let me see that.” She snatches it off Dane, and we both stare at the grainy image.
Dane has his arm slung casually over my shoulder as I smile up at him. It’s innocent enough, only someone has scratched out his eyes with a knife, leaving jagged black holes, and added a thick scrawled red pen mark across my throat.
“Holy shit, that’s…”
“We need to go,” Dane says, his cell to his ear.
“G-go?” I stare wide-eyed at him.
“Yeah, clearly this place has been compromised.”
“Compromised, right.” I inhale a shuddering breath.
“You think it’s Darren?” Quinn whispers, scooting closer to me.
“Or someone doing his dirty work.” Dane’s eye dart up and down the hall. “Either way, we need to get out of here until we know for sure.”
“But it’s class, we can’t just—”
“We’ve got a problem,” Dane says to someone, and I sense Rhett come up behind me. He takes the photograph from Dane and mutters something under his breath.
“We’re leaving.”
“Yeah,” Dane agrees. “You take Sadie, I’ll bring Quinn and River.”
“What about Wes…” I blurt out, panic riding inside me. “He’s a part of this.”
“Like fuck he is,” Rhett hisses, and I pin him with a pleading stare.
“Please.”
He regards me for a second, a storm brewing in his gaze. “Fine. Dane can get him. But we leave. Now.”
“He’s right, Sadie. You two should go.” Quinn touches my arm. “We’ll make sure Wes comes with us. Go.”
Rhett presses his hand on the small of my back, nudging me away from them. But I’m still paralyzed to the spot, the chilling image stuck in my head.
“Princess,” Rhett growls, and I look up at him. “If you don’t want me to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here, I suggest you move.”
21
Rhett
Sadie looks over her shoulder at Quinn and Dane, who both silently beg her to do as she’s told for fucking once and get the hell away from here.
My fingers flex against her back, my need to do as I just threatened almost getting the better of me.
“Do not leave here without him,” she warns, looking directly at Dane.
Fucking Noble.
I have no idea what either of them see in him. He’s a douchebag football player, as far as I’m concerned. And as much as he might tell us that he doesn’t agree with his father about the MC, I still don’t trust him.
Grant Noble has made it his life’s mission to take us down, to convince Mayor Nixon and Police Chief Statham to stop working with us, turning a blind eye when our indiscretions inadvertently help the town. I find it hard to believe that someone who’s grown up listening to that poison doesn’t feel the same, let alone suddenly want to be one of us.
He’s either after something or… Sadie’s pussy is just that damn good.
Thoughts of how true that statement is hits me, and despite the current situation, my cock swells at the memory of sliding balls deep inside her the other day. Of just how good she tasted as she soaked my face while she sucked Stray off at the same time.
“Let’s go,” I bark, dragging her into my side, my impatience getting the better of me—mostly to get her out of any danger, but also to get her alone.
It feels like it’s been forever since it was just the two of us—or even the three of us. There’s always been another bodyguard around to put a stop to our fun.
I’m on full alert as we push through the main doors, my eyes scanning the tree line, looking for any kind of movement, any sign that someone could be waiting for us to bail on school the second we found that photo.
Is this a trap?
Have we played right into their hands?
“W-what’s wrong?” Sadie asks when I pause.
Seeing nothing of concern, I push forward. “Nothing. We need to leave.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“I don’t need your opinion right now, princess. I just need you to follow orders.”
Her chin drops to argue, probably to cuss me out, but I cut her off before she gets the chance. “We all need you in one piece.” I release a strained breath. “Me, Stray, even fucking Noble. Now shut the fuck up and follow my lead.”
She rolls her eyes at me but wisely keeps quiet.
Jax slips from the truck as we approach. “Everything okay?” he asks, glancing between us and the school building waiting for the others to appear with us.
“No, it’s not. The others are coming. Take them all straight back to the compound.”
“Okay.”
“And be on fucking alert. No one is dying today.”
His eyes widen at my words, but he immediately nods in agreement—unlike Sadie— and hops back into the truck, starting the engine so he’s ready to go the second they all pile inside.
I climb on my bike and Sadie quickly joins me as I turn the engine over. She wraps her arms around me, but it’s not tight enough.
Fear coils around me like I’m bound in barbed wire. I need to know she’s there. I need to know she’s with me. Curling my hands around her wrists, I pull her arms tighter, squashing her breasts against my back, her warmth seeping through my cut and settling a tiny bit of my unease.
“Don’t let go,” I growl over my shoulder.
“Oh yeah,” she calls back. “I was planning on jumping right off.”
My teeth grind at her ability to write all this off as if it’s nothing when the reality is that her life is on the fucking line.