**~BURDOCK~**"Stupid mother fucker," I growled watching Torin. He was just making this worse. With a shake of my head, I stood and pushed away from the bar. Marlowe's heart knew who Torin was, her mind was still blinding her to it though. I could see it in her eyes, her trembling hands when she looked at him. Before long, she was going to put it together and it was all going to blow up in the dumb bastard's face. Pushing off the barstool, I stood and made my way from the bar as well, following Torin. He was in a mood, and I'd been witness to his moods before, usually once he exploded, only a wasteland remained.~~When I finally found Torin, he was in his room and glancing around at the destruction, I knew that we were in for a fight. He was spiraling out of control. I'd noticed he'd been limping earlier, so I put two and two together. Pills, whiskey, pain and anger did not mix, and I feared this time he might just go over that edge he'd been walking. With an about face, I went to
With a sob, I turned and began pushing my way through the men who had gathered in the hall and doorway, obviously having been watching the fight. But as I passed Rook, he reached out, trying to stop me. With a shake of my head, I continued forward. I couldn't deal. I couldn't emotionally handle what I had just learned, and I needed time. Time alone. Satan…was Torin.~~The courtyard was lit up like Wrigley Field, but I kept to the shadows. Phantoms within the bright lighting. The same type of phantoms that wandered within my mind. A collection of shapes and ghost events. Torin was alive, yet he wasn't. Satan was Torin, and Torin was Satan. But they were definitely two different men. The Torin I had said goodbye to, the Torin I had grieved, was not the man I had come to know as Satan. And Satan was not the Torin I had known, the Torin whom I had loved. Yet there was so much of Torin in Satan, my heart had recognized him, had reached out to him, but my mind had told me Torin was dead.
An hour later, the skirmish was over—for now at least. We were exhausted, bloody and a few less men, but they were down a hell of a lot more than we were. After they surrendered, we'd allowed them to gather their fallen, then escorted them out of our territory with a warning to never fucking show their faces in our area again. Afterward, I returned to the clubhouse, and Burdock met me at the door, stating, "We're moving in fifteen. Grab your gear. I'll brief you on the way."I hadn't even had the chance to ask about Marlowe before he was walking away. I was shifting from being involved in a biker skirmish, to a black bag operation in a matter of minutes, my mind still on Marlowe. I grabbed a hasty shower to wash the blood off, then slid into my usual apparel of a black t-shirt and pants, that I reserved for assignments. After twisting my hair into a long tail, I pulled it up and placed it back into its customary man-bun. Once finished, I slid my equipment bag over my shoulder and s
**~MARLOWE~**As the first bullet had hit the building, it had startled the shit out of me. The second, third, fourth and fifth—I'd lost count after that—had me ducking and covering. It's not a common thing for a girl to hear bullets peppering the building she's in, and let me tell you, I can't think of a damn thing that can get your heart pumping any fiercer—no joke! With my heart pounding away like a drummer for a heavy metal rock band, I'd begun crawling toward the door. The wayward thought crossing my mind that by the time I got back to the bomb shelter, I might have to change my panties.I hadn't known what the hell was going on out there, and I hadn't known whether I was in a good place or bad. Either way, I hadn't liked it. When I'd finally reached the door, I'd inched it open and poked my head out. A bullet had whizzed past me, and I'd quickly ducked back inside. The thought, damn, damn, double damn, had echoed through my mind as the bullet had been way the shit too close.I
As Rook drove one of the pickups that had been stored in a building, we were both silent. My thoughts were all over the place. His… I had no idea. To be honest, I didn't know what my thoughts were either…what to think, how to feel. Torin was hurt, but…. Then all pretense drained out of me—this was Torin, no matter what he was calling himself. And despite my earlier thoughts, Satan and Torin were one in the same. It was then the tears came. Yes, Torin had hurt me, lied to me, and deceived me. But right now, none of that mattered, he was hurt, maybe worse. I didn't know, and that was the bitch of the thing. But whatever his condition, it wasn't good. If Burdock felt it was bad, then it was bad. He was not the type to inflate a situation.Mind wandering, I turned my head, looking out the side window. A bobbing headlight behind us caught my attention, and as I watched, another appeared, then another, and another, until there were at least a dozen motorcycles behind us. As they quickly
**~MARLOWE~**This was unbearable! Torin had been in surgery for hours and I just kept thinking, hold on, don't let go. I wasn't ready to say goodbye. God and I had never been on close terms. I had long ago decided he didn't exist, but right now, if he truly was there, Torin needed him. So, putting aside all my disbelief in God's existence, I became a hypocrite and prayed, placing all the cards in His hands. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know how many times a person could ask the same favor repeatedly. But until I knew Torin was okay, the supposed man upstairs was going to be bombarded with my pleas. My butt had long ago fallen asleep, and standing, I signaled Rook to stay seated when he made to climb to his feet as well. "Stay where you are, I just need to move around a little," I told him. With a quick nod, Rook settled back into his seat, and raising his coffee cup, he sipped at the now luke-warm contents, his eyes following me as I made my way over to a window, peering
I felt like I had spun a bottle all my life and its neck had always come to a stop, pointing in the wrong direction. I guess I had unknowingly spun the bottle again, and once more, I'd been pointed in the wrong direction. I wanted to mean something to Torin, not just a passing steamy as fuck night four years ago that I had been unable to forget. I knew he'd cared, and I felt he still did, but he was pushing me away, and I didn't know why. He had been the one; the one I would have spent the rest of my life with—made babies with, but that dream had died the same day as I'd been told he had. I had tried to move on with other men, to forget, but I just hadn't been able to—none had ever measured up, none had lit the spark Torin had. That night in the pickup with Rook on the way to the hospital, I had forgiven Torin of the hurt he induced within me by hiding the fact he was alive. I had spent the last month in his presence. Yet he had never once let on who he truly was, and I didn't unde
Silently, I gave a nod and he slid from the bed, making his way across the room toward his dresser. My eyes followed him, appreciative of his tight ass, the sculpted curve of his back and shoulders. He was absolutely gorgeous. As he turned to face me, there was no denying his arousal, nor the fact he was well endowed, for his cock thrust outward, long, thick and hard. Though I was already wet, I grew more aroused at the sight. Shifting my hips, I drew my knees up, squeezing my thighs together; trying to relieve some of the ache between them.God, I was more turned on than I'd ever been in my entire life. Unable to draw my eyes away from Torin as he climbed back on the bed, I gazed into his eyes, as holding up a necktie, he stated, "I'm going to tie your hands to the headboard, princess. You okay with that?"Holy Mary, Mother of God! He was going to do WHAT?! My breathing began pulling through my mouth like I'd been running a marathon. HOLY—FUCK! I'd had fantasies about him doing t