“Fuck,” he hisses before releasing himself into my hand, the warmth of his cum coating my fingers as I squeeze him dry. His approval, a harsh cry of raw masculine satisfaction, tells me his release was just as intense as mine.

“You’re gonna kill me if we keep acting like fourteen-year-old horny teenagers,” he pants in short bursts.

I don’t know about horny teenagers, but the chemistry is intense for grown adults. Even masturbation between us is as hot as the real deal.

“You’ve made a mess,” I laugh, looking down at his pants, my hands covered in him.

“Let me clean up. I'm gonna be late, but fuck, that was worth it.” Pulling back, he plants a gentle kiss to my mouth, stands and walks to the bathroom.

I lie naked, the orgasm aftermath still floating through my body. My limbs are heavy and relaxed, but the need to have him is nowhere near filled. Knowing that’s all I’m going to get, with Nix needing to sort out club business, I follow him into the bathroom.

After we both clean up, Nix makes me promise that I’ll wear my panties out in the club. I roll my eyes at his command but agree I’ll be on my best behavior. Kissing me senseless, he leaves me alone with a vow to be back and ready to take me again.

Flopping down on the bed, I let out a frustrated sigh at my now boring morning. I’m not keen on leaving the room without Nix, so I guess I could go back to sleep. My phone beeps next to me as I settle back in under the covers. I reach over and grab it from the bedside table checking the screen.

Unknown: Kadence, we need to talk. Urgently. You’re in danger. Call me. Zane

Zane. I freaking knew I saw him last night. What a freaking asshole, dipshit motherfucker. I should have gone looking for him and given the man a piece of my mind. Still in bed, I stare at my phone, emotions raging through me. I can’t understand why after three years, he finally contacts me. My heart beats rapidly in my chest. The urge to see him again and wanting to punch him in the junk is tearing me apart. I don’t know what to say, how to answer. I don’t have a chance to respond as another text comes through.

Unknown: If you don’t want what happened to our house to happen to Holly, you will meet me.

What the hell? Was that a threat? He is the biggest asshole I’ve ever met. I can’t believe I was going to marry him. Rage now replaces any notion that he finally came back for me.

Kadence: What do you want, asshole?

I text back, already regretting it. Engaging with him will only spell trouble.

Unknown: Meet me down by our old house. At the park on Old Bay Road.

I contemplate not going, telling him to go to hell. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to get out of the clubhouse, but the idea of Holly’s place ending in the same fate as mine makes me have second thoughts.

Shit.

Kadence: What time?

Unknown: One hour.

While texting Holly there’s a change of plan and I need her to meet me at the front of the Knights Rebels compound, I race around the room searching for my panties, skirt and shoes. My phone beeps again. I pick it up quickly to see if Holly can pull off my request.

Holly: On my way.

She’s so good to me. Running my hand over my bedhead, I take a large shaky breath. Am I really going to go do this? Maybe I should text Nix. Pushing that thought away, I steel myself ready to handle Zane myself. The asshole took too much away from me. I'm not going to give up a perfect opportunity to let him have a piece of my mind. Quietly, I make my way out of Nix’s room. I know Nix asked me to stay, but he didn’t say I had to stay. If he were here, I would probably do the same thing. Wouldn’t I? Either way, I’m leaving. I need to sort out my dipshit ex and hope whatever he has to say doesn’t end in me wanting to murder him.

Chapter Sixteen

Nix

Back when my dad and the Knights Rebels Originals ran the drug trade of Rushford, Nevada, they would never even think about doing what we are about to do. Things were a lot different, and riding freely onto Mayhem territory is something that just did not happen. Even with the truce¸ I don’t like what we’re about to do.

Pulling into the parking lot fifteen minutes outside of town, I prepare myself for the shit storm that I can feel brewing. Today is a friendly gathering: three boys each. I brought Sy, Brooks and Jesse with me, leaving Beau back at the compound.

T and his boys sit in the back corner and I make my way to their table. The boys hang back, keeping our meeting relaxed.

“Nix,” T says, nodding his head. I can see he’s pissed that we called this meeting but fuck if I give a shit.

T is a large bastard. His shaved head shows off his tattooed skull giving him a menacing look. A scar that runs from his temple to his jaw takes me back to the night that my pops gave it to him. The Knights Rebels had intercepted some of their men on our territory and took them to the warehouse. My father had a huge barn set up out the back of a brother’s farm where they held most of their illegal dealings. That was the first mistake that changed the course of our lives. Being so close to town, so close to civilians, he didn’t realize how open it left our loved ones.

Mayhems were on our territory and that’s all that mattered in the war between the two clubs. My pops was still pissed at me, still unsure what I wanted to do with my life, and this one particular night, he took me out to the barn to show me how they ran the guns. I wasn’t prepared for what unfolded. I witnessed them torture two men for walking over some imaginary line they had made up.

Watching my father slice open the side of T’s face sealed the fate of my mother; only at the time, no one was to know that. T was a runt, a prospect for the Mayhems, and only a year older than me.

My father let the men go that night, a warning for all not to fuck with Red Knight and the Knights Rebels; that was his second mistake. I learnt not long after that an outlaw MC doesn't take too kindly to a threat, and the retaliation that followed cost my sweet mom her life.

Shaking away thoughts that won’t help me now, I take a seat opposite T. The scowl on his face leaves no question that he’s just as excited about our meet as I am.

“Wanna tell me why the fuck you’re wagin’ war with Gunner Jamieson and why we’re in the middle of it?” I get straight to the point, no time for idle chitchat. After Beau had got a hold of him last night, we learnt that the Mayhems weren’t responsible for the attacks on the two shops.

“Wanna tell me why you intercepted our shipment?” he replies with his own question.

“What the fuck you talkin’ bout, T?”

“Our weapons shipment, word out is some of your men were in on it. Now, I know our club has the truce, but you double cross me, Nix, we got fuckin’ problems. I had a big marker on this one, and I’m not taking it lightly that you got your fuckin’ hands in on this. You want in, then this makes it fair game, guns and drugs,” he declares, and I feel my temper slowly rising. T and his boys don’t like the truce for the simple fact that they run a different way than us. Where we keep it clean, they are prepared to get as dirty as possible. But now that we’re out of the game, T and his boys benefit more than we do.

“The fuck, T? You know our hands are clean. Our history speaks for itself. If I wanted back in, you sure as hell would know it.”

“Don’t give a shit about history or respect. I’ve got a fuckin’ truck load riding on this,” he responds.

“You should care about respect, brother. You've got a lot more ridin’ on this. Don’t know what the fuckin’ deal is, but your info is wrong. We got nothin’ to do with it. You’re dealin’ with Gunner Jamieson and his crew all the way on this one. Our hands are clean, and you know it,” I inform him. “And don’t forget, T, you start pushin’ drugs in Rushford, you’ll need to prepare yourself for shit to go down. You have my word,” I tell him, meaning it. The market of Rushford is off limits, and we’ve made it our job to keep it safe. The Knights Rebels and the Mayhems made that deal five years ago, and that still stands solid. They keep their shit out of our town, and we leave them to run shop how they see fit in their territory.

He holds my gaze searching for some tell that I’m bullshitting him. I’m not. We both know drugs in my territory are not taken lightly.

“I’ll sort out Gunner. Don’t worry, that fucker and I go way back,” he assures me.

“Well fuckin’ sort it quick. We’ve got break ins and fires happenin’ on our side of town. As far as we are concerned, this is your mess you need to clean up. The last thing we need is Jamieson stickin’ his nose in our business. This shit lies on you. If you can’t deal with him, we’re gonna step up and you know that won’t be a fuckin’ fun fair,” I threaten. I don’t want to get involved; the boys and I work hard to keep out of the shit that gets thrown around, but we will if they can’t contain it.

“I told ya, we fuckin’ got it,” T barks, and I don’t miss the warning in his tone. Nodding my head, I let it go. Last thing we need right now is pissing each other off, especially with Gunner sniffing around.

After talking for another ten minutes about the issues they’ve been having with Jamieson, we agree to keep the lines open. I’m not sure if T and his crew are going to be able to handle the asshole by themselves. Impatient to head back and see Kadence, we leave T and his boys in the diner and make our way back out to our bikes.

“Boss man,” Jesse calls out as I mount my ride. I can feel a headache coming on after dealing with T and all the shit that comes with it. I hope there is no more shit to deal with.

“Kadence left.”

Fuck me, I spoke too soon.

“What the fuck do you mean she left?” I ask, my headache now throbbing. “Where the fuck did she go?”

“Her friend picked her up outside the club twenty minutes ago.”

Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I see a text.

Kadence: Sorry I had to go, explain later.

I dial her number. She ignores the call, letting it go to voicemail.

“Kadence, call me back,” I demand. Hanging up, I send her a text.

Nix: Jesus, you’re a pain in my ass. Call me.

“Did Beau get eyes on her?” I ask Jesse, hoping he did as I asked when I left. I didn’t think she would run, but fuck, I must have known she would.

“Yeah, Hunter’s on her. Says she stopped off at her house, but left in her own car five minutes ago.”

Pocketing my phone, I look to the sky asking the big guy why he thinks it’s funny he sent me the most testing woman on earth. Brooks laughs beside me, telling me to get used to it.

“What way did she go?” I yell over the roar of the pipes, wanting to know what direction to start heading.

“South,” he tells me. My mind is already trying to figure out where she could be going. We pull out of the diner’s parking lot and head back south in search of my woman. The same woman who needs to learn that no matter how many times she runs, I’m gonna keep finding her.

Chapter Seventeen

Kadence

Pulling into the old street that I use to live on, I start to second-guess my choice of meeting Zane. My exit of the clubhouse didn’t go to plan. To say Beau wasn’t too keen with me just leaving would be an understatement. After pleading that I had an emergency, he gave me the choice of waiting for Nix, or letting him take me. None of those ideas worked for me, so I conceded and went back to Nix’s room to come up with another idea.

I had to not only get past Beau, but also make it out through the gates to get to Holly. I was screwed.

I ended up sneaking out through the back and creeping around to the side. Fate was on my side. As I made it to the gate, there was a commotion with some guys about to ride out.

Somehow, the guy at the gate wasn’t where he was supposed to be and I walked straight out and into Holly’s car before they noticed I was gone. I kept the text from Zane and what I was going to do from Holly. I didn’t need her following me and going all badass on him. I needed to get this over and done with before Nix found out I left.

My phone rings as if on cue and I look down and see Nix calling. Ignoring the call, I throw my cell in the back of the car. I can’t be tempted, and I need to get this over with.

My palms sweat and a wave of nausea grips me as I drive past our old house. No signs of the fire that destroyed my home, but I know different. The memories of the flames and the smell of the charred remains will always stay with me. Pulling up in front of the old park, I spot a figure sitting on the park bench.

Getting out of my car, I walk the short distance down the old path. Zane stands and walks forward, his dark hair now longer and pulled back into a short ponytail. He looks so different from the last time I saw him. His expensive cut suit fits his body like a second skin, and I can’t help notice how well he looks. The thought makes me angry; he took something away from me and left me broken. Not broken, Kadence, just scarred.

The last time I saw Zane, I had gone to bed defeated. His behavior in the weeks leading up to the fire was out of character. He was acting strangely, snapping at me one minute and then being over-attentive the next. He was fidgety and secretive. Holly suspected drugs but I put it down to stress; working for an impressive architect firm here in Rushford wasn’t what he wanted anymore.

He worked hard to move his way up, and that hard work paid off. Their sister company had just acquired a bid for a new development in California, his dream job, and we had to make a decision if we were going to pack up and move closer or try the long-distance thing. I’d just secured a full-time position at Rushford Elementary and wasn’t prepared to give up my dream of being a teacher in my hometown, but Zane wanted me by his side and it was something we fought constantly over.