Salvation MC: Bought by the biker

Chapter 8

-AUDREY-

My mind was a muddy haze. Images of men with predators' eyes stalked my thoughts, sizing me up, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. No matter how fast or how far I ran, they always caught me. Some faces belonged to the men who'd held me captive. Others were strangers. It didn't matter. Every one of them wore the same cruel expression.

And the snakes. Big ones, small ones, vipers, cobras, anacondas. You name it. They were everywhere.

It was a dream. No, a nightmare. My brain understood that, but I couldn’t break free. I was trapped on a spinning wheel of hell, forced to watch it repeat. My skin crawled like something was slithering under it.

Just like the kept room they’d locked me in, the one I couldn’t escape no matter how hard I tried.

Then I heard the door of the First-Aid room opening slowly. Someone stepped inside, heavy boots, a man’s weight behind each move. He crossed the small space and set something metallic on the cabinet.

My back was to the door. I couldn’t see him. I kept my eyes shut, my body shrinking under the blanket.

Don’t move. He’ll go away.

But he didn’t. He got closer. Carefully. Taking his time.

I thought about Ed. About all those times he came into my room, teasing me. Touching me. Tainting me.

Bile rose into my throat.

It couldn’t be Ed, could it? Luther had run his bike for him and Tank had locked him somewhere.

"Hey, doll. How’re you feeling?"

Not Ed’s nasal voice. Fox.

I trembled, scooting closer to the wall. My throat closed.

Fox leaned over the bed, his voice just above my temple. "Do you feel warm?"

He placed his large hand on my neck, and I lost it. I jerked away from his touch, screaming like a lunatic.

My eyes flew open, but the dark made the room slow to take shape. The door was ajar, and the only light came from the hall.

Fox was staring at me with a strange expression, his forehead creased.

"Hey, Audrey..." He tried to get closer, and panic slammed into me.

"N-no! Stay back! Get away!"

My back hit the cold wall. My arms crossed in front of me, my head ducking behind them as if I could fold myself small enough to disappear.

And then there was another presence. The lights snapped on, blinding my vision. Another cry tore out of me, so raw and pained it scared even me.

"What the f**k did you do?" Luther’s voice was loud enough to shake the whole room.

He was blocking Fox’s body from me. Luther is a big guy, tall and muscled, but right then he seemed huge. It felt like he could shield me from a stampede.

"Nothing, prez. Alice asked me to bring her food." Fox’s voice was low, and he jabbed a thumb toward a tray on the cabinet. There were a few things on it, but my vision was too blurred to make sense of any of it.

"It doesn’t seem like nothing!" Luther barked, and Fox shrank a few inches. "She screamed, Fox. Not a surprised scream. A full, horrified scream from someone who’s about to die." He paused, and his voice dropped an octave. "Or worse."

"She was shaking. I thought maybe she had a fever. I pressed my hand to her neck, and she freaked the f**k out." Fox exhaled. "That's it."

Luther’s eyes ping-ponged between us. I had stopped screaming by then, quiet sobs leaving my mouth in small puffs of air.

He moved closer to my corner, his voice dropping to a soft murmur. "Audrey? Are you okay?"

I swallowed, but nothing came out. My throat felt sealed shut. Shame burned through me.

Shame for being stupid enough to let my guard down and get kidnapped. Shame for being weak enough to let criminals take advantage of me.

And now, on top of it, shame for being so broken I couldn’t even let a man touch me without falling apart.

I felt bruised and raw, exposed without my consent, nothing more than a scared animal without the ability to speak.

"Did he hurt you, dove? In any way? You can tell me anything." He was kneeling in front of the bed, his arms braced on the side of my curled body.

But I didn’t feel caged. I didn’t feel cornered. On the contrary, I felt safe for the first time in forever.

Maybe that was why my voice finally came back.

"No. He’s telling the truth."

My eyes met Fox’s and I whispered, "I’m sorry."

His mouth pressed. I think he was trying to give me a smile, but it was too much, too soon. My gaze jumped to the doorway where a lot of heads were poking in, and I shrank again.

Luther followed my eyes and immediately sensed the shift.

"Everybody out!"

The door closed, and it took a second for the footsteps to fade. Luther and I were the only ones left in the small First-Aid room.

"I’m sorry," I repeated, because the first one didn’t feel like enough. "I’m so broken I can’t even tell when there’s a real danger anymore."

Luther pushed himself up and sat beside me on the bed. He moved with the speed of a slug, testing whether I was going to bolt.

Surprisingly, I didn’t. There was something in this mountain of a man that made me feel safe.

"You don't have to apologize. You've been through some serious s**t, Audrey. Nobody is going to judge you."

My knees were up, and my arms slid down my body. Luther was sitting a few inches away, and I welcomed his body heat and his leathery, fresh scent.

"I wanted to go home. But Ed..." I swallowed, remembering the cold of his knife against my skin. My stitches pulled at my side, reminding me how he had hurt me. "He said he was going to my place to get me. And I can't go back to that hell, Luther. I just can't."

My vision blurred again. I was crying, full sobs, the kind I hadn’t let myself have in front of anyone since I was young enough not to know how to stop them.

"Hey. It's okay. You're not a prisoner anymore." His arms came around me, and I was in such a shock that my body melted against him before I even realized I’d accepted it.

My head rested on his t-shirt, soaking the fabric. He held me and didn’t say anything for a while.

When the crying stopped, I pushed back; his dark eyes were tender. His knuckles brushed away the tears, and I forced myself to ignore the tingles racing with his touch.

I opened my mouth again, but he cut me off. "No more apologies, dove. No more running away."

"You're very bossy," I managed a grin.

His lips pressed in a full-body smile, the kind that lights up a room. "I am. But I can also listen. And I want to know what you want to do next. If you don't want to go home, do you want to stay here at our club?"

I bit the corner of my lip, thinking. I couldn’t go back, at least not now. I have no family. My mother raised me alone; my father disappeared before I was born. And she died a few years ago.

Strangely, this motorbike club felt safer than my parents’ mansion.

I exhaled a heavy sigh. "Can I crash here? Just for a while, until I have my bearings."

"Whatever you want, dove." He slid out of the bed and straightened. He placed an arm under my knees and the other behind my back, and I was too stunned to do anything but blink.

He pulled me up in his arms just like he had done before, then added, "But you're staying in my room. No more bullshit."