Those were the good things. The bad was she was surrounded by numerous Marauders—a bunch of horny men looking to hook up. Rage had his fucking arm around her shoulders. I knew I was going to have to kill some guys to stake my claim. I jumped up off the couch and stormed over to them. I saw Beast wedge himself against her on the other side. He ran his hand down her arm. I saw red.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I shouted at them. She looked at me, cool and unfazed. The guys from the other club looked at me questioningly.
“What do you mean, what’s going on here? And drop the F-word. I’m talking to these guys and making new friends. Why?” she snapped back.
“Zara, come with me. You don’t need to be in the middle of them.”
“Whoa, stop there, Demon. She said she’s not anyone’s old lady. She doesn’t have a ring on her finger or wearing a cut. What’s your problem?” Beast asked me.
“She’s not available. She’s been spoken for already. Come on, Zara, we need to talk.” I held out my hand to her. I thought for a moment she was going to take it, but then, wouldn’t you know it, April came up and ran her hand up my goddamn back. I looked at her, giving her a pissed-off look. I didn’t need her shit tonight or any other night.
I heard Zara’s voice as she sneered, “It looks like you’re otherwise engaged again, Demon. And I want to get to know Beast and the guys better. Come on, fellas, let’s go outside by one of the fires. Jess, Ajax, do you want to join us?” She turned and walked out with them following her like puppies. Ajax, Jessica, and some of the others went too. I shook off April’s hand and told her to leave me alone, then I was hot on their heels. No way was one of those guys getting my woman.
They had ended up by the biggest firepit and sat down. I made sure I got as close to Zara as I could, though it still wasn’t close enough. I sat there, trying not to lose my shit as the conversation flowed around me. I didn’t pay any attention to what the others were saying. All I could concentrate on was not beating the hell out of someone every time they touched or got closer to her. My fists were aching with how tight I kept clenching them.
It was Jinx asking her to go for a walk with him that snapped me out of my thoughts of beatings and straight into thoughts of murder. Fuck me, if she didn’t agree to go with him. They stood up to leave. I jumped up to get them apart. No way was he taking her for a walk. Ajax, Joker, Rebel, and Slash all caught me before I could get to them.
“Demon, you have to get a hold of yourself. You can’t be fighting with our allies,” Ajax hissed at me.
“The hell I can’t. He and his guys have their hands all over my woman, and now Jinx wants to take a walk in the dark. You fucking know what he wants to do out there. He’s going to score. No way I’m letting that happen!” I snarled as I tried to get loose from the hold they had on me. Zara and Jinx were walking away. She wasn’t even looking at me. Several of Jinx’s guys were. They had slight smiles and a gleam in their eyes. I didn’t give a shit who knew how I felt. Zara Newton was mine.
“If he does, she’s the one who allowed it. She’s not your woman,” Slash told me. I whipped around and glared at him.
“Like hell she isn’t. I claimed her the fucking day I saw her. She’s just being stubborn about it. She’s trying to push me away.”
“Why do you think that is? Maybe the fact you seem to have women touching you or hanging around you every time she sees you? She’s not going to give you the time of day, Demon. Not when she can’t trust you’ll be with only her. If you’re looking for an easy lay, stick to the bunnies.” I hadn’t even noticed Jessica had come over with the guys. She gave me a disappointed look and then walked off to go back inside the clubhouse.
“She’s right, you know. Zara came in and I saw her face when she saw you hanging with the bunnies on the couch, and then when April came up to you in there. That kind of behavior is pushing her away. If you want her, you have to prove she’s the only one you want,” Rebel told me. I deflated. I hadn’t seen her and once again fucked up without meaning to. I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand.
“I’m not touching any of them. I haven’t since I saw Zara. I can’t help it if they come and talk to me. I mean, I don’t want to be a total ass to them.”
“Then you need to be prepared not to have Zara. She doesn’t know what goes on when she’s not around, but she can imagine, and I can guarantee you, she sees you with those women. A woman like that is a fucking find. You don’t straighten up, some other guy is going to steal her. She’s smart, beautiful, funny, and a fucking doctor. For Christ’s sake, wake up.” Beast added his two cents’ worth.
I was kind of shocked to hear him say it. Who knew he could be that serious? I sat down on the chair nearest to him. I looked out into the darkness where Jinx and Zara had vanished. It was all I could do not to race after them, kill Jinx, and carry her off to my room, where I’d tie her to the fucking bed and ravish her until she knew she was the only woman for me. That I was her man.
“I don’t want to lose her. I’m not out for a piece of ass, either. I want what Ajax, Rebel, Ace, and Bull have with their old ladies. But everything I do seems to piss her off. I’ll work on the women thing, but I can’t promise they won’t approach me. I can only send them off if they do.”
“It’s a start. Now, I think we need to go inside. You can’t sit here, staring into the dark and wondering what they’re doing. The fact is, they’re adults. If they decide to hook up, that’s up to them. You have to decide whether you can handle that,” Bull said to me out of the darkness.
I had no idea when he’d joined the group. I reluctantly allowed them to lead me inside. When April tried to approach me again, I told her off. “Get the fuck away from me! What do I have to do to get you to understand? I don’t want you!” She scurried off after I got ugly. I hated to treat a woman like that—even a bunny deserved more respect—but she just wasn’t listening to me.
I had no idea how long we were standing there. I was imagining all the things they could be doing out there in the dark, torturing myself. I was about to break and go after them when the door opened and in came Jinx and Zara. She was leaning heavily on his arm and limping. I shot up off the barstool and raced over to her.
“What’s wrong, babe?” I put an arm around her waist. She tried to shrug me off, but I hung on to her.
“It’s nothing, just a twisted ankle. I didn’t see a rock and stepped on it funny,” she told me. I glared at Jinx.
“Why didn’t you stay where you could see? Here, come over here and let’s take a look at it.” I swung her up into my arms despite her protests and took her to one of the couches. I wanted to moan at how good she felt in my arms, pressed up against me. She fit in my arms perfectly.
“Demon, I’m fine. I don’t need anyone to check it for me. I’m a doctor. I think I know the difference between a sprain or worse. A little ice and I’ll be fine.” Jessica and the other ladies had rushed over to see if she was alright. Jess, seeing the problem, headed for the kitchen, I assumed to get ice.
Everyone else seemed to be focused on the two of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ajax say something to Jinx. That bastard grinned, nodded, and said something back. Luckily, Jess was back and handed the ice to Zara. She had her leg up and took the ice pack and placed it on her ankle. I parked my ass by her side. No way was she getting out of my sight for the rest of the night. Once she felt a bit better, we were going to have a talk. No more of this dancing around each other bullshit!