Then a sharp pain shoots through my ribs as Dally aims a kick in my side. “Motherfucker!” he bellows. “The fuck is your problem?”
Staggering back, I rise to my feet, gasping. “You shut your fucking mouth about my girl,” I growl.
All three of my friends rise, shoulder to shoulder, and by the looks on their faces, I know they’re just as pissed as I am now. Good, I’m ready to blow off some steam.
“You’re fucking nuts, man. You can’t just go around handing your girl over to people for a night and then change back to being super possessive,” Rico fumes.
“Yeah, I mean, we kept our hands off and our eyes up until you decided to let us have her. You’re the one who suggested it, so don’t get all pissy just because we enjoyed it. Fuck, man, get your shit together. Do you want the girl or not? Make up your mind,” Dallas backs Rico, his blue eyes frosty.
“Fuck you,” I growl. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Just cuz I gave you a one-time pass doesn’t mean you have anyclaimover her. So if you’re still struggling to wrap your tiny minds around what I’m saying, let me make it real clear. Keep your hands off Winter and her name out of your mouth. Got it?”
“You’ve lost your mind, man,” Knuckles says, his face more grave than angry.
They deserve an ass whooping, all three of them. This may be the most pissed I’ve ever seen them at me, but I don’t even care. Moving as one, the guys move in, and for the first time, I’m privy to what it feels like to be on the receiving end of their violence.
Bringing my arms up around my face and ducking behind my fists, I bounce on my feet, swinging at them like a boxer as I alternate between punching and guarding. Dancing between them, I manage to get a few good hits in. And then, as Knuckles lands his first punch to my cheek, I suddenly see stars. Fuck, I forgot how hard he can hit.
Shaking my head to regain my focus, I duck to avoid the next blow coming my way from Dallas. Then I take a shot to the ribs from Rico. Fighting in such a tight space is not helping me when it’s three against one, but I’m not about to back down. Not until they’re all on the ground at my feet.
Dropping my guard for an instant, I take a sharp uppercut to Dally’s jaw, sending him stumbling into one of the guys who’ve gathered to witness our brawl. Without a moment’s hesitation, I swing at Rico, breaking the skin on my knuckles at the same time as I bust his lip.
Immediately, I regret turning my back toward Knuckles. But I knew I couldn’t fight him properly without taking the other guys out first. Still, I’ve left my back vulnerable, and once again, his fist catches me in the face, this time sending an explosion of pain into my ear as he catches me there, skimming along my already throbbing cheek once more.
Turning my full attention on him, I swing hard, but he manages to get his hands up in time. My knuckles groan and strain as they meet the hard bone of his forearm, so I switch tactics, aiming for his gut. He doubles over momentarily, and that’s just long enough for Dally to catch me in the mouth. The coppery taste of blood coats my lips.
“That’s enough!” Mark bellows as he steps into the middle of it along with Jeremiah and several others.
It takes three of them to stop my next swing, and I strain against them, growling as I try to fight my way free. Dallas puts his hands in the air, showing he’s done as he gasps for air, glaring at me. Rico puts his hands on his knees and spits blood onto the wood floor.
“You’re all on cleaning duty for a week for this shit,” Mark states, his tone flat and deadly as he makes eye contact with each of us.
I barely meet his eyes before turning back to look at Knuckles, whose shoulders heave as he meets my gaze with a cold one of his own. None of our fights have ever been this bad before. Sure, we’ve gotten pissed at each other and had some scuffles, but this one is different. Foundationally, I can feel it. This time, I’m fighting for something I really care about.
“We’ve got enough shit to deal with concerning the shift in power and the Blackmoor heirs. I will not have problems within the club as well as without.” Mark steps before me, blocking my view of Knuckles as he looks me deep in the eye. “Now, get out of my sight.”
As the hands strong-arming me ease their grips, I shove them off me and stalk from the room, heading straight through the back door toward my Night Train. I don’t bother to put on my helmet as I crank my bike to life and race out onto the road to cool off.
4
Winter
I risefrom a deep sleep after having fallen back into my dreams, nestled against Gabriel’s chest. Tired from an unsettling night of being sick and warring within myself about the baby growing in my belly, I was unable to get any form of rest until the early hours of the morning. So when Gabriel woke me with the wonderful sensation of his tongue on my clit, I’d been so sleepy, I’d almost thought it was a dream. But no one could stay unconscious for long with a sexy man like that eating them out. The incredible release of waking up to morning sex had eased some tension from me. In the afterglow, I’d fallen back asleep without even meaning to.
Now, the late-morning sun shines through the blinds of Gabriel’s room, and despite my terrible night, I actually feel pretty well-rested. Stretching luxuriously, I groan as I work the stress-induced tension from my muscles. And I realize I’m the only one in our bed.
Gabriel’s already gone, a habit he seems to be inclined toward. Such a morning person, unlike me, I suppose. Or maybe it’s simply because he has responsibilities for the club, unlike my now-directionless life. I have no reason to get up early, so why bother?
Pressing a palm to my stomach, I once again let my mind turn to the knowledge that I have a baby growing inside me. I need to do something about it soon, but I’m not sure what. I know there’s a clinic in the next town over. Perhaps I will just have to hitch a ride to get there. I’ve done it before, easy enough. I’m sure I can’t ask anyone here to give me a ride, though.
Sighing, I slide out of bed and wrap a towel around me, then head to the bathroom for a warm shower. The smell of Gabe’s body wash still lingers in the air, and I wonder if he took a shower not too long ago or if my sense of smell is already getting more intense. I’ve heard that happens with pregnancy. That fact makes my stomach tense with anxiety. What the hell am I going to do? My life is in such shambles at this point.
I stand under the hot spray for longer than necessary, thinking hard about who I’ve become over the last few months. With no family or support around, my old life has completely fallen away, leaving me in the lurch to figure it out for myself. And it seems I’ve done a pretty terrible job so far.
Then again, I don’t really think I’ve had much say in the matter. Sure, I yearn for Gabriel’s attention. I crave his cock inside me, and I get off on the intensely masculine, overly possessive way he handles me, claims me even. I know I’ve been the one to initiate sex without a condom multiple times and begged him to come inside me when I was so close to climax I couldn’t stand the thought of him pulling out at that moment.
But he’s the one who started it. He’s the one who chose to fuck me without a condom and pour his seed inside me in front of his friends that night as a way of punishing me. All because I chose to take matters into my own hands and seek the revenge I deserve for all the pain Athena and her Blackmoor men have caused me.
Thinking back on that night, I’m glad Gabriel didn’t let his friends come inside my pussy. While I’m still conflicted about it all—hurt that he let them fuck me at all, after he’s always adamantly claimed I’m his, embarrassed by the way it turned me on to have three men forcing themselves upon me, still tingling with the memory of my intense orgasms as they pounded into every hole at the same time—I’m sure about one thing. If I have to be pregnant, I’m glad I can be sure it’s Gabe’s.