Page 45 of Chains

I nod my head. “And what, the weak little women can’t help?”

The girls all chuckle at my remark, and I give them a sheepish smile. I was pissed off that Chains had left me after he had fucked me into oblivion earlier today. Maybe that was his intention, for me to fall asleep, and for him to make his getaway? Many scenarios have been running through my head that the prospect at the bar has been looking at me warily. I’d sent him a smile to let him know I was fine.

Handing Mr Boots back to me, Everleigh straightens and suggests, “Anyway, I was thinking we could make the guys some lunch and take it to them.”

“That’s a great idea.” Sage pipes up. “Jax and Cash are both at a friend's house. I’ve only got Silas with me, and I can palm him off to Jack for a little while.” She laughs.

“I’m in.” I say, running to Chains room to put Mr Boots inside the bathroom where I had placed his kitty litter and scratching post together with his food and water bowls.

“Be a good boy, and I’ll be back soon.” With that. I shut the door and returned to the other women, who I found in the kitchen, busying themselves making enormous sandwiches. When they saw my eyes bugging out, Lexie laughs and says jokingly, “They’re growing boys.”

I joined the line, and for a few minutes we worked in companionable silence.

“So, tell us about you and Chains.” Sage was the first to speak.

“Nothing to tell.” I reply, going for nonchalance, even though my face was probably as red as a tomato, remembering the sex we had earlier.

“That blush tells me different.” Sage comments, and I give a nervous laugh.

“Honestly, I don’t know what we are, if you must know. He’s taken it upon himself to shield me from my ex.”

“There’s more to it than that, I’m sure of it. But we’ll unpack it another time. For now, we should get going.”

“That’s not a good idea.” A deep voice said from behind us, we all squeal and jump. Turning my head, I see the prospect that was behind the bar. “I’ve been given strict instruction not to let Zoe leave.”

“Even if she’s with us?” Everleigh demands, arching a finely shaped brow.

Without saying a word, he shakes his head.

“You know that I’m the President’s woman, right?”

“I do. And this order came from the man himself,” he tells us.

I straighten to my full height and pull my shoulders back. “Well, then you’re just going to have come with us, aren’t you?”

The guy looked like he was going to be sick, but I just smiled sweetly, and really didn’t care if he was going to get into trouble or not. I was going to go wherever the fuck I wanted, and Chains’ overprotective ass was going to have to live with it.

That thought made me feel a little better about what I was about to do. Because the other women had arrived in one SUV with the kids, which meant Lexie was on her bike, and if I wanted to get to the gym, I would have to get on behind her; something I hadn’t done since the night of the assault.

I enjoyed riding behind Chains because strangely enough; I felt safe wrapped around him. But Lexie was different, and just the thought of riding with her made me anxious. I forced those thoughts to the back of my mind, and slid on behind my best friend, knowing she was a safe rider and wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

Fortunately, I had the foresight to wear jeans today, along with a tan sweater and my favorite tan booties. Sliding on, I noticed behind us was the prospect whose name I learned was Stingray. Not sure why that name, and I wasn’t interested in finding out.

The ride took less than ten minutes, in which I was internally psyching myself up to seeing Chains after we had spent hours together having sex. I wouldn’t call it making love, because that’s not what it was.

Making love implied tenderness. The way he took me was so far from tender, I could almost still feel him inside me. I huffed, needing to stop thinking about him in that context. I was weak, and it was an aberration on my part. I couldn’t let anything like that happen again. I’d already made myself vulnerable to him, and I realized he wasn’t interested in anything deeper than sex.

I had to create space between us, and staying in Briar Creek only confirmed to me and everyone else around me, I was sure of it, that I still had feelings for him. Which I did, of course, I just didn’t need him to know all that. Tired of going in circles, I shook my head and stopped.

I needed to be independent before considering a deeper relationship with him. I had to admit that it was better than the enemies we’d been for all these years.

Finally arriving at the strip mall, a gasp left my lips when I saw the state of the building. Most of the shopfronts were just fire damaged, but the gym and the veterinary practice were completely decimated.

If I hadn’t been overtaken with the destruction of the gym, I would have been paying attention to the blacked-out SUV that had followed us from the clubhouse and was now parked across the road. A lone man sitting inside. Watching me intently.

But as it was, I was oblivious to everything but what I was seeing in front of me. Sliding off the back of Lexie’s bike, I stand there, staring at the devastation. The shock of seeing the damage rendering me speechless. So much so that I didn’t hear the heavy boots behind me until it was too late and I was scooped up into a pair of muscular arms and placed on the seat of another much larger motorcycle.

I look up into Chains’ angry blue eyes. But I’m pissed off too, and don’t recognize the danger I’m in, as I cross my arms over my chest. He watches the movement, his eyes on the rise and fall of my chest.

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