Page 49 of Taken By Her Two Savage Bikers
“I don’t understand why I needed to be blindfolded,” I complained to Ash roughly ten minutes into the drive.
“Consider yourself lucky you got to go. If it were up to me and Phoenix you wouldn’t be; your ass would be chained to the radiator in your former room. You being here is only a liability.”
I hated the thought of being considered a liability.
“When we get there, I want you both to keep your mouths shut and stay in the van. And Lola, I swear to God if you interfere, I’ll punish you when we get back to the cabin unlike anything you’ve ever experienced in your life – are we clear.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied rolling my eyes behind the blindfold.
The rest of the ride was made in silence. The special place that Raven had been referring to had actually been a shooting range. If Gabriella’s story was to be believed that was where they’d first met. She didn’t get into details and I hadn’t had time to dig into that story. Maybe after this was all over I’d be able to find out more about the woman sitting beside me. Whether she was a bad person or not was irrelevant. I’d grown up an only child and when my parents died, I’d become an orphan with no family. Relationships had never been successful for me. She was the only family – if you could call her that – I had, so there was an intense need within me to get to know more about her and establish a bond.
“We’re here. Prepare yourselves.”
A wave of apprehension rushed though me. There was something in my gut that told me I needed to scream for them to turn the vehicles around. It was so intense I had to bite down on my tongue to keep from saying anything out loud. Though it wasn’t like they’d listen to me. If anything, I’d get my mouth duct taped shut.
The sudden sound of gunfire took me a moment to register. I just sat there dazed while the men around me sprang into action. Doors opened, men were shouting, there were screams. The cotton pillowcase over my head was making it hard to tell what was going on but I had a pretty good idea when the next round of gunfire began.
There was a quick movement beside me, making me even more anxious. Pulling at my binds that held my hands securely behind my back, I groaned out my frustration. Something whizzed by my cheek leaving hot searing pain in its wake. Screaming, I threw myself to the floor, closing my eyes tightly shut, willing the chaos to end.
“He’s been hit!” I heard someone shout.
Hit? Who’s been hit? Was it Ash or Phoenix? Oh God, oh God! Panic filled me as I struggled to free my hands, making no progress aside from causing my wrists to chafe as I rubbed the skin raw. The pain of my cheek didn’t even register at the moment.
Writhing and wiggling on the van floor, I was finally able to get the damned pillowcase off my head, but not without pain in my cheek reminding me that I’d been hit by something. With a sigh, I looked around me. The van was empty except for Gabriella and me. Squirming my way to Gabriella, I used my teeth to pull the hood from her head. After several tries she was free of at least that. With my teeth I managed to grab an end of the tape across her mouth. As I gave it it one swift jerk the tape came loose.
“Fuck!” she screamed out. “What the fuck, Lola!” She moved her jaw and lips around for a minute, swiping her tongue along her dry lower lip. “Told ya this was going to go bad,” she said, looking up at me. “And I suggest you stay as close to the floor as possible until they’re done shooting.” Her brow creased as she stared at my face. “You get grazed by a bullet?”
Another round of gunfire made me involuntarily flinch with each bang. Gabriella on the other hand didn’t seem to be fazed by the fighting going on outside the van.
“I guess.” Flopping over to my stomach, I wiggled my wrists. “Can you chew through the tape?”
“What do I look like, a fucking rabbit?” came the reply. “Stay put and pray it’s Talon that comes for us. If they’re shooting at us, then that means Raven doesn’t give a shit about me and by extension, you.”
More gunfire. More shouts. A glimmer of hope rushed though me; I was pretty sure one of the voices was Ash.
“Yeah, but Ash and Phoenix are out there. I gotta–”
“You gotta do what? Distract them by having them try to protect you?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer as a loud thud sounded from above while at the same time the roof of the van buckled in toward the front by a couple feet, causing the windshield to crack, but not fully smash apart.
Breathing suddenly became hard for me. Rolling to my back with my hands painfully suspending my weight, I concentrated on inhaling and exhaling as slowly as I could.
“You okay?” There was a hint of concern in her voice.
I nodded. “Panic attack, I think.” Closing my eyes, I focused on breathing, attempting to block out everything around me.
“You gonna live?”
“P- pr- probably.”
Block it out. Block it all out.
I forced my mind to leave what was going on and think about better times. Times with my parents as a little girl going to Disneyworld. Life was so much simpler back then. A single tear formed at the corner of my left eye and slowly trickled down my cheek.
“Oh no you don’t.” A voice nearly identical to mine but with an accent said. “You’re not going to let this break you.”
My breathing began to come easier. Focus. Focus. Focus. The word began to cycle through my head. Less than a minute later I was able to breathe easy again and slowly sat up.
