Page 6 of Savage Heart

God, how was she going to tell him about the baby? They hadn’t been together long, but she loved him…and she was sure he loved her, too. He hadn’t said the words, but in his actions, in the way he’d always thought of her, proving that with multiple texts a day checking in on her, he’d told her that what he felt was more than just sex and convenience. He always made sure she had something to eat after work, and he knew all of her friends because hewantedto know them. He wanted to make sure they were people worthy of her time and attention. He never, not once, told her who she couldn’t hang with, but he was vocalabout what he felt and thought about pretty much everything. He didn’t hide his feelings, per se, but he was a grown man who’d known war like an intimate lover. Even before that, from his utter disdain when she’d asked about his past in Texas, she knew he hadn’t come from a happy family history. They shared in that experience, because she sure as shit hadn’t been that happy a kid in the foster system.

Taking out her phone, she checked the time, then checked her texts.

An hour ago, Erik had texted her about stopping by the bar. No reason given, though. Not that she needed one, right? She’d spent many a night in the bar with him, chilling with him and Stellan—Odin—the president, and a few guys looking to join up with the club. They were all nice guys, if a little rough around the edges. It was the women Liz had a problem with, especially the ones who thought that since Liz looked nothing like them, that her man was fair game. Like somehow Liz having extra curves in all the wrong places was a good reason to try and seduce her man. Thankfully—and for the good of his dick, since she’d remove it from his body—Erik hadn’t shown interest in other women.

Not that it still didn’t grate on her already wonky self-confidence and self-image. There were many times over their thirteen months together that Liz wondered why the hell a man like Erik even looked twice at her. But then he’d strip her naked, worship her body, and remind her he was with her because he wanted to be. That he found her attractive, that his cock got hard just thinking about her.

Smirking at that thought, Liz climbed from her car and headed toward the door to the bar. The man standing outside, his fresh leather vest reading HELL HOUND on his breast, gave her a sideways look, and pulled his cell from his pocket, his thumbs moving over the screen. He glanced at her one lasttime, his gaze flickering with something she didn’t have time to decipher, but he didn’t say anything as she strode by and pushed the door open. The door hinges squeaked, and pieces of orange paint flaked off on her hand.

God, she couldn’t wait until the club got enough money to buy an actual clubhouse building. Erik said they were looking into a piece of property outside the city that would do them just fine…but they needed all the money upfront. That meant that they needed to make all that money first. How did they make that money?

Club business.

Allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim, smoky interior of the bar-cum-clubhouse, Liz tried not to breathe in the secondhand pot fumes. Once her eyes were able to focus, she wished she hadn’t. Two naked women were grinding on men in the farthest corner of the bar. She didn’t recognize the two men, but she hadn’t yet met everyone. The club was actively recruiting, so she never knew how many men would be at Tipped at any given time.

A man, who smelled of sour beer and sweat, approached her. This man she recognized, and she immediately stiffened. Most of the club brothers were okay guys, if a little rough and nasty around the edges, but there were a few like Tosser and his brother, Trucker, who made her skin crawl.

“Tosser,” she muttered, attempting to move around him.

Where the hell was Erik?

As if reading her thoughts, the man spoke. “He’s in the office, doll,” Tosser offered, smirking. “Bonnie is…helpinghim with…some club business.” Snorting a laugh, the grimy asshole tossed back an amber liquid from a tumbler and trundled away, swaying like he’d already tossed too many shots as he made his way across the sticky floor to the corner booth, where the two other club brothers and their naked sluts were staring at her,their expressions a mixture of wariness…and pity? The women, however, were smirking.

Bonnie? God, she hated that bitch. The top skank of the bar skanks, she’d slunk into the bar one night, latched on to Erik like a slutty barnacle, and batted her fake as hell eyelashes at him. Erik hadn’t taken the bait…at least not in front of her. Despite not landing Erik, she’d caught the attention of several of the other brothers, and had been inducted into the club as their first official club slut.

Liz refused to consider exactly how that induction process worked.

Why was Bonnie helping Erik with club business? According to Erik, women had nothing to do with club business. Something heaved in her belly, her nerves pinging an uncomfortable forewarning. Swallowing down the ball of apprehension forming in her throat, she gave the men a chin lift and the women a glare, forcing a nonchalance she certainly didn’t feel, and headed toward the back of the bar where the bathrooms, storeroom, and office were located.

She never should have gotten out of the car.

The hallway was well lit for such a dump, but knowing Odin and the need for security an MC would have, it made sense. Liz passed the doorway to the women’s then men’s bathrooms, the storage room, then finally stopped in front of the door with the peeling letters to the word OFFICE on an opaque window set into a steel door.

Taking a deep breath, knowing that what she and Erik were about to discuss was going to be difficult, she placed her hand on the knob to turn it.

What she heard made her hand and her heart stop.

“Fuck yeah, bitch, take that cock!”

Her heart started beating again, this time at ramming speed.

“Shit, Trouble! Fuck! Your cock is so fucking big!”

Again, her heart stopped.

She recognized those voices.

Bonnie. The whore.

And Erik.

HerErik.

And she knew what they were doing. But that couldn’t be right.

Erik wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t cheat on her. He loved her!

Grunts and the sounds of flesh slapping on flesh filled the hallway outside the office door. There was no hiding what they were doing in there, even if the hallway wasn’t lit up like a fucking football stadium.

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