Page 8 of No Mercy

Rock was a force to be reckoned with when he’d made up his mind about something, including the time that he’d decided that he wanted me. But I wasn’t going to let him control me. I wasn’t an innocent eighteen year old anymore, too young to know that I had rights, and a voice. That I didn’t need a man to take care of me.

I didn’t need him.

“Allie−”

“No,” I said again. It came out weak, but at least I was staying consistent. I skirted around the sofa, putting it between us. It didn’t make me feel any safer, though. I knew that nothing could stop Rock if he’d wanted to get to me. “He doesn’t know about you, Rock.”

“That’s your fucking fault,” he snarled. His hands were clenching and unclenching, but at least he’d stopped stalking me.

“We’re going to do this right,” I insisted, as calmly as I could. “That way your visit here won’t be for−”

“Visit?” he snarled, before laughing with little humor. “That’s old news. I did some thinking while I was taking a piss. I’ve just decided that Sam is going home with me.”

What?My jaw dropped and my eyes widened. He couldn’t change his mind like that. I could live with him just wanting to meet Sam, he had the right, but . . . But you said−”

“I know what I fucking said.” My stomach dropped at his confident smirk. “I’ve changed my mind, baby. You’ve had him for seven years, now it’s my turn.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I shook my head, dazed and confused. He couldn’t take Sam away from me. Could he? I thought about Sam’s birth certificate. I’d put Rock down as the father. Crap! As we stared one another down I knew that I was in serious trouble. Rock wasn’t a man you said ‘no’ to. He was a fierce outlaw who reached out and just took what he wanted, when he wanted, and he had the whole of Phantom Riders at his back.

“You’re doing this to punish me, and you’re crazy if you think I’m just going to let you show up and take Sam from me,” I breathed softly, fighting like hell not to break down and cry. I felt so helpless.

“Then I’m crazy,” he agreed. “He’s my son and I have a right to him.” He crossed his massive arms across his massive chest, as if that were the end of discussion.

He would do it, too. I could see it in his eyes. At that moment I don’t think I could have hated him more. It wasn’t lost on me that all of this could have ended differently, if only I hadn’t moved away. And it looked like now I was going to pay the consequences for it. I had no options or resources to draw on, no family to go running to.

Now Rock had found us, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what I’d wanted all along. I hated him for what he was doing, but I couldn’t deny that I was still attracted to the man, he was just too overpowering, too primal and raw in a way that aroused the woman in me, as if the last seven years hadn’t happened. It finally dawned on me why I’d never found that special someone to replace him. There wasn’t a man out there that had a chance of competing with him.

I hated him.

I loved him.

How sick was that?

Chapter 5

Rock

Fuck!

Fuck!

Fuck!

I should have known that the minute I was face to face with her again all kinds of shit was going to come back, reminding me of how fucking good it had been with her-most of the time, anyway. Her temper was almost as hot as mine, but I’d used my muscle to subdue her to my liking on the rare occasion that her temper had flared. I grinned to myself. We’d had some of our most explosive fuck sessions in the aftermath of a good fight.

My dick remembered how good.

I couldn’t think of Allie like that now, couldn’t get off track as to why I’d hunted her ass down. There were too many fucking years between us, too much hurt. We’d both changed. She’d grown up, and fuck, she was more beautiful then she’d been back then. Having a baby and growing older had filled out her once too slim curves into more than a handful of tempting flesh. I’d always liked a woman with meat on her bones, which was probably why I always went to Marnie for a fuck when I was in the mood.

I stood firm, challenging her to take me on. I wanted her to give me a reason to put my hands on her body. And I wouldn’t be gentle, either. Allie had never liked gentle. Another fucking reason why we’d gotten along so well. After taking her innocence she’d eagerly learned how I liked it, while realizing her own sexual preferences.

I shouldn’t have, but I let my gaze run down the length of her body. I’d already scoped her out earlier, but the angst between us now kept my dick harder than fucking steel. By the looks of Allie, the flush on her pretty face, the fire in her eyes and those tight little nipples showing through her tee, she was feeling it, too. But I could tell that she wasn’t happy about her reaction to me. Fuck. With Sam away for the night, the sudden vision of the two of us naked and fucking in her bed flashed behind my eyes.

“You can’t do that,” she finally said, shutting down my thoughts.

She should have known better. “I can, and I will,” I assured her. “As his mother you’re welcome to come along.”

She looked at me as if I’d grown another head. “Our life is here, Rock. My job, Sam’s school.” A grin tugged at my mouth when she slammed her hands on her hips.

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