Page 17 of The Vipers and Their Vendetta

I step to the right, silent, careful, until I’m directly in front of her.

A twig snaps under her foot. She glances down without pausing and walks right into me.

A scream tears out of her mouth, but as she looks up and sees me, she sags in relief. “Oh, thank God. They have Saint. I was going back for him. We can help him.”

I don’t bother signing. She won’t understand. I simply pick her up, hoisting her over my shoulder. She yells in outrage and pummels at my back with her fists.

“Put me down. I mean it, Zane. Goddamn it, you three. You damn Vipers. Screw you. Put me down, you bastard. Pissing shit. Put me down. Fuck you.”

I start to silently laugh. I can tell this girl grew up around hard men.

I swat her on the ass to shut her up, but it only makes her scream louder.

God, she feels so good in my arms. Sometimes, I wish I could take her and have her all to myself. In a quiet world, without all the noise of this one. I think she would see me then, for who I really am. What if I stole her from them all? But no, I can’t do that. Lex and Saint are like my blood.

“Zane, we have to help them,” she pleads, clearly trying a different tack.

I ignore her because I’m not putting her back in harm’s way, and Lex and Saint will absolutely support this call.

“Oh, you’re so stubborn.”

She hits me on the shoulders and back again. Her small fists hammer down on me, but it’s easy to ignore and keep walking. She adds kicking into the mix, and nope, not having that. I bring one big hand down on her ass—hard this time—and she stills.

Good girl,I think. I can’t say it, but I pat her ass soothingly and hope that shows my appreciation for her not kicking me.

“Fucking goddamnmen! You can all go to hell. And that includes you, Zane.”

She’s so pissed at me, but just hearing her bitching is a joy because when I saw that bike, I thought she was dead.

I walk quickly and quietly through the woods to where I left my SUV. Once we’re there, she’s safe. I have my Glock in the glove compartment. In hindsight, I should have brought it with me.

She wriggles against me, and I turn my head so I can bury my nose in her throat and inhale her scent. God, it goes straight to my cock.

I thought we’d lost her, and now all I want is to reclaim her. I need to sink into her. To make her mine again. And when Lex and Saint finally catch up with us, they’ll feel the same.

I don’t want to think about her possible reasons for being here, that she might have been planted by Jarl Olsen to get his revenge on us…or maybe something else we haven’t even thought of. I don’t want to be angry with her for believing those lies and running. All I want is to be inside her and not have to think about any of it.

We reach the vehicle, and I put her down, making sure she can’t run by holding her against the car door, one hand on her sternum. Her chest is heaving as if she’s been running, and I realize it’s emotion. I hold a finger up, telling her,wait.

“I’m angry at all you men,” she throws at me. “At the bikers in my father’s club who treat women like disposable toys. At my father for the overbearing way he’s always treated me. Finally, at you Vipers,allof you.”

I shake my head, as though I’m disappointed at her, and then I take out my phone and type quickly.Twins will be back. We have to wait. Don’t run off. Some bad people roam these woods.

“I met some of them,” she says.

I shake my head and write again.Worse than them. Murderers, rapists. There’s no law here. Anything could happen.

She shivers. “We ought to go back and help Saint and Lex. Those guys they’re dealing with are crazy.”

Where the hell did you think you were running off to?I push the phone at her to read.

“I just wanted a ride.” Her face crumples. “I can take my bike for an outing without it being a national emergency.” She sniffs, and her eyes swim.

Shit. I don’t want to see her cry.

I mean the second time, I write.When you left Saint. Where did you think you were going?

Her face colors, her cheeks turning pink in the glow from my screen. “I don’t know. It was bad leaving Saint, but I lost it. They were all being total dicks, and I wanted to get away, just … I went back for him. That’s why I bumped into you. I was only gone a couple of minutes, and I realized I couldn’t leave him there alone with them.”

---