Page 20 of Rise In Arms

He storms toward me then, and I step back even further, my back hitting a wall.

“Kane, stop it!” Hazel yells at him, but he doesn’t listen, and when he reaches me he places his hands against the wall on either side of me, caging me in. He smirks down at me, but it’s not a happy smirk—he’s pissed off. I notice his cheek is turning red from my slap, and I can just make out my handprint emerging. Trying to conceal my terror, I swallow hard and lift my chin.

“You’re going to be sorry you did that, Charity,” he warns, his gaze boring into my barely brave one. I cross my arms over my chest, feeling exposed all of a sudden. The air between us is thick with… something, so much so you could cut a knife through it. His mouth is now only inches away from mine, and for some reason I want to taste him. I’ve only just met this man, but my God, he is so drop-dead sexy to me. How can he have me so angry I slap him one minute, then wanting to jump his bones the next?

“Kane, stop it,” Hazel yells out again, pulling on his shoulder, trying to drag him away from me.

Kane just ignores her and keeps staring down at me. “We’re not done yet, spitfire,” he whispers to me after a moment.

I raise my brows. “Spitfire?”

He ignores my question, then slowly moves back, removing his hands from the wall and turning to his sister. “Hazel, you’d better start explaining what the fuck is going on. I left you in safe hands at the campus, and now your calling me sayin’ you need help?”

He takes off his leather jacket as he walks back toward the bed, and places it on top of the plain blue comforter. He’s wearing a leather cut beneath, and I can make out the words stenciled into the leather patch on it: Trigger—Blood Brothers MC. I turn to my left and see the guy who had his hand over my mouth watching me, his gaze travelling over my body. When his eyes meet mine, he smiles, and a dimple appears. My God, these men look like they’ve just come out of a bad-boy magazine. All of them are panty-dropping hot. Feeling vulnerable and exposed, I walk to my bag, which is on the bed, and quickly seek out a T-shirt and some pants. I cover myself up quickly, wanting to hide my near-nakedness from the prying eyes of these virtual strangers. Kane watches my every move as Hazel explains things to him, and I blush at the way his eyes devour my body while she speaks.

Without warning, Kane growls and storms over to where I’m standing and grasps my neck, not hard enough he’s hurting me, but enough to twist my face from side to side in his hold. “That motherfucker laid a hand on you?”

I’m not sure how to answer him, and I go limp when I realize he’s really looking at my face now, likely noticing for the first time the bruising around my eye.

“There’s more bruising, Kane,” Hazel says from beside me. “He hurt her, said he was going to kill her if she didn’t get an abortion, we had no choice but to run.”

Kane’s face turns to stone once more, and I’m sure I can hear his teeth grinding in his jaw. He looks up and down my body and stops at my stomach with the mention of the fact I’m pregnant. Tears well in my eyes when his look turns soft and he can’t seem to look away from where my child rests inside me.

Finally, he drops his hand from my neck and lifts it to rub at his jaw. “What’s your man’s name?”

“He’s not my man anymore,” I say, allowing the tears to fall.

“Name, Charity,” he grinds out, jaw tight.

“Blake,” I answer shakily, wiping away my tears with both hands. “He’s an MMA fighter.”

He stills. “Not Blake Reynolds?”

I nod. “That’s the one,” Hazel answers for me.

Bear whistles from the doorway, as if to say far out.

“Fuck,” Kane curses, then begins to pace the floor of the small room. The guy whose name is Tracker walks up to Kane and mumbles something to him I can’t make out. Kane nods and grabs his phone out of a pocket in his jeans.

“What’s going on?” I ask, but they ignore me.

Hazel sits down beside me. “Don’t worry about them, they’re just doing their biker stuff.”

I frown. “Biker stuff?”

She shrugs, and I look back over at the men. “What’s going on?” I ask again.

Kane looks over at me, and then Hazel. “I need to make a few calls. Get some rest, both of you,” he says. His eyes narrow, looking straight into mine. “You tell anyone where you were heading?”

I shake my head. “No.... I just packed a bag and took off when Blake left for the gym.”

“Fuck, I can’t believe Blake Reynolds is your man,” Bear states, a look of almost pride on his face.

Kane whips his head toward him, and growls, “Shut the fuck up, you think a man who lays a hand on a woman is something to be proud of?”

Bears eyes draw together. “Not sayin’ that, man. Just saying… you know… Blake Reynolds, MMA champion. Didn’t you fight him back in the day, Trigg?”

I gasp. Kane fought Blake?

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