Page 4 of Fire Meets Fire

My traitorous body and mind give out.

CHAPTER TWO

CHAZ

I’ve never had such a contradictory reaction to a woman before. Not one that’s affected my body with diametrically opposed responses. My cock’s rock hard, but my fists want to pound her into a pulp. To say I don’t understand the effect she’s having on me is an understatement.

I hate her for breaking into our premises and making a mockery of what we stand for, and instead of being chastised, how she reacted by fighting as if she was the one wronged. The primordial part of my brain thinks she’s the most alluring woman I’ve ever met, and her willingness to take me on—and let’s be honest, it was touch and go for a second as to who’d come out best.

I despise her.I want to fuck her.

I stand open-mouthed in shock as she starts to fold right in front of my eyes. Luckily, my instinct takes over, enabling me to catch her before she hits the ground. My cock leaps at the warmth of the woman in my arms, but ignoring him, I ease her way. Annoyed at the tenderness in my action, I step back, dispassionately leaving her lying on the ground.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Hearing his gruff voice, I swing around as Legend approaches.

Scratching my bald scalp, just as mystified myself, I rapidly run over the past couple of moments in my mind.Was it my fault?“Maybe I hit her too hard?” I don’t remember getting in a head shot, but for a minute or two, we’d been going at it hammer and tongs, and I really don’t know where all my hits landed. I know my jaw hurts from one of hers though. Woman can really throw a punch.

Legend sinks to his knees and shines a flashlight into her face. Suddenly, he puts his fingers to her neck, and then gives a relieved sigh. “For a moment, I thought she was dead.”

Perplexed, I crouch down at his side and I can see why. She’s unmoving, but her eyes are open. Waving my hand in front of them, she doesn’t move, blink or react. It’s one of the most unnerving sights I’ve ever seen.

“She’s catatonic,” Legend announces after a pause.

“Official diagnosis?” I scoff. First, I feel pleased she’s still got a pulse, then I’m annoyed at myself for the concern. Letting my harder side take over, I unsympathetically give a rough shake to her shoulder. “Come on, wake up.” But her body’s stiff and she doesn’t respond.Had I knocked her out?She didn’t seem fragile while we were fighting. I’d actually had a grudging admiration for her, thinking us well matched before I discovered her gender. If I hadn’t seen that, I wouldn’t have held back.

Legend reaches for her wrist. The immediate instinct to growl at him for touching her is like a blow to my chest and so out of character. I bite my tongue to keep a vicious comment back. The feeling only worsens as he gently strokes her forehead, making my hands clench.What the fuck is happening to me?

Oblivious to my struggles, he frowns. “I don’t like this. Perhaps we should get her to a doctor?”

What?And haveanotherman touch her?“No fuckin’ way,” I snarl, then think quickly to come up with a rationale for my comment. It arrives fast. “She’s been fuckin’ stealing from us,” Iremind him and myself, biting back the words I want to utter to stop him from touching her.She’s a thief.“If she was a fuckin’ man, we’d be burying him.” And with no second thoughts.

A niggling doubt in my head suggests we maybe shouldn’t change our modus operandi because of her gender. Some kind of premonition causing a cold chill and hairs rising at the back of my neck warns she could be a danger. But who for? Me personally, or to the club? She’s making me act out of character and I’ve no fuckin’ idea why.

“Can’t kill her. She’s a bitch.” Legend waves at her chest, which indeed shows tits. Not much to mention, but definitely female. Again, I want to punch him for noticing. He leans forward and tries to put his arms around her.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I bark.

“She can’t stay out here. I was going to take her into the shop. Put her on the couch in the breakroom to make her more comfortable, at least.”

Again, that sixth sense warns me, we, or perhaps just I, would be better off having nothing more to do with her. “She’s no innocent,” I remind him again. “Serve her right to lie here ’til morning.”

“Prez?” Legend stares at the set expression on my face. I’m not quite sure what he reads there, but it’s enough for him to,thank fuck,take his hands off her and stand. “Sorry, Prez. You’re right. She broke in.” His eyes narrow as if he’s just remembered. “And she fucked with our alarms. She might be a bitch, but she’s been fuckin’ with us. If she dies, then she’s brought it on herself.”

Still on my haunches beside her, I turn her over—more gently than I’d have done with a man—and start to search, trying to ignore the softness of her skin, and the tantalising sight of her curves. Even the scent coming off her makes me want to take deeper breaths.

Forcing myself to think of her as an unwelcome intruder, I take the backpack off her, open it, and find a tablet, which I pull out and offer into Legend’s willing hand. Another quick examination shows other than that, she’s carrying nothing of interest and appears to be unarmed. I draw my hands back after my search, rubbing them, as if her touch burned. As I stand, I shake myself like a dog coming in out of the rain, trying to get rid of the strange thoughts and feelings assailing me.What is it about her?Perhaps I should fuck her to keep my cock satisfied, then let my brothers take their own punishment out on her.But would one fuck be enough?What the hell?I touch the back of my hand to my forehead to see whether I’m coming down with a fever.

Another set of heavy footsteps makes me spin around, watching Iron, my sergeant-at-arms, approaching and coming to a halt by my side. He glances down and gently nudges the prone figure with his boot. There’s no response.

He whistles softly. “She’s a bitch?” I don’t bother to give the obvious answer. Shaking his head, Iron continues, “Ledge told me you’d caught our intruder. Came down to give you a hand.” He scoffs. “Seems you don’t need my assistance.” He’s still studying the woman on the ground. “You knock her out or kill her?” His tone suggests it’s no matter to him one way or the other.

“She just collapsed.” I still have no fuckin’ idea why. One minute, she was fighting as hard as any other combatant I’ve ever faced, and the next, all the fight had seemed to go out of her. I hadn’t missed the way she’d paled, nor the rivulets of sweat that had appeared on her face. It was like I’d been dealing with someone else.Maybe she’s ill?I take a step back, suddenly not wanting to catch anything.Maybe that’s the cause of the strangeness I’m feeling?I could already be infected. If I am, I’llneed to keep everyone away. Covid fucking 19 has nothing on this.

Iron raises his chin, seeming uninterested in the comatose woman on the floor. He nods at Legend. “After your heads-up, I’ve checked out the perimeter. Saw how she got in.” Hearing something in his tone, I glance up to see a look of admiration in his eyes.

I widen mine as I stand. With the help of the new Wi-Fi cameras, Legend and I had had a front-row seat to her entry. “We already know that,” I tell him.

Iron snorts. “I know. Legend told me she came over the fence, but when I looked, I had no fuckin’ idea how she managed it. I tried to climb that pole myself, but failed. There’s a rope still tied at the top and we need to get that down. But unlike her,” he spares a glance at the woman still lying on the ground, “I’d need a ladder.”

---