Page 18 of King's Claim
King swung off the bike like he’d materialized out of smoke and fire, leather cut gleaming in the fading sunlight.His face was thunder, jaw set, eyes cold and lethal.
“You two got a death wish?”King demanded, his voice low and dangerous, promising pain.
Riker’s bravado faltered, but he sneered to cover it.“Just talking, King.No harm done.”
King closed the distance in three strides, his sheer presence enough to make the bigger Serpent backpedal.
“You touch her,” King growled, “you breathe the same air as her again, and I’ll bury you so deep your brothers won’t find your bones.”
Riker lifted his hands, smirking but pale beneath it.“Easy, Prez.Didn’t mean nothing by it.”
“Get.The fuck.Out,” King said.
The two Serpents scrambled onto their bike, engines coughing as they tore out of the lot, leaving only the stench of exhaust and fear behind.
Lena stood frozen, her whole body trembling, heart racing with leftover adrenaline.
King turned to her, his expression softening only slightly.“You all right?”
She nodded shakily, though her knees felt like they might buckle.“I ...I’m fine.”
The truth was, she wasn’t fine at all.Her body still hummed from fear, from the rush of danger and from the way King had appeared, all fury and fire, as if the entire world would burn before he let anything happen to her.
The adrenaline made her reckless.For a fleeting moment, she wondered what it would be like if he always showed up like this, unyielding and unstoppable, hers.
“Let’s head back to the clubhouse,” King ordered and all Lena could do was nod in agreement.
Chapter Six
King tightened hisgrip on the handlebars as he tore down the highway, Lena clinging to his back.The ride to the clubhouse was a blur of wind and heat.The world around him drowned by the roar of his bike and the pounding of his heart.
He couldn’t get the sight of those Serpent bastards cornering her out of his head.Couldn’t erase the way her face had gone pale, the fear she’d tried to cover with stubborn fire.
The Devil’s Crown cut heavy on his back wasn’t enough to smother the raw fury churning inside him.They’d dared to lay eyes on her, on Lena.
By the time they rolled into the clubhouse yard, King was hanging by a thread.He killed the engine and swung off, pulling Lena with him before she could argue.Her hair was wild from the ride, her eyes stormy, her lips parted like she had a thousand things to say and no breath to say them.
