Hell Fire Riders MC: The Complete MC Series, page 79
The longer Bear sat there and kept watch over her the harder he hoped to meet up with Leroy one day. He hadn’t noticed it yet, but he hadn’t minded her touch so much today. For years, he hadn’t wanted or sought anyone else’s touch. He had stood back when someone tried to touch him but he hadn’t with her today. Bear didn’t understand the reason why. He also hadn’t understood the reason he wouldn’t let anyone else take care of her either.
Jasper was the medic Pappy told him about on the plane and Bear thought he would be the one to take care of her but when he saw Jasper standing at his door, he hadn’t wanted the other man to come near Lacey. Instead, he had taken the medical kit and slammed the door in the other man’s face. It surprised even him.
Now she was in his bed and Bear couldn’t imagine her anywhere else. He knew her bruises would heal in time and in time, she would be okay. She could learn to live with people who would care for her again, maybe even a man would love her one day and that thought made his heart hurt a little. The man she would come to love wouldn’t be him. He didn’t have any love inside him left to give her or any woman. That emotion had been beaten out of him in the deserts of Iraq where he witnessed total devastation of a village of innocent people, men, women and children at the hands of ISIS. Those bastards hadn’t cared about the innocent people living a peaceful life, all they cared about was the carnage they could create.
Bear slowly reached his hand out to cover Lacey’s. He didn’t feel the tingling of thousands of fire ants he usually felt when he touched her. His skin didn’t prickle and he had no goose bumps as he trailed his fingers up and down her arm.
He even reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear to watch her sleep without regret. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he continued to stare at her face while she slept. He could see beyond the dark bruises to notice how beautiful she really was.
When he heard a gentle tapping on his door, he got up off the chair and pulled it open to see his brother on the other side.
Swede just stared for a moment then asked, “How are you doing brother?”
Bear nodded at him. “I’m okay.”
“And the girl?” Swede asked.
“Her name is Lacey and she’s sleeping at the moment.”
“Have you checked her wounds?”
Bear nodded. “Got her cleaned up and I dressed the worst of them.”
Swede just stared at his brother. He swallowed hard before he asked, “Do you want us to move her to another room?”
Bear shook his head. “No, she’s staying here.”
“Okay, that’s fine,” Swede assured him.
“Was the mission a success? Did we recover what the others needed to be able to stop this prick?” Bear wanted to know.
Swede nodded. “We found his jackpot. That little box you took contained USB drives with his entire manifest written in his own words. There must be fifteen years of flash drives in that box. Everybody else is going over the info and trying to determine when and where his targets are.”
“Yeah, she said something about being with him for the last fifteen years.”
Swede closed his eyes and shuddered. “I can’t imagine being with him for that long.”
Bear growled. “He made her watch him kill her mother.”
Swede was shocked silent for a moment, then shook his head. “I know there are harsh people out there but that’s just sick. She must have been a kid at the time.”
“She said she was seven years old when Leroy found them.” Bear sighed heavily. “Listen, I’m going to go to bed now. I don’t want to leave her alone tonight in case she has nightmares. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Are you hungry?” Swede asked. “You didn’t get any dinner. I can bring you a plate if you like.”
Bear grinned. “That would be good. That way, if she does wake up she can eat something before morning. I would appreciate that brother.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back.” Swede turned and went back down the hall.
Bear left the door open and went back to his chair.
Chapter Six
When Swede came back into the main room of the compound, Slammer and Pappy met him. Thor, Mutzy, Falcon and Thor joined them. “How is Bear doing?” Slammer asked.
“That’s a very god question,” Swede muttered.
“What does that mean?” He frowned.
“It means I’m not sure at the moment,” Swede explained. “Ever since we came back from the desert, he’s been avoiding human touch but since he met her, he hasn’t let her go. I asked him if he got her squared away and he told me she had showered and he took care of her wounds and when I left, she was lying in his bed. I ask if she needed another place to sleep and he told me she was good where she was.” Swede shook his head.
“Do you think she’s safe with him tonight?” Thor asked while looking confused.
“Hell, I hope so because I don’t think he’ll let her go,” Swede told them. “He won’t let anyone else touch her.”
“Maybe this is a good thing for him,” Pappy told the group. “He might feel she’s more broken than he is and together, they might heal each other.” Shrugging at their looks of incredibility he added, “Hey it could happen.”
“Yeah and the moon might really be made of cheese too but it’s doubtful.” Thor scoffed.
“Let’s just let it happen tonight and see what he does,” Slammer told them all. “Pappy could be right. Guess we’ll find out in the morning.”
Swede nodded. “I’m gonna take him some food for later. He said she could eat if she wakes up later.”
“That might be a good thing,” Falcon agreed.
The men who knew Bear all looked stunned by this turn of events, but they said very little about it.
When Swede took him a plate loaded with food then went into his brother’s bedroom and found Bear sitting in the corner staring at the woman asleep in his bed. Laying the plate on the dresser, he went over to where Bear was sitting and sat down next to him making sure he was far enough away, so as not to disrupt the other man.
They sat there awhile before Bear said a word, “We have to find her brother and we have to kill him. That’s the only way she’ll ever be safe.”
Swede didn’t say anything for the longest time. “Oh, we’ll find him alright and we’ll stop him. She won’t ever have to deal with him again.”
“I’m gonna make sure of that personally,” Bear vowed. His hands curling into fists.
Swede took careful note of his brother’s words and his body language. It was screaming at him. He knew Bear well enough to be concerned about him. “Bear what’s going on between you and her? I’ve never seen you act this way over someone you just met. Should I be worried about this?”
Bear turned his head to glare at his brother. Taking a deep breath, he turned to watch Lacey sleep as he exhaled and said, “I don’t know, maybe. All I do know is that Leroy treated her like shit for the last fifteen years. He never sent her to school and he beat the hell out of her every time he could. He kept her locked away in that room we found her in with not even a bed to sleep in.” He took another breath. “I just want to rip his heart out of his chest and grind it into dust under my boot.”
“Wow,” was all Swede could say.
“Yeah, wow,” Bear repeated. Turning his head back to his brother, he explained, “For the first time in years I can stand to touch another human being and have her touch me. I can’t say I’ve missed that and I’d probably deck the first person who touches me besides her, but I could hold her without feeling like I was gonna freak out. It feels weird to say the least. I don’t know if it will last, but it felt good for at least tonight.”
Swede waited for a moment then told him, “It’s a start. There’s food on the dresser if you’re hungry.” Getting to his feet he said, “I’ll see you in the morning. Try and get some sleep tonight.”
Bear nodded as watched his brother leave the room. He knew how hard it was for his brother not to touch him and he never wanted to make him feel bad but he didn’t want to hurt the other man if he couldn’t take it. He’d left part of his psyche back in the desert in those three days he’d been captured by the enemy. He’d never told anyone what they had done to him in those three short days and he never would but ever since that time, he’d been unable to stand the touch of another human on his skin until today.
He sat and wondered how this could be. That he felt okay with being near this woman, whom he didn’t even know. He watched her until he fell asleep.
A few hours later, her whimpers woke Bear. He’d been dozing in the chair with his head laying on the mattress next to her hand. His head snapped up and for a moment, he didn’t know where he was. Then the sounds coming from her throat allowed him to focus his attention.
Her face was scrunched in fear and she was curled up as tight as her body would allow. Her whimpers were barely noticeable and no tears could be seen but her hands were jerking.
Bear reached out and took her hand in his own. He tried to wind his fingers through hers and when she felt him, she relaxed her hand enough to allow him to hold her hand. “Shhh, it’s gonna be okay little girl,” he whispered softly.
Lacey whimpered and groaned as her body tried to move. “So cold,” she whispered. She gripped the covers and pulled them up over her head. “Please don’t hurt me no more. I didn’t do anything wrong,” she cried out.
Her words broke Bear’s heart. He pulled her into his arms but she fought against his hold. She tried to turn away from him and she went as close to the edge of the mattress as she could get. Finally, he hauled his body into the bed with her and he pulled her shaking body into his arms. Sweat broke out on his head and a bead rolled down the side of his face and he could feel the panic fill him but he fought it and the panic receded. Wrapping his arms around her, holding her close to him, he felt her relax and settle back into sleep.
After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and tried to relax himself. For some reason, she felt so good in his arms, almost like she fit. He knew that didn’t make any sense as he was so damn big and she was so small but it did work. He nestled his nose into her hair and breathed deep. He caught the scent of the shampoo he’d used earlier. He should have been smelling his own scent but somehow this was different. The sandalwood shampoo he used every day was mixed with her own scent and he found he liked the new scent.
The next thing Bear knew, sunlight was shining through his window. When he opened his eyes, he frowned at the mass of dark hair lying on his chest. He was surprised to find his arms wrapped around a woman in his bed, then he remembered Lacey’s nightmare. Glancing toward the window, he was shocked when he saw sunlight. He didn’t remember falling asleep and he actually felt rested. He never slept for long. It was just that way, ever since he got back from his last tour.
He gently brushed her hair away from her face and was glad to see she was still asleep. He gazed at her face while she slept and noted the shape of her cheeks and her eyes. The bruises were still there but they had begun to fade.
He had been lying on his back and he had to wonder when they changed position. He had fallen asleep on his side curled up behind her, now he was on his back and she was curled up on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders.
Slowly, he ran his hand down her back to the top of her ass. Lacey curled around him closer but didn’t wake up. Her leg was resting across his and Bear ran his other hand up her leg from her ankle to her knee. His touch was light and he wanted to go higher but he knew he was pushing his luck the way it was.
He glanced down and found her eyes watching him carefully. He smiled but she didn’t smile back. Instead, she looked curious. “Good morning,” he growled gruffly.
Her eyes looked bright with some emotion and she ducked her head. “Good morning,” she murmured.
She didn’t seem to move and he could see her taking a deep breath. He frowned and asked, “What are you doing?”
Lacey smiled slightly and looked up at his face. “Nothing.” She looked down and closed her eyes again. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly.
He laid his hand on her jaw and lifted her face to watch her eyes. “What were you doing?” he asked her again.
Bear could see the color increase in her cheeks and she bit her lips. He waited for a moment before he heard her say, “I like the way you smell.”
He nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear, “I like the way you smell too.” He watched her for a moment as the color in her cheeks deepened. Then he asked, “How are you feeling this morning?”
Lacey paused for a moment and looked surprised at the lack of pain she felt. Turning her wide eyes to him she replied, “Actually, I feel pretty good.”
“Great.” He breathed easier. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I am,” Lacey admitted.
“What do you say we go get some breakfast then. I could use some food myself.”
“Sounds good to me.” She smiled shyly.
A few hours earlier…
The main room of the clubhouse was quiet as everyone searched the paperwork Bear and Swede found at the missile silo. Trudy, Jim and Bastian had been checking the USB drives they brought back.
Suddenly, the silence was broken as Trudy swore out loud, “Sweet Holy hell!” She pushed her chair back and scrambled to her feet. She slowly backed away from the table but couldn’t take her eyes off her laptop.
Bastian and Jim rushed over to her. “What’s wrong?” Bastian asked. “What did you find?”
Trudy raised her eyes and tried to focus but her eyes were glazed over. “Leroy is so far beyond insane,” she whispered fearfully. Her hands were shaking as she pointed at the computer sitting on the table.
Jim sat down and searched what Trudy seemed so afraid of. He raised his head and stared at Bastian a few minutes later. “Sweet Jesus,” he whispered.
Bastian glanced over at Slammer who had been watching the drama for the last few minutes. “Maybe you should get the others, so we can all hear what’s going on.”
Slammer got up and went upstairs to get Pappy and the others. A few minutes later, the room began to fill with the other members of the MC. Men came not only from the rooms upstairs but they also came in from outside. Those that came from the outside had been called in from the nearby cabins.
When everyone finally arrived, Bastian told them what Trudy found on the flash drive.
When he finished the room was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Everyone was stunned.
Swede fell down into a chair, as did several of the others.
Pappy marched over to where the information was still on Trudy’s screen and saw it for himself. After he read the words, he looked up and glared at Swede. “When you went through the second compartment, did you see any blue water containers?”
Swede ran his hands through his hair and shrugged his shoulders. “Hell, I don’t remember. They could have been there but I was more worried about not getting caught than what the hell I was looking at.”
“We could just ask Lacey,” Slammer responded.
Pappy shrugged. “I’m not sure she would know anything about what her brother hid in the next compartment. I don’t imagine her brother told her much about his business.”
“That may be true but she still might know more than we do at this point,” Slammer added.
“I guess we’ll have to wait until she wakes up then. I’m not going to be the one to knock on Bear’s door though.” Pappy grimaced.
“No that might not be a very good idea,” Swede agreed. “For some reason, he’s protecting this girl and this just might set him off.”
When Bear and Lacey walked down the hall into the main room, the whole room went quiet. Lacey looked around and moved closer to Bear’s big frame.
Bear looked from man to man finally settling on Slammer. “What’s going on?”
Slammer got to his feet and faced the other man. “We got some questions for Lacey and we need some answers only she can give.”
Bear paused and wrapped his arm around Lacey’s shoulder pulling her close to him. “I won’t let you bully her but you can ask her what you need to know.”
Slammer shook his head. “We’re not going to bully her,” he assured Bear then turned his attention to the girl at his side. “Honey, we need to know what you know about Leroy’s business.”
Lacey wrapped her arm around Bear’s back and leaned into his embrace. “I never knew much about what he was doing. I listened to him rant and rave but it was never anything I thought he was serious about. When he found us in Montana, he told my mother he’d taken care of his father and now it was her turn. When he brought me away with him he talked about how everyone always told him he wasn’t ever going to be anybody, how no one would ever remember his name. He used to brag he was going to show the whole world just what he could do and how he was going to go down in history as a great man. He would tell me everyone would know his name.”
“Do you know what he meant when he said that?” Pappy asked.
“No, I never asked. Leroy got mean when I asked him about his business,” Lacey admitted.
“Did you ever see the second compartment?” Slammer asked.
Lacey nodded. “When he brought in the shipments, I would help him unload the stuff.”
“Did you know what it was?” Pappy asked.
Lacey felt her face flush but all she could do was shake her head.
Swede frowned and stated, “But the boxes and crates were clearly marked. Didn’t you read any of the warnings?”
Lacey felt Bear stiffen next to her and she tried to hide her red face in his shirt. Bear tightened his arms around her and glared at the group of people facing them. “No she didn’t read the labels on the crates. She doesn’t read very well. Leroy never sent her to school. Her mother was trying to teach her but Leroy took her when she was seven.” He glared a bit more then added, “He took her to the silo when she was seven and he never let her out of there in the past fifteen years.”
