Shadow, page 5
Camilla couldn’t shake the feeling of unease settling in her gut. Jake had assumed she would just come with him, like some obedient lamb. She had to correct him.
“My meeting with the Death Seekers can wait. My priority is to bring you back safely home,” Jake said, pulling out his cell phone.
Camilla’s heart thundered against her ribs as panic surged through her veins.
“Wait,” she blurted out.
“Don’t you want your brother to know you’re safe?” Jake’s fingers hovered over his phone, his expression tense with suspicion.
“Fernando can know I’m safe, but I have no intention of going back with you,” Camilla said. “This is my home now, Jake.”
“You’re out of your mind. I understand you’ve been through a lot, but that ordeal probably messed with your train of thought,” Jake accused, rising to his feet.
Camilla remained stubbornly seated, refusing to budge despite his expectant gaze.
With an impatient sigh, Jake reached out and gripped her arm, expecting her to comply. Camilla recoiled, shoving him away with a surge of defiance.
She realized then that Jake was too entrenched in his own agenda, and she shouldn’t have entertained the idea that she could convince him to back off and handle things her own way.
“Let go of me,” she hissed, her voice trembling with anger and fear as Jake’s grip tightened on her hand.
His expression softened momentarily, but determination hardened his features once more.
“Don’t make this harder on yourself, Camilla,” Jake said.
There was almost a plea to his words. Camilla knew he would use force if he deemed it necessary. Camilla suddenly had an image of Jake grabbing her, rendering her unconscious and throwing her in the back of his car.
The next time she woke up, she’d be back at her brother’s compound and she’d never see Shadow again. The thought filled her with dread.
“I said no,” Camilla said. She tried to bat his hand away, but he was twice the size of her and he only tightened his grip on her arm.
“Don’t make me angry,” Jake warned. “You know what would happen.”
Camilla did. Jake was her brother’s bogeyman. She’d seen firsthand how Jake had dealt with her brothers’ enemies, and the aftermath wasn’t pretty.
“Let her go.”
Camilla’s heart raced as she heard that familiar voice, a lifeline in the midst of chaos. Jake, consumed by his own determination to see her back home, initially didn’t register the warning.
He remained fixated on Camilla, his grip tightening with each passing second. But then, there was a distinct click, and suddenly Shadow stood a few feet from them. He pointed a gun at Jake’s head.
Finally, Jake noticed they weren’t alone. The color drained from his face as he turned to face Shadow.
“I don’t like repeating myself,” Shadow’s voice was low and threatening. “Release her this instant, or you’re a dead man.”
Camilla stole a glance at Shadow, struck by the coldness in his eyes. She knew this side of him existed, but seeing it in action was still jarring. Shadow was a Death Seeker, after all.
Grateful for Shadow’s intervention, Camilla couldn’t help but feel a surge of relief. Camilla’s heart hammered in her chest as she watched the tense standoff unfold between Shadow and Jake.
She could feel the weight of Shadow’s gaze on her, a silent demand for explanation. With a deep breath, she found her voice.
“Shadow, don’t shoot him. I … know him,” she said, her words rushed but firm.
Shadow’s expression softened, his brows furrowing in confusion at her plea.
“Know him?” he echoed, clearly puzzled by her sudden defense of Jake.
“Trust me on this, killing him would only cause you and your MC problems,” Camilla urged, her voice pleading.
She couldn’t bear the thought of the violence escalating any further. Shadow hesitated for a moment, his eyes searching hers for reassurance. Finally, he nodded, though the tension in his posture remained palpable.
“Step away from her. Good. Keep that distance,” he commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Reluctantly, Jake complied, stepping back with a scowl directed at Camilla. She could sense his frustration, but she knew she had made the right decision. Jake kept looking at her, then at Shadow. He probably came to a conclusion he didn’t like, because he deepened this scowl.
“He’s the reason you don’t want to come back home, isn’t he?” Jake asked, his voice laced with venom.
Camilla tensed, her heart pounding in her chest as she braced herself for Shadow’s reaction. Shadow’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he turned his gaze to Camilla.
“Why? Who’s your brother?” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous.
Camilla’s throat felt dry as she struggled to find the words to explain, but before she could respond, Jake’s mocking laughter filled the space between them.
“Fernando Hernandez. Didn’t she tell you, biker? Oh, this is rich,” Jake sneered, the smirk on his face twisting with satisfaction.
“Hernandez?” Shadow repeated, his tone incredulous as he processed the revelation.
He looked at Camilla, his expression unreadable, but she could see the storm brewing behind his eyes. She knew he must be grappling with a whirlwind of emotions—betrayal, anger, confusion.
He didn’t deserve to find out the awful truth this way. At that moment, Camilla wished she could turn back time and tell him everything—who her family was and why she didn’t feel like she belonged. Maybe it would’ve changed things … but it was too late now.
“My relationship with my brother is complicated,” she finally managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper.
It felt like a feeble attempt to justify her actions, but it was the only explanation she could offer in that moment.
“So now you know the truth, biker. Tuck that gun away. Let me bring her back home and we’ll forget this ever happened.” Jake’s voice cut through the tension, his words dripping with arrogance.
Camilla’s fists clenched at her sides, her chest tight with indignation. How dare he address her like that, as if she were a pawn in some twisted game? Even as fury coursed through her veins, she knew deep down that Jake was right about one thing—he expected her compliance, and he was likely to get it. After all, he suspected her feelings for Shadow ran deep enough to cloud her judgment.
Before she could move, Shadow stepped forward, his presence commanding and protective. With a swift movement, he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to meet his intense gaze.
“Do you really want to go with him?” he demanded.
Camilla’s heart hammered and she adamantly shook her head.
“No, I don’t,” she admitted, her fingers trembling as she reached out to gently cup his unshaven cheek.
Despite the tension and uncertainty surrounding them, she found solace in the warmth of his touch, in his possessive look. She knew she owed him an explanation, but in that moment, all she could feel was relief. He wasn’t about to let her go without a fight, and for that she was eternally grateful.
“You heard her. Camilla’s not going anywhere,” Shadow said.
He slid his arm around her, pulling her close to him in a protective embrace.
Camilla felt the weight of Jake’s gaze boring into her, his silent threat hanging heavy in the air. She squared her shoulders, refusing to cower under his intimidating presence.
“This won’t end well and you know it,” Jake warned.
Camilla wasn’t backing down. “Tell my brother I make my own choices now,” she declared, her grip on Shadow’s jacket tightening.
“Now leave, before I change my mind and shoot you,” Shadow told Jake.
For a moment, Jake seemed to consider his options, his eyes flickering with anger and frustration.
“You’ll pay for this,” he spat, before finally turning on his heel and storming away, leaving them alone in the tense silence.
Once the threat had passed, Shadow released Camilla. “You owe me an explanation,” Shadow reminded her.
Camilla met his gaze, her heart pounding in her chest. “Yes,” she agreed, drawing in a deep breath. “It’s time for me to come clean.”
Chapter Seven
Shadow rode back to the MC clubhouse with Camilla seated behind him. The atmosphere between them remained heavy with tension.
Shadow could sense Camilla’s unease, her body rigid against his back, her breaths shallow and rapid. He wanted to reach out to her, to offer some form of comfort, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not now.
Thoughts raced through his mind, each one more troubling than the last. Camilla was sister to Fernando Hernandez, the leader of a notorious cartel. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer. He had been harboring feelings for a woman involved in a world like his own.
Camilla had mentioned her family was complicated, but this took the cake. Yet, despite the danger she posed to Shadow and the Death Seekers, every fiber of his being rebelled against the idea of letting her go back to that life.
Once they were in his room, Shadow watched as Camilla took a seat at the edge of his bed. Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes seemed distant. He couldn’t bear to see her like this, the sight of her so defeated tugged at his heartstrings.
Moving closer, Shadow sat down beside her and reached out to gently grasp her hand. As their eyes met, he could see the vulnerability in hers, the unspoken pain and fear that lingered within.
“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured.
He brushed away the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, hating he was the cause of it.
“I didn’t mean to deceive you,” she whispered.
Shadow shook his head. “I know you didn’t,” he assured her.
He listened intently as she recounted her life before her kidnapping, the restrictions and isolation imposed upon her by her brother’s world.
“All my life, I lived in my brother’s shadow. Because of what he did for a living, he said he needed to always keep me close, because his enemies would use me against him,” Camilla said.
She recounted how her life had been before her kidnapping.
“I needed one of his men to accompany me even to the grocery store,” Camilla added with a bitter laugh. “You can imagine, I didn’t have many friends. I felt like a prisoner. The day before I was taken, my brother and I had a terrible fight. He wanted to marry me off to one of his allies, and I refused,” Camilla said. “The next morning, I felt suffocated, like I couldn’t breathe, so I went for a run.”
Shadow could feel her pain as she recounted the events.
“And the Reapers knew who you were. That’s why they kept you in a separate room,” he said, understanding dawning on him.
“Not at first, but one of them eventually figured it out,” Camilla admitted. “They said they had grand plans for me.”
She shivered involuntarily. Shadow pulled her close into a protective embrace. Leaning in, he pressed his mouth over hers. Camilla clutched his shirt and responded, the kiss hungry and tasted a little of desperation.
It dawned on Shadow that he didn’t want to lose her and he didn’t care who her brother was. It seemed Camilla felt the same way about him.
Shadow shrugged off his jacket while Camilla took off her shirt, then her underwear and pants. She kicked off her shoes then knelt before him. Shadow sucked in a breath, admiring how gorgeous his woman was.
Camilla belonged here, in his world and with him, he realized. She wasn’t going anywhere. The sight of her, vulnerable and exposed, was enough to make his dick rock hard.
She closed her small fingers over his shaft and he threaded his fingers into her hair, bringing her lips closer. She licked, sucked, and explored every veined inch of him, taking her sweet time.
Shadow tightened his grip on her hair as she paid attention to his balls as well, taking them in her sweet mouth and sucking.
He groaned as she finally took his length down her throat and didn’t even gag once. Damn, but this woman was a keeper. She kept at it, bobbing her head up and down until his balls tightened against his body.
“I’m close,” he told her.
She didn’t pull away at that revelation. In fact, she took all of his seed and didn’t spill a single drop.
“Baby, you’re a keeper,” he told her.
Smiling, Camilla crawled into his bed. He joined her, straddling her. He kissed her again, this time not holding back.
Camilla sunk her fingers into his hair as he worshipped her body. Shadow kissed her cheek, the side of her neck, the hollow of her collarbones.
He took his time, sucking on her breasts, leaving his teeth marks on them. Camilla cried out beneath him and he slid two fingers inside her pussy just to feel how wet she was.
She was more than ready for him but he wasn’t done with her. He nipped and bit his way down to the crevice of her legs. Shadow paid particular attention to her clit, circling his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves until she cried out above him.
He pushed two, three fingers into her cunt, feeling her muscles convulse around him. When Camilla came, he licked her clean like a cat with cream. Shadow lifted himself up, still licking away the remnants of her sweetness on his tongue. Camilla gazed up at him, expression soft and unfocused.
“You’re hard again,” she murmured, reaching out to stoke his shaft. “Fuck me.”
“My fucking pleasure,” Shadow said.
He slid inside her, not stopping until he was balls-deep in her. Going slow this time wasn’t what either of them wanted.
Shadow fucked her like he owned her and she matched him for every thrust. At his last push, Camilla arched her back and the whimper that followed made him smile.
He aimed for her G-spot repeatedly, until she came all over his cock. Shadow hammered her a few more times, before filling her with his jizz. He collapsed next to her, pulling her close to him. Camilla huddled close to him, burying her face into his chest.
“Hanging Grove is my home now. You’re my home, Shadow,” she confessed in a hushed tone. “I love you so much.”
Shadow held her tighter, his own possessive emotions burning within him.
“I love you too, and I’ve made up my mind. I’m not letting you go, not without a fight,” he said.
Camilla seemed hesitant and she bit on her lower lip. “But … going against my brother’s wishes might mean involving your MC. Rooster and the others, they’re good men,” she pointed out.
Shadow brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. Leaning in, he pressed a soft kiss to her lips before responding. “Camilla, my MC brothers are grown men. They can decide if they want to stand by me or not. Besides, knowing them, they’re always looking for a good fight.”
Camilla was silent for a few moments. Then, a certain look appeared in her eyes that Shadow didn’t like.
“Let me talk to Fernando in person at least. Just the two of us. I’ll make him understand that my place is here with you,” she finally said.
Shadow didn’t like the idea. From what little Camilla had told him about her brother, it sounded like he was a control freak, and who knew what lies Jake had fed him about them?
Camilla must have sensed his skepticism because she touched his arm.
“I know I painted my brother as unreasonable and demanding, but I know there’s some good left in him. I’ll convince him that I won’t be a liability to him because I’ll be safe here with you,” she said.
Shadow couldn’t shake off the unease that settled in his gut. The thought of Camilla facing her brother alone, especially after everything they had just gone through, made him anxious. His first thought was to outright refuse, to convince her this was a crazy idea. Camilla wasn’t thinking straight if she really thought this would work.
Then he remembered that she lived most of her life with someone constantly hovering over her shoulder and telling her what she could and couldn’t do. If Shadow told her no, that he’d handle this on his own, he’d be no better than her brother.
Camilla decided to stay in Hanging Grove in the first place, because she wanted to experience the freedom to make her own choices for the first time in the life. He wasn’t going to deny her this, even it meant risking her life.
“Are you sure about this?” Shadow asked. “I don’t like the idea of you meeting him alone.”
Camilla grasped his hand. “I understand your worries, but I need to do this,” she insisted. “Fernando is my brother, and I owe him this much. I’ll make him see reason, I promise.”
Reluctantly, he nodded. “All right,” he said. “But I can’t just let you waltz in there. We need a secondary plan, in case things go south.”
****
Shadow watched the rhythmic rise and fall of Camilla’s chest as she slept peacefully. After their conversation, she had drifted off. He was just about to follow suit when an urgent knock jolted him awake.
“Coming,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb Camilla.
Gently untangling himself from her, he quietly slipped out of bed. After putting his jeans and shirt on, he opened the door to find Rooster standing there, his expression troubled.
Shadow closed the door behind him. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Trouble?”
“Breaker wants to see you in his office. He didn’t seem happy,” Rooster responded. “Shadow, did you do something to anger him?”
“It’s probably about Camilla,” Shadow replied, his mind racing with possibilities.
Rooster’s confusion was evident. “Camilla?” he questioned. “What about her?”
Shadow placed a comforting hand on Rooster’s shoulder. Though he trusted him, he wasn’t ready to involve him in this mess if it wasn’t necessary.
“I’ll explain later,” Shadow assured him.
After taking a deep breath, he made his way to Breaker’s office. Standing in front of the boss’s door, he took a deep breath before knocking.
