Chapter 6 Gunner

Imoved to Molly as soon as Slash stepped in front of her, reaching down to tug her into my body. I needed to protect her from the threat that slowly began to shuffle toward us. There wasn’t a thought in my head except to keep her safe and unharmed, bracing myself for whatever fight lay ahead.

Angel Mackenzie slipped out the door, the fucking coward, leaving us to clean up the mess. And it was about to get a hell of a lot messier. Havoc spun the pistols in his hands like a gunslinger ready for an old-fashioned showdown, pointing the barrels at our enemy. The second we walked in here and found what this club was doing, they became our foes. Not a single one was leaving this room alive.

One of the boldest of the Bladed Serpents stepped in our direction. “Ratchet will hear about this.”

The crowd went eerily quiet. Like at the mention of Ratchet’s name, they didn’t speak out of reverence. The vicious president of the BSMC didn’t rattle us, even if he did intimidate his club. That scare tactic bullshit only worked on the weak-minded cowards that joined under Ratchet’s leadership. And the motherfucker was selling women.

Fuck Ratchet and fuck the Bladed Serpents.

People weren’t property, and women weren’t created to be fuck toys, used, abused, and tormented because they had a pussy. Men who believed that shit deserved the same vile treatment before they were strung up, eviscerated, and left for the buzzards to peck at.

This shit pissed me off. I fucking hated men who hurt women and forced them into sex. The rage swelled inside me, filling my lungs and expanding into every cell. I knew firsthand how such crimes broke the victims. I wouldn’t allow it to happen to anyone else if I could stop it.

Annoyed, I wondered why Ratchet wasn’t here. Why the fuck did that piece of shit skip the auction? He knew what would happen, which meant he had a partnership with Angel Mackenzie. What business kept him away, and what did that mean for Molly and the other women they’d taken? Was this a whole fucking trafficking ring or just bullshit with the Bladed Serpents and extra cash for Angel?

Those other girls were still in danger. The club would protect them, but I didn’t have a clue where to begin looking for them. Maybe a few would go to the police. Someone had to give a shit about what happened here.

A small, dainty hand with slender fingers rested on my arm. The warmth of Molly’s touch seemed to sink into the cold marrow of my bones, and the rigid fury lost its death grip on my body.

“Thank you.” Her gaze swept over my cut. “Gunner.”

Molly didn’t even know my fucking name before now. She knew nothing about me or my past but trusted me because of Slash. Her gratitude for us showing up and saving her from Angel and BSMC uncoiled something tight and bound in my gut, opening me up to feel emotion I’d buried with my wife and daughter’s death.

“You’re welcome,” I grunted.

Her fingers curled around my bicep as she pressed close to me, and I felt her tremble. My hand closed over hers. She didn’t pull away from me or flinch at my touch.

I knew immediately why Slash had fallen for this sweet, fiery, beautiful young woman. She dared to stand on that stage and conquer her fear, remaining strong when others would have broken. Her defiance and bravery struck me like an arrow to the heart.

My gaze swung over her from the top of her head and those dark red waves of silky hair down her full, curvy figure and to the tip of her black, heeled boots. She was a vision—a wild thing every man in this room wanted to tame.

Fuck. I instantly wanted her and then felt guilt for my arousal when I remembered the other women who fled this room from men who wouldn’t control their sexual appetites.

I never forced myself on a woman and never would.

Distracted, I didn’t see the bottle of beer careening toward my head until it hit me above my left temple, knocking me off balance. Glass shattered as it broke. Warm beer flooded my vision and sprayed Molly.

Angel’s departure emboldened the Bladed Serpents. Maybe they were restrained until now, only given the freedom to engage us once Angel was safely removed. It didn’t matter.

With a roar, I shoved Molly behind me as I swayed and righted myself, regaining my balance. I swiped the beer from my eyes and focused on the room, hearing Molly’s scream. I turned my head in time to catch the big motherfucker who’d kept her in his sights since she left the stage to pick up Molly.

She thrashed in his arms, kicking her feet and pummeling him with her fists. It didn’t faze him.

His lips curled into a grin. “Keep fightin’.”

She screeched as he continued dragging her toward the doors.

Slash made a run for her when several Serpents tackled him, shoving his big body to the ground, kicking him, raining down punches, and doing their damnedest to keep him subdued. I never considered offering my help because he didn’t need it.

They didn’t know the beast inside him like I did.

Havoc tilted his head back and howled, snapping his chin forward as he rushed into the fray. With a wicked grin, he sprayed bullets from his double barrels. There was a reason we called him Havoc.

I swung my fist and heard it crack the jaw of the guy closest to me before he lost his footing and slammed into another. They both went down hard. I lifted my boot and kicked at the Serpent rushing me, sending him skittering across a tabletop. His back slammed into the nearest wall as he slithered off, and he grunted, sliding down with a groan.

And then the beast unleashed.

A roar shook the beer bottles and crystal chandeliers above our heads, the noise bellowing from a man who reached his limit.

For a few heartbeats, everyone stilled and fell silent. Even the big fucker hauling Molly from the room paused.

Slash shot to his feet. The guys around him stepped back. They didn’t have a hope or a fucking prayer. I’d seen that crazed look in his eyes multiple times. The devil didn’t have shit on Slash when he was pissed.

I saw my brother reach for the nearest man’s cut and pick him up, flinging him into the others as his body crashed like a bowling ball into a row of pins. They all scattered as he shoved through, cutting a path toward Molly as he stepped over their tangled limbs. On the way, Slash scooped up a beer bottle and hurled it toward the big fucker holding his woman.

The bottle hit its mark, dinging as it hit the Serpents member in the center of his forehead, rebounding off his hard dome before it cracked another Serpent in the face.

The damn bottle never broke, but the big guy shook his head, blinking before his knees gave out. Slash reached him as he went down, lifting his boot to kick him in the face. Lights out, motherfucker. A couple of kicks to the ribs followed as the big one groaned.

Someone shouted his name. Scourge. I’d fucking remember that.

Molly rushed to Slash’s side, curling her body around Slash as he lifted her against him, palming his gun and aiming at anyone who tried to cut them off. Despite needing to end every motherfucker in this room, I knew we needed to get her out before she got hurt. It was too chaotic and unpredictable now. Too many unknown variables. If it was only the three of us, we’d stay and finish it.

The enforcer in me gnashed his teeth against the idea of leaving these motherfuckers alive. There was a time when no one and nothing would have held me back but life, experience, mistakes, and too many fucking failures had taught me better. Sometimes, you had to cut your losses, gain strength, and return at a later time. There was no shame in it.

It had been a decade since I wore the enforcer patch, and I didn’t regret stepping down from the position. Back then, it was the right choice. Hell, it still was now.

I didn’t allow my thoughts to linger on the reasons why I had to step back and leave an officer position. It would hurt too fucking much to open that door and allow the pain of the past to take over. Those dark thoughts had a way of consuming me.

Havoc joined us at the door as we backed toward it. Slash kept his arm around Molly’s waist while she clutched his body to hers. With the double doors wide open, I heard the commotion down the hall and out where the dance floor and bar had been crowded an hour ago. People were scrambling for the exit, pushing and shoving to get outdoors and away from the steady spray of gunfire.

Injured bikers moved through the crowd, clinging to their weapons.

The stampede hindered our exit, and we had to take cover, ducking into one of the bedrooms behind the row of black doors. That was when we saw the room we entered had a window. Flashing lights alerted us to the police presence outside.

“We need to get the fuck out of here,” Havoc announced.

“Smash it,” I ordered.

Havoc didn’t hesitate, holstering his guns and reaching for a chair. After a couple of hard whacks against the solid planes and a giant crack, the window finally shattered. He popped the screen out and grabbed the blanket off the bed, throwing it over the sharp glass littering the sill.

Havoc vaulted out of the room, landing on the ground on the other side. Slash lifted Molly over the edge as Havoc reached for her. She held onto his arms and leaped out. Slash jumped through next, and I followed.

Havoc glanced around us, rushing toward his bike. I didn’t notice any remaining threats. This side of the building was hidden from the moon and wreathed in shadow.

Slash brought Molly to his bike. He didn’t have to order her to stay calm and drop her ass onto the leather. She did it on her own. When her arms wrapped around his stomach and she squeezed his torso, I knew we had to risk bringing attention our way when we started the engines.

We needed to get the fuck out of here and on the road. I wouldn’t feel better until we put some distance between us and the BSMC. It wouldn’t take long for Bladed Serpents to figure out where we went and give chase.

THE ENGINE THROBBEDand growled beneath us. Every piston smoothly pumped. Each gear meshed and moved without grinding. I felt in sync with the massive machine and its rider as we roared off into the night. A synergy I never felt with anyone other than my siblings and Embry.

With my arms wrapped around the big biker in front of me, it felt a bit like hugging a mountain. Slash’s shoulders stretched the back of his leather vest to its limits. A solid, immovable wall of muscle, a fortress, like you could crack him across the back with a two-by-four, and he wouldn’t notice. I doubt it would faze him. Stiff, unyielding, powerful, and with a strength that seemed superhuman, he was the definition of wild fury as we raced away from danger.

Slash had the toughest, most ferocious, intimidating presence of any man I ever met. Even more so than those bikers from the Bladed Serpents, Angel Mackenzie, or my stepdad. Maybe it was because I knew he wasn’t cruel or vile as those men had been. There was a goodness in him I’d seen every time we spoke. An awareness of the bad shit in this world, and he didn’t want to add to it.

The contrast fascinated me. A biker who protected his club and family to the point of violence but left it as a last resort. Men like him were rare. I knew that too well.

“You okay?” he asked when we pulled into a dark alley and paused, shutting off the engine as he walked his bike backward, stashing us away as we waited for the Bladed Serpents to give up the chase.

Was I okay? It felt surreal. Everything from the moment I walked into my house, and Fred hung from the arms of those Bladed Serpents MC members until I ended up on this bike.

Havoc and Gunner weren’t with us. They rode past the alley, and I wondered if they were trying to lead the Bladed Serpents away from our trail.

I heard multiple bike engines and more than two riders.

“I didn’t want to risk you getting hurt,” Slash added, like he felt guilty for what went down. None of the blame belonged to Slash or his two MC brothers. “I’m gettin’ you outta here and safe as soon as I can.”

His voice was a low, throaty rasp, knocking together giant boulders as they collided in the darkness, grinding into gunpowder and grit until they knocked against my ribcage and threw sparks. Those sparks crackled inside my belly and ignited a low, slow burn that sent shimmering heat waves straight to my core. I had to stop my hips from rocking against his ass.

This. Man. He made me want reckless, wicked things.

“You don’t have to explain. I understand, Slash.”

He grunted. “Gunner and Havoc are trying to lead them away from us.”

“I figured.”

Every inch of him was hard in ways I didn’t consider until now. Thickly veined, tanned forearms covered in dark ink. That broad back that shielded me against the world. Even his ass as I pressed against his jean-clad bottom and clenched his hips with my thighs.

“We’re gonna be a minute, sweet girl.”

Sweet girl.The endearment rolled off his tongue like thick honey and coated me in a heap of sticky goodness—a whole lotta sugar and a little sting as he reached for my thigh and squeezed. Just enough sensuality to ensure I knew this wasn’t friendship. Slash wanted me, and he didn’t hide it. Good.

I knew if he turned and chanced a glance in my direction, I would see his dark brows and black beard, the long slope of his nose, and those obsidian eyes that burned deep into my soul. I saw the savage hunger inside when he first arrived at the club and entered the room with the auction. He’d stared at my body with raw need. I wanted him to act on the fantasies he’d conjured in his head.

Just because I was young didn’t mean I wasn’t sure about what I wanted or who I wanted to be with. Since I saw Slash in Embry’s kitchen, I had been struggling with the arousal he awakened in me.

I almost leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

A motorcycle rumbled to a stop at the end of the alley. It wasn’t Havoc or Gunner.

Shit.