Twisted Chapter 9

I was torn from a hot dream about me and Zahirah. It took a few moments for me to recognize what had ruined it. When I did, I reached over and grabbed my phone. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it was Wire. The time showed it was two in the morning. I punched the call button.

"What?" I asked as I jumped out of bed. I put him on speaker so I could start to put on my clothes. I knew he wouldn't be calling unless it was important.

"We've got movement at Zahirah's, and I can't raise Rune. I can't see faces, but there are five people."

"Fuck! I'm on my way. They'd better stay the hell outside," I growled as I put on my shirt.

"I just sent an alert to get the others moving. Do you think I should call the cops?"

"Nope. You heard what Laramie told Agony. The brass is too scared of Jenner to risk offending him. Thanks. I gotta call her."

"Do it," he said before hanging up.

I fumbled to get her number. The longer it rang, the more scared I got. I was about to toss my phone when she answered. "Zari, are you and the kids safe? Wire said there are people outside your house."

"We're okay so far. There are people out there. I can hear them. They're yelling and throwing stuff at the house. Is Rune okay?"

Leave it to her to be more worried about the prospect than themselves. God, the more I learned about her, the more I fell for her. "Babe, don't worry about him. We're coming. Stay in the house. Get yourself and the kids in the bathroom and lock the door."

"Be careful. I don't know if they have weapons."

"We will."

It killed me to hang up, but I needed to get gone. I was outside, headed for my bike, as I hung up. It had to be my fastest dressing time ever. Luckily, I had parked my bike at the house rather than the clubhouse last night. It would be faster than the truck. As I got near the gate, I heard more engines. I didn't hang around, though, to see who was coming. I tore out of the compound and leaned over my handlebars. I kept it just this side of recklessness. At this time of night, there wasn't any traffic to worry about.

When I came screaming onto her street, I saw the lights were on outside. Wire had set them up to come on automatically if movement was detected. Dark figures were moving in her yard, and the rest of the street was dark. There was no way in hell all these people were sleeping through this. They were hiding in the dark, watching like the cowards they were. The sooner I got Zahirah and the kids out of this neighborhood and behind the fence at the compound, the better. Even the short period of knowing them was enough to know I wanted all three in my life permanently.

I skidded to a stop. As I did, I heard the roar of the bikes—it sounded like three of them. I'd been so intent on getting to the house that I hadn't noticed who was behind me. I heard shouts, and then the figures took off running. I was torn between chasing them and going inside to check on Zari and the kids.

"Check on your woman. We'll chase these bastards," Pyro shouted.

Giving him a wave, I took off for the door. When I got there, I realized I had no key. Shit! I jerked my phone out of my pocket and called her. She answered it much faster this time, thank God.

"I'm here. Come unlock the front door for me."

"I'll be right there," she said. I swore I heard relief in her voice. I fidgeted as I waited.

When she swung the door open, I stepped toward her with my arms open at the same time she launched herself at me. I hugged her tight as I backed her inside and slammed the door shut. She was shaking. I saw the kids were behind her, and they were scared. I gestured with my hands. They crowded in, and I held them close, too. I don't know how long we stood that way before I was able to let them go, except I wasn't done. I cupped her face and kissed her.

We'd been sharing kisses, but we hadn't let the kids see us other than the one to chase off Faheem. We'd been cautious about it. They knew we talked. I came over, and we had gone out on a few more dates, but we'd been careful about PDA. Not anymore. I wanted the world and them to know she was mine, and I'd do anything I had to in order to keep her and the kids safe.

Reluctantly, I let them go and moved them to the living room as soon as I removed my boots. The kids sat on the couch. I sat in a chair and eased her down to sit on my lap. I hoped it wasn't too much, but I couldn't let go of her yet. She didn't try to get up, so I took it to mean she was okay with it. Aliya and Arif were watching us, and I saw that they had smiles on their faces.

"Are you all alright?"

"Yes, just shaken. Who were they?" Zahirah asked.

"I don't know. I came to check on you and let my brothers chase after them."

"What about Rune? Is he okay?" Aliya asked.

"Hell, I forgot all about him. Let me see if anyone has found him or caught those guys," I muttered while taking out my phone. At this rate, I needed the thing surgically grafted to my hand. I opened a group message and sent out my text.

Me: Anyone have eyes on Rune? What about those bastards who ran?

I knew it might take a minute or so for someone to answer me, so I asked my family my next question. It was wild to think of them like that, but it felt right. "What alerted you first?"

"I heard the shouting, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the outside lights were on. When they kept it up, I knew something had happened to Rune, so I woke up the kids," Zahirah told me.

My phone chimed one alert right after the other before I could ask my next thing. I read the messages.

Nitro: I found Rune. He was knocked out and tied up. He's got a sore head and is pissed off, but I think he's fine. Will have Bones check him out at the clubhouse.

Pyro: The little fuckers got away. Had a car and driver waiting just down the way.

Hulk: We're checking the area to be sure we didn't miss anyone. How's your woman and kids?

Me: Thanks for doing all that. They're shaken but fine. Get Rune checked out. When done searching, come inside.

I received their acknowledgments consecutively, but I didn't bother to respond or read them. I turned Zahirah more on my lap to make sure she could see my face. I wanted her to see how upset I was.

"Zari, why didn't you call me as soon as you knew what was happening? I had to find out from Wire and then call you. I almost lost it when you weren't answering."

She put her hand on my cheek. "I'm sorry. I was so scattered I didn't think. All I was trying to do was make sure Arif and Aliya were safe. When you called, I'd left my phone in my bedroom. I didn't mean to forget you, Brody."

As she said my name and realized she'd done it, she slapped her hand over her mouth and gave me an apologetic look. I took her hand away.

"Love, it's alright. With the kids, it's okay. But you guys have to know, you can't call me Brody in public or around people, not even my club. It's a respect thing, alright?" I informed them soberly.

"We won't. We promise," Arif chimed in right away. Aliya nodded her head yes. Arif knew more about the MC stuff than his aunt or sister, although I would have to teach him what make-believe versus real was.

"Good. I get it, but I can't have you here and me at my house and have stuff like this happen. My heart can't take it."

"I don't know what we can do about that. I promise to remember to call you next time."

"There's not gonna be a next time."

"How do you know there won't?" she asked.

A sharp knock at the door cut me off from telling her how. They all jumped. "That'll be my brothers. Arif, would you answer it? Be sure always to check, though. It's a good habit to get into."

He nodded as he jumped up and hurried out of the room. In no time, we heard the loud voices of my brothers. They weren't subtle. Or at least not when there wasn't reason to be so, unlike when they were sneaking up on an enemy. Zahirah tried to get up, but I held her fast.

"There's no need to move. My brothers know how I feel about you unless you're embarrassed to be seen on my lap." I sure hoped not.

"I'm not embarrassed to ever be with you. I wasn't sure if you wanted them to see you like this. It might ruin your bad biker image," she grinned.

"Babe, I'm a bad biker no matter what, and they know how we guys are with our women."

"Oh, so I'm your woman, am I?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Yes. And we'll talk about that more when we're alone. It's time we got some things straight."

She gave me a puzzled look but didn't move or argue, which was good because my brothers trampled in the room. Arif rushed into the nearby kitchen and grabbed a dining chair. The guys all followed, grabbed more, and brought them to sit in the living room. When everyone was seated, I launched into things.

First, I eyed Rune. He was sitting there with a hand to his head, appearing shame-faced. "What're you doing here? I thought Nitro was taking you back so Bones could check you out. You might have a concussion."

"I refused until I spoke to you. I'm sorry, Twisted. I don't know how they got the drop on me, but it won't happen again."

"It happens. There were five of them and one of you. You might have been able to alert us to their presence, but we don't expect you to be able to take on all of them. They had to have been watching to know you were here. You guys on watch have been staying out of sight. Go get yourself cleared."

"Thanks, I will, but go ahead and let's finish up here. I've had a concussion before, so I know what to look for. I'm feeling fine."

I could order him to leave, and as a patched member, he'd have to obey or risk being kicked out, but I knew he was smarting already, so I didn't. Next, I addressed Pyro.

"Did you notice anything with the car? Color, make, license plate?"

"It was too dark for color, but it was a dark sedan, and I saw part of the license number. I sent it off to Wire already. It was a North Carolina plate. It'll take some digging, but at least we're not totally clueless. He'll start with the known culprits first."

"Good. Even though we know it can only be them, I want proof. I want to know who the other two with them were. If they're recruiting, it's not good." I said it so that when I got to one of the things I needed to talk to Zahirah about, she'd understand better why.

"Hulk, did you guys find anything else when you searched? I know you didn't find anyone, or you'd be smiling." Our enforcer sure loved to make the bad guys pay. It made him a good man for the job, not that the rest of us couldn't or wouldn't do it.

He frowned as he nodded. "I did. It seems they were tearing up things, but that's not all. They were trying to get inside. There are signs they were trying to pick the lock on the back door. There are scratch marks, and they're fresh. I'm not sure why they didn't just bust out a window. It's not safe having these three this far away from us."

As Hulk talked, I felt Zahirah growing increasingly tense on my lap. The kids moved closer together. I hated frightening them, but they had to know this was a distinct possibility. The behaviors were escalating. They'd laid low for a bit but were back with a vengeance, and we already knew the cops wouldn't help—other than Laramie.

"We're gonna talk about it. First, though, we need to get them settled. You two have school in a few hours. I want you to try to get some more sleep. I'll be in the house, and I know I can get others to stay outside. You'll be safe."

"Twisted is right. You do need sleep, or you'll be worthless at school. I want you to get up to bed. I'll be up in a few minutes," Zahirah backed me.

They groaned and tried to say they wanted to stay home, but she wasn't having any of that, as if they expected anything less. I didn't see her letting them miss school unless they were ill or it was an emergency. They dragged their feet, but they went only after saying goodnight to us and thank you. Once they were safely upstairs, she turned her eyes back to me.

"Tell me what you want to discuss. I'm not going to like it, am I?"

"That's our cue to leave. Me and one of the others will be outside if you need us. Good luck," Hulk said as he got to his feet. The others chimed in as they put back the chairs and headed for the door. Zahirah got up so we could follow them. She thanked all of them for their help. I gave them man hugs and closed and locked the door. When I turned to her, she gave me a stern look.

"They sure got out of here in a hurry. They must think we're going to fight. Are we?"

"It depends. I hope not. Can we do this where we're comfortable, and the kids aren't likely to overhear us?"

She glanced around us, nibbled on her lip, and then nodded. "Come with me."

I took her outstretched hand. She led me upstairs. I hadn't seen the whole house, so I wasn't aware they had another family space, or were we going to her office? I knew she worked from home. As she led me through an open door, I realized two things. There was no extra family space, and I was in her bedroom. I gulped. I knew we were here for something serious, but being in her bedroom had my thoughts moving to other things. Stop it!

She moved behind me to close the door. She was giving me a shy look. "I don't know of anywhere else we can talk, and the kids can't easily listen. Here, let me fix this so you can have a seat." She hurried to the bed and started to straighten the covers. Lucky for me, she was dressed in regular clothes, not night clothes. If she had been, I'd have been covering her up downstairs and hard-pressed not to want to undress her now.

I followed her and grabbed her hands. "You don't need to do that. I can stand or, if you want, sit at the end. I don't care if the covers aren't straight."

"Okay," she said softly. I let go and sat on the end of it. She came to sit beside me, which made me happy.

"I'm worried, Zari. What would've happened if they made it inside before we got here? Those boys have proven they aren't afraid to assault someone. I don't mean to scare you, but how would you defend yourself or the kids? And I doubt this will scare them for long. You all need to be safe. I want you to come and stay with me at the compound. I have a house, and there's plenty of room for all of you. I'm not gonna be able to sleep if I have to worry about the three of you."

"Brody, first let me say I get where you're coming from, and it was scary. However, I wasn't unprepared to defend us, and neither were the kids."

"What do you mean by that?" As far as I knew, she didn't own a gun or even know how to shoot. She alluded to this during one of our conversations the night she told me her brother and father used to call her Zari, and she asked me to call her that, too.

"I mean, this isn't the first time in my life I've had to think about self-defense. Of course, the kids aren't allowed to bring them to school, but we had them at hand tonight." After saying this, which mystified me, she reached under her shirt. When her hand came back out, she was holding a knife, but it wasn't like any I'd ever seen before. It was more ornate. She handed it to me. I took it and then went to touch the end and the cutting edge.

"Careful, it's very sharp," she warned.

Heeding her, I barely touched it. Immediately, I knew she wasn't kidding. I turned it over. The whole thing, including the hilt, wasn't more than ten inches long. The blade was about half the length, with a deep curve on one side and double-edged. There was Arabic writing on it. In addition, colored stones were embedded in the hilt. I didn't know if they were real gems or not. The metal gleamed.

"What kind of knife is this? And have you ever had to use it?" I really wanted to know the answer to the last part. The thought of her having to defend herself or others by stabbing someone angered me.

"It's called a Shibriya. It's a traditional Bedouin nomadic knife. It was given to me by my ab . Arif and Aliya each have one gifted to them from Ab's collection by Zafir. In my country, owning firearms is heavily regulated. Knives you can easily carry and not raise as much suspicion unless you're a visitor, then they're prohibited. Ours have been in our family for generations. I was taught how to use one, although I haven't had to do it yet. If it was to defend myself or someone else from harm or rape, then I have no doubt I can stab someone." There was a fierceness to her remark, which made me believe she could. I handed it back to her. She laid it on the bed.

"I don't want you ever to have to do it. It's not as easy as you think to harm someone else, even if they deserve the response. That knife is deadly-looking. Are those real gems? Because if they are, they must be worth a lot. You'd better not let others see it."

"They are, and we don't leave them lying about. Now, let's move on to wanting us to stay with you. While I appreciate the offer, it's too much. You have no idea what it will be like to have your home invaded by two teens and me. Surely, we can come up with something else without inconveniencing you and getting your club hurt. Rune shouldn't have been harmed, and it's our fault he was."

I drew her closer. "Rune wasn't seriously injured, and it was my fault for thinking only one prospect would dissuade them. I won't leave you here unguarded. The alarm system alerts you and us but won't keep them out. They were trying to get inside to do God knows what. You either come to stay with me, or I'll have to move in with you." I wasn't backing down. I was all for her independence, but this wasn't about that.

"Surely you don't want us in your space or you to be stuck here," she protested.

"I wouldn't be stuck or feel my space is taken over. If I thought I could persuade you to move in with me permanently right this minute, I'd have the guys packing in the morning. I know it's only been a short while since we met, and it wasn't ideal. We've only begun to date, but I know what I want. It's you, those kids, and a life together."

Her face registered her shock. Maybe in my effort to not rush her, I hadn't shown her what she already meant to me. How much I desired her in all ways. Sure, we'd shared some kisses, and they'd been great, but there was so much more I wanted to show her. She responded so damn readily to me, but I had no idea what her actual sexual experience was. For all I knew, she might be a virgin, which was uncharted territory for me. I'd avoided virgins like the plague. Although, in her case, if she were, I'd be happy about it. There was no time like the present to show her how much I meant my words.

Wrapping my arms around her, I tugged her against me and then sealed my mouth to hers. She eagerly and immediately kissed me back. I didn't wait long to push for entrance with my tongue, which she granted. As our tongues twisted around each other, our hands were running up and down each other's upper bodies. God, I grew hard within a minute.

I wanted more leverage and to feel more of her, so I eased her back onto the bed and brought my body around to lie between her spread legs. I held back from pressing my erection into the heavenly spot between her thighs, but it was hard not to. She whimpered and then gripped the back of my hair. The slight bite made me groan. We kissed for another minute or more. Damn, I didn't want to rush her into anything, especially sex, but the way she was responding was pushing me to break. I needed to stop. As I tried to draw away, she clutched me tighter to her.

I tentatively moved a hand down between us. I cupped one of her breasts to see what she'd do. It might snap her out of it. I only prayed it wouldn't make her mad or afraid. I was pleased when she pressed it deeper into my hand. I felt she had on a bra, but I was able to feel her tight nipple through it. I rubbed my thumb back and forth over the hard nub. She moaned. Encouraged by her response, I kept it going along with our kissing.

I lost track of time. Zari shook me from the haze she had me in when her hands came down on my ass cheeks, and she pressed my pelvis down and up, which caused it to push into her core. The way she cried out made me almost break and strip her bare. I tore my mouth away from hers, although it was the last thing I wanted to do. We had to get back into control and onto the topic at hand.

"Baby, Jesus, you feel so damn good, but we've got to stop. I want you too much to keep this up. Please, we need to quit before I do something you'll regret. If that happens, I'll not only regret it but have to kick my ass for doing it. I can't lose you," I whispered hoarsely. The heat coming off her pussy through the fabric of our pants was so fucking tempting. She stared up at me with passion-filled eyes. When she opened her mouth, her words struck me like a hammer.