Captive Ride(17)

I’m not much for tattoos but I’ll admit that Flint’s ink is sexy as hell.

“See this?” he asks.

When the male on the floor doesn’t respond, Flint nudges him again with his foot. Hard.

The male grunts and nods. Flint spins me around and taps my back. “And this? It says ‘Property of’. You got that?”

I swivel around to see the guy give another nod.

“Good. You may not have heard of the Death Lords, but I took three of you down without getting a scratch. Tonight, a few of my friends are coming and taking care of you.” The male blanches and Flint gives him an ugly smile. “One of you will get to go back to your crew but here’s the thing. You even breathe in Amy’s direction and we’re salting the city with your blood.” The careless way Flint says this belies his seriousness. I suck in a breath. “My guess is you thought my Amy here was weak and alone but this patch says she belongs to the Death Lords. When she’s in her office, when she’s at the courthouse, when she’s home, we’re always watching. She’s under our umbrella and if she so much as stubs her toe, I’m blaming you.”

It’s wrong. I know it’s wrong, but all of the things that Flint says fills me with a curious elation. He’s threatening this thug but he’s also claiming me in a way I’ve never been claimed. My parents had been disinterested in my existence. The only person I’d ever really connected to went to prison for ten years for a crime he didn’t commit and when he came out, he was a totally different person.

“Come on Amy,” Flint says and cups my elbow.

He leads me outside into the dark night and I go all too willingly. Climbing on to the back of the dark black motorcycle is about the riskiest thing I’ve done to date.

I clutch him tight for the forty-five minutes it takes to get to Fortune. In the chill of the night, I lay my cheek between his shoulder blades and soak in the warmth of Flint’s big frame. My body is sore and aching. Even now I can still feel his huge shaft dragging along my sensitive tissues.

Even though I’m not bound, I feel like I’m under Flint’s control and command. In my house, he had moved me around as if I weighed nothing and then he’d taken me. And taken me. And taken me again.

He slows and then turns into a wooded lane.

“What is this place?” I ask. It’s hard to see because it’s dark but I make out the outline of towering evergreens.

“It’s home,” he says simply.

“I thought you lived at the club.”

He brings the bike to a halt and kicks the stand down. He swings a leg over the seat and then pulls me off. Somehow he knows that the bike ride did me in and just carries me toward the house. A few lights pop on almost immediately as we near.

“I used to but there are times all that togetherness can get to me and that’s when I hit the road. I bought this place a few years ago.”

“How many?” I hold my breath.

“About three.” He places a hand against the door and I hear the bolt unlock.

“Fancy for a cabin.”

“We got a new guy in the club. He’s a tech wizard. I like the convenience of it. The motion sensors, the hand print access. It’d be good if we installed that shit on your house.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t done it already.” And then I realize what’s going on. “Tell me you didn’t bring me all to Fortune so you could install new security in my place.”

Flint drops me onto the sofa. “If your house had been made of gingerbread instead of wood and plaster, it wouldn’t have been much easier to get into.”

“I had locks,” I say affronted. “Not everyone needs biometric hand scans and eye sensors.”

“Sure not everyone does, but not everyone defends criminals and thugs.”

“Alleged, Flint. They are alleged criminals and thugs.”

Flint rubs his hands briskly on the outside of my legs. “Doesn’t matter if they did it. Someone believed they were in the wrong or they wouldn’t be coming to you for help, yes?”

“That’s fair.”

“Which means there are people that are going to be angry with you no matter what the outcome is. No matter if your client is innocent or guilty. If the guy goes away for three years, someone is going to be mad he’s serving time at all. Other folks are going to be pissed off that he only did three years and someone is going to make their anger known to you in a real way. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet.”

He cups my face. “After all this time you’ve spent around the Death Lords, you should know that once we decide on something, it’s done. No wavering. No second guessing. No going backward. And once you have our loyalty, it’s yours forever.”