“Harmony, that’s all. This transition has been bumpy for you and me, so I brought you a little peace offering. Some new property for you, all yours to test-drive, she’s untouched.”
At that moment, it’s as if Bane notices me for the first time. His eyes snap onto me, sweep over my mostly naked body and bore into my horrified eyes with the precision and speed of a professional. Though the inspection only lasts a millisecond, I feel certain he hasn’t missed a single scrap of a detail about me: my new black eye, the uncontrollable shaking head to toe, and my sister’s borrowed pearl necklace that I am somehow still wearing.
“Oh, no.” Bane jerks upright in bed, his laughter taking on an edge. He lights himself a cigarette. “No, no, no. No you don’t. What are you, fucking trolling college campuses now? Fuck, man! Did you just pluck her out of Whole Foods? She’s a fucking yuppie WASP and someone’s definitely gonna look for her. This is stupid.”
“This is our business.”
“No. D.L. is our business. I’ll fight the matches. That’s it. This is my line, Jack. I’m not crossing it.”
Jack watches Bane nonchalantly blow a cloud of smoke into the air. A muscle ticks in his jaw. When he speaks his voice is measured. “You swore an oath to the club, Bane. This is the club’s business now. Get on board.”
“Yeah, I swore an oath to the Death Layer MC.” Bane’s jaw sets and his eyes darken like he wants to murder someone. He snuffs his cigarette out on an ashtray with a vengeance. “That didn’t involve the sex trade. Your presidency doesn’t extend over my dick, Keller. I fuck who I want to fuck.”
“You’re a member of this club. Get with the program, or the Beast is out.”
This brings Bane to his feet and he is eye to eye with Jack, naked as the sun and every muscle clenched. “I don’t do slaves. End of story.”
“Don’t think of her as a slave, more like property.”
“I want no part of this.”
“Are you trying to make me question your loyalty?”
“I want no part of this, Jack. I’ve got strong feelings about this. You know that.”
“Next time we sit down to talk about feelings with our teddy bears and mommies, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jack snaps his fingers and the giant bouncers lift me to my feet and toss me on Bane’s bed. I land with a whimper and instinctively curl up into a ball, trembling violently. The sheets still smell of sex and booze—and man.
“Jesus Christ,” Bane explodes, his voice dripping with venom. “What, you want me to rape her in front of you? Is that your new definition of brotherhood?”
I feel a dip on the mattress and hands on my hair as my head is jerked up. Both my hands clutch at the arm that’s lifting me, scratching with my nails. I throw my weight in every direction I can think of.
“No!” I cry, sobbing. “Please!”
“Knock it off.” Bane hisses. He gives me a harsh shake, jarring my aching head. “Fuck, now I’m bleeding. Great.”
Bane is kneeling beside me, displaying my face to the room. His hands are rough in my hair and the sinews of his forearms are achingly close. My body goes cold, then hot, as I realize that I am inches away from probably two hundred pounds of naked, powerful, seething testosterone.
And there’s no possible escape.
As he looks at me, his mouth flattens into a thin line. He doesn’t look at all pleased.
“She’s just a kid,” Bane grunts. “Terrified. This make you hard, Jack, you sick son of a bitch? Huh?”
Inevitably, my eyes flit back to his naked groin and I swallow, reddening. Taking a deep breath, I look up and meet his eyes. There’s a flash of something that passes between us, though I can’t say what. But neither of us looks away and he cocks his head to the side, studying me.
Something lights in his eyes, a question? His mouth opens. He pulls me imperceptibly closer and frowns down at me, as if reconsidering, and I shudder to my very core.
My body responds to his proximity in spite of my terror and fear, an explosion of heat radiating between my legs against my will. I can’t understand it—I am so turned on. More frightened than I have ever been, yes, but somehow aroused. I can feel his breath on the side of my face. He’s all muscle, cut and wiry. Instinct tells me he knows how to use every inch of that body of his. My heart is pounding so hard that I can hear it in my ears.
Bane must be able to hear it too.
Maybe that’s why he grimaces at me in disgust.
“Call me old-fashioned, Jack,” he rumbles with finality, “But I like it consensual. I wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.”
A confusingly toxic cocktail of relief, apprehension, adrenaline and rejection wash through me. I feel myself slump a little in Bane’s hold, completely exhausted. Deflated.
Jack crosses his arms and shrugs. “You saying you don’t want her? Should I take her back downstairs to D.L.? She’s just the type our upper crust clientele would eat alive. Can’t let fresh pussy go to waste.”
Bane sighs and pushes my head back down. I teeter onto my side, my face inches away from his thighs. I can’t seem to move, frozen with fear. He sits on his haunches beside me, raking a hand through his hair.
“Shit!” Bane shouts.
Jack grins.
When Bane straightens again, an accusing finger is pointed at Jack. “She’s my property, I do want I want with her. That’s the deal, right? Club rules.”
Jack nods slowly. “Long as she stays with the MC. No heroics, asshole.”
“Up yours.” Bane’s lazy grin is back. “You win this one. I’ll keep her.” I stare up at him through my mess of hair, and catch his gaze as it flits over me. He licks his lips. “But I do what I want with her,” Bane asserts, “And no one else touches her. Got it?”
Jack grunts. “Fair enough.”
“Fine. Thanks so very much for the present, daddy. Now get the fuck out of my room.”
As he ambles out, Jack winks at me. “Red, meet the Beast. Good luck.”
There is a chorus of laughter from the men as they shuffle out the door. It sends a chill down my spine. Bane stands and slams the door behind them, and I get a view of his backside.
He’s got a tight ass and muscled thighs that I’d admire under any normal circumstances, but it’s the hellish tattoo scrawled over his back that grabs my attention and sends a spiral of fear through my belly. “Death Layer” is scrawled in black ink across his shoulders, a huge flaming devil’s head and crossed guns image underneath. The letters “MC” are off to the side next to a black diamond with “1%” inside. Across his lower back are the words “New York City.”