Blade (RBMC: Dallas, TX #4)

Chapter Fifteen

“TheBleeding”—FiveFingerDeathPunch

Present…

G roggy, I woke up with difficulty. I’d slept like a rock. I slept so hard I was disoriented. It only took a heartbeat to realize a warm body was curled into mine and the memories of finally being inside Eliska flooded back.

I grinned and pressed my already hard cock into the crack of her ass as I squeezed her tit and rolled the nipple between my thumb and forefinger. “Rise and shine,” I softly murmured.

Not in a million years did I expect what happened next.

Eliska bolted upright and scurried so quickly backward across the bed that she fell off. I jumped up and went to check on her. What I saw left me speechless.

Unaware or uncaring of her nudity, she was crouched in the corner. Her tangled hair fell half over her face and her shoulders. Her usually sultry, stormy eyes were wide and crazed. Her entire body trembled as she rested her weight on the balls of her feet and her fingertips. Wildly, she glanced around the room before settling back on me.

Slowly, I held out a hand palm up—like one would to a frightened animal. Which is what she looked like. “Baby, it’s me,” I tried.

She appeared to curl in on herself as she shrunk away further into the corner.

When I got closer and I could almost touch her, she hid her face and placed her arms protectively over her head. She was practically hyperventilating.

“Eliska,” I said, my tone echoing the shock I was feeling. “Look at me. It’s me Blade. You’re in Texas. You’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you and I sure as hell am not going to let anyone else hurt you.”

Her big eyes blinked a few times and her brows pinched in the center in confusion. They seemed to clear, but her lower lip trembled, and she started to cry. She curled herself up in a ball and leaned into the corner.

In that moment, I vowed to find every single person on that island that hurt her and broke her. I didn’t care how long it took. I was going to kill them all.

Cautiously, I approached and gently lifted her in my arms. I breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t fight me, and she actually wrapped her arms around my neck. I carried her back to the bed, and I just laid there holding her and stroking her head and back as she softly cried.

There was a loud knock on the door, and she jumped.

“Shhh,” I hushed her, and she rested back on my chest. “It’s okay.”

“Blade! We need you in the chapel.” It was Gator. I wasn’t gonna ask how they knew where I was—fuckers seemed to know everything.

“Roger that! I’ll be there in a minute,” I replied. Then I kissed the crown of her head. Reluctantly, I got out of the bed. I gently covered her with the comforter that had ended up on the floor and got dressed.

Though she didn’t say anything, her dove gray eyes watched me.

“I’ll be back soon,” I promised as I shrugged my cut on.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as I opened the door.

I paused and glanced back at her. “Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for. But we need to talk when I get back. Okay?”

She didn’t look too thrilled with the idea, but she nodded.

Leaving her after that was one of the hardest things I’d had to do. I didn’t understand why she made me feel things I hadn’t felt in forever. Three years ago, I would’ve told someone I was truly dead inside. Then she showed up after her rescue and everything changed.

Torque was walking toward the chapel, so I waited for him and we went in together. We took our seats.

Raptor cleared his throat. “I have an announcement.”

We all waited.

“The members that are still with Ankeny, are on their way here. I spoke with Hawk about an hour ago. Three of the members had their houses set on fire last night after the clubhouse attack. In the wee hours of the morning, someone torched the hog farm.” He dropped that bomb and everyone in the room had to pick their jaws up off the table.

“They don’t want anyone watching the clubhouse to know they are headed here, so Squirrel was up all night ‘transferring’ their important items and some clothes into a trailer he had stashed down in Des Moines. They are going to be leaving one at a time in various directions. Snow with the DSMC is helping the best he can as well. As you know, he was good friends with Venom,” Gator explained from his seat next to Raptor.

Fucking hell, it was a good eleven-hour drive from there to here. With that many brothers, and their families, it was going to be an ordeal to keep their destination a secret.

“How long will they be here?” I asked, my brain already plotting and planning.

Raptor met my gaze. “I don’t know. They’ve lost almost everything, and they don’t feel their families are safe up there for the foreseeable future. It could be a week, it could be a year, who knows.”

“Where are we gonna put them all?” One Short asked. I’m sure it was the question many of us were thinking.

“My family is loaning us a bunch of RVs and fifth wheel campers. It will work for a while until we figure out the plan moving forward. There are a few empty cabins at my family’s ranch if need be,” Raptor replied.

“I’d rather they were here. It would make me feel better,” Phoenix quietly inserted with a frown. He looked concerned and I didn’t blame him.

We’d not only lost several of our friends in Ankeny, we’d lost two brothers from our chapter here and members from Flagstaff and Roanoke. If ever there was a time for us to band together as a club, it was now.

“I understand, but it depends on who all shows up and what they want as well,” Raptor replied as he squeezed the back of his neck.

“Understood,” Phoenix replied.

Raptor leaned forward onto his forearms. “I have a question. You all are aware that this property is in my name.”

Everyone nodded or agreed verbally.

“This is all hypothetical, but if the Ankeny chapter stays here, I want to look into buying the ranch next door. I would like to start allowing members to build there. The chapter would buy it, and members could buy off parcels to build houses on. Only problem is that it would require higher dues. If the Ankeny boys stay, then that hit won’t be as hard because there will be more of us. What do you think?” Raptor glanced around to get a read on our responses.

No one jumped up shouting yes! But I think we all were weighing the pros and cons.

Phoenix was rubbing his chin. He drove in from Sloane’s house most days and I know it was a bit of a hike for him. I also knew that it was Sloane and her mom’s place and with their little one getting bigger now, they might want their own place. He and I had discussed them getting a bigger place, closer to the clubhouse, that Sloane’s mom could possibly have her own second master bedroom.

“You think they would want to stay?” One Short asked as he stroked his graying beard.

“I’m not sure. I’m going to discuss it with Hawk when he gets here to get a feel for it. We would need to have a joint meeting and then I’m sure they would want to meet privately to vote on it,” Raptor said with a slight shrug.

“It would be nice to have more help,” Torque mused. There were several grunts of agreement from around the table.

“Yeah. We’re stretched thin with the car washes, the cleaning company, and the strip club. Having extra hands would help and we’ve been having trouble getting prospects thanks to the fucking Demon Runners.” Gator’s lip curled. Then he muttered, “Little pricks.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Ever since the run-in they’d had with Fallon’s brother’s old club, the Demon Runners had been trying to sabotage us left and right. Fallon had been relieved when Mav left that club, but it had also been causing trouble at her and Mav’s bar. We had actually tried to talk Mav into prospecting with us, but he said he was done with MC life for a while.

With more numbers, we could stand up to the Demon Runners a helluva lot better. Right now, our small chapter was barely keeping up with what we had.

“So, you’re not opposed to the idea—if they decide to stay? If we don’t agree on it, I won’t even bring it up to them.” Raptor waited patiently for our reply.

I gave a chin lift and said, “I’m not opposed.”

“Me either,” added Ares.

Raptor let out a received sigh that he tried to cover with a cough. “All in favor of looking into the potential for buying the land next to us?”

Each one of us raised our hand and then each member rang out with a chorus of “Aye.”

“Then it’s unanimous. I’ll talk to Hawk and then reach out to that realtor that Gator has been seeing,” Raptor announced with a grin.

It might have been a trick of the light, but I was pretty sure Gator’s face went red. He also seemed to fidget in his chair.

Raptor ended the meeting, then the brothers started to file out.

“Blade?” I glanced over my shoulder at my president. “A minute?” Raptor asked.

“Sure. What’s up?” I asked as I returned to my seat where I rested my hands on the wooden back.

“What’s going on with you and Eliska?”

As I contemplated my reply, I popped my jaw and wet my lower lip. “Why?”

He sighed. “Blade, this is me as a friend, not your president. She was sent here for us to protect. You aren’t exactly relationship material as it is and she kind of needs kid gloves.”

Though I knew he was one hundred percent right, to hear it out loud stung. I knew damn well I was no good for her, but it was too late to give her up now. My fingers hurt, I was clutching the chair back so tight. “She’s mine.”

The look of shock on his face was quickly wiped away. “Yours? As in you’re claiming her?”

“Yes.”

“Blade….”

“It’s not up for discussion.”

He dragged both of his hands down his face. “Christ, Blade. She’s been through a lot. You like things… fuck, brother, I’ve known you since you were a kid. Over thirteen years. I’m not gonna beat around the bush. You have some pretty twisted thoughts and needs. I don’t think that’s a good combo with her trauma.”

“She’s a lot tougher than you think,” I stubbornly insisted. Yeah, she’d had a breakdown earlier, but I would be patient with her. For her, I could force myself to figure out how.

“I hope you’re right. Sage is worried.”

“About who? Me or Eliska?”

“Both of you. She likes Eliska and she loves you.” He quickly clarified “like a brother” as he shot me a disgruntled look.

I rolled my eyes, but truthfully, that stung. If anyone knew the sick twisted shit I’d done and yet also knew, I’d never hurt a woman like Eliska had been hurt. Just because I had intrusive thoughts at times, I was willing to reign them in and never act on them unless she wanted. I wasn’t a complete animal.

I had enough self-control.

I hoped.

“You better make sure she’s willing. I’m not gonna risk Calix swooping in and decimating us,” Raptor warned.

“Is he coming?” I asked. We hadn’t seen him in years. I was a little surprised he hadn’t shown up here after Eliska had. That was odd. He was incredibly protective of her.

“No clue. I haven’t heard from him in over a year. I’m not even sure he’s still alive.”

I snorted. “I mean, technically he isn’t.”

Raptor narrowed his gaze on me. “Don’t be a smart ass. You know what I mean. They can be killed you know.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“If she tells you she hears from him, let me know.”

“Will do,” I promised. “Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. I’m out then.”

As I left, I could feel his stare burning into my back.