Ruin’s Embattlement (Tenillo Guardians AIMC #19)

Ruin Chapter 21

As if getting a mysterious text to come home and finding your woman with bloody hands and a prospect bloody and tied to a chair wasn’t enough to make a man lose his mind, hearing a name from the past pushed me over the edge.

I tore myself away from Desi and got in Niam’s face. He was watching all of us with fear, but when he saw me in his face, he began to shake all over. The rest of the room got eerily quiet. Most of the guys knew that name and what it meant. I just had to hear the full name.

“Hector said she was for you. Hector who? I want to know his last name, and when he told you this,” I barked in his face, my spittle hitting him.

“H-Hector, Hector DeLeón,” he said barely above a whisper.

Hearing confirmation, I realized it was the same Hector that I feared it was, and it had me lashing out. I drove my fists into his face. If I hadn’t been hauled away, I would’ve kept pounding him until he was dead. Raw, seething rage was pouring into me. I struggled to get loose.

Far away, I heard Konrad ask someone, “Who’s Hector DeLeón, and what does he have to do with Desi?” No one answered him at first.

“He’s the man who ran a human trafficking ring. He and his men captured me and others and held us for months. When we were rescued, he and those men were killed. That’s how I came to be here. The club took me in and gave me and my unborn son a home,” she said quietly. The pain in her tone had me trying to get to her. I was let go. I hauled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. She clung to me.

“Shh, baby, don’t talk about that bastard. Forget him. I want you to go home with your sister. Let me take care of this. I’ll come get you when I’m done.”

“No, I need to know. I have to hear what he has to say. Please, you can’t send me away, Tanner,” she whispered. I closed my eyes. I knew that even if he told us everything he knew, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from punishing him. I didn’t want her to see that side of me.

“Son, you need to let her decide what she can handle.” Dad’s voice washed over us.

I sighed heavily, but I knew I was beaten. I nodded. I did give her a kiss, though, before I let go of her. I saw the horror on Konrad’s face. I’d kept her past a secret. It was hers to share or not. As I studied him, I watched his horror morph into anger. His gaze met mine. He mouthed, make him pay . I gave him a chin lift.

Facing Niam again, I saw Trident was working on his shoulder. As a SEAL for all those years, he and Sin were the next most qualified to patch someone up after Saint and Luciana. I saw he was quickly and haphazardly stitching his wound closed to stop the bleeding. Niam was hissing in pain.

“You’re going to tell me how you knew Hector and why it took you all this time to come after her. However, before this gets any messier, I suggest we move him to the Gallows. No need to get more blood and gore all over the common room.”

“Gallows?” Konrad asked. Niam flinched.

We usually waited a few months before showing prospects the Gallows and explaining what it was used for. Niam had seen it, but not Kon. He was in for a crash course. I left it to the others to get Konrad there. I wanted to make sure Desi was ready for what was to come. I tried to separate her from the others to get her to stay behind, but the stubborn woman refused, so we went out to my bike. The Gallows were a bit of a walk to the back of the property, so instead of walking, we rode. She swung up behind me, and off we went. As we did, I saw more of the women coming home. Someone would stay to explain to them what was up.

It took more than twenty minutes to get everyone there who needed to be, or I should say, who wanted to be. Niam was seated in a chair in the main section of the Gallows. I didn’t want to spend all day and night with the fucker. We needed to get to the hospital to support our brothers and Raine. With this in mind, I got to work. No one else would get a piece of him.

“When did Hector tell you about Desi?” I squeezed his throat as I asked, then let go so he knew I meant business.

“It was over six years ago. He called me and told me that they’d gotten a new group of women, and there was one he knew I’d want. He sent me her picture. I knew as soon as I saw her she was the one. I told him to hang onto her, not to sell her. I had four months left on my deployment. I was counting the days. Then, a month before I was to come home, I found out Hector and all his men were killed, and no one knew what happened to the women. It was assumed a rival trafficker did it, but I wasn’t so sure.”

The casual way he spoke of those women being sold had me grabbing his wrist, and in one hard, quick twist, I snapped it. He screamed as the bone broke. “That’s for daring to want to touch someone who wasn’t yours. She’s a person, not a damn pet. Keep talking. I want to know everything,” I snarled.

“L-like what?” he stuttered.

“Like how you knew Hector. Who told you he was dead? How did you find her? Are there others out there looking for her and the women the club saved?” I rattled off my list.

“Hector was best friends with my uncle, Clive. When Clive died, Hector looked out for me. He was an honorary uncle. The men who worked for him and those he worked with might’ve been killed or disappeared, but their families remained, and they were the ones whom I still had contact with. A niece of his told me when I called. I hadn’t heard from him, so I contacted her. She didn’t know he was trafficking, just that he and a bunch of his men had been slain.”

Needing to vent again, I punched him twice, once in the gut and once in the gunshot wound. He let out a strangled scream.

“He didn’t like me digging my thumb into his wound either,” Desi said casually. She was standing there watching and listening to everything. This caused some of the guys to chuckle.

“How did you find her? Why now?” I asked again after winking at her.

“At first, I couldn’t go searching on my own. I was still on active duty but kept my ear to the ground. There were whispers about how these men would come out of nowhere and rescue people. It wasn’t just Hector’s business that was impacted. They were precise and were in and out like ghosts. They had to be professionals. Others speculated they were mercs hired by rivals. I thought so at first until there were whispers about a Texas town where the bad guys were being systematically sent to prison, died, or disappeared. It sounded suspicious. Then, when I heard there was a motorcycle club in town that was made up of all ex- military people, I had to check it out. So I came here. I wasn’t sure if I had the right group or not until I saw her leave the compound one day. I’d know her anywhere. The next day, I came and asked about prospecting.”

“Why wait so long to make a move? You’ve been here for more than four months,” Sin asked. I was wondering the same thing.

“Because she was always surrounded by too many people! She rarely left the compound alone, and when she did, I was forced to be here doing gopher work. There were a few times I thought I could grab her, but then more people would show up. I was content to bide my time. That is until you came home.” He threw me a nasty look.

“What did I do?”

“You came waltzing in here, you and your buddy. I knew there wasn’t anything to fear from Isaiah, but then you two show up, and you’re around her all the time. She went out with that one, and then the next thing I know, you’ve claimed her, and you’re rushing to move her in with you and get married. I had to get her out of here before you married her.”

“What difference does marrying her make?” I asked.

“A man will give up a woman and not come after her if she isn’t his wife. Girlfriends and lovers are easy to replace. Although why some guys don’t see that wives are, too, I don’t know,” he said with a sneer.

“I want to tell you something. It wouldn’t matter if she were my wife or not. Her being my old lady is more than enough, but hell, just being a part of this club would’ve guaranteed us coming for her. No matter how long it took, we’d find her.” I drove home my remark by grabbing and snapping his other arm. His scream gave me satisfaction.

“Who else knows she’s here? Who did you tell?” Dad asked.

“No one. I told no one. I swear. I know I’m dead, so just get it over with,” Niam muttered after he stopped shouting out in pain from the second break.

“Not until we know for sure you’ve told us everything, and you’re not lying. Son, I know you want to do this yourself, but let me be sure,” Dad said to me.

I knew what he wanted to do. Since he was the only one who seemed able to do it, and we could be ninety-nine percent sure of the answers he got, I nodded. “Go for it.”

I moved back. Dad took my place. He got into Niam’s personal space and stared intently into his eyes. Niam must’ve heard rumors about Dad’s abilities because the coward closed his eyes. That didn’t last. Ex got behind him and pried his eyes open. He held them and growled.

“If you keep fighting to close your fucking eyes, I’ll slice your eyelids off. Hold still.” Niam must’ve believed him because he had stopped trying. However, Executioner remained there holding them open, just to be sure.

Dad stared for a solid two or three minutes before he asked him anything. “Tell me if there’s anyone else who knew you were coming here?”

“There’s not. I didn’t tell anyone.”

“And no one knows she’s here?”

“No.” His responses were swift, which made me suspicious. Based on my brothers’ expressions, so were they.

“What the hell is Omen doing?” Konrad whispered as he came to stand next to me. I had Desi on my other side.

“You’ll see. Watch. Let me warn you, you don’t want him to use this on you,” I cautioned him.

“You’re lying,” Dad said to Niam.

“No, I’m not. I swear. No one knows why I joined this club or that she’s here.”

“Tell the truth,” Dad said softly.

They went back and forth for a while. Dad would ask the same questions, but they would be phrased slightly different. Niam kept denying it. Finally, I guess Dad reached his limit. The volume of his voice began to increase each time he asked until he was shouting. Still, that fucker Niam kept denying it.

Suddenly, Dad grasped Niam’s head between his hands. “Let go, Ex.”

When Executioner did, I watched as Niam stared back at Dad and never blinked. As the silence stretched, Niam began to shake and then whimper. He screamed as blood leaked from his eyes. He started wailing.

“I told one of my buddies. His name is Boaz, Boaz Ashby. We served together. He knows. He was hoping Hector would find him a woman one day,” he blubbered.

“And no one else knows anything that would pose a danger to this club or my daughter,” Dad demanded.

“No! God, please, stop. My brain is on fire. What did you do to me?”

“You’ve been treated to Omen’s Cajun mojo,” Executioner said with satisfaction.

“Damn, it’s getting stronger, Omen,” Sin muttered.

“Remind me never to piss your dad off,” Konrad stated. He was staring at Omen with a mix of awe and fear.

“Ruin, you’d better finish what you want to do. He’s not gonna last much longer. I’m pretty sure that blood means he has a brain bleed,” Pitbull observed.

Dad came over and took Desi in his arms, which allowed me to step away. I could spend hours on Niam if I had the time, but since I didn’t, I went for maximum pain in his last minutes. I went to the cabinet that contained our equipment and chose a heavy hammer. I used it to break both ankles. The thought of him touching Desi or forcing himself on anyone made me crave more of his pain. Taking out the knife I carried on my belt, I stabbed it to the hilt in one thigh, twisted it, pulled it out, and then did it to the other one.

I heard Konrad say, “I told you you’d regret this. That Ruin would tear you up. Do you want to know why we called him Ruin in the Corps? Well, I’m telling you, even if you don’t. He ruined the terrorists we were sent to get information out of. When he was done with them, they were never the same. It wasn’t just what he did physically. He’s excellent at psychological torture. Too bad we don’t have longer for him to play with you.”

Inside, I cringed, knowing my old lady had heard that, but there was nothing I could do about it. A soft hand on my arm made me turn. She was standing next to me, and she gave me a tender smile.

“I think it’s time to end this. He’s taken up enough precious time. End him, and let’s go home. We have a wedding to plan and a happy life to live. I’ve already forgotten about him.”

And just like that, I knew she wasn’t turned off by what she heard, nor was she scared of me.

“I’ll be right with you, babe.”

Turning back to Niam, who had more blood leaking from his eyes and now from his ears, I angled my knife and made the final stab. It was a tricky one, but I’d practiced it. It angled up underneath his ribs and into his heart. He gave a single gasp and then went limp. It was done. We could walk away and live our lives after a minor detour soon to ensure Boaz Ashby was out of the picture and unable to cause issues. I didn’t waste energy on words. I knew the club would find a way to dispose of Niam, so I walked outside with my woman on my arm and straddled my bike before helping her to get on. Back to the clubhouse we went. It was time to get cleaned up and then see how Raine was doing.

???

We made it with more than enough time to spare. It was several more hours before Raine gave birth. They hadn’t wanted to know what they were having, so it was a surprise to everyone when the doctor announced they had a son. I would’ve paid to see their faces when they found out in the delivery room.

Later, when the rest of us were allowed in to see the newest addition, I watched how my brothers tried to hog the baby even from each other. This made us laugh, and Raine told them if they didn’t stop, she’d hold him, and they’d be assigned to diaper duty only. They grudgingly gave in. But the rest of us who asked to hold him weren’t given long. They told us, as a group, they were naming him Brock. I thought Brock Nolan-Price had a good ring to it.

That was a week ago. The club was settling back down after all the excitement, both wanted and unwanted. The new parents were home from the hospital. We were now waiting for the next two babies to come, which was still four months away. Micaela was due a week after Tamysin.

Desi, Shane, and I were more than happy in our little trailer. Plans were already in motion for our wedding. From the sounds of it, Mom was going to go big. As long as Desi was happy, I would be.

However, tonight, I had special plans for the two of us. Shane was spending the night with Olivia and Kycen, which meant Desi and I had the whole evening and night to ourselves. And I knew exactly what we would do. We’d had our private tour of Sara and Trident’s sex room. We’d asked a ton of questions, and they freely answered them. There was no shame there. With what Sara wrote, I knew there had to be some real-life research. Yes, I’d read a few of her books. I was shocked at first, but then I had to admit, they were great. Trident had no shame in telling people he read them as he claimed to be her muse. Sara would smile and say nothing.

After that tour, Trident paid me a visit at work, and we had a private talk. He had some suggestions for things I might want to start exploring, and he gave me pointers. It seemed he guessed where my experimenting wishes lay. I didn’t know how, but he was spot-on. I knew I could always talk to Dad or Executioner, but it felt weird to talk about Desi with them. With Trident, he was a more neutral party. I took his advice and would see tonight if we were off base or not.

Our showers were done, and we were in bed. We were kissing, and things were beginning to heat up. Before we got too far gone, I wanted to find out if she was open to experimenting tonight. I reluctantly broke our kiss.

“Baby, I want to ask you something.”

“What?” she asked as she tried to kiss me again. It was hard to resist, but I did.

“I wondered if you might be up to exploring new things tonight. There are a couple of items we saw at Sara and Trident’s that I thought we might try first. There’s no pressure. We don’t have to do them, or if you have other ideas, we can do those.”

She perked up, and a sparkle entered her eyes. “I’d love to see what you have. I was talking to Sara yesterday, and she and I are doing some shopping next week. Show me,” she said excitedly.

I chuckled as I got up and went to my top dresser drawer. “It so happens that Trident and I talked on Tuesday. He came to see me at work and offered his advice. He said he guessed where my interests were and offered to be a mentor if I wanted one. Nothing detailed between us, just, you know. I can’t see myself talking to Ex and Dad.”

“Oh God no, and while there are some things I can say to Mom and Skye, this isn’t it. Not that I don’t think they probably do some of the things we saw, but I’d rather not know,” she agreed.

“Please, Mom doesn’t have sex. She and Dad are platonic,” I joked.

This made her giggle. “Do you think Shane will believe that about us when he grows up?”

“Hell, I don’t know. But see, then we get to make him and his siblings cringe with our talk of us having sex. The way Sin does when Trident does it.”

“Oh God.” She laughed harder, which made me chuckle. I had the items I wanted to show her, so I walked back to the bed.

One of the things Trident said was he saw traits in me that made him think not only that I was dominant but also that I was interested in bondage, impact play, and others. I’d spanked a few women during sex, but something had held me back from going into it further or actually restraining someone. However, I was definitely intrigued with them. In Desi’s case, I was hesitant to bring up the tying. She’d been restrained and held prisoner. I didn’t see her wanting anything to do with it. Trident seemed to think differently and told me to ask her about them first. He claimed if they were a go, then there was a lot more I could build from having these as a base.

I brought them out from behind my back. I heard her gasp, and her eyes widened. I dropped them on the bed and reached for her. “Baby, we don’t have to do these. I’m sorry. I knew they were a mistake.”

I went to pick them up and put them away, but she beat me to them. She held up the small paddle and soft wrist restraints. Another suggestion he gave me was to start with her arms and then progress to restraining her legs. There were things beyond that we could move to if she liked it, such as shibari and rigging.

“No, don’t put them away. I was just surprised. I’ve often wondered if I’d like to be spanked or restrained. You’re worried about it reminding me of the past, aren’t you?”

“How could it not?”

“Only a little, I think. None of the times it happened to me did I experience pleasure or was with the man I love. That makes a big difference. I don’t want you to suppress your desires, remember. You promised to ask at least. Well, I see these, and I want to try. Come on, you’re a big bad Marine. Show me what you’ve got,” she taunted as she shook the cuffs at me and playfully smacked my leg with the paddle.

Desire sparked in me. Not only due to her willingness but also the smack of the paddle made me tingle. Hmm, was it possible I might like to be spanked? Maybe, but that would have to be an experiment for another day. I growled, then launched myself on top of her. I took the cuffs and paddle away, dropped them on the bed again, and wrestled her short nightgown off. As soon as it was gone, I got to work.

“If at any time you want me to slow down or stop, just tell me.”

“I will. Hurry, Tanner. The thought of what you’re about to do is making me wet.”

That spurred me on. I raised her arms above her head. In preparation for us actually using these, I’d installed a large eyebolt in the headboard and two in the footboard. They were dark brown, so they blended in with the wood. I wrapped the soft cuff around one wrist and secured it. I paused to see if she panicked. She didn’t, so I hooked it to the eyebolt via a short carabiner clip. Then I placed the second one. Again, I gave her time to stop me before I attached it. When both were latched, I stood up and took off my shorts. Just this much had me hard.

Her gaze landed on my erect cock, and she moaned and wiggled her bottom. Deciding to see what she’d do and to help keep her mind off the fact she was half restrained, I picked up the paddle and brought it lightly down on the side of her hip. She cried out and jerked.

“Is that too hard?”

“No, oh no, keep going,” she said.

Not wanting to make this session too long, I set to working in smacks in between kisses and me paying attention to her tits. The more I spanked her, no matter where the more she moaned. After a few swats on her front, I gently flipped her onto her stomach and smacked her ass. Her cry was even louder. I put a tad bit more power behind the next one, but I threw the paddle to the side and used my hand for it.

“God, yes, more!” she begged.

I let loose with five more. I made sure not to make them too hard. I hoped she’d enjoy them. What I didn’t expect was how it was making me feel or her ultimate response. The sound of her flesh, the feel of it, and the heat rising as I landed more, along with the sounds she was making, had me on fire. I was leaking precum. Only it wasn’t just me who was on the brink, I guess. As the last swat landed, she screamed and then shook as she came. I watched her in the throes of her orgasm, and I knew I couldn’t wait.

With shaky hands, I undid the cuffs. I let her relax partway from her high before I gave her an order. “I want you on your hands and knees, Desi. Now.”

She weakly fumbled to raise. I grabbed her hips to help her. I barely held out until she was up on them before I parted her folds, lined myself up with her entrance, and powered inside her drenched pussy. She was scorching hot. I groaned as I sank deeper. When I was fully inside, I drew my hips back and then thrust again. It was a fast, slightly rough race to mutual orgasms, but she didn’t tell me to stop or slow down, and I had to come before I lost my mind. Our cries, loud breathing, slapping of flesh on flesh, and the scent of us filled the room. I have no idea how long it was before my balls were drawing up.

“I’m coming,” I warned her.

“Me, too,” she panted.

Then we shot off into orbit together. I came hard and long. She clenched around me so hard I gasped. Eventually, we were spent. We collapsed on the bed. I barely had enough brain cells left working to roll, so I was spooning her. I panted out, “I love you, and that was beyond fantastic.”

“I love you too, and it was amazing. Spanking and tying me up are both in the hell yeah column,” she said enthusiastically. Her response made me chuckle, which made her moan. We lay there together, just floating in heaven, or maybe it was the stars. Yep, we’d be exploring more. That was for damn sure.