Bound in Darkness (Bound #2)(2)

Her breath eased slowly from her lungs as her gaze swept around the bar. As always these days, she was aware of the strange ache in her gut. Hunger, one that just couldn’t be satisfied with food. No matter how much she ate, she stayed hungry.

And her senses—they were in freaking overdrive. So many scents burned her nose. Alcohol. Cigarettes. Cheap perfume. Sex. Blood.

Her nostrils flared.

Blood shouldn’t smell good. But, lately…the scent had started to—

“Well, hello, pretty lady…”

She didn’t start in surprise. She’d known the big biker was heading her way. The guy with tribal tattoos that covered his arms and shaved head. A dozen piercings penetrated his face. And…the guy had blood under his fingernails.

She was betting that blood wasn’t his.

“You all alone tonight?” he asked as he closed in on her.

Allison kept her chin up. Elsa, the witch who’d found her, had promised that Allison would find a guide in this bar. A protector who would help her on the rest of her journey. Elsa had said that her guide would come to Allison immediately. The witch had also told her that he’d be the strongest guy in the bar.

Allison could sure use some strength to help her out. Especially since she didn’t have any of her own to speak of at that moment.

She licked her lips and studied the guy before her. Big, check. Definitely strong, but…

But he scared her. His eyes were hot, almost feral as they slid over her body.

Allison realized she should say something. “Uh…I’m…waiting for someone.”

“Don’t have to wait no longer.” He reached for her hand. Pulled her up against him. Allison was barely five foot three, and this guy towered over her. “I’m right here, baby.”

Laughter followed that comment. The guy had friends in this place—a lot of them by the looks of things. And they were all watching her now.

Why weren’t there more women in the bar? Allison counted two in the whole place. Her and a chick who was—leaving.

Okay, that wasn’t good.

She put her hands on the biker’s chest. “Are you…are you my guide?”

He laughed, a hard burst of sound that grated in her ears. “Oh, yeah, baby, I’ll guide you all right.” His hands dropped to her ass. “I’ll guide you all night long.”

Crap. This guy wasn’t him.

The biker was pulling her even tighter against him now, and she was trying to get away but she wasn’t strong enough.

Story of my life.

She hadn’t been strong enough to save her family. Hadn’t been strong enough to stop the death.

Not strong enough to—

“Let her go.”

The voice was low, but it cut sharper than a knife, and the hard order pierced through the laughter in the room.

Because she was staring up at the brick wall of a biker’s face—a face that looked like it had actually hit a few brick walls over the years—she saw the fleeting expression of fear that whispered over his features.

“Thain.” The hands holding her eased as her captor bit out the name.

Allison hadn’t even seen the new guy yet, but if he was scary enough to make the biker tremble…

Trouble.

“She’s mine, Griggs.” Lethal words accompanied by the hard thud of footsteps as the Thain guy stalked closer. “So I’ll say it again, but only once more…let her the f*ck go.”

No one seemed to be breathing in the bar. No one-including her. Allison’s lungs burned, but in that moment, she was too afraid to move at all. Griggs slowly, very slowly, released his hold on her. “Wasn’t gonna hurt her. Just gonna give the pretty lady some fun.”

She bet they had different ideas of fun.

“Allison.” Now that hard, dark voice of Thain’s was saying her name. If he knew her name…he had to be her guide. No one else should know her in that place.“Come here.”

She eased around the biker, took a step, and froze.

Because Griggs looked a hell of a lot more safe and welcoming than Thain did.

He was big, probably taller than Griggs, and far more muscled. His shoulders just…stretched. Allison swallowed. His muscles had the black t-shirt he wore pulling taut over his chest and arms.

His eyes were dark green and burning with intensity. A thick scar slid from the top of his right eyebrow all the way down to the underside of his square jaw. The scar just made him look…

Scary. Extremely scary. No—actually, it was the eyes that did that. Eyes that promised hell would be coming.

“Don’t know if she wants to go with you,” Griggs said. His hand came up to clasp her shoulder. “You can always stay with me, pretty lady.”

Allison sucked in a deep breath and stepped toward Thain. Her gaze slid over his face once more. This time, it was his mouth that caught her stare.

She took another step. The biker’s hand fell away.

Thain’s lips, strangely both cruel and sensual, were parted a bit to reveal the edges of his white teeth.

Her gaze lifted again. His hair, a shade darker than her own locks, was thick, heavy, brushing back from the strong lines of his face.

“Touch her again,” Thain warned, “and you’ll lose the hand.”

Everyone backed up a few feet.