Dauntless (Sons of Templar MC #5)(107)
“Nope,” I blurted out.
Gabriel’s hands tightened around me. “Becky,” he warned.
I yanked out of his arms. “Don’t ‘Becky’ me,” I snapped. “I’m not getting stuck here while you all run off and save the day. Leaving us here in some biker version of an ivory castle. I don’t know what acid trip you’re on, but this place got blown up not three hours ago. I’m thinking it’s not the best place to serve as a fortress.” I paused. “In fact, nowhere is going to serve as a fortress, at least not for me. Welcome to the twenty-first century. Men no longer ride steeds, and women no longer are confined to palace walls having to wear corsets—outside the bedroom, anyway.”
Gwen choked out a giggle at that.
“In light of these developments, I think I’ll have to use my not-so-recently liberated voice and say you are not f*cking locking me down. Anywhere.”
Amy grinned at me. “Amen to that, sister.” Brock glared me, then her. She blew him a kiss.
The weight of every single alpha male’s stare was heavy, but I managed to shoulder the load.
I looked around the room, running my eyes over the attractive, grim-faced stares. All were grim-faced, apart from Gage, of course, the crazy f*ck he was. I purposely didn’t stare at the man behind me.
“You men, you’re all so desperate for validation for your manliness that you seek out women you think need saving. Fashion them into damsels who need their dragons slayed. Have you ever thought for a moment we could slay our own f*cking dragons?”
I pointed to Gwen. “This bitch shot a f*cking psychopath three times, and then gave birth moments after doing so. With no anesthesia. That’s not even mentioning all the shit she survived before that.”
I pointed to Amy. “She managed to somehow come out with a soul and a sense of humor when it sounds like her parents did the best to suck both out. Then she survives not one but two kidnappings, and a punctured artery.”
My eyes went to Mia. “She got knocked up at fifteen, by another psychopath drug dealer kingpin maniac. Gets beaten within an inch of her life, while nine months pregnant, but manages to survive that and deliver the baby. Then escapes said psychopath to raise her daughter, give her a home and love when she had nothing. Sixteen years on, she faces him again and manages to make it through the other side. Now her kid is a f*cking famous rock star who will support her in her old age.”
My eyes rested on Lily. They got a little misty but I managed to keep my steam. “This one,” I whispered. “She struggles with a demon more ferocious than any of you have ever seen. One you’ll never see because it only exists inside the mind. She conquers that on her own. Then finds her way to untie herself and drag my bleeding old man out of a burning f*cking building and saves his life.”
I tore my gaze away to focus on Gabriel, who was regarding me intently.
“Something I’ll be forever indebted to her for.” With effort, I looked around the room. “Sure, you muscled brutes may have had a small”—I held my thumb and forefinger inches apart—“hand in that, but it was mostly the chicks who bore the brunt of the horrors. And are still standing. Laughing. And wearing f*cking heels. You’ll never know that pain either.” I paused. “So how about you stop treating us like we’re made of glass, because here you’ve got living, breathing, glittering proof that we’re not glass. We’re diamonds, and we’re f*cking unbreakable.”
All the men were glaring at me by the end of my speech, and all the women were grinning. Wide.
I ignored all of it. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home to watch Women Who Kill and eat frozen pizza.” I glanced around the room. “I’d advise you to free up some time in your weightlifting, steel-eating schedule to give it a watch. It’d prove educational so you can see what might happen if you do something like, I don’t know, try to ‘lock down’ a woman who spent three f*cking weeks in chains and isn’t looking to spend two more f*cking seconds in them.”
On that, I turned on my heel and walked out. I realized mid-storm out that I’d come on Gabriel’s bike and didn’t actually have a ride.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. Asking for a ride would seriously mess with the badass vibe I had going. Maybe I could hotwire a motorcycle. I hadn’t driven one before, but I was guessing it couldn’t be that hard.
“Okay, I’m going with her,” I heard Amy’s declaration from behind me.
“Fuck, Sparky,” Brock growled.
“I’m totally going too. She had me at frozen pizza,” Mia’s voice chimed in.
“Jesus, Mia, don’t you f*ckin’ dare,” Bull warned.
“Love you too, honey,” she called.
I grinned and stopped.
Amy caught up with me. “Movie night?”
“Sounds good.”
So that’s how we ended up crowding Rosie’s living room watching serial killer documentaries while Rosie was noticeably absent.
Lucky
“Jesus, brother, your woman….” Brock shook his head, rubbing his hand against his mouth. “Fuck, I thought I had the one with the most fire, but she’s givin’ Sparky a run for her money,” he exclaimed.
Lucky didn’t smile. “I f*ckin’ know,” he muttered. All that shit Becky had said? In front of his brothers? Pissed him right the f*ck off. And turned him right the f*ck on. And made him proud as punch all at once. All the while fighting that shit that lurked in her eyes as she spoke of dragons and diamonds. Because he saw it. She was fighting the pull of that f*ckin’ room, and she was winning. He was proud, but he also hated that she even had to fight.