Never Love An Outlaw (Deadly Pistols MC #1)(69)

“What the f*ck? You're her only bodyguard? You got any idea how much this bitch is worth?” A big man in a Deadhands cut with a bald head and a satanic goatee smiled.

Fuck. Of course. The cold realization they were after Meg hit so hard I had to struggle not to shoot the * right through the heart and feel a hail of bullets slice me in two.

“You're not taking her,” I growled. “You bastards are making a big mistake, showing your ugly faces in our territory.”

Baldie tipped his head back and laughed. I glanced at the patches on his front, and saw V. PRESIDENT, then the bastard's name, BIG VIC.

“Shame you're not as good at protecting this cunt as you are making me laugh. Step outta the way, little man, and maybe we'll give you a fighting chance by putting lead in your kneecaps instead of your guts.”

“Skin...” Meg fumbled up behind me, clutching my shoulder, desperate to diffuse the bomb already exploding in slow motion. “Don't risk your life. Not again.”

“Ha, the bitch has balls, Veep,” the man behind us said, right before he cleared his throat and spat on the ground. “Sure gonna be fun making her squeal for her folks. I bet she'll hiss and yowl through the whole f*cking thing while we're holding her down.”

Instinct took over. I pushed my gun deeper into Big Vic's chest, baring my teeth. Several more men emerged from the clearing, cocking their guns. I heard a shotgun pump, and a big one by the sounds of it, perfectly capable of cutting me to pieces several times over.

Fuck.

“Easy, boy.” The Deads Veep looked at my name patch. “Skin, huh? A name like that gives me some ideas, especially if you're one of the f*cks who took out our brothers a couple weeks ago.”

“If that's what you're here for, then you need to talk to the Prez,” I snarled, my words barely coherent through the rage spilling out my teeth.

“Careful. Please.” Meg's grip on my shoulder tightened.

She sounded so scared, like she was turning to stone. Goddamn it. The urge to pull her into my chest was almost as bad as the rush to kill, the demon need to watch this bald sonofabitch and every last man in his crew die beneath my gun.

But that shit was pure fantasy. I hated to admit my woman was right. I had to keep my cool, or they'd snuff me out like a f*cking June bug, and maybe Meg too as collateral damage.

“Yeah, boy, careful.” Big Vic laughed, before his face went dead serious and he pushed his gun into my chest hard, wedging me between it and the one on my spine. “I'm gonna give you to the count of three, and you'll both drop to your knees. Put the gun down. Let me and Snappy do our thing, and you'll get to breathe a few more minutes while we decide what to do with you.”

Several men chuckled. I wanted to make them all choke on their own f*cking blood.

The boys are on their way, I thought. Gotta delay. Gotta stay sane. Gotta keep these motherf*ckers occupied before they can hurt her, or put me out of action before the cavalry shows up.

“Whatever.” I let my gun drop to the ground and hit my knees.

Meg did the same a second later. The skinny man with the long greasy hair behind me grabbed her, shoved her wrists together behind her back, and fixed something around her hands.

I couldn't f*cking look at her. I was on the verge of failing the only woman I'd ever cared about. The only man here who deserved to be gutted more than the Deads was me for letting her down.

“Don't hurt her,” I growled, staring up at Big Vic.

He looked down, his face half-shadowed, looking more like the devil himself than before. His lips curled up in a nasty grin.

“Sorry, bub. Gotta let her folks know we're f*cking serious before we pass her off for ransom. Here, let me make sure you don't get too stir crazy while we're ramming our big cocks up her tight little ass.”

“Fuck no!” Two words. “I swear, if you even think that shit again, I'll tear your f*cking throats out with my bare hands.”

If only it were as easy as the demon rage boiling over inside me made it feel.

Those words were all I managed before I noticed the heavy, round object swaying in his hand, bigger than his handgun. A split second later, the big rock crashed across my skull, and the world went instantly black.

I woke up seeing red. It took me a second to realize it wasn't just the blood caked all over my face – the f*cks hit me so hard my vision blurred to bright red stars. I counted myself lucky they hadn't cracked my head completely open.

“Shut the f*ck up and look into the camera, cunt!” Big Vic's command ended in a loud slap. “I already explained to you exactly what to say, and I'm not gonna do it again.”

I forced my eyes to focus, and saw Meg sprawled on the forest floor, next to some shitty little hollow. They'd dragged us deeper into the forest.

Her face snapped back when he hit her. Adrenaline flooded my heart, turned it into a f*cking grenade. I jerked up, and found a shotgun in my face, the bug-eyed twig boy they called Snappy holding it.

“Careful, Pistol. Wouldn't wanna have to blow your f*cking jaw off before the Veep tells me too.” His boot crashed into my chest.

I hit the ground and rolled, imitating more pain than his weak ass kick really brought to my ribs. I'd learned a long time ago to play weak when somebody had you by the balls. If a man managed to fool 'em, then they'd be too damned busy planning to rip off yours before you took theirs clean off.