Owned & Untamed (Back Down Devil MC #11)(14)

I let out a loud scream and jumped.

When I spun around, Jim was still there, his phone to his ear.

“We’ll finish up tomorrow,” he said and ended the call.

“Jim,” I said.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“You know what I’m doing.”

“Making sure I’m not trying to kill myself?” Jim asked.

“Don’t do this,” I whispered. “I have to…”

“Yeah, right,” Jim said.

He turned and walked away. I went after him. “Who were you talking to?”

“Just taking care of myself, sis. Just like you wanted me to do.”

“What does that mean?”

Jim paused and looked over his shoulder. “My business. Not yours.”

I followed him to the kitchen and I saw a bottle of whiskey on the table. There was a folder open with papers in it. Jim closed the folder and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. He drank from it and walked away with the folder.

I considered pestering Jim but I took it for face value. If he was doing something on his own for himself that had to be a good thing. A good sign. So I left it be.

My plans shifted. I wanted a hot bath, a glass of wine, and a good night of sleep. I had a meeting the next day at one of the properties. At least it was something to do.

I made it to the steps when I heard an all too familiar sound. My hand on the post, one foot on the first step. I shut my eyes and shook my head, telling myself it was impossible. No way a motorcycle was coming anywhere near our road. Hell, the last time a motorcycle was here…

The sound got louder.

I turned and saw a flash of light through the glass of the front door. I hurried to tear it open as the motorcycle came to a stop. I flicked on the porch light, which didn’t help me see any better, and I opened the door.

My foot touched the porch as a towering figure climbed off the motorcycle. He took off his helmet and started to walk forward, without fear, like he owned the house.

I tried to find something to say but the second I actually saw him in the pale light of the porch, I lost my breath.

Duke was here.

**

I thought I was going to collapse. I put my hands to the doorway as Duke stopped at the second step. Even there he was already taller than me. He had forever been taller than me, from the day I met him when he and Jim were in sixth grade. They used to get in trouble with firecrackers, always trying to blow something up.

Duke stared at me with his perfectly squared off jaw, full of dirty scruff. I couldn’t help but wonder what it felt like. His eyes were as dark as I always remembered them, even if they looked a little more lost than normal right then.

It had been years.

So we stood there, staring at each other.

Duke forever stubborn. Me forever hurt by his actions.

“Jim here?” he finally asked.

“Inside. Drinking whiskey.”

“Shit,” Duke said.

He stepped up to the next step, then he was on the porch. His shoulders were as wide as the house. Time had been good to his muscles, that was for damn sure. Duke had always been strong and lean, but once he entered the military he became thickly carved with muscle.

My eyes looked at the leather cut he wore.

So all of it was true.

I pointed to the leather cut. “Back Down Devil…”

“What about it?”

“You’re a criminal now?”

“You here to judge me?”

“This is my house, Duke. My father’s dead. You knew that, right?”

“Sweetie, listen to me…”

“No. I won’t.” I stepped out onto the porch and nodded to the door. “You want to go save him? Do it now. Do what you said you were going to do a long time ago.”

Duke walked to the open door and stopped. He turned and looked right at me. Down at me, actually.

Why the f*ck did he always have to look so good?

A hand shot out and touched my arm. “I never let anyone down, sweetie. And if I did, then I guess I owe some apologies. I thought I was saving everyone.”

I didn’t expect that from him, considering the way our phone conversation went.

Then Duke leaned down and pressed his lips to my cheek. His scuff was like sandpaper. His lips were soft, just like I always remembered them to be.

And then he walked into my house.

Back into my life.

Back into my heart.





nine.



(duke)



What the f*ck are you thinking?

I licked my lips and could taste Belle. Fuck, I never stopped tasting Belle, even after the years passed by. I wasn’t into the whole apologizing shit either. But if Jim was going to hurt himself, I wanted to be there to kick his ass before he did it.

Sometimes the demons won the fight, okay? That was just how it went. You came back from that other place but you never were allowed to leave it. That’s why I did what I did with my life. Keeping my freedom kept me a step ahead of those demons. Shit, it put me side by side with the reaper, but that was a risk I was willing to take.

The house was different from the last time I saw it. It was bigger, an addition put on. The idea made sense. Belle’s old man worshipped Jim. Fuck, I was jealous of Jim the way Big Jim looked at him. I wanted Big Jim to be my father. No shock that he built a ranch level addition for his injured son. Knowing Jim though, he f*cking hated it. He hated any restriction. Being a hot head was what made me and Jim good friends for such a long time.