Burned (Devil's Blaze MC #3)(36)

“What are you talking about?”

“Just let it go. Nothing I tell you will make you change your mind.”

“Skull would never do that, Katie. Jesus Christ, I don’t think the man has been with a woman since Beth’s been gone.”

“Yeah, I’m buying that.”

“I’m telling you it’s the truth. I mean, there might have been a few while he was grieving and drunk off his ass, but there’s been no one he’s bothered having a repeat performance with.”

“Oh well, that makes it all better.”

“What the f*ck did you expect? He thought she was dead! He thought he killed her!”

“And I’m saying he knew better! I’m saying that while Beth was delivering her daughter, she almost died. I called to let him know that she needed him, and one of your brothers hung up on me!” I’m watching his face the entire time, so I see the exact moment when his face changes. “Oh my God. It was you. You’re the f*cker who hung up on me that night!”

“We thought she was dead,” he says. “We thought—”

“I know what you thought. I know exactly what you thought.”

“Katie…”

“You and your brother both thought you could send Bethie a goodbye package that would rip out her heart and a hundred thousand thrown in the mix and you’d be done with us.”

“I’m telling you, Skull didn’t do that.”

“And I’m telling you, I was there so I know he did.”

“I give up. I can’t win with you. While you’re sitting over there being a bitch and being mad at the world, Katie, why don’t you ask yourself one question? Why don’t you ask yourself why, if Skull was in such a hurry to get rid of Beth and his child a couple of years ago, he would even bother trying to find them now? And while you’re puzzling over that one, why don’t you remember who the f*ckers are that have given you and Beth so much trouble from day one. Because I think if you remember that, you might discover that person has never been a member of the Devil’s Blaze.”

I stare at the window and ignore him, or at least I’m trying to appear that way. The problem is, he’s making sense. Could the package have not been from Skull? Does it even matter? The picture in it, Bethie confirmed, was Skull. I lay my head against the window of the jeep and close my eyes. I’m tired of thinking. I’m tired of fighting—at least for now.





“Wake up, sleepyhead,” I whisper to Katie as I’m picking her up in my arms. She’s been sleeping all evening. I woke her up so we could grab some drive-thru. She ate, then went back out.

I’ve been driving for the last five hours in silence. By rights, we should almost be home, but Skull told me to drag my feet and that’s what I’m doing, which explains why we’re only halfway through the state of Oklahoma instead of in Missouri. He thinks Beth will follow her sister. He’s so sure of it, he’s planning on meeting us when we cross over into Missouri.

I have mixed feeling about it all. I don’t want my time with Katie to end. As pissed off as I was at the stunt she pulled today, the relief I felt when I found her was different for me. Profound, even. I’m a lover of women. All women. I just don’t believe in monogamy, or that it’s even possible. Katie pulls strings inside of me I didn’t know were there. I’m not tired of her. Not even a little bit. Instead, I keep remembering our night together and I f*cking want more. It could be just sex, but the thing is, I enjoy just talking to her and spending time with her almost as much as the sex, and that shit right there, that has never f*cking happened. That has to mean something, right? I don’t know what it means, but I do know it makes me curious.

As I watch her stretch, her shirt pulling taut over her breasts and that sweet little noise that escapes her lips, I know it’s more than that. Katie is different. Fuck me running. She’s got a hold on me and I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to get free.

I pick her up in my arms and something settles inside of me. She’s made for my arms. She fits. It’s sudden, but I feel it in my f*cking blood. The same blood she heats. I made fun of Sabre, Latch, and Skull. Called them *-whipped and a million other things, but f*ck me if it’s not starting to sink in that I might be trapped and just as hard and as quick as they were. The scariest thing about that shit isn’t the thought of being tied down with one woman my whole life. Fuck, no. That’s how far her claws are in me. The scary thing is how Katie will react when Skull gets Beth in his clutches again, because my brother is f*cked up.

I’m not even sure what he’s going to do.

I checked into the Ken’s Bargain Motel before I went back to collect Katie. It’s a small, out of the way motel where there are five rooms attached to the main office all in succession, one right after the other. I asked for the room on the end out of habit. I don’t need Katie screaming and alerting the front office, either. She’s given me a big enough headache as it is.

I carry her inside and put her on the bed. With all of the shifting and moving around, she finally wakes up. She stretches her hands above her head, yawning. She probably has no idea how f*cking sexy she looks right now. At least my dick is waking up and appreciating the fact.

“What time is it?”

“Late. We’ll bed down for the night and get up early in the morning.”