Page 106 of Fox (Road Rebels MC 4)
“Please let me go, Ryan. This is insane!” I said, trying to keep my voice down so that I didn’t trigger any more anger in him. Ryan took in a deep breath and shook his head slowly. Like I was a child, and I had done something naughty to disappoint him.
“This is our destiny, Ensley. You and I were always supposed to be together. You shouldn’t have run away from me,” he said, and turning from me, he went and sat down on the edge of the bed, making himself comfortable for what he thought was going to be a long heart-to-heart.
***
“You know how long I’ve been searching for you?” Ryan asked, placing his hands on his knees as he looked at me. I could feel my breath catch in my throat. I couldn’t speak in fear and anger, and I had no interest in replying to him.
“I had no idea where you were,” he added and I glared at him with rage.
“I had a restraining order against you,” I retorted, to which he laughed and then shook his head.
“That was a silly thing to do, wasn’t it, sweetness? It made finding you even harder for me,” he said.
Had he gone absolutely crazy or was he just drunk? I couldn’t figure it out. Ryan had always been somewhat over the top with his obsession, but now it seemed like he had reached the tipping point and fallen over the edge. He had reached a stage where he had become dangerous.
“I didn’t know if you were in New York or where the fuck you had disappeared to,” he added, and I bit my tongue before I could say; that was the point!
I just remained sitting silently on the chair, glaring at him while he spoke.
“Nobody will ever love you or want you, the way I do, Ensley. I know everything about you, every broken bit and I still love you,” he said, and now I couldn’t bite back any longer.
“That is not true!” I yelled and then clamped my mouth shut again. I didn’t want him bringing his knife out again.
Ryan’s eyes widened as he stared at me. Then clenching his fists like he was about to punch something, he spoke through gritted teeth.
“You think that biker guy is in love with you? He’s using you for your body, sweetness. When will you get that in your head? Every man who has looked at you has only wanted one thing. Your body and that tight pussy of yours,” he said, and his gaze traveled down my body to the spot between my thighs. I was pressing my legs together, hoping that he wouldn’t force himself on me. He jerked his face up to look into my eyes again.
“But not me. Not me, Ensley. I’ve wanted you because I love you,” he said, and I shook my head, my eyes were wide and rapt with anger.
“And you took away my freedom and my safety. You hit me!” I said, trying to keep my voice down.
Ryan stood up from the bed.
“And you think those biker guys are keeping you safe? You saw how easy it was for me to walk right past them and take you away. You are safe now, sweetness. Here with me,” he said and coming forward to me, he crouched down in front of me.
Thorn had sat like that in front of me too when he’d reached for my hand and comforted me. With Ryan, I didn’t feel an ounce of that same comfort. I hated him with fury. I wanted to hurt him the way he had hurt me!
“I want you to let me go,” I said, my voice was in a hiss, and he reached for my knee. Slowly, he started stroking my legs, and I could feel chills running up and down my spine. If my hands were free, I would have used them to slap him, but now instead, I started pulling against the chords.
“There’s no use struggling, Ensley. You know you’re going to stay here with me, for as long as I want you to,” he said, and a smile started spreading on his face.
“How did you find me? How did you know where I was?” the words burst out of me and he shook his head again like I had said something stupid.
“I saw you on TV, babe. It was simple. You couldn’t keep your whore face away from the limelight, and I couldn’t stay away from you,” he said and started straightening himself up over me.
“If you’d just listened to me in the first place, and stayed away from that precious little career of yours; none of this would have happened. See? I told you I know best,” he said.
I spat at him and then screamed. I couldn’t just keep sitting there and taking his abuse anymore. I screamed until my lungs hurt, and until I felt his hand lash against my cheek.
He had knocked the breath out of me, and my face was jerked to the side. I could feel the sting of his hand on my cheek, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore.
“You just need to relax, Ensley. We’re going to be here for a while. Settle down, sweetness,” he said and then, he tugged my face back towards him. He was smiling again, even though there were tears pouring down my cheeks. My lips were quivering, my nostrils were flared, and I wanted to find the words I could fling at him that would really hurt him.
Ryan reached his hand out and started stroking my hair, in the same motion that Thorn had done, but this time, I wasn’t comforted. Neither did I feel safe. I wanted to get away from him. I wanted him to stop touching me.
I looked up at him, with tears in my eyes and another scream rising up in my chest. I couldn’t scream again though because I knew the next time, it would be more than just a slap. The next time, he would bring his knife out and make me bleed.
I cowered from him, as he kept stroking my hair.
“Beautiful, sweet Ensley. Doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into, does she?” he murmured to himself, and now I was sure that he had lost his mind. This was not the same man I thought I was in love with five years ago.
Chapter 25
Thorn
The guys were all standing around me. I hadn’t asked them to, but they had followed me to the hotel room near Ensley’s apartment. Brooks was missing, but I didn’t have the headspace to think about where he might have been.
Topher, Jamison, and Beckett were standing over me, watching me as I fumed. I kept cracking my knuckles and muttering to myself. For the first time in my life, I was feeling helpless, and I didn’t know what to do with myself in that situation.
That asshole had her. That cowardly psychopath had kidnapped the only woman who had made me feel alive, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
“I’ll kill him myself,” I growled after there had been silence in the room for several minutes.
“We have to find him first,” Beckett stated, and I glared at him, throwing daggers at him with my eyes.
I cracked my knuckles again and watched Jamison as he ran his hand through his hair. I could sense that he hadn’t stopped feeling guilty about everything that had happened and I wasn’t sure if I had forgiven him fully yet either.
“If he fucking touches her, I’ll kill him,” I growled again, and I caught the guys exchanging looks.
“So, what do we do now, boss?” Topher asked, and I shook my head.
“Call Church,” I commanded, and they exchanged looks again.
“This is Church. I called it because you told me to, remember?” he replied, and I stared at him blankly. I realized that I was feeling more lost now than I had felt before.
“Where the fuck is Brooks?” I growled, and he shrugged his shoulders.
I jumped up from the chair and walked to the wall and punched it. I needed to feel the pain shoot up my arm. I was trying to knock some sense into myself.
“Okay, Thorn, Boss, you need to calm down and tell us what to do. We want to get the guy just as much as you do,” Topher said, and I whipped around to him, charging at him in full force. Topher took a step back from me, suddenly surprised by my behavior.
“No, you fucking don’t!” I barked at him, and he looked back at me with a question in his eyes. I knew what he wanted to ask me. Why I cared so fucking much about a client, but he didn’t dare ask me that.
“Fuck, Jamison, why did you leave the door?” it was Beckett who asked that, and we all turned to look at Jamison who ran his hand through his hair again.
“I don’t know. I was an idiot. It’s all my fucking fault
,” he said, and I clenched my jaws.
“No, it’s not. It’s all our faults. We should have been prepared. We should have anticipated that fucker’s next move. We took him for granted. We thought he was just a deranged loony,” I growled, and Jamison was looking at me gratefully.
I knew what the consequences were when your brothers start blaming you for something gone wrong. I knew Jamison had slipped up, but I didn’t want him to face the consequences for that for a lifetime. I was going to forgive him this time and hope that he didn’t fuck up like this again.
