Road to Victory (Dogs of Fire Book 5) Read online

  I unlocked the door to my sixteenth-floor home and pushed through. Knight followed and I braced myself. Knight didn’t come from money (at least I didn’t think he did) and I was sure he’d make some form of snarky comment. It had happened to me enough to stop bringing men home.

  “Where do you want your purse?” he asked.

  “Um... couch is fine,” I said.

  He dropped the clutch and smiled. “Nice place.” I studied him for a second and he raised an eyebrow. “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded and headed to the kitchen. “I’m going to take some ibuprofen.”

  “I’m gonna hang out on your sofa for a bit.”

  “Why?”

  He ignored the question. “Got any beer?”

  “Yes, but you’re not staying,” I said, and grabbed a bottle of water.

  I felt his hands on my waist and jumped. It was a slight and brief touch as he passed me to get to the fridge. “Knight.”

  “Yeah, sugar?” He leaned into the fridge and grabbed a beer.

  I crossed my arms and tried to make my expression as serious as possible. “You’re not staying.”

  “Do your thing, Kimmie. I’ll just hang.”

  “Aidan. You’re not staying,” I repeated, hoping by using his real name, he’d listen.

  He grinned. “Cute, Kim.”

  “What’s cute?” I demanded, and followed him to my sofa, where he sat his sexy butt down and got comfortable.

  He took a drag of his beer, set his motorcycle-booted feet on my two-thousand-dollar coffee table, and raised an eyebrow. “You, sayin’ my real name. It’s cute.”

  I let out a frustrated squeak. “I’m going to bed.”

  “Sugar, you can’t go to bed.”

  “Why not?”

  “What if you have a concussion?”

  I leaned against the sofa. “Katie didn’t seem concerned.”

  Knight patted the cushion beside him. “Come sit down, Kim. I’m gonna watch you for a bit. If you’re good in a couple of hours, I’ll let you sleep.”

  “You’re not a doctor, Knight.”

  “Not yet, no.”

  “Smartass.”

  “Come on. Katie gave me the signs to watch for and I’m pretty sure they’re not that much different than what happens in animals.”

  I wrinkled my nose, but knew he was looking out for me, so I grabbed a blanket and sat on the sofa. Before I could object, however, he reached his arm out and pulled me against his body.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Makin’ sure you’re okay.”

  “You can do that without touching me.”

  He smiled. “Not as much fun, though.”

  I’d like to say I settled in because I was still pretty fuzzy and sleepy, but the truth was, I loved being in the safety of his arms. He made me feel protected.

  Knight only left me to get water and force me to drink a couple of bottles to “flush my system out.” About an hour after arriving home, however, things went from comfortable to far too intense for my liking.

  “How you feelin’?”

  “Better,” I said, and took another sip of water.

  He studied my face. “I think it’s safe for you to go to sleep now, sug.” I moved to stand, but he shook his head. “But first. Who was that guy, Kim?”

  “What guy?”

  “The guy who attacked you.”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “What?”

  “Lie?”

  I huffed. “I’m not lying. I don’t know him.” He studied me and I scowled. “Stop it.”

  “Stop what, Kim?”

  “Stop trying to read my mind.”

  “This asshole says he knows you, so I’m tryin’ to figure exactly what that means.”

  “It doesn’t mean anything. He introduced himself, but I don’t know him. He said he’d worked for my father.”

  “Then why didn’t you just say that?” he challenged.

  I shrugged. Dr. Grace would say it’s a form of self-protection... only give concise answers to direct questions. Never give more away than is necessary, lest my heart be threatened.

  Knight sighed. “Okay, Kim.”

  “Is that all, Sir Nosy Pants?” I ground out as I rose to my feet.

  “Yeah, sugar. Sleep well.”

  “You’re such an ass sometimes, you know that?”

  “Yep.” He raised an eyebrow, grinned, and said, “’Night.”

  I stomped off to my bedroom, gritting back a groan as my tantrum created a surge of pain in my bruised leg. Closing the door behind me, I dropped my head to wood and took several deep breaths. Aidan. In my home. Shit.

  KNIGHT WATCHED KIM walk away. Fuck, she was gorgeous. Especially in a snit. He didn’t like that he couldn’t follow her to the bedroom... didn’t like that some asshole had his hands all over her, let alone hurt her, but he had to take it slow. She had some deep seated fears he was determined to break through, but first, she had to trust him which was going to take longer to achieve.

  Tonight was a good start. Tonight he wouldn’t leave her side and when she figured out she was safe with him, he could finally build on her trust. She came from money... a shit ton of it, but she loved Dani and Booker and treated Knight’s brothers, club and blood, like family, so she wasn’t a snob... well, not a big one anyway. Even so, he’d picked up on tension between her and her parents, so he wasn’t sure how murky her family waters were. In his opinion, money had a tendency to fuck people up, so he’d go in easy.

  He grinned again, finishing his beer and slipping his boots off. Her sofa rocked. Most comfortable piece of furniture he’d ever sat on, so he grabbed a pillow and the remote just as his phone buzzed. “Hey, Mack.”

  “The asshole drugged her. GHB.”

  “On top of beatin’ the shit out of her?” Knight sat up. “What the fuck?”

  “We’re dealin’ with him, just wanted you to know.”

  “Thanks, man.” Knight rubbed his forehead. “I got Kim.”

  Silence.

  “You hear me?” Knight said.

  “Yeah, man, I hear you,” Mack said.

  “’Night.”

  With a sigh, Knight hung up, found a college football game, and hunkered in for a relaxing night. He was torn between wanting to kill the man who attacked Kim and find out what the hell was actually going, and staying here with Kim to make sure she was safe. Since he trusted his brothers to handle the asshole, he decided he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

  These were his thoughts as he drifted off to sleep, only to be shocked awake by soft lips on his, and a firm, but gentle hand on his cock.

  “Fuck,” he hissed, blinking his eyes open and finding Kim above him.

  “Hey, baby,” she crooned, kissing him again.

  He enjoyed her mouth for several minutes before coming to his senses and breaking the connection. “Kim, sugar, what are you doin’?”

  “Easing some of my discomfort,” she said. “I’m horny.”

  As much as it killed him, he pulled her hand from his rock-hard dick and turned his head to avoid her kiss. “No, sug. Not like this.”

  “Come to my bedroom,” she suggested.

  “Damn it, Kim.” He took her face in his hands. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  She smiled, her thick, dark hair falling across her face. “I’m glad you think so.”

  “But this isn’t going to happen.” He pushed up and stood.

  “What?” she asked, her hooded eyes glassy with need.

  “Babe, you’ve had a fuckin’ bad night and I’m not takin’ advantage of that.”

  She ran her hands up his chest, kissing his throat. “You’re not taking advantage of anything.”

  “Fuck.” Knight squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head back. “No.”

  She gave a disbelieving giggle. “Knight, don’t be an idiot. I know you want me. Now’s your chance. No strings.”

&n
bsp; He looked at her again and sighed. The problem was, he wanted strings. Badly. “Not gonna happen.”

  “Aidan,” she whispered.

  “Fuck me,” he breathed out.

  “I’m tryin’ here!” she teased.

  “No, Kim. No.” He watched in both fascination and horror as her face changed. She went from open and sexy to closed and emotionless in zero point two. “Honey? You okay?” She continued to shut down in front of him and his heart raced. “Kim?”

  She tapped his chest, stepped back, and walked to her front door. “Goodnight.”

  He chuckled. “Babe.”

  “If you’re not out of my apartment in twenty-five seconds, I will call the police.”

  He narrowed his eyes; unsure she saw him... she didn’t look like herself. Jesus, she shut down far too quickly for his liking. “Do you even know who I am?”

  “Aidan, get out of my house.”

  “Just checkin’,” he grumbled as he pulled on his boots, grabbed his jacket, and made his way to the door. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Don’t bother.”

  “Kim, what the fuck just happened here?”

  She checked her watch. “Four seconds.”

  “Lock up, yeah?” Knight had barely gotten his feet out of the door before it was closed on his ass and he heard the clicks of the locks.

  Shit.

  He shrugged on his jacket, pulled out Mack’s keys, and headed to the garage. He’d give her a couple of days to calm down and smooth it out with her at the pig roast on Saturday. One thing he could bank on was his ability to get a woman to forgive him.

  He had no idea how wrong he was and how far he’d have to go to “smooth it out.”

  * * *

  Kim

  I came awake with a raging headache but feeling a whole hell of a lot better than I had the night before... well, other than the fact I’d been shut down by Knight. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and my heart raced a little, hoping it was him. I snatched it up and frowned. It was Mack. “Hey, honey.”

  “Hey, Kim. Just callin’ to check on you.”

  “I’m better.” I slid from the bed and walked into the kitchen for coffee. “Just a little groggy.”

  “I bet. Hey, I’m doin’ some checkin’ on your stalker.”

  I groaned. “Don’t be so melodramatic, I don’t have a stalker.”

  See? He takes everything to a level that’s absurd.

  “Not sure why you lied to me, Kim, but before it was just letters and shit... now they’re startin’ to get weird, right?”

  “Damn it! Dani told Booker, didn’t she?”

  “What I don’t understand, Kim, is why you didn’t tell me.”

  “Because it’s no big deal,” I rushed in defense.

  “Yeah? If that’s the case, you’ll gather all the shit up and have it waiting for me when I swing by to check on you in an hour.”

  “I don’t know if I have it, honestly.”

  He groaned. “You didn’t dump it, did you?”

  “Some of it,” I admitted. “Some of it’s in my trunk.”

  “Shit.”

  I swallowed back the bile threatening to spill. “Mack, is this really a threat?”

  “Yeah, babe, I think it is.”

  “Oh,” I whispered. “Was it the guy who attacked me last night?”

  Mack sighed. “No.”

  My heart sank. “You know that for sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ohmigod,” I rasped. “What did he want? The guy who attacked me?”

  “Still workin’ that out, Kim. But you’re covered, yeah?”

  I nodded. “Thanks for being a serious pain in the ass, Mack.”

  “Back atya, babe.” He chuckled. “Box it up; wear gloves when you do that, yeah?”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “See you in an hour.”

  He hung up and I immediately called Dani.

  “Well, hello there, favorite best friend in all the world,” she said in her happy, sing-songy voice. “What can I do for you?”

  I took a deep breath. “Um, filtering would be a good start.”

  She giggled. “I’m sorry?”

  “I get that you tell Booker everything, honey, but I really need you to filter, because he tells Mack everything which means, now I have a really pissed off biker coming over to “check on me” and pick up the creeper’s gifts.”

  “Good.”

  “No, Dani, it’s not good!” I countered. “If I wanted Mack to know, I would have told him.”

  “At some point you have to learn to trust people, especially those who love you, and this guy is freaking me out. You might not be as concerned as I am, but there’s something not right here, Kimmie, and if Mack can figure it out, then I’ll have less to worry about.”

  “Stop it,” I whispered. “Please.”

  “No. I love you, Kim, so, no. I won’t stop if it means keeping you safe, especially from yourself.”

  I let out a frustrated squeak.

  “Love you, honey,” she said, her voice low and serious. “Don’t ever doubt it, but know that sometimes I have to show you a little tough love in order to get through to your stupid, big fat, hard-headed brain!” she snapped. “And don’t think I don’t know about what happened last night! I can’t believe you didn’t call me.”

  “I didn’t want to worry you,” I whispered, waffling between regret from keeping something so huge from her and irritation that my secret had been spilled.

  “If I haven’t earned the right to worry about you, then you and I have a problem.”

  I sighed. She was right. She cleared her throat, probably from emotion. Damn it, now I’d made her cry. I really was a bitch. “I’m sorry, Dani.”

  “Now, even with your apology, I can envision you staring at the knife block, trying to decide which one to use on me, so I’m going to let you go for the moment,” she said.

  I looked quickly away from the knife block, annoyed she knew me so well.

  “I will call you tomorrow and we’ll figure out another girls’ night.”

  “That actually sounds really good.”

  “I know it does.” The smile was back in her voice, so I relaxed. “I love you, Kim.”

  She hung up before I could say another word and I flopped onto my sofa. Gah! My friends made me crazy!

  One Week Later...

  KNIGHT STOOD BY the wall behind the pool table, beer in his hand, eyes on the door, waiting. He was always fucking waiting.

  Knight took another swig of his beer and saw Kim before she saw him and he relaxed. Well, until she took off her coat. Then his body locked and he scanned the room, wondering which of his brothers he’d have to kill first. Kim wore dark, tight jeans, a Harley T-shirt she’d cut to hell, making it a low V-neck with strategic slits that gave tiny peeks of her flat stomach. A pair of high-heeled boots made her already gorgeous legs look fuckin’ incredible.

  Kim glanced at him and then immediately looked away, reaching for Flea’s hand and pulling him in for a hug... an intimate one.

  What the fuck?

  She’d come alone. Dani and Booker weren’t there yet, so Knight headed toward her, setting his beer on a table as he passed. She’d ignored his calls since the night she was attacked, and he knew she fucking got them. Knew she got his texts too, but she was shutting him out.

  Flea caught his eye and gave him an apologetic grimace. He was obviously just as surprised by Kim’s move as Knight had been. Flea disengaged himself from Kim, and Knight wrapped an arm around her waist, guiding her toward the kitchen.

  “Wha—what are you doing?” she demanded. “Let me go.”

  He dragged her through the kitchen, past the kids’ playroom, and to the meeting room at the back of the compound.

  “Knight!” she snapped.

  Closing the door behind them, he pushed her against the wall, keeping one hand on her hip to anchor her, then sliding his other to her neck. God, she smelled amazing. “You look b
eautiful, sugar. How’s your chest?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “Yeah? Any scarring?”

  Kim blushed and shook her head.

  “You feeling better?”

  “Yes.” She stood straighter. “I’d like to leave.”

  “You gonna behave?”

  She scowled up at him and pushed against the hand holding her to the wall. “You don’t get to talk to me like that, Aidan.”

  “You don’t think?”

  “Let me go,” she whispered.

  He smiled and leaned down, getting nose-to-nose with her. “You gonna behave?”

  She licked her lips and he hardened at the sight of her pink tongue peeking out between her lips. She didn’t answer, so he ran his tongue over her perfect mouth, then he kissed her... mostly because he had to taste her.

  Kim opened her mouth, sliding her tongue to meet his. Knight deepened the kiss, only to find his lip bitten hard enough to draw blood. “What the fuck?” he bellowed, pressing his hand against his mouth. She didn’t say a word as she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

  “Fuck!” he yelled again, forcing himself not to follow her. If he reached her in the state he was in, he’d say or do something he’d regret. He needed to calm down before they spoke.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Mack bellowed.

  Knight shook his head at the sound of Mack’s anger.

  “Where the fuck is he?” Mack demanded.

  God damn it! He wasn’t afraid of Mack, but he didn’t really want to deal with more drama than Kim.

  “Mack, calm down.” This came from Ace. “I’ll handle my little brother.”

  Ace walked into the room and shook his head. “What the fuck did you do?”

  “Just wanted a little time with my girl,” Knight retorted.

  Ace crossed his arms. “Against her will?”

  “I’d never fuckin’ hurt Kim and you know it.”

  He pointed toward Knight’s face. “Looks like she doesn’t feel the same way.”

  “Somethin’s wrong,” Knight admitted. “I just can’t put my finger on it.”

  His brother relaxed. “Aidan, you gotta go slow with her. Don’t make the same mistakes I did with Cass.”

  Knight dragged his hands down his face. Cassidy Dennis had been Ace’s best friend since they were kids (back when Ace went by Carter). A series of mistakes and rash judgments pulled them apart for years, but they’d reconnected and realized they still loved each other more than ever. They were married now and happy, but it had been a bumpy road for a while.