Torin (Savage Kings MC Book 3) Read online

  "Morning, Cooper," I smile and say to him in greeting.

  He looks at War on the other bed and then back at me with a big grin splitting his face in half. "Morning, beautiful," he replies. Then, to War, "Does he know you untied her?" he asks, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward the dark room behind him.

  "I’ll tie her back up after she eats. Otherwise, it’s a waste," War replies.

  As the president of the MC, Torin is obviously in charge. So it’s going to make convincing them to disobey him incredibly difficult.

  "Fine, but you’re responsible for her," Cooper says while keeping his eyes on me.

  "Why don't you put some clothes on and go get us some breakfast?" War asks. My stomach gives out a grumble again at the mention of food.

  "Why don't you go get dressed and get breakfast?" Cooper counters. "I just woke up.”

  War sighs but mutters his agreement before getting up and heading back into the dark room.

  Cooper swoops down to quickly take his seat across from me on the other bed, practically bouncing on the mattress with excitement. He's clearly going to be the easiest to manipulate. I can already tell since we previously worked together. Or maybe he's just the one that will be easier to seduce.

  “Watch her, and Torin said not to lay a finger on her,” War orders Cooper before he leaves out the hotel door.

  In his absence, there's suddenly an awkward tension in the air with the two of us sitting alone together, a few feet apart. Cooper just continues to stare at me with heat in his darkening blue eyes as they drift to my breasts spilling out of my corset, down my legs and back up again. He never openly gawked at me at Avalon. There’s also a noticeable tenting going on in his pants. Now's my chance.

  "So, um, do you think I can take a shower?" I ask, arching my back to emphasize my cleavage.

  "A shower?" Cooper laughs while his eyes dip down to my breasts again. "You're a cunning one, I'll give you that. But, sure, if you want a shower, then let's go, doll."

  "Really?" I ask, thinking that was too easy.

  "Yeah. But I'm going to have to stand in the doorway the entire time, of course, just to make sure you don't pull any funny business."

  "Of course," I reply, swallowing down the nervousness. Why I’m nervous about him seeing me naked, I’m not sure. He’s seen everything before when I stripped on his stage. For some reason, it seems more intimate to undress in a hotel room for a shower with a man I barely know and once worked for.

  Cooper jumps up a second later, and lifts me over his shoulder, carrying me into the bathroom. He sets my feet down on the floor and then kneels down to cut the plastic tie at my ankles with a pocket knife, giving me a view of his broad, muscular, tattooed back as he works. I sigh in relief once I’m completely free again.

  After the restraint is taken care of, Cooper hops up so he's sitting on the countertop. Then he just watches and waits.

  “Mind if I hang out here?” he asks.

  “Ah, no, not at all,” I reply. “I’m just a slutty stripper after all,” I mutter. “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”

  The muscle in his chiseled jaw ticks. “I’m not just a peeping Tom. I’m trying my best to make sure Torin doesn’t hurt you. That’s not what I want to see happen, okay?”

  “I know,” I reply, and watch as his blue eyes darken even further when I start unlacing the corset string until it’s loose enough to slide off to the floor. Last but not least, I push Torin’s boxers down in one shove, leaving me naked.

  “Even with the private striptease, there’s no way in hell I would ever touch you,” Cooper remarks. “I don’t want to lose one of my hands.”

  “Right,” I say, a little defeated even though, despite his words, his smooth, bare chest lifts and falls with his rapid breathing. He then rests his head back against the glass mirror, with a hand pressing on the bulge in the front of his jeans.

  I turn around and lean over, flashing him my ass to turn the faucet on in the shower. After the water warms, I push the curtain out of the way to finally step underneath the spray.

  The water feels good as it covers first my hair and face and then runs down between my breasts. I turn around and look up to the ceiling to soak the long strands. I don't glance over at my audience, although I feel his heated stare on me.

  Reaching over for the sample size hotel shampoo and body wash, I lather my hair up with the lemon scented suds, missing the smell of my familiar vanilla shampoo, and then do the same with my body. When I cup both breasts, I hear a groan from the counter, then one even louder when I use a washcloth to rub between my legs a little longer and more thorough than is necessary. After I rinse myself, I turn off the faucet and reach for a towel from the rack.

  I finally glance over to Cooper once I have a towel wrapped around me. He looks like he’s in pain and close to breaking.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, I reach back into the shower for the washcloth I used and wring it out before climbing out of the tub and taking it to him. Standing between his legs, I start to lower his zipper.

  I’m certain that neither War nor Cooper wanted any part of kidnapping me. This is all about Torin’s vengeance. I wonder if the two of them are even aware of why Torin blames me…

  "What the fuck!"

  The words are bellowed from the doorway, causing Cooper and me to both jump. I grasp the top of my towel to keep myself covered at the same time Cooper hops down off the counter. He quickly zips his pants back up but Torin’s furious eyes don’t miss the movement. "I told you not to lay a fucking finger on her!" His angry words echo around the room.

  "I-I didn't," Cooper responds, sounding out of breath.

  "Bull-fucking-shit!" Torin yells furiously as he closes in on the other man. His hand on Cooper’s chest, shoves the man backward while I press my back against the sink, trying to shrink out of the way as far as possible. This could even be the perfect time to run if Torin would just move out of the way! But the bathroom is small and Torin seems to take up most of it.

  Looking at him now, shirtless in the bright lights of the bathroom, he's bigger than normal. In fact, the only way to describe him right now is as a Greek god, with messy, dirty-blond hair and a full beard. He’s taller than both Cooper and War. And he appears to be much more violent.

  "He-he didn't touch me," I speak up hoarsely and say in Cooper’s defense because he’s the closest thing I have to an ally here. "I-I touched him."

  The angry god ignores me and swings a fist at Cooper’s face, but Cooper ducks and it only grazes his cheek. "She was playing you, you dumbass!" Torin roars.

  "Fuck, Torin!" War exclaims when he comes running through the open bathroom door. Great, there goes my chance to escape. "Oh, Jesus," War mutters when he takes in the scene.

  Torin then spins around and yanks me by my arm so hard that I yelp. He tosses me over his shoulder while I struggle to keep my towel over me, then throws me down on the bed. Hovering over me and looking angrier than a hornet, there’s a heartbeat when he looks at me like…like he wants me again. But then he blinks his dark green eyes and it’s gone, as if it was never there and I imagined it. Storming into the dark adjoining room, he returns with a plain white t-shirt and another pair of boxers.

  I'm surprised when he dresses me like I'm an infant, putting my arms and head in the shirt, and legs in the boxers. I think he's just too impatient to wait for me to do it myself. After I'm covered, he returns to the other room and comes back with duct tape. Crap! He wraps that shit so damn tight around my ankles it hurts much more than the zip-ties. But he's not finished. He flips me to my stomach and does the same thing to my wrists behind my back. Now I'm getting scared, especially when he tears off another long strip with his teeth then slaps it across my mouth. Leaving me in the awkward position, I struggle to get on my side.

  My body's still damp, and my long hair is soaking wet, dripping onto the white tee, which makes it see through.

  Torin stomps back to the bathroom where C
ooper and War have been arguing in hushed voices. His voice is not hushed.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asks. "I ought to kick you out on your ass right now! Touch her again and you’re gone!" he warns him.

  "I didn't touch her!" Cooper argues.

  "Let her touch you again and you’re gone," Torin clarifies. "Now get the fuck out of here. I don't want to look at your goddamn face!"

  War comes out of the bathroom first, giving me an apologetic look before grabbing up the bag of fast food he'd apparently thrown down on the kitchen counter when he came in.

  Cooper heads straight for the other hotel room without even a glance in my direction.

  "You gonna take the tape off of her so she can eat, or do I have to feed her?" War asks Torin after he comes back into the room and jerks the curtain to the side to look out the front window. The clenched fists at his side and heaving chest say he's still pretty pissed off.

  "Neither."

  "Um, what does that mean?" War asks.

  "Until the whore stops trying to fuck one of us over, she doesn't eat," he declares without turning around.

  My stomach rumbles in protest.

  "Seriously?" War asks, sitting down on the spare bed, looking to his leader in shock.

  "Shut the fuck up," Torin replies curtly.

  "If she can't eat, then we don't either."

  When Torin glances over his shoulder at War and then me, he curses when he sees the dampness on the front of my shirt. I cower in fear as he stomps over then jerks me up, painfully so, crushing my ribs before tossing me down onto the hard tile floor on my ass in the bathroom. He slams the bathroom door so hard that the walls shake.

  Great. The bed was at least comfortable but now...the bathroom sucks. It's cold and wet. The only upside is that it offers me the chance of trying to wiggle out of the tape without anyone watching.

  Chapter Six

  Torin

  I'm so goddamn pissed I could kill someone as I pace the length of the hotel room. I do want to kill someone — that slutty fucking bitch. As soon as I walked into that bathroom, it was obvious Cooper was five seconds away from fucking her. From what I saw, all he got was maybe a hand job from the conniving whore before I interrupted. I knew he was gonna do that shit ever since he first saw her. War isn't much better with him wanting to be all paternal, taking care of her like she’s a child. He's glaring at me right now from the bed with his arms crossed over his chest.

  "Do you know what he was doing with her?” I shout.

  "Whatever it was, she doesn't deserve to be starved,” War grumbles from his seat on the bed.

  I scoff at that. "She was jerking on his goddamn cock."

  War’s jaw falls open before he recovers and says, "So?"

  "So? Are you fucking kidding me?" I ask, scrubbing my hands over my face.

  "What does it matter if he didn't force her and shit?"

  "Because she’s playing him."

  "Cooper wouldn’t have caved. He’s around naked women all day, every day,” War argues. “And come on, Torin, even you have to admit that she's smoking hot," he says with a smirk, pissing me off even more because most women don’t even show up as a blip on his radar, but she does.

  "You don’t know the fucked up shit that she’s done!" I yell at him.

  "Then tell me what she did,” he says when he gets to his feet and charges toward me. “Tell me. I’m dying to know what’s been eating you up for months now, way before Kennedy –”

  “Don’t say her fucking name,” I warn him.

  "I know you went through hell, man, but why are you taking it out on that girl?”

  I'm in his face the next second. "No, you don't know what it's like or what I fucking went through! What still torments me every single second of every goddamn day because of motherfucking Hector Cruz! This is about revenge! She is about revenge and nothing else!"

  War blinks before he gasps. "You son of a bitch! You wanna fucking kill her too, don’t you?" he asks, putting both hands on my chest to shove me backward. "What's wrong with you, man? She's innocent!"

  "No, she’s not innocent. My wife and my son were innocent, but that didn't stop Cruz from killing them, did it?" I counter.

  "He's evil and soulless. You're not, Torin. That's the difference!” he shouts. “Don't do this. If you do, then you're no better than him. It’s one thing to go around taking out the Aces assholes. But if you do that to her…” He shakes his head. “There's no coming back from that shit, brother."

  "Whatever," I mutter, because I’m too far gone to ever dream of coming back.

  "I'm fucking serious, Torin,” War says. “Swear to me, swear to me on Kennedy and the baby’s graves that you are going to let Lexi go, or I'll go in there and do it myself right now. What would your old lady and son think about you doing this shit if they were still alive?"

  "They're not alive, are they?" I yell in response.

  "No, and I'm sorry. But that girl didn't kill them," he says, pointing to the closed bathroom door.

  "She’s just as responsible as Cruz," I grumble. "But fine. If Cruz shows up, I’ll kill him and let her go, but only if you and Coop stay the hell away from her."

  "Fine."

  "I'm serious, War."

  "Got it. Damn,” he mutters. “I'm worried about you, Torin. I know it hasn’t been that long, but eventually you're gonna have to let them go. Killing Cruz isn’t going to bring your family back."

  "Hell, I fucking know that," I say, combing my fingers through my hair. "I’ll put an end to Cruz, and then…then I’ll have a fresh start." I lie to my best friend so that he’ll drop the issue, rather than tell him exactly how I plan to end my suffering.

  …

  Lexi

  It’s been hours since I was tossed onto the bathroom floor without food and no way to even get water from the sink with my hands behind my back and tape over my mouth. Rather than throw a pity party, I lie on my side and keep my eyes shut tight, breathing in and out through my nose, dreaming of being home instead of here on the cold floor. I’d give anything to be back in my apartment with Liam and Joanna…

  The door opens, but I don’t bother moving. I’m so weak at this point that I’m not entirely sure that I can.

  "Lexi?"

  I blink my eyes open enough to see whose voice it is. I know it’s not Torin. He prefers to use derogatory slurs rather than my name.

  It’s War who comes in and kneels down next to me.

  "I'm gonna rip this tape off, and I'm sorry, but it's probably gonna hurt like a sonofabitch. Don't make a sound, okay?"

  I nod my head in agreement, so he grabs one side of the tape covering my mouth and yanks on it quickly, making me wince when it feels like my lips are being ripped off with it.

  "Thirsty? Hungry?" he asks me.

  "God, yes. Both," I answer hoarsely.

  He leans over me with his knife, using it to slice through the tape on my wrists and then the tape on my ankles. Once that’s done, I can thankfully move into a sitting position against the bathtub.

  "I'll be right back," War tells me. He disappears for several moments before returning with another bottle of water and a nice, juicy burger wrapped in a napkin.

  "Sorry he threw you in here. He's sort of...he’s still working through his grief."

  “I know,” I tell him, feeling guilty for the part I unknowingly played in the blackmail my father has on Torin.

  “Here,” he says, handing me the burger and water.

  “Thank you, War,” I tell him before I take a big bite of cheesy goodness.

  “I’m gonna try and convince him to let you sleep in the bed tonight. Don’t get your hopes up, though.”

  “Okay,” I agree. And because he’s being so nice, I go for the big play. “War, could I…could I please use your phone? I really need to make a call.”

  “You know I can’t let you do that,” he says with a shake of his head. “Torin would kill me.”

  “Do you have kids?” I ask him
softly.

  “Let’s not talk about that,” War mutters.

  “What if you did and they were in danger?” I continue trying to convince him.

  Instead of responding, he starts backing toward the door. “I’ll be back when I can.”

  “War, wait!” I yell, but he’s already gone. In his rush to leave, he left me unrestrained. If only there was a window in the bathroom or even an air vent. But no, I’m shit out of luck.

  War does eventually come back, though, after I fall asleep against the wall. He secures my ankles and wrists loosely with duct tape again, then lifts me in his arms and carries me back to the bed.

  “He’s gonna let you go. I promise, okay?” he leans over and whispers to me.

  “Okay,” I agree, even though I don’t really believe that.

  Chapter Seven

  Lexi

  I watch Torin's eyes drift shut again as he snoozes in the chair near the door and count the seconds before they reopen. Fifteen. I need more than that. Come on, come on. Go to sleep, you angry son of a bitch!

  Half an hour later and we're up to several minutes of shut-eye. It's now or never. I ease one foot out of the loose tape around my ankles, then slowly lower both of my feet to the floor. Quiet as a mouse, I tiptoe to the hotel door. I put my back to the door and slowly turn the deadbolt with my hands that are still restrained behind my back.

  Once that's done, I gradually begin turning the doorknob. When I get it all the way around, I take a deep breath for the next part, knowing Torin is probably going to wake up from the sound of it creaking open.

  Telling myself I need to do this now before he kills me, I yank the door open and spin around to get out of it. It's muggy and dark since it’s in the middle of the night, so it takes my eyes a minute to adjust to what's beyond the hotel porch lights. I see a strip mall way off in the distance to my left, so that's the direction I start running as fast as my legs can go. Hopefully, when I get there, I can find someone to call the police.