DARK FALL (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (19 page)

“
A
kill?
”

“
Babe,
this is our world. You want in, you'll learn to accept death."

Kaity nodded.
“
Of course. I don
’
t have anywhere to go, Erik. If
I got in my car I would have to keep driving, and I will always have to look
over my shoulder.
”

Kaity
’
s
lip quivered and she lowered her head.

“
You
’
ll do this for us?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
This
is serious, Kaity. I
’
m not
going to fuck with you, okay? You could get hurt. You could lose this fight. Do
you even know how to fight?
”

Kaity looked at Erik.
“
I can fight. I can take care of
myself. If this is going to help you, I
’
ll
do anything. If you can get revenge and stop hating yourself for your scars
…”

Erik grabbed Kaity by her arms. He
stood her up and stared at her.
“
Don
’
t talk about my fucking scars.
”

“
I
can
’
t help it,
”
Kaity said.
“
Your scars are beautiful.
”

Beautiful? What the fuck?

“
I
don
’
t want you to fuck this
up and get killed.
”

“
I
won
’
t,
”
Kaity said.
“
I
’
ll
fight. I
’
ll do what I have
to do. Like I always do, Erik. I don
’
t
need you as much as I want you. And I want you to look in the mirror and see
what I see when I look at you.
”

“
My
face will always be the same,
”
Erik said.
“
Revenge or not.
I
’
ll always have my scars.
I
’
ll always have the
memories.
”

“
Then
share it all with me,
”
Kaity said.
“
Because I have
scars too. I know my scars are on the inside, but my nightmares follow me every
night. And if you need to see me fight another woman to help you do all this,
then yes, I will do it. I
’
ll
fight the world for you, Erik. If it matters to you, it matters to me.
”

Erik shook his head. He put a hand
to Kaity
’
s face and traced
her cheek.

Fuck, she was so beautiful.

"I want you to fight as much
as I don
’
t," Erik
said.

“
I
’
m doing this,
”
Kaity said.
“
If that
’
s what you talked about at your meeting. If that
’
s what your President wants,
what your MC needs, then I
’
m
going to do it. I don
’
t
want to hide, Erik. I don
’
t
want to be the woman who was once a rat. That
’
s
not who I am. I made bad choices in my life. I tried to help people on the
cases I worked. Even if Brad fucked them all over. So let this be my punishment
to myself. My proof to you. Maybe even my proof to myself.
”

“
Christ,
you
’
re fucking amazing,
”
Erik said. He shut his eyes and
wished he could take that back.

“
Erik,
you
’
re fucking amazing,
too,
”
Kaity said.
“
You
’
ll see it someday. That
’
s what I want.
”

Erik had nothing left to say. They
stood staring at each other for what felt like hours. Erik battled his decision
inside. He could easily make Kaity leave. Call her a cab. Buy her a car. Fly
her somewhere. She didn
’
t
need this life. But Erik needed her. Kaity kept him whole. Kaity gave him hope
that life could be almost normal again. He knew he was falling for her.

“
What
do I do now?
”
Kaity
whispered.

“
Take
that fucking towel off first,
”
Erik said.
“
After that
…
we will deal with it
later."

twenty-two.

Kaity only slept well because Erik
was next to her, holding her, keeping her warm and safe. The strength of his
hold kept the nightmares away. She hadn't slept that well since before she met
Brad. She woke early and rolled over to watch Erik sleep. He was beautiful in
his own messed up way, scars and all. Kaity bit her lip and traced her finger
along some of his scars. Some were more visible than others. Some deeper. They
would be there for the rest of his life. Nothing more and nothing less. Kaity
thought about cutting her face in that moment. Not to kill herself, but to cut deep
enough that she would have a scar to match Erik's.

I think I love him
…

The thought sent chills through her.
She took her hand off Erik
’
s
face and thought about the immensity of that word. Some people loved their car.
Some people loved their dog. Some people loved each other. But Kaity wasn
’
t sure what it actually meant to
love someone and have them love you back. Kaity stared at the ceiling, her
heart racing. She felt Erik
’
s
hand move from her stomach up to her chest. He cupped her breast and then
opened his hand.

“
Stop
thinking,
”
Erik whispered.

She looked and his eyes were still
shut.

Did he ever fucking sleep?

“
I
can
’
t help it,
”
Kaity said.

“
Just
stop. Sleep.
”

Kaity rolled toward Erik and buried
her face in his bare chest. He was so damn strong. His manly odor was
intoxicating. Erik held Kaity tight and she closed her eyes again.

When Kaity woke, it was already
afternoon. She had grown accustomed to waking with the sunrise and fleeing. To
sleep past noon was dangerous when you're running from something. She started
to worry when she found the bed empty and heard a commotion out in the
clubhouse. It was always loud, but now it sounded like something bad was
happening.

Kaity left the bed, naked. She
stared at herself in the mirror, able to see just below her chest and up. She
never really looked at herself in the mirror before. After preaching to Erik to
look in the mirror, she needed to do the same. At least it only seemed fair.
Kaity didn
’
t care for her
breasts. Maybe it was just a woman thing, but she wished for something else.
They were just a tad too big. Her nipples seemed to point left and right. They
weighed a little too much for her liking, but then again, when Erik
’
s big, strong hand cupped her
breasts, he made them feel almost too small.

Kaity put her hands under her
breasts and lifted them. Just that touch alone made her tingle everywhere. The
smell of Erik
’
s room turned
her on as much as her own touch did. Her toes curled and she smiled.

“
She
’
ll fucking be fine,
”
Erik
’
s voice boomed as he approached the room.

Kaity turned around and put her
hands to her hips, wanting to tease Erik. When the door opened, Kaity was
horrified to see that it wasn
’
t
just Erik coming into the room.

It was Erik, Gaige, Nate, and
Miller.

“
Holy
shit,
”
Erik said.

“
Fuck,
”
Kaity said.

The few seconds she was frozen, all
eyes were on her.

“
Damn,
”
Miller said.

“
Not
bad at all,
”
Gaige said.

“
I
like this room,
”
Nate
added.

They all laughed and Kaity hurried
to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. She fell to the sink and looked in
the mirror. Her face was beat red and she was shaking.

“
Hey,
babe,
”
Erik said at the
door.
“
I need to come in
and talk to you. We all need to talk to you. Preferably dressed.
”

“
Speak
for yourself,
”
Miller said,
laughing.

“
Fuck
off,
”
Erik boomed.

“
Get
my clothes,
”
Kaity said.

A few seconds later the bathroom
door opened and Erik slipped in. He looked at Kaity and shook his head.

“
What
the hell were you doing?
”

“
Trying
to tease you,
”
Kaity said.

“
You're
pretty red right now, babe.
”

“
Yeah.
I just flashed half the club.
”

“
That
was more than flashed,
”
Erik said as he looked down with a hungry grin.

Kaity looked down and realized just
how smooth her body was. There was nothing to hide the fold of her sex, the
slit showing. Not to mention she was slightly wet thanks to touching herself. Which
also meant her nipples were hard.

“
I
’
m a mess,
”
she whispered.

“
Get
dressed,
”
Erik said.
“
I can
’
t believe I
’
m
telling a naked woman in my bathroom to do that, but we have business today.
There
’
s no fucking around
right now, Kaity. I told the club everything.
”

“
Everything?
”

“
Every-fucking-thing.
”

Erik left the bathroom. Kaity
dressed and prepared to face the music. She opened the bathroom door and
everyone but Erik started to clap for her. Her face burned red again. Miller
calmed the room down and shut the door.

“
We
normally don
’
t meet like
this,
”
Miller said.
“
I
’
d
invite you to the table, but I don
’
t
…
well, I don
’
t trust it.
”

Kaity nodded.

“
Are
you a cop?
”
Gaige asked.

“
Fuck,
Gaige,
”
Erik said.

“
What?
I don
’
t care. I want the
truth.
”

“
I
’
m not a cop,
”
Kaity said.
“
I never was. I was swooned by a
crooked detective, okay? I was struggling to survive and thought I was doing
the right thing. I never gave anyone up, okay? I tried to help them. I
’
m not a rat.
”

“
Can
you prove that to us?
”
Nate
asked.

“
Anything
you want,
”
Kaity said.

“
Careful,
”
Erik said with his hands in
fists.
“
Watch how anyone
responds to that.
”

“
You
know who we are,
”
Miller
said.
“
What we do here. We
are governed by our own justice and our own beliefs. Does that make us
criminals?
”
Miller shrugged
his shoulders.
“
I don
’
t give a fuck. What I give a
fuck about is making things right. There
’
s
been a war declared on this MC and I
’
m
the goddamn President. You
’
ve
seen enough to get the picture here.
”

“
Yes,
”
Kaity said.
“
I
’
ll
fight tonight. I
’
m ready. I
want to.
”

“
Why?
”
Nate asked.

“
Because
Erik asked me to.
”

“
Can
you fight?
”
Gaige asked.

“
Yes.
”

“
Punch
Nate in the stomach,
”
Miller said.

Kaity looked at Erik. He nodded.

Shit.

Kaity swallowed and walked up to
Nate. He was massive. Tall and wide. She feared punching him because it was
going to hurt her hand. She made two fists and lifted them. Her right hand was
the strongest so Kaity knew she
’
d
lead with that. She took a couple breaths and then gritted her teeth. She threw
a right and slammed it into Nate
’
s
gut. He coughed and Kaity turned, wincing in pain.

“
How
was that?
”
Miller asked.

Kaity went to respond but realized
Miller had been talking to Nate.

Nate lifted his shirt, revealing
muscle mostly, but also a red mark.

“
Not
bad,
”
Gaige said.
“
Hope you get matched with
someone your height.
”

“
You
can
’
t quit on us,
”
Miller said.
“
You have to keep going until the
fight is over.
”

“
Okay
…”

“
Kaity,
”
Erik said.
“
That means you can
’
t get afraid. You can
’
t take a punch and fall. You
have to give us time to do our job.
”

“
Okay,
”
Kaity said.
“
I can be tough.
”

Gaige put up his fists near his
face.
“
Protect your face.
Your head. Use your eyes and watch the shoulders, okay? Don
’
t worry about anything but the
fight.
”

Kaity nodded. Now she was nervous.

“
I
’
m not sure about this still,
”
Miller said.
“
But Erik has asked us to trust
you. I
’
m not in the mood to
trust people right now but we have no choice. That means I trust you in this.
Don
’
t fuck this up.
”

Miller turned and opened the door.
The rest of the guys left the room, except for Erik. He faced Kaity and his
eyes were amazing. Bright, sexy, but deep. Man, they were deep.

“
You
realize what you
’
re getting
into?
”
Erik asked.

“
No,
”
Kaity admitted.
“
But I can
’
t imagine losing you. I can
’
t imagine you never trusting me. I can
’
t imagine not being right here.
”

“
We
leave in a little bit.
”

Erik left the room.

Kaity didn
’
t see him again until they left for the fight.