The Way I Like It (The Soldiers of Wrath MC, #5) (5 page)

“I don’t believe you, but I’m okay with you not wanting to tell me. We all need to keep closed off sometimes.” His voice was deep and slightly serrated.

“What are
you
thinking about?” she said to him this time, not sure if she really wanted to know, but wanting to change the subject so things weren’t pointed at her right now.

Striker didn’t respond right away, just finished cleaning and dressing her wounds, before he finally leaned back. His touch had been gentle and soft, the total opposite of how he looked and carried himself.

“What did you do to those men, and why do you say they won’t bother me anymore?” She didn’t miss how he hadn’t answered her previous question, or how he’d ignored this one so far. She wanted, no, needed to know, though.

“You really want to know the gritty fucking details?”

God, he was so hard, so raw and rough. She felt her body heat. She should feel scared because he was dangerous, but all she felt was safe with him.

“Yes, I want to know.”

“You don’t want to know, Elena, because if I told you what I did, you’d be afraid of me, and I don’t fucking want that.”

He sounded sincere, and she could see in his hard face, in the way he watched her with this protective aura around him, that Striker was unlike any man she’d ever met.

“I want to know, Striker, because not knowing is almost worse than knowing what you did.” And Elena had a feeling she already knew what he’d done to those assholes, had a feeling he’d taken them out with his bare hands.

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M
ost women listened to him when he told them that they wouldn’t want to know what he’d done. Elena wasn’t taking the hint, and Striker sat back on his heels, staring at her. She was a beautiful woman, unconventional with her thick hips and huge tits. His cock hardened as he imagined her body naked, taking his cock in whatever hole he desired.

Pushing that desire to the side, he got to his feet.

“Striker, please,” she said.

Gritting his teeth, he leaned on the sink, staring at his reflection. “I’m part of the Soldiers of Wrath.”

“So?”

“So, we don’t leave a man alive, and we don’t let anyone who fucks with us live to tell the tale.”

“Are you saying—?”

He didn’t give her chance to finish.

“They’re dead, and if they’re not dead, they will be.”

She took a deep breath and stood. One of her hands went to her neck, and she took several deep breaths. He watched her tits rise and fall.

“That’s what you wanted to hear, right?”

“You killed them?”

“With my bare hands. It wasn’t exactly hard. They were weak assholes to begin with. If you think they would have spared you a moment’s pain, you’re wrong. They were going to rape you, Elena. Take turns using your body and leave you for dead. They were scum.”

She held her hand up, and he grasped her wrist. He wouldn’t be silenced.

“No, you asked the question, and I’m answering it. I’m just as big a monster as they were. You want to report me to the police then I suggest you do so, but if any of my MC brothers find out you did, I can’t protect you. No one speaks out against the MC.”

“I’m not going to report you.” Tears fell down her cheeks. “I was going to thank you.”

“What?”

“They were monsters, and it probably makes me an awful person, but knowing they’re off the street makes me feel so much better. How do you think that makes me feel? I’d rather they be dead than risk them getting away with what they’ve done and doing it again.”

He felt like utter shit for snapping at her. Releasing her hand, he stepped away, running fingers through his hair.

“I’m not going to tell anyone what happened. Your secret is safe with me.”

“I’ll take you home tomorrow morning. Don’t talk to anyone about what happened here.” He left the bathroom, needing a drink. Striker didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Entering his kitchen, he grabbed a cold beer and pulled the lid off before taking a long drink. No woman had ever gotten under his skin. Fuck, he’d known Elena a matter of hours, and he’d already killed for her. What the fuck did it mean?

It means nothing.

She cleared her throat, and he looked up to find her in the kitchen. Lust instantly rushed through his body.

“I wanted to apologize for what I did and said. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for exactly?” he asked.

“For ruining your night, making you kill those men.” She shrugged, and he noticed she was fidgeting with her fingers and hands. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him.

“You didn’t ruin my night. You think you’re the first woman to be attacked?” He shook his head. “Fuck me, I wish that was the truth, baby. This is not even the worst shit that I’ve ever seen in my life. Think about that fucking mess.” He was a monster, and if the woman before him knew that he liked to hurt, to cut, to bleed, she would run away from him. There were times he knew he was just as big a monster as the men he’d just recently killed.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re fucking sorry. You don’t need to be sorry. You’re not the problem. I just said that.” He stopped, turning away from her, and taking some deep breaths. “I’m sorry for shouting at you, for making you afraid.”

“You killed because of me.”

“They’re not the first men I’ve killed.”
And you’re not the first woman I’ve warned to keep quiet because the club would make you silent.

He was going to need to talk to Demon, but right now, he didn’t want the hassle of having to admit that he’d fucked up. He’d left bodies in the street, and the MC didn’t do that. Demon didn’t like it when he had to deal with the law.

“Fuck, I’ve got to go and clean up my mess,” he said.

“What?”

“Those men, they’re going to be found, and I’ve wasted enough time as it is already. I’m going to head out; I’ll lock the door behind me. Don’t answer for anyone. You stay quiet.” Finishing off the beer, he grabbed his jacket and headed back out, making sure that he locked his apartment door. Once outside, he put a call through to some of his brothers, asking them to meet him with the cleaning crew. Several of the prospects would be put to work to help clean up the mess he’d made. It was going to be a long fucking night.

W
hat had just happened? Elena stared at the closed door, confusion filling her. One moment, she’d been talking with Striker in the bathroom, and the next, he was gone. She was going to get whiplash with this man. He was a good man, although he showed signs of being a monster far more terrifying than anything she’d ever witnessed before in her life. If he wasn’t good, why did he stop to help her? A true monster would have left, or joined in. He did neither of those things.

Licking her dry lips, she took a seat on his couch and wondered what the hell was going on.

He saved you.

Elena wasn’t used to being saved. She was used to saving herself and trying to survive. Pushing the thoughts of her struggles aside, she focused on what was right in front of her. She was in a biker’s apartment, alone and waiting for him to get home.

A biker had saved her, and all she was thinking about right now was how shitty her life was, and how her parents had forced her to flee. Men like Striker were supposed to be avoided, like the devil, at least that’s what her parents tried to engrain in her. Yet, even with Striker yelling, she’d not been afraid of him. Much to her shame, he’d aroused her.

How could she feel arousal after what happened? How could she feel arousal for a man she didn’t know? A man who had probably killed two people, and if they weren’t dead, he was going to finish them off. Even as she thought about it, she couldn’t help
not
caring about them. Those men had planned to do unspeakable things to her. Why should she feel remorse for their deaths?

S
he knew she was sleeping, because she’d had the same dream for the last year, had the same nightmare since she’d actually left everything behind. 

Elena couldn’t cry, couldn’t let anyone, least of all her parents, know the pain she was really in. She’d been brought up to know her role in her family, had known that to her parents, to her community, she’d been nothing but a pawn to help bring families together.

She was nothing but piece of property that was to be married off to her disgusting uncle in hopes that being with him would elevate her mother and father within the church. They didn’t love her, didn’t care that she yearned for her freedom, yearned to have her own life, and not be confined to specific areas within her home. Elena had desires, ones she’d never shared with anyone, because doing so would mean she was admitting her sins, admitting that she was no better than the outside world.

“The marriage to your uncle will raise our family in the community,” her father said in his harsh, loveless voice.

Elena twisted her hands together, always feeling so small when in front of him. He looked at her with disinterest. Well, that wasn’t true. He looked at her like she was nothing to him except a way to better
his
life.

“You understand that when you’re married, you will obey Francis in all things. You will be his wife, and you will do what he says when he says it.”

She swallowed but nodded, not about to voice her opinion. The truth was she had no intention of marrying anyone, least of all her disgusting uncle. She didn’t know what to call her community, but she supposed a cult was a pretty accurate word. That was probably the closest description she could think of. The women were nothing but subservient. They were there solely for the men. They cooked, cleaned, had the children, and were sexually obedient in every sense. And as much as Elena loathed the thought of that life, the idea of being submissive to a man, of bending to his will willingly,
wasn’t
abhorrent to her.

She had desires, dark needs that she’d never uttered to a living soul. They were considered sins, an evil inside of her. Although she was expected to be sexually obedient in every sense of the word, she wasn’t meant to enjoy it. Enjoying it, deriving pleasure from it, meant she had a defect.

It made no sense, but it’s what her life was made of.

Admitting she’d fantasized about a man controlling her in a sexual sense, giving her the type of pleasure she wanted, that he thought she needed, was a secret she held deep down. But as she stared at her father, she knew she couldn’t go through with it. She’d never tell him that, but she’d find a way to escape, find a way to leave. She couldn’t live a life like this anymore.

“Now, go to your mother. She’ll explain all of the duties you’ll be required to do when you’re married.”

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