Without Light (New Adult Biker Gang Romance) (Night Horses MC Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

like taking an iron bar to the gut, and I hit the wall, winded.
     
    I’d only gotten one good scratch in, barely ruffled his hair.
     
    It all happened so quickly, I wasn’t sure which of the men hit el Jefe with the butt of their shotgun, but he dropped like a stone.
     
    I leaned on the wall, clutching my belly and gasping as the three bikers grinned at us like a little pack of avenging angels, all leather and long hair and feral smiles.
     
    “ Thanks for distracting him, sweetheart,” Merle said. He was the youngest, the tallest, standing in between two bruisers - one with a black eye more spectacular than Merle’s own had been when we met, one with blood dripping from his nose.
     
    I swallowed.
     
    His eyes flicked to the girls on the floor and he reached out a hand to help them up.
     
    They stood without his help, Catalina wary, Lupe flat-out scared.
     
    Merle smiled at Lupe, but his face was hard as he eyed Catalina.
     
    “ What should I do with you?” he asked. “You turned her in, didn’t you?”
     
    Catalina’s chin rose proudly. She didn’t say anything.
     
    “ Please,” Lupe said. “She hates el Jefe. She does. She only works with him because she’s afraid. If you let us go we’ll go back to Mexico and we’ll leave you alone. Please.”
     
    Merle turned to Bloody Nose.
     
    “ Take the girls back to our place. Don’t hurt them. Anyone lays a finger on them, I’ll fucking have their balls. If the older one tries to go anywhere, though, tie her the hell up and keep the little one away from her.”
     
    He turned back to me.
     
    “ Megan,” he said, relief all over his face.
     
    He reached out a hand to me and let it drop.
     
    "I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm so fucking sorry."
     
    I just stared at him.
     
    "This never would have happened to you if you hadn't met me," he continued.
     
    I shrugged. I was still wearing the dress I'd stolen from the brothel. I didn't know if I could say anything else, anything at all.
     
    I'd dreamed of him sweeping in to rescue me, but fuck, he was right. I was so angry at him.
     
    Before I'd met him, I was just a teenage girl worried about prom.
     
    Now I'd been kidnapped and tortured.
     
    Merle was hot, and funny, and kind, and I loved being around him... but he wasn't worth this. I was so numb. I just kept staring at him.
     
    I swallowed.
     
    "I got out," I said, lamely.
     
    Catalina snorted.
     
    "If el Jefe weren't distracted by the raid, you wouldn't have made it to the end of the hallway," she said. "You'd have been tossed back in there to starve for a few days. Don't act like you weren't lucky as hell."
     
    Merle turned to Bloody Nose.
     
    "I thought I told you to get them out of here," he said.
     
    "Come on, girls," the giant man rumbled.
     
    He took each of them by the upper arm, gently, and led them away. Catalina shook his hand off of her, but Lupe allowed herself to be steered carefully around the desk.
     
    As they left the room, I saw Catalina shoot a worried glance at her sister.
     
    I didn't know what to make of her. Was she the scared victim her sister thought, or the conspirator Merle clearly assumed her to be?
     
    Would she have led me to freedom, or straight back to el Jefe?
     
    I was sort of glad I'd never know.
     
    Merle turned to Black Eye.
     
    "Take over here," he said, tersely. "Make sure he," he prodded el Jefe with his toe, "and the rest of his gang understand that  you don't fucking touch women or children. They're not part of the business."
     
    The giant of a man nodded.
     
    "Taking her back?" he asked.
     
    Merle nodded.
     
    "Are you ready to get out of here?" he asked.
     
    "Past," I whispered.
     
    I still didn't move. Now that I wasn't immediately under the threat of el Jefe, now that I wasn't concentrating every fiber of my being on willing myself to keep moving, to escape, to get out of his hellhole, I was frozen.
     
    He reached out and took my hand. He still felt warm and alive, and when he