Page 72 of No Mercy

“You smell nice, just like that night on the dance floor.” I refused to react, holding myself still and barely breathing. With a sick feeling I knew that he was going to use me to break Rock. “The rest of you brothers come out!”

Three more burly bikers joined us, each one looking lethal in his own right. They weren’t necessarily big, but the aura surrounding them was palpable. They looked dirty and scruffy, the kind of men who had nothing to lose. Fear for Rock overwhelmed me, and my gaze swung to his. He didn’t look afraid, if anything he appeared frustrated with the situation, and then it dawned on me that he wouldn’t react in the way he wanted to as long as I was there.

He was afraid for me and Sam. We were in the way.

“Check him for weapons.” Boomer didn’t speak to anyone in particular. I watched one man step up to Rock to follow orders.

The muscle in Rock’s jaw clenched, but he remained unmoving like stone. Two guns and a knife were removed. “You think that’s going to stop me from killing you?”

A snort sounded close to my ear. “You won’t move as long as I have your family at my mercy, but just in case--” He gave a sharp chin lift to his men.

They ganged up and jumped Rock before he had a chance. He fought back, and for a while he held them at bay, punching and kicking them as they closed in around him, turning this way and that, always getting in a well-placed hit before being confronted by another man. Grunts filled the air, and it was clear that he was in prime fighting condition from the way Boomer’s men stumbled and fell back. Blood spewed from broken noses and hits to the mouth. But he couldn’t hold out for long, three against one was hardly a fair fight, and they eventually gained the upper hand.

“Stop!” I screamed, afraid they were going to kill him. They were pummeling Rock ruthlessly, going at him like rabid dogs out of control, hitting him over and over on his face and upper body. Every grunt tore from him tore my heart out, and tears began to leak down my face. “Please stop!” In desperation I turned enough to rake my nails down Boomer’s face, digging deep gouges into his flesh. His grunt was hardly satisfying compared to the sounds of the fists hitting Rock.

When I went to gouge his eyes out, he leaned back and took control of both of my hands. He jerked me against him, bringing my arms around my back in a painful hold. This was a big mistake, because now I was in the position to knee him in the groin. I didn’t stop to think about the consequences, bringing my knee up sharply. He guessed what I was about to do, twisting his hips so that my knee hit him in the thigh. But I wasn’t done with him. His mocking laugh urged me to spit into his face. I wished it were venom.

That pissed him off.

He backhanded me so hard that I spun around and hit the ground hard. Then he was standing over me, his fists clenched, a dark look in his eyes that scared me. My gaze flew to Rock just as he dropped to his knees, his chest moving rapidly as he sucked in air. “Rock!” My cry drew his gaze to me. He was a bloody mess. Wobbling unsteadily, he remained on his knees in the dirt, looking at me through swollen eyes. Bruising was already coloring his cheek and jaw. Boomer’s men stepped away from him with satisfied sneers, looking almost as bad as Rock did. He’d done some damage to them in turn.

“That the best your men can do?” Rock turned his head and spit blood onto the ground. One of Boomer’s men kicked him viciously in the ribs, doubling Rock over. “Kick like a fucking girl.” The man raised his foot again.

“Enough!” Boomer yelled. “I want him conscious enough to see what we do to his woman.”

We? Oh, God! They were going to rape me and make Rock watch. I glared up at Boomer. “You’re a coward! Your men are cowards!”

He shrugged, his hands moving to his belt. “He killed my son, myonlyson. Would you rather I kill yours?” My eyes grew round with his threat. “No, I can see that you don’t want that.” He undid his belt buckle. “So, my men and I will do you instead. He’ll have the pleasure of watching us fuck you in the ass and mouth, and once we’ve filled you with cum, I’ll kill you, and then him.”

I shook my head with stunned disbelief. He was a monster. If he was going to kill us, what did that mean for Sam when he found him? He must have read my mind, because next he said, “Don’t worry about little Sam. I’ll raise him like my own. Make a good outlaw of the little bastard.”

“No!” I got to my feet and ran at him, my hands ready to maim him any way that I could. It was stupid to think that I could win against him or hurt him in any way, but I would do anything to protect Sam. “You won’t have my son!” I got in a couple of good punches and a kick before he simply shoved me back and I stumbled into the arms of one of his men.

“She’s a feisty little thing,” the man holding me laughed. He held my arms behind my back. A low groan pulled our gazes toward Rock, who was still bent over on his knees. “Looks like he’s gonna miss the best part.”

“We can’t have that.” Another man went over to Rock and lifted his head with a hand in his hair.

My heart cried out at Rock’s bloody condition. He could barely open his eyes, and he wobbled like he might keel over at any second. Tears ran down my cheeks as I began to accept our hopeless situation. The pure evil staring at me through Boomer’s narrowed eyes gave me a chill, and told me that he’d meant what he’d said earlier.

We were going to die.

Chapter 38

Rock

I was going to fucking kill Boomer for touching Allie. I didn’t care about the beating his boys had given me, I’d expected it, knowing that he’d want me out of commission. I kept the beaten, defeated look on my face, kept my eyes almost shut so they’d think I was no longer a threat. It wasn’t hard. Blood dripped into my eyes, clouding my vision, and my face was fucking numb. If my nose wasn’t broken it’d be a miracle, and I was pretty sure the fuckers had broken a couple of ribs. I was beat to fuck, but I wasn’t down for the count.

I was waiting to make my move.

My gaze shifted to the truck, where movement had caught my attention. Clay had dropped to the ground, and he’d managed to roll to the other side so that he could use the truck for cover. As he moved into position, I slowly reached for the knife that they hadn’t discovered inside my boot. It paid to be well armed, and knowing that I’d probably be frisked, I’d packed a couple of extra weapons on me with the hope that they wouldn’t all be discovered.

They should have known better than to ignore my boots. They’d been careless. And they’d also missed an inside pocket of my cut, where I’d hidden a switchblade. I’d had the pocket added for the very purpose of hiding a weapon. As I slowly slid the hunting knife out of my boot, I kept my gaze shifting back and forth between what was happening with Allie and Clay. Clay and I would only have one chance to do this right, and once we gained control of the situation we could focus on finding Sam. The fact that Boomer’s other men hadn’t returned yet gave me hope that they’d already been taken care of.

Clay moved into position, his gun ready. I kept the knife down low and close to my body, hidden from the lowlife that was gripping my hair. I didn’t need any fucking help, but appearing weak and beaten would work to my advantage when I finally made my move. They wouldn’t be expecting it. No one was looking toward the truck, but I saw Clay peek around the bumper, obviously assessing the situation and waiting for a sign from me.

Allie cried out, and I glanced up in time to see Boomer ripping her tee down the front and exposing her. She fought against the hands, holding her arms behind her back, struggling to get away, her face flushed with anger and probably embarrassment. The men were laughing in the face of her humiliation, and I saw red when Boomer reached forward to touch her naked tits. Rage burned through my blood, and I willed myself to wait because at that instant Boomer’s gaze had shifted to me, as if looking for a reaction.

“Don’t touch me!” she hissed through her teeth, twisting wildly.