Taken By The Tiger Read online

  One whole weekend. Asshole.

  He barely answered my calls and only replied to my texts to let me know that he was alive and well. When he returned, he warded off all my questions with the excuse that he was caught up in meetings and couldn’t leave the office.

  That was when I started looking for other signs. I tried to rack my brain and think about all those nights he hadn’t returned home, or if he did return home late; how he had been drinking and how his clothes smelt of someone’s else’s perfume. He’d always made sure that I was aware he worked with a lot of female colleagues, but how close were they working together for their perfumes to have rubbed off on his clothes?

  That weekend away was a line he had crossed and after mulling over it for two days, I decided to confront him.

  I was twenty-three by now, working two part time jobs and still dreaming about a life surrounded by animals. My daily schedule had revolved around Maxwell’s up to this point, and I wanted to know if it had all been in vain. If he had been cheating on me this whole time.

  When I confronted him after work that evening, I could see the rage in his eyes. I hadn’t realized how much he hated being questioned. We had shared a quiet, vanilla relationship with scheduled sex once every four weeks if I was lucky. I hadn’t ever raised my voice to him before and the fights we had; always ended with him taking me out to dinner or buying me something expensive. The fact that I was challenging him for the first time, didn’t please him. Not one bit.

  I continued to grill him. Questioning the late nights. The perfume. The weekend away and his slap came out of nowhere. He’d caught my jaw and it felt like a punch and I fell down to the carpeted floor from the force.

  “Get up. Stop whining!” he’d barked at me, as I looked up at him from behind watery eyes. The metallic taste of blood was on my lips, as it dripped down my nose.

  He had picked me up by my shoulders like a rag doll and pinned me to the wall.

  “You don’t get to question me. Not while you have food on your plate and clothes to fucking wear,” he had growled.

  And early the next morning, while I packed my boxes in silence; I tried to pick out all the stuff he had given me over the years and carefully kept them aside. I’d somehow missed this scarf and it had found its way to the bottom of this pile of clothes.

  That was five days ago. Nina was my closest friend and the only person I could turn to in my hour of need. My two part time jobs had to be dropped because I was afraid of Maxwell finding me there.

  Thankfully Nina lived in a different part of town, and he didn’t know much about her but I was always afraid these days, always looking over my shoulder. I had seen a side of Maxwell I had never anticipated and it had scared me.

  “What about this?” Nina’s chirpy voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned to her with a deathly pallor on my face, like I had seen a ghost. When she looked at me, she knew immediately what I’d been thinking about and she came rushing towards me.

  “Melody, you don’t have to worry. You know you can stay here with me as long as you need to,” she said, in her most affectionate voice and I nodded my head, battling back the hot tears that pricked the back of my eyelids. It was sweet of her to offer, and I appreciated her generosity, but I wasn’t going to accept any more hand outs from anyone.

  I hadn’t realized that was what I was doing all those years with Maxwell, and therefore he had so much control over me.

  “Thanks, I found something else,” I smiled at Nina and pulled out a white shirt from one of the boxes and started putting it on. She watched me in silence and I could see the sympathy return to her eyes. I forced a smile on my face and stood up. No way was I going to let anyone feel sorry for me.

  “Gotta go,” I said, as cheerfully as I could and I left for the interview.

  Chapter 3

  Daredevil

  Beasty and Ace were with me when we entered Mr. Hill’s pawn shop. Over the years, our MC had formed a perfectly peaceful working relationship with most of the local businesses. They gave us money and we provided them with protection. We were one of two shifter MCs in the area, and if they weren’t getting protection from us, they were getting ransacked by the other. Bastards.

  “Daredevil!” Mr. Hill was behind the counter, polishing a pocket watch which definitely didn’t look vintage. He had his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and pulled them off when I walked towards him.

  “Mr. Hill,” I said and placed my hands on the glass counter, peering down to look at his latest wares. The kinds of things people pawned for cash was nuts.

  “You have the cash?” Beasty spoke up. He had no patience for small talk and Mr. Hill nodded his head vigorously.

  “How’s business?” I asked him instead, as he wiped his grimy hands on a rag before walking around to his desk, where we all knew there was a secret compartment he used to stash money.

  “I can’t complain about business, but the Claws are something else,” Mr. Hill replied, stuffing dollar bills into a plastic bag. Ace was going to count them when he handed it over to us.

  “What are those idiots up to?” I asked with a laugh, and I heard Ace and Beasty give out a little laugh behind me as well. Mr. Hill however, didn’t appreciate my use of that choice word.

  “They’ve visited me twice this past week,” he said, with a sour expression on his face as he handed over the thick wad of cash to Ace, who started counting it.

  “This isn’t their territory,” I snapped and Mr. Hill sighed.

  “They scared my shopgirl shitless yesterday,” he said and I was surprised to hear him use that word. I’d always considered Mr. Hill to be a gentleman.

  “Lancey, over at Mahoney’s pub told me the same thing. The Claws paid them a visit recently as well,” Beasty said and I turned to him with narrowed eyes.

  “They’ve been trying to shake down a lot of us in the area,” Mr. Hill complained and when I looked at him, I could see that he was more than just annoyed.

  “What did they do?” I asked him and I noticed how he was refusing to meet my eye. My tiger growled just beneath the surface. Our territory, not theirs. It was enough to set any shifter off.

  “They took some stuff,” he replied in a smaller voice and my fists banged down on his glass counter instinctively.

  “Why didn’t you get in touch with me?” I barked at Mr. Hill and he seemed to cower and I cleared my throat.

  “We’ll keep an eye on this street,” I added in a gruff voice and he nodded his head.

  “I wasn’t sure what to do,” he replied and I reached over the counter and grabbed his shoulder and gave it a shake.

  “Beasty will stick around and watch over the shop,” I said to him and he nodded his head again.

  “It’s all there,” Ace told me. He was done counting the cash and I gave Mr. Hill a quick nod.

  “You don’t have to worry about the Claws,” I reassured him again and then turned around and walked out of the shop with Beasty and Ace behind me.

  Outside, I slipped a cigarette out of the box and stuck it to my lips. Ace brought out his zippo and presented the burning flame to me which I used to light up. I took in a deep drag, allowing the smoke to fill my lungs. It was this or I needed to break out, let the tiger run wild. And in the middle of the day downtown, that wasn’t happening.

  “Screw ‘em,” I said, while Ace lit Beasty’s cigarette and then his own.

  “What gave them the balls to start doing this shit?” Beasty said, pulling on the smoke of his own cigarette. I flicked ash from mine onto the pavement and shook my head.

  “Does Hunter know about this? You should have told us about Mahoney’s the moment you heard about it,” I clenched my jaw.

  “Yeah,” Beasty replied.

  “Things can get out of hand if they start encroaching. They need to be kicked back into their caves,” I said, Ace and Beasty nodded their heads aware that this was a serious matter.

  The Claws and the Roarin’ Rebels had a long history of rivalry
, but when Dad took over as President, a very clear boundary of territory had been set up between us. We had emerged victors of our last major war which meant that our territory was larger. Our rules applied, and the local businesses operated under us. No trade took place in the area without our knowledge and without us getting an appropriate cut.

  In the last couple of years, there hadn’t been any major outbreaks and the Claws seemed to keep a low profile, keeping out of our way. But if they were beginning to shake down local businesses, it meant that they were planning on making an appearance again. God damned wolves. Always thinking they’re better than they are.

  “You guys stick around here,” I said to them and decided that I needed to speak to Dad. I walked over to my Harley and started the bike with the last inches of my cigarette dangling from my mouth.

  I knew where he would be, The Shifter Shack.

  My mind was still occupied by the Claws when I pushed open the doors of the bar and walked in. We needed to figure out what the idiots had been up to and which other businesses they were trying to steal from and shake down. We needed to amp up our man power at these places and if there was no other choice, another war would have to be declared.

  That was when I saw her behind the counter, where Big D always stood. She was polishing glasses with her head bent low over them and looked up at me when I walked towards her.

  Chapter 4

  Daredevil

  Holy hell.

  It was like my limbs had stopped moving and my head was going to explode. My tiger prowled back and forth, waiting to be released. To claim her.

  She could be the most delicious piece of ass I’d seen in a long time. The Shifter Shack was full of people at this point, but my eyes were fixed on her.

  That hair!

  Fiery red and it fell like a shiny silk curtain around her shoulders, covering her ears and framing her face. It was long too and immediately my brain went to what it would feel like to wrap some of that hair around my fist and pull her head back as I drove into her from behind. It swayed now, as she moved, brushing her hips gently.

  She was wearing a crop top, black, and a slim section of her belly flashed every time she moved her arms a little. Her skin was pale and milky, and I felt my cock move in my pants. I wondered how pink her skin would look if I gripped her with my fingers, tightening my grip on her arm to hold her in position as I slammed into her.

  From where I was standing, I could tell that she was wearing a denim skirt and her hips protruded out under them. She was petite and had curves in the right places. Like every time she turned a little to the side, I saw how tight the denim material stretched over her ass. I wanted to feel the softness of the insides of her thighs.

  Her green eyes had met mine for a moment, before she quickly looked away. In them I saw glimpses of a good girl who was capable of doing bad things. Green sparkling eyes like gemstones, strikingly bright against the paleness of her cheeks. A lock of her shining red hair fell over her face, while she continued to polish some more glasses.

  I couldn’t look away from her body. The way her bare arms quivered when she moved them. I could wrap my entire palm around her arm, squeeze the flesh if I wanted to. Her breasts would fit perfectly in the palms of my hands too and in my mouth.

  Big D had come over behind her and was talking to her, and I’d forgotten all about looking for Dad. Hunter was the last thing on my mind, now that I’d set my eyes on what I had to have.

  I could feel my cock protesting in my pants. What was taking me so long? When I saw something I liked, something my tiger approved of too, I took it. This time, something was holding me back.

  I noticed the tattoo on her shoulder when she moved her arms to reach for a bottle of whisky behind her. Her ass was on display, now that she had her back turned to me. She was on tiptoes, stretching her body. Her crop top rode up and I saw the pale flesh of her back. Her waist small enough to be pinned down with one hand, the gentle dip in the middle of her back where her spine was. I could trace the line with my tongue and blow on it. She’d like that. I had a feeling she’d like that.

  Her tattoo was a pink delicate flower, something like a branch of cherry blossom winding around her shoulder. It suited her perfectly and I wondered what made her get that. When was the last time I had looked at a woman like this? When had I looked past the tits and the ass? She had both and of excellent quality, but there was more to her than just that. It was about the way she moved, the way she was shy and looked away from me, the glimmer of rebellion I’d seen in those green eyes.

  This girl was already tame, but I wanted to see how bad she could be in bed.

  My cock was throbbing in my pants now and I clenched my jaw. Few more minutes of looking at her, and I was going to explode. If I didn’t have her in the next few minutes, I’d drag her to the back of the bar and she’d like it.

  Then Big D came into view again. He was speaking with her and she was standing with one delicate hand on her hip. It struck me. She was working here.

  She was the outsider who’d been hired to help Big D behind the bar!

  For a moment, I narrowed my eyes at her and my mouth ran dry. I ran a hand through my hair and growled under my breath. How did it not strike me that she was working the moment I saw her? She was polishing glasses, Big D was showing her the ropes! She was an employee.

  I looked around at the bar that was bursting with people and loud thumping music now. A few of the regular groupies were around, sitting on laps, draping themselves over their favorite men. All red lips and exposed cleavage and tight pussies. Makeup done just right, matching our varied tastes. These girls were fair game. I could bang as many of them as I wanted. They practically begged us for it. What about Ruby? I could call her again. I could screw any of these girls to get my angry animal need for this new girl out of my system.

  I clenched my fists and looked back at her.

  She was smiling now, intently listening to what Big D was telling her, nodding her head and she looked over at me again.

  Our eyes met and I drank in the shape of her lips. She had a pale pink gloss on, which made her lips look shiny and slippery. That mouth would have to open very wide to accommodate the cock in my pants. I had to steady myself from lunging at her, my tiger clawing to be released. She turned away from me again, to look at Big D and I knew Ruby wouldn’t do. I had to have her.

  Her pussy would be just tight enough, her hips just slender enough, her legs long enough around my neck. I wanted to hear her scream. I wanted to taste the creaminess of her skin.

  But Hunter had set a strict rule for the Roarin’ Rebels. We weren’t allowed to touch any of the employees. Which was probably why we never hired too many female employees and why we kept so many groupies around. They usually satisfied all of our needs, and kept us from fraternizing with any female employees. But no other female employee looked like this one. The cat in me never wanted one like this.

  I could feel electric waves searing through my veins. It took actual physical energy to remain standing where I was and not make a grab for her. I couldn’t go against the Club. I couldn’t go against the rules that my father had set and the ones I helped him enforce. I would have kicked the shit out of Beasty or Jordan or any of the others if they touched an employee, not because I cared, but because we operated on following orders. And this was an order that Hunter had established.

  And yet, here I was, practically drooling over this girl who I had no idea was hired.

  I took in a deep breath trying to steady myself. I had to do something, anything, to distract myself from her. I could sense someone walking towards me. It was Candy, one of the groupies who purred like a cat when she was getting fucked. She always made my inner beast calm down a bit.

  “I was wondering when you’d stop by,” she said in my ear in a suggestive voice, and leaned in to gently lap at my earlobe like a kitten drinking milk. I was still glaring in the direction of the counter, watching the new girl move like a dream as she served
drinks under the watchful eye of Big D.

  “Get off!” I barked at Candy, turning to her with bloodshot enraged eyes. She cowered for a moment, and then furrowed her eyebrows when she gathered herself.

  “I was just checking to see if you needed me. You look tense,” she said in a cooing voice and then she whipped around and walked away from me. I looked at her ass in those tight leather pants she was wearing, a thick belt with spikes was at her waist which I’d used several times to tie her wrists to the bed when I fucked her. But tonight, she did nothing for me. Tonight, I wanted to feel the velvety softness of this girl’s pussy and she was off limits.

  Maybe that was what made me want her more. Or maybe it wasn’t that at all, and it was because she was just so damn gorgeous.

  Chapter 5

  Melody

  First night on the job, and already I could feel my life beginning to fall into place. Or was I just kidding myself? Well, at least I had a job now! Which meant that I wouldn’t have to be a burden to Nina anymore. I could get my own apartment and begin moving on with my life.

  The Shifter Shack was a busy bar, and I’d gathered a pretty good idea of the place within the past hour that I was here. For starters, it was nothing like any of the other places I had worked at. Tatted up men in leather jackets, drinking like fish and yet not drunk enough, their manners were rowdy and gruff and the handful of girls who were at the bar were clearly there as wallflowers - decoration for the room, to serve as walking boobs and asses. A couple of weeks ago, I would have steered clear from a place like this, cowering at the very sound of one of their voices. But the lack of a livelihood had driven me to do crazy things, like take a job in this place.

  The bar was packed with people, loud music deafening me as I strained my ears to try and catch everything Bid D was telling me.

  In fairness, both the older man who had interviewed me for the position and Big D who was showing me the ropes…seemed to treat me respectfully. Their ways were obviously different, less polite and more rough around the edges compared to what I had been used to, but I hadn’t felt threatened yet. It seemed like they were treating me differently than the other girls at this place. Like my job here was different to theirs and for that, I was grateful.