Claiming His Fate by Ellis Leigh Page A

the back of the neck, yanking it over his head. With a wary look in his eyes, he slowly closed the gap between us.
    “I want you to stay with Numbers.” He handed me the shirt, a look of pain crossing his face when I flinched away from his hand. “He'll keep you safe until I figure out what the hell is going on around here.”
    I took the shirt, unable to speak. Rebel paused, looking as if he wanted to say something but was unable or unwilling to speak the words. After several seconds, he sighed and turned back toward the door.
    “Let’s go.” Rebel and Gates headed for the door while Numbers stayed inside the room with his head bowed. “If anything happens to her, I will hold you responsible.”
    The young man nodded. “I'm on it, boss.”
    Rebel glanced at me, one hand wrapped around the doorjamb. “I'll be back as soon as I can. Then we can talk. Okay?” 
    I nodded. His shirt brushed against my thighs, and my fingers twisted into the soft fabric. Rebel was leaving. He had given me the best orgasms I’d ever experienced, claimed I was his, and yet he was leaving me behind. My heart burned and my eyes watered, panic growing inside of me from the first second he disappeared into the hall. 
    My reaction took me by surprise. I didn’t want him making some ownership claim on me, yet I couldn’t stand to think of him no longer beside me. We’d only just met. There was no way I should be feeling this need to stay with him that was making my head pound and my breathing escalate. This was all crazy. 
    And yet…
    “Abraham!”
    The word left my lips without effort on my part. I needed him. I didn’t know why or how, but I knew I needed him. 
    He stalked through the door before I finished his name. I stepped into his arms, pressing my face into his neck and clinging to the leather covering his shoulders. He hummed and shushed me while running his hands up and down my back.
    “It’s okay, Charlotte. You’re safe, and I’ll be back to get you soon. I promise.” He pulled back and kissed me, a warm, sweet brush of his lips against mine. “That emptiness in your chest is the mating pull. I feel it, too. But I have to go check on my brothers, okay? I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that?”
    I nodded and sniffed, taking a step away from him to prove I could be strong. “Yeah. Okay.”
    He pressed his lips to mine once more and trailed a knuckle down the side of my face. “So beautiful.”
    I closed my eyes for a moment, relishing the feel of his skin against mine. 
    As he backed away, he said, “I meant what I said, about wanting to give you a chance to get to know me. Think about it.”
    And then he strode out the door.

 
     
     
    EIGHT
     
    Cherry
    Did that just happen?
    I stood in a cold room in the basement of a strip club wearing only my lover's shirt, my thighs still wet from his mouth on my skin. Oh, and another man standing as if guarding the door. 
    No really, did that just happen?
    Reb completely shifted my world off its axis with his mouth and fingers, leaving me vibrating with energy and soaking fucking wet. But he'd left. No warning, no “I'll call you,” just a promise to come back and a shirt. Which I was grateful for considering the only other clothing I had to wear was my bra and a pair of wet panties. 
    It’s not as if this Numbers guy didn’t know exactly what we’d been doing, but at least I didn’t have to walk around with the evidence between my legs.
    There was no way to explain how fucked up this night had become.
    “Can I go home now?”
    Numbers stared, his eyes a pale brown, almost amber. “No.”
    I nodded and glanced around the room. “Okay then.”
    The silence grew heavy and awkward. I paced the length of the bed, wanting to sit but too uncomfortable to be on the bed in front of this stranger. I tugged on the hem of the T-shirt, wishing for a pair of pants or shorts to appear. I had this urge to cover myself, to hide all the skin I so readily showed when I