I took his hand, out of politeness, but let go of it quickly. “Here?” I asked, knowing that answer as well. I’d read it on his back moments ago. I knew Locus’s brother was in a motorcycle club, a scary one at that. On more than one occasion, my roommate had complained that her brother wanted her to leave school and join the Dark Leopards MC, an outlaw club on the outskirts of San Antonio for protection. Protection from what, she’d never say. I knew their parents were dead. Murdered was the rumor. Locus wanted to finish college and lead a normal life, unlike her brother who she worried could be caught up in illegal activities. Otherwise, I knew he was a rather successful mechanic in San Antonio.
Locus… things were starting to make some sense. I knew she’d been worried about me, but did she have her brother follow me? I asked as much.
He half smiled. “My sister has taken a liking to you. She’s very protective of what’s hers.”
Hers? That seemed super weird. Tired of talking, I longed for my clothes so I could high tail it out of there, call an Uber and get back to the dorm, no, it’d have to be my mom’s house since the dorms were closed for break. Ugh, as much as I wanted to leave, I didn’t want my mom to know I wasn’t at the beach.
“Where the hell’s my phone?” I asked aloud, realizing it was outside Big Bend State Park in Jonah’s Jeep. “Seriously, I need to speak to Jonah. What happened to him?”
“Don’t know. Didn’t find him.”
If I wasn’t holding a sheet over my nudity, I’d have thrown my hands up in the air in frustration. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“I think you should sit down,” Wrex said. He put his hands on my shoulders and directed me to sit on the bed.
I repeated myself. “I need to know what’s going on.”
“What do you remember?”
Touching my neck, I said, “I remember getting bitten by a fucking mountain lion. It hurt like the devil and then an even bigger lion chased him off.”
Wrex chuckled.
“Yeah, it’s ridiculous. I’m sure as hell I hallucinated that last part, but the bite, the mountain lion, it seemed pretty real, at least possible. Next thing I know, I’m naked in bed with you. Did you roofie me? Did we…?” I slipped a hand down to feel my vagina. That’s one place I wasn’t sore.
“No.” He seemed serious enough, I believed him.
“What I want to know is what happened to Jonah. Last I knew he was bleeding. He’d probably been bit as well. How did you get me away from a lion, a mountain lion or otherwise… if that was even real? How did I get here?” Rambling, I felt more confused by the second.
He touched his brow. “Not on my motorcycle that’s for damned sure. I had to borrow a car. Got a brother from that area coming to town to drop off my bike in an hour.” He started to get dressed, pulling on his jeans with no underwear. “I’ve got to go meet him,” he explained.
For a moment, I thought he meant Locus and him had a brother, but I knew that wasn’t the case. He was talking about a fellow club member. “That doesn’t answer my questions at all.”
His face full of the same frustration I felt, he lamented, “I’ll call Locus. Maybe she can explain.”
He buttoned his pants and pulled on a black and white t-shirt with the same logo from his back. I was amazed they made shirts big enough to fit him. He grabbed his cell from the side of the bed and called his sister on speaker. Just like when I’d called her, it went to voicemail.
“Evidently, she’s having the time of her life at the beach.”
Nodding in agreement, he left a quick message simply asking her to call back.
Fed up and ready to leave, I declared, “Listen I don’t care what is going on right now. Can I borrow some clothes and your phone to call an Uber?”
“No. I mean, yes, put on some of my clothes, smell like me, but you’re going to stay put for now.”
Smell like him. Weirdo. “Stay? Here? I won’t.” I got up, leaving the sheet behind and went for the door. “I’ll fucking run down the road naked so someone will call the cops on you.”
When my hand landed on the knob, he warned, “You don’t want to go out there. Least of all naked.”
I hesitated, mainly because I was nude.
As fast as lightening, Wrex’s hand was over mine. His eyes glared into me, daring me to move. His eyes were green, way brighter than mine and outlined in dark grey. Towering over me, he seemed even larger, menacing but so sensual, his hair hanging down framing his serious face. I stood in his shadow, quivering from fear or from attraction, pick one. He placed a heavy hand on my other arm, his thumb accidently brushing my breast, making me more aware of my starkness. He all but whispered, “I don’t live here at the clubhouse. I’m not an officer. I’m a member, here as a guest, using this room because it’s the safest place for you. Go out there in nothing but your birthday suit, looking as hot as you do and see what trouble it invites. The men roaming around here wouldn’t hesitate to… let’s just say they’d give you a real hard time if they didn’t think you were already spoken for, didn’t think you were here with me, willingly. You go out there claiming you’re here against your will, or like you’re just another sweetbutt, and you really will be.”
His odd threatening words convinced me to let go of the door.
Backing away from me, Wrex went on, “Staying here, for now, at least you’re protected by those mean motherfuckers out
