Tightening the Ropes [Dark Days Ranch 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Knox spun her to face him. He ripped the aviators off her face to reveal big, lavender eyes. His heart felt like it stopped on the spot. Green would have been nice. Blue, he had almost expected. But the light purple made his jaw drop.

  “Ah, hell,” he snapped. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The sound of dispatch came through the radio that was lying on the ground. He glanced at it and then her name tag. “Officer Gordova. I’m sorry about this, but you’re going to have to come with me.”

  “Like hell I am.” She stomped her boot down on his foot with all of her human strength. Knox stood there unfazed. Her plump lips parted as she looked at him in shock.

  “Are you done? I don’t have time for this.” She kicked him right between the legs and Knox winced. “You’re going to pay for that later, missy. Don’t doubt that. One thing you’ll learn about me real fast. What I say, I mean.”

  “Bring it, beefcake. You’re already in more trouble than you can imagine.”

  Knox gave her a good spanking on her ass. “I’ll show you, beefcake.” A squeal came from her mouth as he threw her over his shoulder, opened the car door, and pulled up the seat. He tossed her in the back with Ty.

  “Knox, what the hell are you doing?” Logan was staring at him, panicked.

  “Sorry, boss. It has to be this way. Give me a minute. Gotta disarm the camera in her truck.” Knox ran to the vehicle and opened the door. He ripped the dash cam out completely. As he destroyed the computer, cam, and everything he could find, his attention went to a picture tucked into the visor. It was of her and some man. Knox stuffed it into his jeans and ran back to the M3.

  Three things were evident as he opened the door. One, he’d connected with two future mates today. Two, he’d just broken the law and kidnapped one. And three, he was about to head into a danger zone full of gun-fighting thugs. Could things get any worse?

  Chapter 2

  Lynna stared up at the man whose lap she’d landed on. He looked extremely uncomfortable to have her upper body lying across him. The glances he kept giving the passenger were full of panic. The driver had been hauling ass for the last ten minutes and not a single person had said a word since he jumped in and took off.

  Dark eyes kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror. Something about the driver called to her, and Lynna couldn’t understand it. There was no way she could have Stockholm syndrome yet. That was just ridiculous. So what was her excuse?

  The man underneath her tried to wiggle to move further away. Pissed that she was even being put in this situation, Lynna lifted her leg and kicked the driver in the shoulder.

  “Hey! Do you know what you’ve just done?”

  The man behind the wheel didn’t even budge against her force. It only made her madder. What was he, a brick wall? She’d just kicked the shit out of him. She sighed and looked at the thick tribal tattoo running from his elbow up to underneath the tight sleeve of the dark T-shirt he wore. Her eyes then returned to the scars on his neck. Her stomach began to ache. God, he was really hot. She could feel herself getting turned on. Angry at the betrayal of her body she kicked at him again. “I asked you a question. Answer me, driver.”

  “Logan, take the wheel.” He turned in his seat as the passenger steered the car. “You.” His large hands were like baseball mitts. They grabbed around her shoulders and he forcefully set her down in the other seat. Lynna cried out as her hands were crushed at an odd angle beneath her bottom. The handcuffs were super tight. She could barely move her arms at all.

  Something stirred on his face as a tear ran down her cheek. It vanished so quickly that she wasn’t sure she’d seen anything at all.

  “You’ve broken a lot of laws here. Don’t make things worse. Just let me out..”

  He stared into her face, but the mask he wore was still there. She had no idea what he was thinking.

  “Knox. What do you say? Let’s let her go,” the passenger he’d called Logan whispered.

  Dark eyes narrowed at her. He turned in his chair and faced the road. “No. She stays.”

  “Knox.” The tone from Logan deepened. “I’m not asking you. I’m saying let’s pull over and let her out. I don’t see why you took her to begin with.”

  The profile of the driver was absolutely perfect to Lynna. He glanced at her and looked back at Logan. His nose was straight, not too wide or too long. His lips weren’t too thin. They were made for kissing. Dumbfounded, she cut off her thoughts about this thug named Knox. She couldn’t understand what this weird attraction was but it needed to end. Now.

  “Boss.” Knox rubbed his hand over his buzzed head. “I can’t.”

  “It’s an order,” Logan snapped. “I’m telling you to let her go. How are you going to do your job and watch over a kidnapped cop at the same time? It’s a stupid idea, and you know it.”

  The car pulled to the shoulder and slammed to a stop. She hit the seat in front of her hard. “Fine.” The door opened and Knox pulled the seat forward. He snatched her out and placed her on the road. “We’re not finished Officer Gordova. Keep your eyes open because I’ll be back. And when I am, you’ll get your punishment for kicking me.”

  Lips crushed into hers and Lynna could feel herself leaning into Knox’s muscular body. As he sucked her lip into his mouth she instantly became wet. One of his large hands wrapped around her side and burned a trail over her hip, and down to her ass. Next thing she knew, Lynna was wrapping her free arms around the man’s neck. She wanted him. Nothing else existed but this rough-looking, beautiful man.

  A hand settled over her chest and pushed her back, almost causing her to fall on her ass. Reality hit hard. She was appalled at her actions. What in the world was wrong with her? He hadn’t been copping a feel of her body. He was searching for her handcuff key that was attached to the retractable cord on her belt. Embarrassment made her blush, but she tried not to let it get to her. Instead, she let the anger take over full force. “I’ll be waiting, Knox. With my gun. You best remember that.”

  “We’ll see, how much you resist once the time comes.” He looked toward the opened door. “Logan, pop the trunk!” The back opened and Knox grabbed a bottled water and tossed it at her. “Try to stay alive until I can find you again.”

  She held to the water tightly, and turned to run, even though if felt wrong. Why she wanted to stay with the law-breaking criminal was beyond her, but there was just something about him.

  “Hey!” His voice stopped her from fleeing. Lynna turned and faced him. “What’s your name?”

  Lynna pushed her mind to face the situation of what had just happened, weird attraction aside. “My name is restraining order. My number is additional felony charges if you ever come near me again. Got that?”

  “You humans are too funny.” He laughed and jumped in the car. Confused, Lynna watched the BMW drive off into the distance until there was nothing but an empty mirage floating against the horizon.

  “What the hell did he mean, you humans?” Maybe the combination of the heat accompanied with the kidnapping had her hallucinating. Could he have said women instead of humans? No. Lynna turned and finally started walking. He definitely had said humans.

  * * * *

  “You want to start explaining what the hell just happened?” Logan’s eyes were growing dark with his wolf. Knox could feel how pissed he was, and although he knew how strong his wolf was, there was something about this human-turned wolf that made his beast doubt his abilities to ever dominate him if the time came. Not that it would. Knox had his chance to be Alpha in his homeland. He’d refused it. Leadership wasn’t what he wanted. The freedom to fight was.

  “We’re waiting,” Ty pushed on. “I think being an accessory gives us the right to demand a reason why you kidnapped that cop.”

  Knox slowed and looked across the large dirt medium, into the traffic heading toward Fort Stockton. Red and blue lights flashed as they weaved around the only two cars in their path. Shit, this could be bad. �
�I wasn’t thinking. I went with my instincts.”

  “Instincts?” Logan looked back at Ty. “Enough bullshitting. You be honest with me right now. Are these the same instincts pulling you to work at Dark Days?”

  Knox nodded. “I think I’m meant to be mated to both of them. The cop’s a definite mate. I knew from the moment I looked into her eyes. Lewis is just a suspicion. I haven’t actually met him yet so it’s hard to be positive.”

  “Fuck.” Ty leaned between the seats. “How you planning on making that one work? She didn’t seem to like you, and my guess is that her camera caught everything. Which now pretty much makes you a felon. I don’t care how much you destroyed the equipment in her truck. They’ll still see the events that took place. The box or whatever it’s called is supposedly somewhere mounted to the frame of the car, Knox.”

  “Well, they’ll never find me. The car has fake tags and registration. After this I won’t use it again. I have more cars, anyway. Still sucks though. I love my M3.” Knox knew he was more talking to himself toward the end, but he just couldn’t get the cop out of his mind. Leaving her had been the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. Even now, he felt like he had the world’s largest ulcer taking over his stomach. His heart ached for her, and it was absolutely ridiculous. He didn’t even know the gorgeous human.

  For what felt like an eternity the men rode in silence. Knox was consumed in his thoughts. All of them of course were obsessing over how he was going to track down his sexy officer. He would bet anything that she lived close to town. Between her and Lewis, no wonder his wolf wanted to be at the ranch.

  “Are we there yet?” The whiny kid’s voice coming from his Alpha had Knox looking over at him a little hesitant. As Logan winked, Knox shook his head. “Come on, Knox the Ox, you thought that was funny.”

  Ty burst out laughing. “Lo, you really have to stop hanging around Jack. That’s the third nickname you’ve come up with for someone in the last week.”

  “It’s good though, right?” Logan smiled at his mate.

  “I don’t like it.” Knox said the words very clipped. How many times had he gone over this with Jack, his previous Alpha? Too many.

  Logan snorted. “Why? Because it’s practically true. Look at you man, you’re huge. Knox the Ox. I think I’m gonna keep that one.” Tapping began to pound into the dash. Logan’s face turned to him, quickly and he broke out in a low tone to the chorus of “Instant Crush.” The fast-paced lyrics flowed smoothly from his mouth until the slow part began. Knox was shocked he’d even heard of Daft Punk. His voice was amazing! It was hard to pay attention to the road while he sung.

  “Oh my God, Logan. Not again,” Ty groaned. “You’ve been singing that song for weeks now. Can we give it a break?” Ty looked at Knox. “He’s obsessive with music. I’ve never known anyone who focuses on one song and listens to it repeatedly for days. Hell, weeks! It plays, over and over. I’ve had to listen to it so much that I hear that shit in my dreams.”

  “Oh, come on. You know you like that song.” Logan pulled out his phone and grabbed the input wire that Knox had plugged into the AUX.

  “No, no, please spare us,” Ty groaned. “I liked the song the first one hundred times I was forced to listen to it. Now you’ve worn it out.”

  “Sing with me, Ty!” The song started and Logan began bopping his head to the beat. Knox figured his cowboy pack leader would have only listened to country. Damn, he was wrong. By far.

  Knox wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never seen his Alpha like this before. Usually it was all pack business. The guy was made out of nails when he led, but right now…He was a goof.

  “Did you forget we’re going into a highly dangerous situation? This is serious,” Ty said.

  Logan stopped singing and looked at him, his face stoic. “I’m perfectly aware of where we’re going. Let me deal with this the way that I need to. You go in your quiet zone and prepare, I’m gonna sing. Oh!” Logan burst out into the fast chorus again and began shaking his head and singing to Knox. The look on his face made Knox shake his head. These men were crazy. They were nothing like he expected. Logan kept surprising him and he had to admit, he kind of liked this guy.

  As the song repeated Knox zoned himself out. They were getting close, and he had his own ritual to prepare for fights. Not so different from his leader, Knox liked his music, too. He pulled his cord out of Logan’s phone. “Okay, boss. My turn. We’ve got about fifteen minutes before we’re there. Ty, lean down the seat and grab out the vests.”

  Knox plugged in his phone and turned on the first song from his playlist. It was like a ritual for him. He wasn’t sure if there was going to be any fighting, but just in case, he wanted to be prepared.

  The contrast between the two genres couldn’t have been further apart. As the rap blew through the speakers, Knox focused on the words. He watched the men put on their vests, and he grabbed the one Ty handed him. He pulled his shirt off and steered with his knees as he strapped it to his body. Ah, home.

  This was exactly where Knox was meant to be. He loved it. The bass pumped through his car and he laid his gun in his lap. There was never a better feeling to him than the one of vengeance to a rival pack. These men killed one of his friends, wounded another, and tried to kill his brother. Today might not be the day, but the time would come when he paid them back for their crimes. The name of the game was revenge, and little did these wolves know, he’d eventually show them who was master.

  Chapter 3

  Sweat ran down Lewis’s face while he brushed down Maple, his favorite quarter horse. Although his hand was going through the motions, his mind wasn’t on his actions. All Lewis could think of was the man he’d seen standing with Logan, his new boss. The guy looked downright menacing. But it wasn’t fear that was causing his mind to go over their eye contact. As weird as it seemed, through those brief seconds that Lewis’s world had stopped, a sense of longing for this stranger had overwhelmed him.

  It was enough now to make him laugh. Why would he be longing for a guy? Especially one that looked at Lewis like he harbored some deep hatred for him. It was ridiculous.

  “You’re gonna brush that horse’s hide right off if you keep it up. I think you’ve been just standing, working on Maple now for a good half hour. Aren’t you gonna take lunch?”

  Lewis looked over at Juan. For what the short Hispanic man lacked in height, he made up in bulk. He was built like a brick house.

  “I’m headed into town now. Wanna go?” Lewis gave Maple a good pat and pulled the stall door shut.

  Juan shook his head. “I just got back, man. Hit me up tomorrow. We’ll go together.”

  “Sounds good.” Lewis started to walk away when Juan called back out to him.

  “I forgot to tell you. Ol’ Al says Logan called and told him you could leave after lunch. He said the man he was bringing you to train had an emergency come up and they’ll be back tomorrow for the lessons.”

  Lewis stood there confused. “Logan never told me I was training someone new.”

  A laugh came from Juan. “I may have forgotten to tell you that, too. Boss says he wants you to train Knox. Big, scary guy. Tattoos. Scars down his neck…Nothing to fear though. He probably won’t say two words to you. I seriously don’t think the guy can talk.”

  The words made Lewis’s heart race. “Big, scary guy, huh?”

  “Yep.” Juan shrugged. “Sorry, man. Better you than me.”

  Lewis walked to the truck Dark Days had lent him. The white Ford F250 had the DDR logo on the side. It was a sweet truck. A hell of a lot better than his old Chevy. The damn thing was the most unreliable bastard he’d ever had the pleasure to drive, but he still couldn’t part with it. It’d been his first vehicle and Old Blue would always be a part of his life. The memories he had of the truck ran deep. It was his dad’s, and he and Lewis had completely rebuilt the engine together before his dad handed it over on his sixteenth birthday.

  The diesel roared to life. Lewis headed out of t
he ranch toward Fort Stockton. The country music was low. Irritated, he turned it off. This guy would not get out of his head. What was it about their eyes meeting that had stopped time? It’d never happened to Lewis before. Not with a woman or a man.

  Lewis pulled into Subway, and like always the place was packed. He really needed to find somewhere else for a quick meal. There were plenty of restaurants around this small town. It was just the thought of eating alone that drove him to go somewhere quick to grab a bite.

  The line reached all the way to the far wall. As Lewis waited his turn, he scanned the crowded room. His eyes stopped on a gorgeous woman. She was sitting across from a man around their age. For the second time that day the air left his lungs and everything went into slow motion. Beautiful eyes rose to his and the color literally took his breath away. He’d never seen anything so stunning in all of his life. The sandwich stood stationary just outside of her mouth as she stared back.

  “Sir.”

  Lewis looked back angrily. He was pissed at the lady behind him for breaking the connection he had with the woman across the room.

  “Uh, can you move up?”

  “What?” Lewis looked in front of him at the big gap in the line. He took two steps forward and turned back to the woman with the eyes. She had a huge smile on her face, and she was still looking at him. It was amazing. He turned to make sure she wasn’t staring at anyone else. It appeared to amuse her because she laughed.

  Lewis felt giddy as she turned to the man and listened for a few seconds only to look back up at him. The line seemed to jump into hyperspeed because one second he was at the end and the next it was his turn to order.

  “You want the regular?”

  He smiled at Jackie. “Yes, ma’am”

  As she made his sandwich Lewis itched to get back to the main part of the room. He couldn’t see her from this angle and it was driving him crazy. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his Wranglers. It suddenly dawned on him what he was wearing. Embarrassed, he looked down at the sweat-drenched black T-shirt and dirty jeans. God, he had to look like a mess. Why this woman had ever picked him up on her radar was unfathomable.