Warlords MC: Book 6 – Traven : Chapter 11

“I’m afraid that was my fault,” Will admitted. “I told her where the camp was.”

Pepper snapped his head around and glared at the younger man. “How the hell did you find it?”

Will shrugged. “It wasn’t hard, when you know what to look for.”

Pepper took a glance at Ace and Traven then he gazed at Will again. “What did you look for exactly, kid?”

Will got into a stare down with the other man and neither of them said a word for a long time. Then Will cleared his throat and said, “I don’t remember exactly now.”

Joker shook his head and asked, “How long ago did you find this camp?”

Again, Will shrugged. “Almost a month ago now.”

Ace stared at the boy. “How many times has your sister been out to this camp, watching them?”

“More times than I care to think about I can tell you that.” Will growled. “Every time she goes out there, I worry she won’t come back. She always has but that doesn’t make me worry less the next time she leaves to go out there.”

Ace shook his head. “She’s damn lucky she hasn’t been caught yet. Or worse… hurt.”

Will snapped his head up and glared at the other man. “I never said she hadn’t been hurt before.”

“You didn’t say she did either, kid,” Venom pointed out.

“She did come home covered in bruises and blood one night about two weeks ago,” Will admitted. “She never did tell me what happened but I know it wasn’t good. Her throat was bruised almost as if someone had tried to strangle her. She couldn’t even speak for the next three days. She finally got her voice back. I told her then she needed to stop going out there but she wouldn’t. She went back the next night. And the next night and the night after that.”

“Why?” Traven wanted to know. “Why would she keep going out there?”

Will shrugged. “You know the story.”

Traven read the look in his eyes. He knew she hadn’t told them all of it. Will knew but he didn’t want to share with the group. Traven tightened his lips, her secrets could very well get someone killed and he wasn’t going to let that happen. He turned around and headed for the kitchen.

Will watched him go and shook his head. He knew Traven was going to find out the hard way just how stubborn Winter really was once her dander was stirred. He almost felt sorry for the other man, as he’d been the one catching his sister’s wrath before. He shook his head, like he said, almost felt sorry for him. Will knew he was going to get both barrels thrown at his head and very soon.

Traven stomped into the kitchen and found her cutting a thick piece of steak. Her hands were covered in the blood of the meat and he glared at her. “You didn’t tell us you got hurt at that camp two weeks ago.” He snarled.

Winter looked up and saw his concern. She shrugged and went back to cutting the meat. “You didn’t ask.”

“How many times have you been out there, just watching the place?” he demanded.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea how many times.”

She wouldn’t look at him and it was beginning to piss him off. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

She shook her head but she wouldn’t look at him or give him a reason.

Traven growled and took a step closer to her. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, woman.”

She raised her head slowly and Traven could see the fire in her eyes. He knew this would be yet, another round with Ms. Firecracker.

She raised the knife and held it in front of her. “Don’t tell me what to do. You are not my father, my brother, or my lover, so you have no say in my life at all. Back off, Reaper.”

Traven didn’t remember moving closer but he found himself standing nose to nose with her. He didn’t know where the idea came from but he dipped his head and crushed her lips under his.

She gasped and he forced his tongue into the recess of her mouth and a bolt of electricity shot threw them both.

Still holding the knife in her hand, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his hands around her sweet ass and lifted her up to deepen the kiss. He slammed her against the wall and she wrapped his legs around his waist as they kissed.

Then Traven broke the kiss. He looked down at her face and they both appeared dazed. He lowered her down to her feet then he turned and began walking away from her, just before he got to the door he said, “You won’t go back to that camp. They know someone was watching them and they figured out it was you. Stay away from that camp. We’ll take it down but you stay away.”

“You still don’t have the right to tell me what to do!” she yelled at him. “Like I said, you ain’t my dad, my brother, or my lover. I will do whatever I want to do.”

He slowly turned his head to glare at her. He knew she’d finally gotten under his skin, as her stubbornness was not amusing anymore. Not when she was trying to get killed. “Don’t push this little girl, you might not like the consequences if you do.” He pushed the door open and when it swung back, he heard a thud. He paused and looked at the door, then when it swung the other way, he saw the knife she just had in her hand. It was stuck in the wood hard.

Traven looked back at her.

With beady eyes, she raised both hands toward him in a specific gesture, middle fingers out. Then she stuck her tongue out at him in a defiance that seemed to top all her other episodes.

Traven let the door shut behind him and walked away shaking his head. Damn, soon he would have to take her in hand. He slowed his walk, as he got hard in his jeans while thinking about his hands being all over that little curvy form of hers. He took a deep breath and tried to get his focus back. Scrambled by a little girl? Who would have guessed that?

When he joined the men at the table, Ace shook his head. “I have a feeling you’re lucky that door swung shut at just the right time.”

Traven shrugged as he kept his expression entirely neutral. “Probably.”

Ace grinned. “I’ve been there, brother.”

Deuce snorted. “Oh yes, he has. If she is half the handful that Charli is, then he’s right. You are in deep trouble.”

“What did you tell her?” King wanted to know.

“I told her she couldn’t go back out to the camp,” Traven replied. “And that she couldn’t go anywhere in fact. She’s gonna get herself killed.”

Will wheeled closer. “And I’ll bet she told you to go to hell right?”

Traven nodded, “She said I wasn’t her father, her brother, or her lover, so I couldn’t say shit about it. Or something to that affect.”

“Well, seems to me,” Ace drawled. “You best become one of those before she defies you and does what she wants.”

“So what happened?” Deuce asked.

“I kissed her,” Traven admitted. “I’m not sure if that helped or hurt the situation.” He chuckled. “She flipped me the bird and stuck her tongue out at me.” He glanced back at the door and remembered the knife.

Will looked around as the men all chuckled and he turned away, starting to wheel back to his laptop.

Phantom watched the warring emotions on the boy’s face and went with him.

When he got to his computer, Will looked like thunder waiting for a place to explode.

Phantom sat down next to him and finally asked softly, “What’s bothering you, kid?”

Will turned his head and glared at him. “Not a fucking thing.” Was all he would say. Turning back to his laptop, he began typing.

Phantom watched him a moment before he said, “They didn’t mean anything by what they said, you know that right?”

“Fuck them and fuck you too. You were laughing at my sister too.” Will growled. “We don’t need this shit. We don’t need to be here, being laughed at. He doesn’t know how lucky he was just now.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Phantom frowned.

Will turned his head. “He wouldn’t be laughing at her if she’d stuck him with that blade, now would he? She could do it too. She can protect her own damn self and so can I. She’d take a bullet to protect me too, not that she would ever have to. I wouldn’t hesitate to protect myself. We don’t need this shit.” He turned his head back to his screen. “Get the hell away from me. Just leave me and my sister alone.”

Phantom got to his feet and shaking his head, he walked back to where his brothers were standing.

Ace looked at him and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“The kid seems to think we were dissing his sister. It didn’t sit well with him.”

“And?” Joker asked.

“Traven may need to watch his back,” he warned them as he swung his gaze over to Traven. “Oh and maybe not catch her with a knife in her hand again.”

“Well, shit.” Traven growled.

“Exactly what I was saying.” Ace nodded.