Chapter 15

Sophie

I was alive. I survived a madman and lived. Not many can say that, but luckily I can.

By some incredible miracle, Daryl found me. Trax tracked me. Now I know how he got his road name and thank God for that. After he found Jacob and me in the middle of nowhere, he and his six leather-wearing angels saved me. They were no longer devils in my mind, but my angels.

I swear I will never look at black leather again without feeling a sense of relief.

I know I am so lucky to be alive. That thought is helping me hold it together the best I can. I know I'm crying, but these are just a few tears that are escaping. I know once I let it go, I'll be a complete fucking mess...an absolute, uncontrollable sobbing disaster. That'll happen...it needs to, just not right now. I need to keep it together for just a little while longer.

I survived everyone's worst nightmare. Something like this doesn't happen to me. It was as if I was living someone else's life, but I wasn't. Unfortunately, my quiet life had turned into chaos.

It shouldn't have been my life. I don't get kidnapped by a madman who wants me to be his wife. I don't get dragged through the woods to some abandoned shack and duct-taped to a chair. That's not my life.

But it was.

And it's over. Thank fucking God it was over.

It's been quiet in the car as Daryl follows behind Bear who's ahead of us on his motorcycle. His callused fingers are tightly intertwined with mine. That's the only thing keeping me grounded right now.

I have no idea where we're headed. It would make sense to go to the clubhouse so Diesel can get his arm looked at, but I haven't asked Daryl. As long as it's not my apartment, I don't care. There's no way I'm going back there. Not now. Not ever. Any place else will do even if it's the Road Devil's clubhouse.

I owe them my life. Being kidnapped by a crazy man typically never ends up good for the woman. I knew at some point he would lose it and try to kill me. I was determined to make that as hard for him as possible. I had two long days and exhausting nights to think about it.

Do I play along and try to gain his confidence? Or do I fight him the entire time?

Gone was the sane man I had met in the bakery. Maybe he was a really good actor, but the man that held me captive had lost all sense of reality. And just when I was losing hope, the man who I kept pushing away from me, saved me.

Daryl found me.

Daryl also killed Jacob.

And I'm not sorry he's dead. He'll never hurt me again and for that, I am forever grateful to Daryl and the men that helped him.

I turned around in my seat and looked back at Diesel. "How are you doing?" I asked him softly. He was the closest thing to a brother-in-law I would ever have. He had been good to me and now he had been shot because of me.

"It's just a graze. The bullet came through that wall and took a chunk out but it'll be fine. Why'd he fire?" he asked.

I looked over at Daryl and saw the corner of his mouth lift. "She hit him hard in the balls, brother. His finger jerked on the trigger. That's when I shot him."

Diesel laughed. His arm was still bleeding but he laughed. "Hell, I'd get shot any day before getting hit in the balls. Good move, Soph."

"I'm sorry, Diesel. I really am." He was big. He was slightly scary even though the man was very hot and he belonged to my cousin. And I realized that I loved him. He was family.

"Did you ask that asshole to kidnap you?"

"No."

"Then it ain't your fault," he told me. "This is nothing. Just need Stitch to fix it and I'll be good as new."

The bloody towel he was holding against his arm told me it may not be as easy of a fix as he thought. "Have you called Chrissy?"

His eyes narrowed and his face lost any trace of a smile. "No! And don't you. I'll talk to her when I get home. Understood?"

I guess he didn't want to worry her, so I told him I wouldn't call her even though this was something I would need to share with her. It was just going to have to wait.

It didn't take long before we were pulling up in front of the clubhouse. Several of the guys spill out the front door when they heard us arrive.

Colt pushed his way through the crowd. "You got her. Good. Where the fuck is the rest of them?"

I knew what he was asking. Was everyone okay?

Bear finished parking his bike and got off joining the rest of us. "They're working on clean up. They're all good."

Colt then turned his hazel eyes on me, "Are you okay?"

I appreciated his concern. For a man I barely knew, it touched me. "Yes, I'm okay. It's Diesel that got shot. He needs to have his arm taken care of."

"And Stitch needs to check you out, too," Daryl insisted.

"I'm fine. Nothing a shower will fix," I told him with more confidence than I felt.

"Naw. Stitch is going to check you out first. You have cuts and bruises all over you, plus a swollen cheek and a gash on your forehead. If that asshole wasn't already dead, he would be soon," Daryl growled. "Let's go."

Diesel was already headed inside and we followed behind him. Daryl put his hand on the small of my back and gently pushed me forward. I had only been here at the clubhouse that one night. After that horrible night, I never wanted to come back. Now I was seeing it as a safe place.

Funny how everything had turned upside down on me.

With all of these not just men, but strong alpha bikers around, no one could get to me here. Even though Jacob was dead, oddly enough this place I never thought I would return to it made me feel secure. This was the safest place in all of Angel Valley. Maybe even the entire state of Georgia.

Daryl had us following Diesel toward the back of the main room and then down a hallway on the left. A man with a long salt and pepper ponytail turned to us when we entered the room. He wasn't big and muscular like so many of these guys were but he was tall and very thin.

"Hello there. I'm Stitch. Let's see what's going on with you," he said to me ignoring Diesel. The man had the kindest blue eyes I had ever seen. He wore a faded blue bandana across his forehead that tied in the back. That he wore the same cut as Daryl and Diesel was the only reason I remembered he was a Road Devil.

"I'm okay. Please look at Diesel first, he was shot." I was only here to appease Daryl. It was the least I could do even though all I wanted to do was take a shower.

Stitch had Diesel sit on one table and instructed me to sit on another. He took the blood-soaked towel from Diesel and quickly examined the wound. "He's had worse. Just needs to be cleaned up and stitched." He opened several packages of sterile gauze and taped them across Diesel's arm. "He can wait. Let me just check you out first," he said turning to me.

Were they all in a conspiracy against me? Diesel was hurt much more serious than I was. "Fine," I said rolling my eyes.

Stitch looked over each one of my arms carefully examining each cut, scratch, and bruise. I had fallen several times on the walk to the shack. I was fighting with Jacob most of the time and when he pushed me I fell into the brush along the very narrow path. Twigs, branches, and rocks battered my arms and legs.

If I had been wearing jeans, it would have helped but it had been later in the evening when Jacob burst through my flimsy door so I was wearing comfortable yoga pants and a tank top. The pants would have to be thrown out as they had rips and tears all over them. My shirt was dirty and only slightly torn, but I was going to get rid of it anyway. I didn't want any more reminders of what had happened. My memories were going to be bad enough.

"The cut on your forehead is the worst, but it doesn't need to be stitched. I'll put some butterflies on it for now and you'll have more to replace them after you shower and get rid of the dirt and the blood. I'll give you some antibiotic ointment and some bandages that you can apply afterward. Get something to eat and rest. That's the best medicine for you," Stitch told me.

I looked over at Daryl who was leaning one of his broad shoulders against the doorframe and mouthed to him, "I told you so." His response was glare at me a little harder. That man needed to lighten up.

On my way out, I stopped by Diesel and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you. I'm not sorry I hit Jacob in the balls, but I am sorry he shot you because of it."

"Me too," he laughed. Stitch just shook his head as he started to clean up Diesel's wound.

"C'mon let's get outta here," Daryl said touching my shoulder.

"Okay," I agreed before turning back to Diesel. "Tell Chrissy to call me tomorrow. Oh, wait. She can't. I don't have my phone."

"I'll have a prospect get it and some clothes for you tonight," Daryl told me. "Let's go."

Quietly we walked back into the main room and then Daryl directed me up the stairs. He stopped in front of a door that had a number five on it and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. He unlocked the door and I walked in first.

"It ain't much, but I don't need more than this," he said gruffly.

I wondered if he was embarrassed by the room. It was plain with just a full-size bed, a dresser, a small desk and chair, and a lone nightstand. It lacked any type of personal touch. There wasn't anything on top of the dresser except for a small TV and the keys that he just put there. It looked like an empty room, but he had lived in it for years. It made me a little bit sad for him.

"The towels in the bathroom are clean. The Hellions clean it every day and replace them. You can wear this in the meantime," he said opening a dresser drawer and pulling out a t-shirt and then a pair of sweatpants. "They're gonna be big but it's all I got."

The room was suddenly filled with awkwardness. While Daryl and I knew each other intimately, we still barely knew each other. I was going to be sleeping with him tonight while it was only two days ago I had decided to get to know him better. This was a huge jump from one to the other but there wasn't any other place I wanted to be. And that's what I needed right now was that sense of security I always felt when he was around.

"Thank you," I told him with a weak smile. I was starting to feel the weight of these last few days hitting me. I took a step toward the bathroom door clutching the borrowed clothes to my chest.

"Hey," he said. "Take your time. If you need help with the bandages I can do that when you're done. I'm going to send some prospects to your place to get some clothes. What do you want?"

"Everything. I never want to go back there again."

Daryl smiled at me. An honest to God real smile. Damn, he definitely needs to do that more. When he turned to leave, I called him back. "Do you think you could get Maddie to help them? It's a lot to ask of her, but I don't really want Brick touching my...umm, underwear."

"Me either," he grunted. "I'll call her." And he was gone.

Daryl was certainly different. Sometimes he could be relaxed and nice and other times he was more gruff and hard. He could change from soft to hard in an instant.

Maybe I had a lot to learn about him.

That was something to worry about another day. The bathroom was tidy just like his room, so I wondered how he would handle all of my girl stuff in here.

And we still needed to talk about us. I had no place else to go except back to Chrissy and Diesel's house, but I knew I didn't want to go there. I wanted to stay with the man that made me feel safe and loved.

I wanted to be with Daryl even if it meant the two of us in this small room. He said he wasn't letting me out of his sight for a long time, but what exactly did that mean? A few days? A month? Forever?

I quickly got the shower heating up and stepped in it as soon as I could. I suddenly couldn't stand the dirt and blood on me for a second longer.

There was a bar of generic soap in the shower that I used to wash and scrub every single inch of my body at least three times. The water swirling around my feet was tinged pink since I opened up practically every cut and scratch I had trying to clean them. I didn't even care that I had to use Daryl's shampoo and not mine.

The tears started as soon as the shampoo hit my scalp and they soon mixed with the water that was pouring over me. I had tried to wash the memories away, but I couldn't.

I saw Jacob's wild eyes as he broke into my apartment.

I saw him fighting with me on the floor to gain the control I didn't want to give him.

I felt the duct tape wrap tightly around my wrists and over my mouth.

I felt every scratch from every branch and limb I fell against as he pushed me along into the woods.

And I felt the intense fear that I was going to die.

I barely rinsed the soap suds out of my hair when I turned the water off and quickly stepped out onto the cold tile floor. I didn't even grab the towel that I had waiting for me, instead, I quickly pulled the t-shirt and sweatpants on over my wet skin. My soaking wet hair dripped down my back and soon the shirt was completely soaked. I had taken all I could today and I had nothing left to give.

I dashed out of the bathroom curling up in a ball on Daryl's bed. His scent on the pillow was the only thing that saved me from an all-out meltdown. I sobbed at the disaster my life had become. In Kansas, I had lost my mother, was let go from my job, and dealt with a cheating boyfriend. Moving to Georgia was supposed to have been a good thing.

I have Chrissy here. She and my Aunt Patty were the only family I had left. With my aunt living in Florida, Chrissy was it. We got along well and I was happy to be close to her.

Then there was Daryl. He popped into my life when I least expected it and I've been fighting my attraction for him ever since. He didn't fit into my "boyfriend box" but I sure did end up needing him. It was time to throw away that damn box since it never worked for me anyway and start a new one...one that may not necessarily conform to society's norms.

The kidnapping still has me sobbing into Daryl's pillow. Why me? Why did Jacob have to choose me to obsess over? The feeling of his hands on me as he fought to tie me up wouldn't leave me. It made my skin crawl again and I almost got up to take another shower.

Jacob said I was now his wife. For some reason, he thought I was still a virgin. I'm thirty years old and that ship sailed a long time ago. That just shows you how delusional he was.

I couldn't get rid of the memories. It was only a few hours ago that Daryl rescued me, but I needed them gone. Or even just faded. Everything was too new.

Too recent.

Too raw for me to deal with.

I didn't even hear the door open. One minute I was crying curled up in as tight of a ball as I could get and the next, Daryl was cradling me in his arms.

"Hey, you're alright. You're safe here, but why the hell are you soaking wet?" Daryl held me against him even though I was a complete mess. I couldn't stop crying.

"Sophie...shh...take it easy."

He rubbed my wet back with his hand. The gentle circles he made helped me to calm down. This breakdown had to happen. It was the only way I could start to process everything that I had been through. It took a few more minutes, but finally the tears subsided.

He pulled back looking at me. "You okay?"

I could see his blue eyes full of worry. He was back to being a softer Daryl. "Yes, I'm better. Thanks."

"Then answer me this. Why are you soaking wet?"

I gave him a weak smile. "I started to cry in the shower and it got worse when I got out. All I wanted to do was lie on your bed and cry. It was either stay in the towel or quickly throw on the clothes you gave me. I didn't dry off or even dry my hair. I'm sorry I think I made the bed wet, too."

"Alright, I get it," he said hugging me to his chest. "The bed can always be fixed. I ain't worried about that. But maybe next time, I'd like the towel better than wet clothes."

I pulled back and looked at him. The playfulness in his eyes was adorable. His normally serious eyes held a spark that reminded me of the chemistry we had together. I needed to forget Jacob but having sex wasn't in the cards for us tonight. I was too emotionally spent.

"You're such a guy," I told him as I got up and grabbed the towel from the bathroom.

"You're putting the towel on? Fuck, yeah."

I punched him lightly on the shoulder. "No dumbass, I'm drying my hair."

"Oh yeah, I knew that," he said trying not to laugh.

He did get me to smile a little and I needed that, "Right. Sure. You knew that."

He got up and kissed my forehead as I towel dried my hair. I went back into the bathroom and used his comb to try to get the snarls out but I really needed a brush. Daryl came up behind me in the small bathroom and we looked at each other through the mirror.

"As much as I enjoy looking at you being all perky and shit, you better change into this dry shirt. I don't have any other sweats, so if you don't plan on leaving the room tonight, you should be okay."

I knew exactly what he was talking about. The cold wet t-shirt had my nipples noticeably sticking out like two hard little pearls. They weren't the only thing hard in the room either. Daryl was standing close enough to me that I could feel in the erection he had going on in his jeans.

He gave my shoulders a light squeeze before he left the room to allow me to change. He was being a gentleman. I doubt any of the other guys here would have done that, especially since not only had he seen the boobs, he knew what they tasted like.

But that was also a couple of months ago and he realized that.

Thank you, Daryl.

I slipped out of my wet clothes leaving on the slightly damp panties on. I had no choice since I didn't have any other clothes here. Slightly damp, and not the good way damp, was better than being bare-assed. Daryl and I were not at that point yet where I was going walk around showing my assets.

I walked slowly back into the bedroom and found Daryl sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes showed he was worried about me. "You okay?"

"I will be. Maybe not right away, but if you have some patience with me, I should be."

"Come sit here," Daryl said indicating next to him on the bed. "I made us sandwiches. You must be hungry."

"I am," I admitted.

Daryl held up the antibiotic ointment and bandages that Stitch had given me. "Let me take care of your cuts first, and then we can eat."

On the side table, I saw a tray with two overstuffed roast beef sandwiches, chips, and two drinks. "What's to drink?" I asked as I headed toward the tray. Suddenly I was dying of thirst.

"Sweet tea or I can get you something else?" he offered.

I sighed in relief. Sweet tea was my go-to comfort drink. When whatever I was feeling didn't require alcohol and as bad as these last few days were, getting drunk was not on my agenda, sweet tea reminded me of my Mama. That's where the comfort part came in. When I was a kid, my mama could make anything right with a hug and a glass of her special sweet tea.

And here Daryl was unknowingly doing the same thing.

I'm not sure he realized that he was doing all of the right things for me.

"Sweet tea is perfect," I told him before drinking half the glass. My body sure needed that sugar fix. "Okay, we can take care of the cuts and scrapes now. I needed that hit of tea."

Together we covered any open areas on my arms and legs with the ointment. I didn't say anything but I liked the feeling of his hands on me. He was gentle and I didn't expect that. I let Daryl put the Band-Aids on the areas that needed them which were a few on my shins and a couple on my arms.

"Alright, let me do your face," he said.

He scooted closer to me and I watched him as he tended to the couple of scratches that were on my face plus the bigger on one my forehead. He was adorable as he concentrated on what he was doing. I liked being this close to him so I could memorize every inch of his handsome face.

He had expressive blue eyes. They told me everything that he was feeling. They got harder and smaller when he was angry. When he relaxed, they became playful with the blue shining brightly. But when he wanted me, they got darker and looked directly into my soul.

His facial hair was so different than most of the guys in the club. Many of the MC wore full beards with some much fuller as Bear wore. A couple of the guys wore that I-forgot-to-shave-for-a-few-days look or others were clean-shaven. Daryl was somewhere in between. His goatee had started to turn gray and it surprised me that I found that attractive. I wasn't sure how old he was, but definitely older than I was used to being with. Maybe in his early forties? I was thirty.

It was the scruff on his cheeks that made me smile. It was neither a beard nor a few days old. It just barely grew like a teenage boy. I had never found facial hair attractive until I started meeting the men of the Road Devils.

My life had changed so much since I stepped foot into Georgia.

My mind quickly went back to what Daryl was doing as it hurt a little bit when he changed out the wet butterfly bandages on my forehead for clean dry ones. The wound reopened, but Daryl cleaned it and applied the ointment before using the butterflies that Stitch had given us to close the edges. He used a gauze pad to cover it that he secured with some medical tape.

"You did really well with that," I told him as I looked myself over in the mirror over his dresser.

"Come from years of getting into fights with no doc around. You look good now."

I looked at him like he had five heads. "Look good? I think you need some glasses, I look anything but good right now." Not only was my hair was drying into a tangled mess, but I had a swollen cheek that was turning a nice shade of purple plus all of my assorted scratches and cuts. I was an absolute mess.

"What I meant was the cuts and everything are fixed. You'll look better in a couple of days," he said.

I couldn't resist playing with him a little bit. "So you do think I look like shit now? Great. Just, great."

"No. No. I just mean that you'll look better in a few days as things are gonna swell and bruise more and you'll look worse before getting better…not that you're not hot anyway, but you're kinda messed up right now and…fuck it. I'm shutting up now." Daryl got up quickly from the bed bringing the rest of the first aid supplies into the bathroom.

I could hear him talking to himself under his breath. Yeah, he dug himself in pretty deep but I may have given him a little shove that direction. He was cute being embarrassed. I couldn't help but giggle at him.

"Fuckin' great. Now you're laughing at me," Daryl sighed throwing up his hands in frustration.

"I can't help it you're just too cute," I laughed.

He had me pinned to the bed in the blink of the eye. "I'm a Road Devil. I'm not fuckin' cute."

Daryl had that steely stare of his going but it didn't scare me one bit. In fact, it made me laugh so hard that he even started to laugh. "I'm losing my edge," he mumbled as he held out a hand to help me back up. "C'mon let's eat. That'll help me from saying stupid shit again."

I simply couldn't stop smiling at him. He turned my day around without even trying. "Let's eat," I agreed. "I'm starving." And I was as Jacob never fed me the entire time I was held captive. I surprised I didn't attack the food first thing.

We both devoured the sandwiches and I ended up drinking both glasses of tea. I stacked the plates on the tray along with the empty glasses before joining Daryl back sitting on the bed.

"Thank you," I told him breaking the silence in the room.

"Not necessary," he replied quickly. "I was hungry, too."

I reached out and put my hand on his strong arm. "Thank you for everything. For coming to my rescue, for finding me, for…taking care of Jacob, for making me feel safe, and for being you. That flat tire was the best damn thing that ever happened to me."

"Me too," he chuckled. "But, you don't have to thank me. Sophie, I'd do everything again in a heartbeat to keep you out of danger."

"How did you know I was in trouble?" This was something I had been wondering about.

"Friday night I had to go on a run for the club. It was unexpected but I ended up going. That took all fuckin' weekend. We got back Sunday morning and I slept for a couple of hours, but then headed toward your apartment. I was pulling in when Maddie called me in a panic. When you didn't show up for work or answer your phone she got concerned. We saw the mess your place was in and I knew it had to be Gentry. I followed the trail to his house. His car was there but neither of you were so I searched until I found you."

I smiled at him. He was so humble. "Now I know why they call you Trax. It's suits you well."

He simply nodded his head. "What happened, Sophie? I gotta know."

I owed him that much. He risked his life for me, as did the other guys with him, and while the story is bad, it could have been much worse. Jacob only hit me when I was fighting him off in my apartment. He didn't beat me as he could of when I was resisting him every step of the way. And most of all he hadn't raped me…at least not yet.

So I told Daryl everything from the second the door crashed in to when Daryl did the same at the shack. The emotions came but this time from a sense of relief than fear. I had tears streaming down my face because I owed my life to the man sitting next to me. Even though he drove off after changing my tire, all that changed the second we saw each other again. I knew he was hurt seeing me with Wolf that night and even though I had no intention of being anything but friendly with the handsome biker, Daryl didn't know that.

When I turned him down each time he brought us up when he visited the bakery he didn't realize that I hated doing it. I regretted it now. My head fought my heart, but I finally stopped fighting this inner battle that I wasn't winning. Even before Daryl risked his life to save mine, I had changed my mind.

I wanted to get to know him better. See if this thing between us was strong as I suspected it could be. His dedication to the club I would learn to deal with. It was actually commendable and I can't believe I saw it the opposite way.

These big rough biker men were so incredibly loyal to each other that they came to rescue me because of Daryl…Trax without question. I would have hoped Diesel would have come. He was family, but the others – Bear, Striker, Brick and the three others that I didn't even know all risked their lives for me.

If these guys were that loyal to Daryl and he to them, why should I think he wouldn't feel the same way toward me? And that's what I was hoping to find out. I would figure out a way to deal with where the club stood in his life. It took me a while to figure out it was worth the risk.

I smiled at him through my tears. He may not smile too much or even say a lot, but he was a handsome good man. What else could I ask for?

I briefly closed my eyes as a surge of overwhelming emotions flowed through me. I felt his callused fingers wiping away my hot tears before he pulled me into his arms. We stayed that way maybe a minute or two until he said softly in his raspy voice, "You need some rest. Lie down on the bed and try to go to sleep."

"Yes, good idea," I agreed. I was exhausted from the kidnapping. Emotionally and physically I was absolutely spent. However, I had one more favor I needed to ask him for. "Stay with me, please. I don't want to be alone."

In his quiet reassuring way, he nodded that he would. Everything he did for me showed what a good man he was. Why I ever doubted him I had no idea.

I lay down curling up on my side but popped up immediately. "Damn, we need dry sheets. DO you know where they are kept?"

"I got this." I watched him leave the room but he was back in less than a minute with folded sheets in his arms. We quickly remade the bed before I slid down under the dry sheets. Daryl crawled up behind me spooning me from the back. His arm pulled me tighter to him. It felt perfect. It was exactly where I belonged…in the arms of my biker.

The sun had barely even started to set but I fell asleep knowing that as long as I had Daryl, he would never let anything bad happen to me again. He wasn't only the reason I was still alive, he was also the reason I wanted to live.