Catch (A Hell's Harlem Novel Book 3) Page 3
“I haven’t talked to her in almost three years.” She shrugged. “I finally found her number again and contacted her. I’m actually surprised she’s letting me come over.”
I slowed down when a car came into view. “I assume this is yours?”
“Yeah.”
Turning the truck around, I backed it up toward her car and put it into park. “Are you going to tell me what the hell’s going on?”
“Don’t worry.” She smiled up at me and patted my arm. “I’ll be out of your hair soon.” She opened the door, but I caught her shoulder, stopping her.
“You will tell me what’s going on.” Gentle, Catch.
“Why the hell would I do that?” she threw at me, her eyes searing into my soul.
“Something is wrong.” I didn’t want to press but from experience, I knew she was running from something.
“Really? You think something’s wrong?” She laughed. “So what? You want to talk about it? Catch up for old time’s sake? Is that what you really want? No. It’s not. I know what you want.”
“How the fuck do you know what I want?” I grit out.
“Because you’re a guy.” She jumped out of the truck before turning toward me. “Just because it’s been a while, I still know how you work.” She slammed the door shut, leaving me to my own thoughts.
Fuck me, this was going to be hard to get into her head. I had been going through life like nothing had happened. Like I hadn’t almost died after being stabbed. Or like I hadn’t lost two friends and almost lost another. Or like all of those old feelings hadn’t started hitting me in the chest now that Sara was back. This was odd and fucked up. It was like life threw her at me at the perfect time.
CATCH WAS ASKING too many questions. About me. About my life. About what happened after him. Lots of shit happened, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin if I decided to tell him. But I wouldn’t. Not yet. For fear that he would go on a hunt for the person who destroyed my life. Even though I hadn’t seen Catch in years, I still cared about him.
“We’re all set,” Catch said, sliding into the driver’s seat beside me. It didn’t take him long to hook my car up to the tow truck.
“How long do you think it’ll take Sunny to work on it?”
“Not sure.” Catch started up the truck and pulled out onto the street. “It depends on what time he stops by the club tomorrow. There is someone else at the club who could work on it but it’s late. She’s probably sleeping.”
“But …” My heart jumped. “I have nowhere to go.”
“You can stay with me.”
“What?” My head whipped around. “Yeah, like that’s a good idea.”
“Why isn’t it?” He passed me a glance.
I stared at him. Although it had been years since I had seen him, he was still affecting me the way he used to. “Come on, Catch. You’re not stupid. Think about it.”
“Nothing to think about, Cherry.”
“I think there is,” I said as we pulled up to the large house he lived in.
“What’s the problem?” Catch cut the engine and turned to me.
“The problem.” I blew out a slow breath. “The problem is that I haven’t had a man look at me like you do in years. The problem is that no matter how much I know it isn’t right …” I looked at him then. “I want you and that makes me feel fucking dirty knowing you were giving it to some woman earlier tonight.”
Catch stared at me. He rubbed the dark scruff on his jaw, but no emotion showed on his face. Nothing hid behind his eyes. Not even a hint.
“I’ll say one thing, Cherry.” He leaned toward me, running the back of his hand down my arm. “You haven’t seen dirty.”
I swallowed hard at the dark promise laced in his voice.
A knock on the window made me jump but Catch only smirked. What I wouldn’t give to punch that smirk right off of his too handsome face.
He chuckled, opening my door for me. “After you, Cherry Pie.”
God that nickname. I tried convincing myself that it pissed me off, but it didn’t. I actually liked it. I liked it a lot.
“This sweet cherry is mine, isn’t it, Sara?”
I gasped, arching beneath Catch. “God.”
He groaned, nipping the side of my neck. “This body belongs to me. My sweet Cherry Pie.”
“Yes,” I moaned, digging my nails into his shoulders.
“Say it, Sara. Say this cherry is mine.”
“I-It’s yours.”
His bright blue eyes glanced down at me. They were so blue, they shone like diamonds. “I love you.” He smirked. “Cherry.”
“What are you thinking about?”
I glanced at Catch over my shoulder as I slid from the truck. “Remembering.”
“Remembering what?”
“How you gave me that nickname.”
His eyes darkened.
“What’s going on?” came a voice I had never heard before.
I jumped to the ground and pulled my bag and purse from the floor of the truck and found a large man heading toward us. His eyes were jet black, a tight dark t-shirt hugging his muscular frame. Tattoos lined his arms and the sides of his neck.
“Tray, this is Sara Jenkins.” Catch came around to my side of the truck. “Sara, Tray Lister.”
I stuck my hand out. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Tray slid his fingers in mine, his gaze flicking to Catch. “Car break down?”
“Yeah.” I released his hand and hiked my bag up higher on my shoulder. “I was heading to the city when it stalled on me. I walked and ended up finding this place. Catch helped me get my car back here.”
“Interesting.” Tray rubbed the back of his neck. “Sunny won’t be able to work on it until tomorrow. And Zillah’s sleeping.”
“That’s what Catch told me. Zillah’s your wife?”
“She is.” Tray smiled, looking between us. “I’ll help you get it in the shop,” he told Catch.
“Sure.” Catch moved around to the other side of the truck, glancing at his friend.
My heart thumped at what I was seeing before me.
While Tray worked on getting my car unhooked from the truck, Catch watched him. Something was hidden behind his eyes. Pain? Lust? Love? I wasn’t sure, but I could sense that something was there. Or had been there. Maybe a long time ago. He hadn’t been into the same sex when we were together, but he also never hid the fact either if he found a guy was hot or not. I didn’t care either way, knowing he was mine and faithful to me and me alone. Hell, there were several women I thought were hot just the same.
Catch’s eyes flicked my way.
I jumped, averting my gaze, my cheeks burning at being caught staring. I wasn’t sure what I just saw. Maybe Catch swung both ways now more than just saying when a guy was good-looking.
“You should be good to pull the truck forward now,” Tray told Catch.
Catch cleared his throat, jumped into the driver’s side of the large beast, and pulled it out of the garage and into the driveway.
“I’m assuming you and Catch know each other?” Tray asked me.
“We used to,” I murmured.
“How?”
My brows narrowed. “Why?”
“Because he’s my club brother and I care for him.” Tray glanced at the truck.
“We used to date,” I mumbled, just as Catch left the vehicle.
“Sunny will take a look at your car in the morning, Cherry,” he said, coming toward us and looking down at his phone. “He said he’ll try and get here as soon as he can, but he has class.”
“Class?”
“Cherry?”
Tray and I both said at the same time.
My cheeks burned.
“So, you’re Cherry.” Tray rubbed the dark scruff on his jaw, the gold wedding band on his left hand shining in the dim lighting of the room.
“You heard of me?” I frowned.
“Not a lot. Why didn’t you tell me Cherry was a woman?” he threw at Catch.
“Because it wasn’t any of your damn business.” Catch grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”
“Uh … thank you, Tray.” I gave him a wave as Catch dragged me along beside him. “What’s your problem?”
“Don’t have one,” he grumbled.
“Catch.” My eyes widened when he pulled me over the threshold into the large house. “Holy shit. This house …” I had never expected it to be so big. The outside was deceiving. But I found I couldn’t wait to see it in the daytime.
“It is. Greyson had it built years ago. It’s been our clubhouse ever since.”
“So … biker, huh?” I had known that Catch always had a bad boy way about him, but I never thought he would join a biker club.
He shrugged. “The main floor is a free-for-all. Second floor, left side is where Greyson and his family stay. I don’t suggest going up there unannounced,” Catch explained.
“I wouldn’t do that anyway but it’s also not like I’m going to be here for long,” I said, taking in everything around me.
“We throw a lot of parties,” Catch continued, ignoring my comment, and led me to a large bar at the back of the room. “Mostly on Fridays and Saturday nights. Sometimes Thursdays, depending on Greyson’s mood or what we have going on. Tray and I used to stay on the left side of the house too until Grey’s son was born. Sometimes I’ll stay in one of the spare rooms in the basement, but my room is on the main floor at the back of the house.”
“Where does Tray stay now?” I asked, sitting at a stool at the long wooden bar.
“He’s mostly home with his wife and daughter but if they’re here, like they are tonight, they have a room in the basement as well.”
“Oh …” I loo
ked around me. “How big is this place?”
“Big enough.” He walked around the bar and pulled two bottles of water from the mini fridge.
“Do you have something stronger?” I asked, taking the bottle from him.
He smirked, nodding once. Pulling a bottle off the top shelf sitting behind the counter, he poured amber liquid into two shot glasses. Turning around, he held out both shots.
I was suddenly taken back to the first time we got drunk. So many firsts fell between us.
Catch cocked his head to the side but didn’t say anything and just handed me the shot instead. “To new beginnings,” he said, clinking his glass against mine.
I threw back the shot at the same time as him. The liquid burned down my throat, settling into my stomach with a warmth I had never felt before. “What was that?”
Catch grinned, licking his lips.
My heart stuttered.
“Cherry moonshine,” he said, his voice lowering.
Heat enveloped me. Ever since he gave me that nickname, he had become obsessed with them. The scent. The fruit itself. Anything that held something that resembled cherries on them, he loved.
“It’s good,” I whispered, my gaze landing on his mouth.
“Yeah, Cherry.” He grabbed my shot glass. “It is.” He poured two more shots, took one, and handed me the other.
I swallowed it in one gulp, this one not burning like the first. “What class does Sunny have?”
“Something to do with mechanics.” Catch chuckled. “Ever since Tray brought his wife home, Sunny has been determined to up his game when it comes to fixing vehicles.”
“Oh? Is she a mechanic too?”
“Yeah.” He nodded once. “Did you see that black muscle car in the parking lot?”
“No. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”
“Well, I’ll have to show you it in the daytime. Zillah fixed it up herself.”
“Wow.” A female mechanic was badass. The next few minutes passed in silence. For a biker clubhouse, the place was quiet. “I need to call my sister,” I eventually blurted.
“At this time?” Catch asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Why?” I glanced around me, looking for a clock. “What time is it?”
“Almost four.”
“Oh.” A yawn trembled through me. “I guess that’s why it’s quiet here. But weren’t you guys throwing a party?”
“Not a party. People came and went. It’s not usually this quiet but most of us are laying low. We’ve been through a lot over the last while.”
I caught Catch’s gaze. “I’m assuming that’s not a good thing.”
“No.” He rubbed the back of his neck, the movement making his bicep bulge.
I licked my lips, squirming in my seat. What kind of person was I that I was lusting after a guy I hadn’t seen in years? Add to the fact that he already had sex with someone else tonight.
“What happened to the woman you were with before?” Not that I cared but I didn’t want to deal with any crazy exes.
“Probably bouncing on some other dick.” Catch shrugged. “Who knows?”
“Oh.” I thought a moment. “Where am I staying tonight?”
Catch pushed away from the counter across from me, grabbed my shot glass and placed them both in the sink. “Follow me.”
Sliding off the stool, I grabbed both of my bags when a hand covered mine, stopping me. I glanced up into Catch’s deep-blue eyes.
Instead of saying anything, he grabbed my bags and started walking toward a hall that led God only knew where.
“I suggest following me,” he said, glancing at me over his shoulder. “There’s men that come and go from this place who would rip out your soul if you let them.”
I shivered at what he suggested. Taking a deep breath, I did as he demanded and followed him.
(Catch)
The men wouldn’t touch her. But she didn’t need to know that. She had to keep her guard up if she was going to remain safe.
Something happened to the Sara Jenkins I once knew. She was no longer that free-spirited girl I fell in love with but a shell of her former self. An older version, masked with years of pain to mirror my own. But everything inside of me said that her pain was far worse. And much darker.
I would get it out of her. I had to. I wasn’t sure why. Something inside of me screamed out to help her. Was it pity? Sympathy maybe? No. It was something deeper. Darker. Something that went far beyond what I had ever felt for this woman before.
It was feral.
I FOLLOWED CATCH down a long hallway, not exactly sure where we were going or what the hell I was even doing, but I still followed him nonetheless.
It was good seeing him. After all of these years, he hadn’t changed much. Just older and bigger. But God, he was still beautiful.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered, running my fingers over Catch’s scruffy cheek.
He gave me a cocky grin. “You think I’m beautiful?”
“Yeah. Most women would kill to have eyes the color of yours. So damn blue.”
He chuckled, cupped my hand and gave the tips of my fingers a gentle nip. The soft bite shot down my spine, heating every inch of me.
“I think you’re beautiful too,” he told me, pushing me back onto his bed and kneeling between my knees.
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I do, Cherry. So damn beautiful.”
He was still beautiful. In a masculine, sexy as hell kind of way.
I followed Catch farther down the hall.
Pictures lined the walls. Most of them black and white. Some color. They were of other men I hadn’t seen before. All dressed in their leather cuts. Some sported tattoos. Some were older. Some younger. Some were smiling while others remained serious.
I stopped in front of a picture. It had a larger man with a small woman at his side. The guy I had come to know as Greyson, as well as Tray and Catch, stood with them as well.
“That’s Trixie and her husband, Butcher,” Catch said, coming up behind me. His hot breath fanned over my head, the heat from his body enveloping me in something I hadn’t felt for a very long time. Peace? Maybe? Either way, it was nice.
“You look happy in this picture,” I said, trying to ease the racing of my heart at how close Catch was standing behind me.
“We were. But that was a long time ago.”
“Is Butcher a club member?”
“He was, yeah.” Catch cleared his throat, stepping away from me.
“Was?” I frowned.
“He died, Cherry. Both him and his wife were murdered a year apart from each other.”
“Oh, God.” I clapped a hand to my mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he grumbled. “Let’s go. My room’s this way.”
“I …”
“What?” he asked, peering at me over his shoulder.
“I should stay in a spare room. If I stay with you …” We both knew what would happen. Although it had been ten years, there was an attraction between us that neither of us could deny no matter how much time had passed.
“You’re staying in my room.” He continued walking down the hall. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
A breath of relief left me. “Why do you want me in your room?” I asked him when we stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway.
“Because the men who come and go from this place would make whatever demons you’re battling look like fucking kittens.” Catch pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
“I don’t have any demons,” I mumbled.
“Right.” He scoffed, pushing open the door and heading into the room.
I took a step forward but paused and glanced down the hallway we had come from. I could turn around and run away. To where I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like I could hitchhike. Especially not at this hour.
“I won’t hurt you, Cherry.”
I jumped, not realizing Catch now stood in front of me until he spoke. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I shouldn’t be here.”
“Would you rather have shown up at someone’s house where you didn’t know anyone at all? Come on, Cherry.” He entered his room, not waiting for me to follow.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind me.
“There’s a phone on the desk if you really want to call your sister this late,” Catch said, turning on a lamp that sat on the nightstand beside his bed.