Samson

By Marteeka Karland

Charlotte: When I get into trouble, I go big. There was so much pain and fear, I turned my thoughts inward. To Samson. He’s my knight in shining armor. The one man I’ve ever felt a real connection to. Then he was there, killing those who hurt me and sweeping me up in his embrace of warmth and safety. But now he sees me as a victim. Not a woman. It’s up to me to prove I’m made of sterner stuff.

Samson: I had no intention of having sex with the little spitfire, but one look at Charlotte and I knew she was trouble. Our night was the kind of explosive a man can’t walk away from, but I tried. Right up until her daddy showed up telling me she was missing and the last person she was seen with was one of the prospects from Black Reign. Wrangler, the little asshole, had her squirreled away somewhere and I knew if I didn’t find her soon, I might never see her again.

Saving Charlotte from Wrangler will be a piece of cake -- after this his days are numbered. Which leaves me with time. Too much time. Time Charlotte’s dad will have to convince her to leave me and come back home. So, how do I fight off another man determined to take my woman from me when that man is her daddy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Feb 4, 2022

Marteeka Karland

Erotic romance author by night, emergency room tech/clerk by day, Marteeka Karland works really hard to drive everyone in her life completely and totally nuts. She has been creating stories from her warped imagination since she was in the third grade. Her love of writing blossomed throughout her teenage years until it developed into the totally unorthodox and irreverent style her English teachers tried so hard to rid her of. Want to see what's up with Marteeka? Website www.marteekakarland.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/735869533214213/ Facebook Page: facebook.com/experiencethemagicmk/ E-mail at [e-mail] Blog: marteekasdreams.com BookBub: bookbub.com/profile/marteeka-karland Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marteeka-Karland/e/B004FZT1IS

Book preview

Chapter One

Charlotte

I huddled naked, shivering in the cold damp of the cinderblock basement I’d been thrown into. I had no idea how long I’d been here, but I was estimating at least two weeks. My body hurt all over. The chill made it worse. Also, it had been days since they’d brought me anything to eat or drink, and my stomach was gnawing in protest. Being in a damp basement had its advantages, though. I’d found a source of dripping water to drink. It didn’t smell bad and wasn’t discolored, but, honestly, I didn’t have much choice. It was either drink the water or die. I suspected they were trying to starve me into submission. I could have told them it wouldn’t work. I might be too weak to fight them much, but I’d fight to the very end.

There was thumping above me, and I tried to catch a glimpse of the men holding me prisoner through the cracks in the floor and the one grate that looked straight up into the house. Sometimes they would taunt me through that grate. I tried to use it to my advantage. So far, I knew there were at least five different men around this house who were there frequently. There were others, but they were mostly in and out. I suspected drug deals. Any time someone came down to try to rape me, it was always one or more of the five. So far, I’d been more trouble than a fuck was worth, and they’d left me battered and bruised. I suspected their patience was getting thinner.

Yelling followed the thumping. It sounded like there was a fight going on. I couldn’t hear much of what was being said because they were too far away from the grate or in an area where there were cracks in the wood flooring.

A gun went off, booming throughout the house. I tried to hold back my whimpers, not wanting to draw attention to myself, but it was hard. Not only was I terrified, but I was shivering from the cold.

When the basement door banged open and a body tumbled down the stairs, I couldn’t help my little shriek of terror. Immediately, I moved, getting between two free-standing shelves. They didn’t have anything on them, but if I crouched down, I was pretty sure the shadows would hide me. Cobwebs blanketed my skin, making me cringe, but honestly, any spiders crawling on me weren’t as bad as the men coming down the stairs.

Strangely, there was no dialogue between the two, just grunts and the sound of a fist hitting flesh as one man was beaten violently and the other one went about the grim task in silence.

The one doing the beating was a monster of a man. Huge. Hulking. I couldn’t see much with the only light coming from the open door at the top of the stairs, but he wasn’t someone who’d been here before.

Where is she, he rasped out. His voice was deadly in its softness… and somehow familiar. I wanted to hope. To hang on to the possibility this man had come to rescue me, not to hurt me. Because if he decided he was taking me, there was nothing I could do to stop him. And he could probably kill me by accident with his hulking size. He almost reminded me of…

Dunno, man. The man slurred his words. ‘Spos’t ta be don’eer som’mers.

Charlotte! the man yelled.

Easy, Samson. If she’s down here, you’ll scare the fuck outta her!

S-Samson? I whispered his name, but he must have heard me, because he whipped his head around in my direction.

Toss me a fuckin’ flashlight, he barked. I heard him catch it, then a bright beam of light shone around the basement for a few seconds before landing on me huddled in my hiding spot. I winced and held up my hand to block the light I knew would eventually hit my face.

Charlotte, he said, his voice softer now. I need you to come out for me. Can you do that? I’m here. No one’s gonna hurt you now.

I inched my way back out of my hiding place, the concrete floor scraping my bare hands and knees. I moved out of the little space slowly. When I stood, I was still crouched, ready to duck away from him if needed. Samson? My voice was scratchy from lack of water and from screaming so much over the weeks behind me. Is it really you?

Instantly, the light found me. I couldn’t stop the whimpers or prevent myself from turning away from the bright light. Then the light was muted. A quick glance told me he’d turned it to point at the ceiling. Heavy footfalls approached me and, again, I whimpered, stepping back in reflex. My hand found something smooth and cylindrically shaped -- a pipe? -- and I grabbed it, surprised when it moved.

Toss me a blanket, Samson said. He was right in front of me now. Much as I wanted to, there was no way I could look at him. I was so ashamed. This man… I’d dreamt night after night of him swooping in and rescuing me. I’d built him up in my mind to be my knight in shining armor. But now, I just wanted the man who’d made love to me over and over again during our one night together. He wasn’t the white-knight type. In fact, after this, there was no way he’d ever see me as anything but a victim.

And what if this was all my imagination? What if it wasn’t Samson here after all? What if it was a starved, dehydration-induced hallucination?

With as much of a battle cry as I could muster, I swung the pipe as hard as I could at the monstrous figure approaching me. I put everything I had left into that one swing. The sound of the pipe slapping against flesh was sickening in the dark. I had no idea what part of him I’d hit, but I’d definitely hit something. Then the pipe was yanked out of my hand with a grunt, and I nearly fell to my knees in despair. This was it. I had nothing left. They were going to take me.

* * *

Samson

Three weeks earlier

What do you know about this kid, Rycks? I didn’t like prospects. Not unless I’d known them for a long damned time. Rycks was more forgiving. Not much, but he at least had some empathy.

Wrangler’s been prospecting for Salvation’s Bane for a couple of years. Every time he comes up for a vote to a fully patched member, he’s voted down. Always a holdout.

He know who the holdout is?

Rycks shrugged. He figures it’s Beast, the Enforcer. Seems Wrangler’s brother had a hand in a situation Beast’s woman found herself in when Beast met her. His brother has been ‘missing’ -- Rycks made air quotes --ever since. Wrangler says his brother got what he deserved, but he thinks Beast is holding a grudge.

Can’t say I blame Beast. Might not be right, but a man should feel at home in his own club. They tell him to look to us?

No. I’ll have to contact Thorn, if you approve his request. I don’t anticipate a problem, though.

I looked to El Diablo. The man had changed since finding his woman over Christmas. He was softer in some ways, but there was also a deadly edge that was even sharper than before. The other man and I stared at each other for a long time. A silent communication. Yeah. He had the same feeling I did.

Talk to Thorn, El Diablo said. I want all the background there is on this Wrangler and his brother. Everything. Then I want a face-to-face with the boy. Tell him I want to know everything about the situation his brother was in and exactly how much he knew. We’ll hold him here at the compound until we receive everything from Thorn. If Wrangler holds back one piece of information or lies to me in any way, he’s out. If the omission is egregious enough, he may be meeting up with his brother sooner than he’d like.

I can live with that, I said.

With a nod, Rycks said, Consider it done. I’ll contact Thorn immediately. When do you want to meet with Wrangler?

The second he receives your message. If he can’t be here immediately, tell him not to bother. Have Shotgun ping the GPS on his phone. I want to know where he’s coming from and how long it takes him to get here. I also want to know if he makes any calls or texts, and who they go to.

Yeah. El Diablo had definitely changed. He’d always been cautious about letting men in, but he’d also taken a paternal role to any prospects we’d taken on, the same as he had the rest of us in the club. But now, he was even more protective of the women in the compound, and that meant he was more suspicious of any man he didn’t know.

Waiting was not my strong suit. I’d hoped the little fucker would say he was out of town or in the middle of something important, but no. He just had to hop on his bike and haul ass to the compound as fast as he could. Got here in less than thirty minutes. I disliked him on sight.

He walked into the courtyard from the parking lot with a confident air.