Chapter Nine
Hades lunged at him. His knife piercing Stone’s shoulder. He twisted the blade as he dug in deep. Stone staggered back and swung his own knife. Hades screamed again, as Stone’s sharp blade ripped open his chest. Blood poured from the wound and both men staggered away from each other.
They didn’t go far though. They began circling each other again. “So Pappy, you got my girl?”
“She isn’t your girl.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s safe,” Stone assured him.
“She won’t ever be safe.” Hades sneered. “I’ll track her down and when I do, I will kill her. I’ll enjoy making her suffer. I’ll tell her you died in her place here today though. I’ll tell her you died cursing her name.”
“You won’t tell her anything bastard. It won’t be me who dies today.” Stone growled.
“You think you can kill me Pappy?” Hades laughed. “I’m younger, and stronger and smarter than you are. You’re nothing but a useless old man.”
Stone smiled. “That’s not what McKenna was saying earlier today.”
“So you did sleep with her.” Hades nodded. “Did she enjoy sleeping with a man old enough to be her father? Or maybe even her grandfather? Tell me something Pappy, did you make her come before you finished?”
“You are a sick fucker you know that?” Stone asked. He was feeling the blood loss from the wound Hades had given him but he also noted Hades wasn’t faring well either. He saw the other man stagger.
“Tell me something Pappy,” Hades mocked. “Did you end your military career on a high note or did it end because you were too fucking old?”
Stone’s eye narrowed as he stared at the other man. “What would you know about finishing anything, asshole?”
Hades grinned evilly. He switched the hands he held the knife in and motioned for Stone to come at him. “I’m gonna finish you old man. Come on you bastard let’s dance.”
Stone’s body tightened and his mind went into fight mode. He took a step off and began circling Hades. The grip on his knife became sharper and his brain went into protection mode. Hades lunged first but Stone jumped back in order to miss the blade in his hand. He parried with a strike of his own.
Hades grunted as the blade opened a new wound on his shoulder.
The two men squared off again and again. Hades swept the ground and tried to trip Stone but he avoided the trap. He tried it again and Stone stumbled but didn’t fall. He lunged at Stone but didn’t come close to the other man.
Stone could see Hades was tiring. He was running on adrenaline but he knew it wouldn’t last forever. He knew he had to make his move soon or lose the chance. Stone lunged to the right then turned and twisted to the left. His knife plunged into Hades shoulder and he heard the other man scream in pain. He twisted the knife and Hades screamed again. When Stone pulled the bloody knife out of Hades shoulder, he noted the other man couldn’t move his arm. Stone knew he’d hit a nerve and put Hades’ arm out of commission, at least for a little while.
Fresh blood gushed from the wound and Hades eyes were blank.
Stone turned and moved away. He didn’t see Hades search the ground or pick up the branch laying in the dirt at his feet. He missed seeing the other man’s wild look as he swung the branch at his head. Stone felt the explosion of pain when the branch slammed into the back of his head. He dropped to the ground and as his body hit he was unconscious.
Hades grabbed his shoulder and grimaced as he felt the blood run down his arm. He wanted to finish Stone off but knew he had to get away. He wasn’t sure Stone didn’t have men nearby. He’d seen him in the bar the other night with three other men. Hades picked up his knife and wiped the blood off on his pants. He stumbled over to his long jacket and grabbed it. He staggered away and slowly made his way out of the woods. He’d left his vehicle beside the road. When he got to his car, he had to wait until his energy came back to him. Hades wouldn’t admit it to anyone but Stone had come close to beating him and for the first time in years, he felt weary. Weary and afraid like he hadn’t been since he was a kid.
A few moments later, he drove off. He knew he needed medical attention but for now, he would go back to where he’d been staying. He needed to recover if he were going up against Pappy again. Time was growing short now. He needed to strike and soon, but he needed the strength to do that.
Stone groaned as he felt hands turning him over. Fighting to open his eyes, he saw Dewey beside him. Stone raised his hand to his head. “What the fuck hit me?”
Dewey shook his head. “Hades cheated and smacked you with a branch. I thought for a moment he was gonna slit your throat before he left.”
Stone groaned. “That fucker.”
“Well, you showed him what an old man could do.” Sam moved into his line of vision.
Stone glared at the other man. “The hell I did. He came close to ending me today. That fucker is still as good as he once was.”
“Yeah, but you’re better.” Sam nodded. “You handled him well enough.”
Stone sat up and felt his head explode in pain. Moaning, he raised his hands up to try and keep his head from coming apart. “Not good enough.” He groaned. “He was still able to walk away.”
Sam nodded. “But he was hurt pretty bad. We were watching the whole thing. You hurt him.”
Dewey grabbed him under one arm and helped him to his feet.
Stone swayed briefly before he steadied.
“Let’s get you back to the compound and get you patched up.” Dewey wrapped one arm around his waist and led him away from the clearing.
Stone didn’t think he could walk the whole way back to the compound and felt relieved to see the 4x4 sitting not so far away.
Dewey helped him in the front seat while Sam sat down in the back seat. Dewey got behind the wheel and drove off.
Stone peered down at the raw wound on his shoulder. The broken skin looked and felt sore but the bleeding had stopped. The edges of the wound were black with dry blood. His shoulder was throbbing but Stone could ignore it. He glanced over at Dewey. “So how bad was he when he left?”
Dewey glanced at Stone before turning his attention back to the path they were on. “You fucked his arm up good. He couldn’t even lift it. His other wounds were still bleeding pretty good too. He may have walked away but he’s been hobbled for sure.”
Stone nodded. “He may be out of action for now but if I know him, he won’t be down long. He’ll be back. He may be using something to help him get back. I think he was on something today.”
“Damn,” Dewey grumbled. “If he’s high, he maybe won’t stop. He’ll keep coming and coming and be almost unstoppable.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that vibe from him. It took all I had to try and stop him this time.”
When they drove up to the clubhouse, Deke and several others came out to see how bad Stone was wounded. “Come on, let’s get you to Raine, he’s our medic.” Deke ushered him inside.
When he was seated at a table, McKenna rushed over and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?” she asked softly.
Stone looked up at her and saw the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. He raised his hand to cover hers. “This isn’t your fault. This goes back ten years to when Hades was under my command.”
McKenna shrugged. “Yeah, but you and he wouldn’t have come in contact without me dragging you into it.”
Stone shook his head. “Baby, this was gonna happen anyway. This just moved up the timeline. Hades would have tracked me down at some point. At least this way, I have the head’s up I need to win.”
Raine pushed his way through the group of men standing around and made his way to Stone. Sitting beside him, he began probing the wound. He washed away the dried blood and examined the slice. “It doesn’t look too bad. Might hold you up a few days but you should be okay. You won’t get much use out of that arm but you’ll do. I can stitch it up you here.” Raine looked at the other man. “You look like you lost a lot of blood though. You should push the fluids and try to get some rest.”
“Until we get this guy off the damn streets, no one will get any rest.” Stone growled. “He’ll keep coming and coming until he gets what he wants, that would be McKenna and I both dead. Then he’ll disappear and come up for air somewhere entirely new, with a new name and a new mission in life.” He paused then nodded at Raine. “Do whatever you have to do to close the wound.”
Raine turned and got his supplies. When he turned back, he wore rubber gloves and began sewing up Stone’s knife wound.
“Not if we can stop him here and now,” Deke spoke up. “We watched the fight. Is there anything we need to know?”
Stone nodded as he ignored the pain in his shoulder. “Yeah, Hades was on something. He couldn’t even feel the pain I knew he was in. He just kept coming no matter what I did.”
Deke tilted his head. “Are you sure he was on something then? Maybe it was his adrenaline ramping up.”
Stone shook his head. “I read his eyes. He was higher than a kite. His eyes were dilated and he was jittery. I cut him bad and it didn’t seem to bother him a bit. It was only after I took out his arm that he cheated and brought me down with a branch to the head.” He hissed when Raine put in the final stitch. That one had gone in deep. Closing his eyes, he could feel the bandage Raine place over his wound.
“He always was a fuckin coward.” Reaper scoffed.
Stone flexed his arm and got to his feet. Going over to where Amos was leaning against the wall he asked, “Can your men get eyes only on Hades? I don’t want any heroes, just eyes on.”
Amos nodded. “Already done. Dagger called ten minutes ago. He told me Hades went back to the warehouse.”
Stone nodded.
“There’s something else I need to tell you.” Amos straightened up and away from the wall. “My men searched the warehouse and put eyes in the room he seemed to be living in. They called it in and your man Recon was able to patch in the cameras. He’s got a visual on your man.”
Stone’s eyes snapped open wide as he stared at the other man. “We have eyes on Hades?”
Amos gave a short nod.
Stone marched over to the monitors and watched the three cameras showing different angles of the hovel Hades was staying in. This wasn’t the warehouse they originally thought he was in but the one Calico discovered. They all watched in silence as Hades sat at a table cleaning off his own bloody shoulder. They could see him screaming even if they couldn’t hear him.
Hades screamed as he took off his shirt. He had to literally pull to separate the cloth from his skin. The dried blood stuck the two together like glue. When he pulled the cloth away from his skin the wound fresh blood poured down his chest.
Hades’ hands shook as he held a cloth to his wound in an effort to stem the bleeding. His whole shoulder was messed up.
Stone hadn’t realized the wound he’d given Hades was as bad as it was. He wasn’t sorry he’d wounded the other man.
They all watched as Hades reached for a small red pill on the table. Swallowing it dry, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes.
“You were right about one thing.” Amos shook his head. “The man was high this morning.”
“How do you know that?” Deke wanted to know.
Amos pointed to the red pills on the table. “Those pills are a form of ecstasy coming into Troy. We’ve been keeping an eye on the distribution but we know the dealer and we know the pills.”
“You said a form of ecstasy, what did you mean?” Sam asked.
“It’s ecstasy plus,” Amos stated. “The plus is PCP. It makes the taker feel invincible.”
Stone nodded. “Yeah, that’s what he was feeling. He didn’t even flinch when I stabbed him.”
Amos smiled. “Yeah, I doubt he even felt it. That shit is wicked.”
Stone suddenly felt weak, almost as if his legs were going to give out on him. He sagged but McKenna was right beside him.
Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, she moved him over to another chair nearby. “You need to get some rest.”
Stone looked up at her. “I can’t babe. I need to stay on top of this.”
“You need to get fluids into you and rest, even if it’s just for a few hours,” Raine interjected as he handed the other man a tall glass of orange juice. “You won’t be any good to anyone if you pass out.”
“We got your back on this Pappy,” Recon told him. “We can watch him while you get some rest. We’ll call you when he’s on the move.”
Stone sighed deep. As he exhaled, he nodded. He drank the juice and handed the glass back to Raine. “Okay, I hear you.” He glanced over at McKenna. “Show me to our room.”
McKenna smiled and assisted him to his feet. Walking slowly, she led him down the hall and came to an open door. She helped him over to the bed then went over to the door and closed it. When she came back to the bed, she squatted down and began untying his boots. Slipping one then the other off, she pushed him down on the mattress.
Stone’s arms came up and dragged her down with him. He nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear, “I want you.”
McKenna closed her eyes. “I want you too.”
Stone’s lips smothered hers and his tongue swept into her mouth. His hands went to the hem of her shirt and he swept it up over her head. He grinned as he saw her breasts in her bra. They were full and spilling over the top of the white lace, they were bound inn.
With a flick of his fingers, her bra loosened and her breasts spilled out into his waiting hands. McKenna groaned as his hands squeezed her flesh. His fingers rubbed her nipples and they grew hard in a flash. Stone growled as she rubbed against him. His cock hardened instantly and began to strain against his jeans. He pushed his cock against her as he pulled her body up high enough to place her nipple in his mouth. He sucked it in hard and as his teeth came down, he heard her moan.
“I need you,” McKenna begged. “I need you now.”
Stone reached for his belt tore it open and his zipper rasped as he jerked it down. Grabbing his cock he watched as McKenna pulled her jeans down to her ankles. Kicking them off, she climbed back up and settled her hot core around his waist. Stone moaned as her core touched his body. “Baby, you’re so wet, are you ready?”
McKenna nodded. “Yeah, I’m so ready.”
Stone flipped her on her back and lunged into her heat at the same time. Her core felt wet and hot as it closed around him. His own body sank deep within hers like it was coming home. He pulled back and plunged in deep again. Her walls held him tight and Stone closed his eyes. “You feel so good,” he murmured as he stroked in and out of her.
McKenna whimpered as he plunged in deep. She spread her legs a bit wider to let him in then curled them around his hips. Moving her hips in time with his, she caught the rhythm that would take them both to ecstasy.
Stone felt the lightening growing inside him as he held on to her shoulders and his hips snapped as his strokes became harder and faster. “I need you to come, baby. I don’t know how much longer I can hold it.”
McKenna squirmed as pleasure flashed across her face. “I’m coming.”
Stone felt the walls of her pussy clamped down on him and he kept pounding into her. After a few hard strokes, he felt his balls tighten and his cock exploded deep inside her. He held himself deep and flooded her with his essence. He collapsed on top of her trying to catch his breath. For a moment or so, he couldn’t move but moved off her as soon as he could. Sweat dried on his head and chest as he took deep breaths. He turned his head and watched, as McKenna laid naked in the bed with her eyes closed.
Finally, she turned her head toward him and opened her eyes. “That was magnificent,” she whispered.
Stone rolled his eyes. “Hardly that.” He groaned and moved to drag his pants off his hips. He pulled his boxers up and removed his pants completely, dropping them to the floor. Flopping back down on the bed, he closed his eyes. He felt McKenna turn toward him and cracked his lids open to see her. She was lying on her side. Her hand tracing the hair on his chest. “What are you doing?” he asked her softly.
“Admiring your body,” she replied with a smile.
“Why?”
Her smile widened. “Because it’s beautiful.”
Stone groaned. “I’m an old man, I’m anything but beautiful.”
She leaned closer and brought her lips to his chest. Kissing it softly she said, “I don’t agree. You may be older than I am but you’re in great shape. Your body is hard in just the right places.”
Stone felt his cock begin to harden again. He couldn’t believe it. As tired as he was, he wanted her again.
When McKenna noticed it, she chuckled softly. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
Stone grinned. “Yeah well, maybe you shouldn’t be lying next to me with no clothes on. How do you expect a guy to sleep with that image in his mind?”
McKenna leaned over and covered his mouth with hers. Then after a breathless moment, she pulled her lips away. “You need to rest.”
“I know,” Stone whispered back. “But I need you.”
She smiled. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Stone felt a wave of fatigue rush through him. Closing his eyes, he pulled her close to him. Within minutes, his breathing slowed down.
McKenna felt his arms slacken. She smiled and studied him closely. Yeah, he was older than her by a number of years but he was in great shape. His chest and arms were covered in dark hair just beginning to turn gray. She stared at his tattoos and took the time to study them. On his right upper arm were the words Semper Fi in bold black letters. The middle of his chest held an eagle with his head bowed that took up most of his chest span. Above the eagle were nine stars, each star held initials and dates inside it. His left shoulder held what looked like a tattered flag rippling in the wind.
Down on his left hip was a wicked looking scar. Her fingers traced its outline just above his skin. The scar was at least five inches long, starting just to the left of his belly button and ending just above his left hip. It looked as if someone had tried to rip him open.
McKenna’s eyes went back to his face but his eyes remained closed. She smiled when she saw his white hair, both on his head and his face. The color sharply contrasted with his tanned face but she decided she liked it. She wondered what color it had been when he was younger but the hair on his chest hinted that it had been dark at some point in his life.
She laid down on him. Her head resting on his chest. Breathing deeply, she smiled as his scent invaded her senses. Closing her eyes, she decided she wanted to know his story. She knew she wanted to stay with this biker-soldier.
Hours later, a soft knock came on the door. Stone’s eyes snapped open and his body went on alert. Moving McKenna off him, he pulled on his pants and went to the portal. Opening it carefully he saw Reaper waiting for him. Stone glanced over his shoulder and saw McKenna still sleeping. He motioned for Reaper to step back and stepped through the door. Pulling it closed softly behind him, he looked at his man. “What’s up?”
“Hades is moving. He’s left the warehouse and we’re tracking him through street cameras. Amos’s men are tracking him on foot.”
“Where is he heading?”
“It looks like he’s coming here,” Reaper told him.
“Fuck, how did he know where we were?” Stone growled.
Reaper stared at him for a moment then told him, “Amos and Frankie were watching the monitors when they say he must have seen something he didn’t like. Amos said he stormed out of the room and when he got back a few minutes later, he dragged someone in behind him. They said her name was Rosie. He began beating her, screaming and yelling at her.”
Stone closed his eyes. When he opened them he asked, “How badly did he hurt her?”
Reaper shrugged. “It wasn’t good boss. As soon as he started, Amos tore out of here like the devil was after him. Frankie told me she was one of Amos’s favorites.”
“One of his favorites?” Stone repeated.
Reaper nodded. “She’s homeless like he is or at least she was. She’s living at Redemption House now. He looks after several older people, giving them food and clothes and such. Rosie is one of the people he looks after. Anyway. She must have told him something. He packed up his bag and left the warehouse.”
Stone thought for a moment then asked, “How would she know we were here?”
Reaper shrugged. “She wouldn’t, not specifically. He could have asked her what was out here in the vicinity of the woods. If she told him it’s the MC clubhouse, he might have put two and two together.”
Stone agreed. “That could be. Alert the men to watch for any movement. No sound. We don’t want to give away our position. Have Amos’s men on alert as well. Where are the women and kids that live here? Are they protected in case he gets through our line of defense?”
“Yeah.” Reaper nodded. “The women are all together and protected. Deke has his best men with them just in case. Our men are ready.”
“Let me get the rest of my stuff and I’ll be out there in a minute.” Stone went out back through the door. He found McKenna watching him. He went over to the saddlebag on his bike, pulled out a clean shirt and put it on.
“What’s going on?” she asked
“Hades is on his way here.”
“Nooo!” she cried out as she sat up. Her arms wrapping around her waist she began rocking back and forth.
Stone looked over his shoulder and frowned at the sounds she was making. When he saw how pale she looked, he went over to her. Tipping her face up to his, he saw her eyes glazing over with fear. “Hey, what is this?”
She turned her head. “He’s coming for me,” she whispered, fear emanating from her.
Stone wrapped his arms around her holding her. “He won’t get close to you, I promise,” he whispered in her ear. “He’ll have to get through me first and every one of my men. He won’t get you.”
McKenna shook her head. “You don’t know that. I left town after town, changed my name and looks and he still found me. You said yourself he could get in and out of places no one else could. Now he’s coming here and this time, he will kill me.” She turned her saddened gaze to him. “He’s coming to kill you too. Neither one of us is safe.”
Stone crushed her lips under his. His mouth was punishing then exciting, as she allowed her body to respond to his touch. When he lifted his lips, he whispered, “There are dozens of men standing between you and him. He won’t get through them all.”
McKenna shuddered. “I don’t want anyone to die for me. I’m not worth anyone’s life. I’m a nobody. No one cares whether I live or die.”
“You’d be wrong about that little girl.” Stone looked into her eyes. “I’d care.”