Skid
Skid put his arm tightly around Mina, not wanting to let her go. “I think we still have a few more minutes. The guys haven’t gotten back yet.” He ran his hands down her back to cup her ass, unable to get enough of her. They had snuck out once again, finding a secluded place to be together. While it wasn’t exactly romantic to make love against the side of a building, it was safer than doing it in either one of their rooms. Skid was sure Park was still on the lookout for any man who got too close to Mina’s door. And while she might have been able to easily maneuver her skinny frame through the window and out onto the fire escape, it wasn’t a feat he felt he could achieve so easily.
“That’s easy for you to say. You can come and go as you please, but it won’t be easy for me to sneak in once everyone is back.” She laughed, her voice carrying away on the night breeze.
Leaning back against the rough side of one of the neighboring warehouses, Skid looked at her in the darkness. Her skin was pale in the moonlight, her eyes dark. “What’s so funny?”
“What’s not? Park finally left the clubhouse and who does he put in charge of me but you? He has no idea just how ironic that is.” She giggled again, brushing her curves up against him.
“You’re only making it harder for me to let you go back,” he cautioned. They had made love and hastily put their clothes back on, but both of them were reluctant to leave. In that moment, he was ready to tell Park the whole truth. He was willing to sacrifice everything he had with the club just so he could have Mina at his side every night without worrying about it. Logically, he knew it wouldn’t work that way, but he wasn’t thinking with his brain.
“I’m not sure why he wants me so well-guarded, anyway. It’s not like I could get any more pregnant than I am.” Mina ran her hand gently over her swollen stomach. The bump was still small, but he was very aware of it. The addition to her body only made it more adorable, and Skid had laughed when he’d discovered she had fastened her jeans with a rubber band.
“He’s just worried about you. Where did he say he was going, anyway? I stopped paying attention after he told me to keep an eye on you. I was too busy thinking about what I would do once he was gone.” Skid pulled her down to him and nibbled her neck.
“I don’t know, really. Something about a new recruit, or maybe they were just picking out new leathers.” She giggled and pulled away, turning her face so that he had to kiss her mouth instead.
The last few weeks had been blissfully quiet. Park had little to say about Mina. Now that she had calmed down and was no longer trying to flirt with every man in existence, the tension in the clubhouse had eased. Everything was getting better. Skid knew in the back of his mind that he still would have to confront his president and admit what he had done, but it was a dark cloud that was easier to push aside than to deal with.
“It’s not like you not to know,” he remarked. “I think you’re getting soft on me.”
“I guess I can do that since I know you’re always hard.” Mina swung her leg over his and sat on top of him, her breasts in his face.
“What did the doctor say?”
She sat back and tipped her head. “Not a whole lot. Just that I was healthy and that everything looked fine. He said I can find out the sex in a few months, but I haven’t really decided if I want to do that yet.”
He chewed his lip, wishing he could have gone with her. Mina was a tough girl, and she wasn’t afraid of doctors or anyone else, but it still felt wrong not to be with her. Truthfully, Skid wasn’t certain Mina would have let him go even if they were together openly. “Did they ask about the father?”
“Not really. Just asked if I was in a monogamous relationship.”
“What did you tell them?”
She giggled again. It was a sound he wanted to hear over and over. “What do you think?”
“I’m sure you told them the truth, that the father could be any one of a hundred bikers.” He instantly lifted his arm to block her punch.
Skid sighed, wondering how he would ever get any work done once he and Mina were allowed to be together all the time. But what she had said was right: the longer they waited, the harder it would be to get safely inside the clubhouse at separate intervals. He picked her up and put her on her feet, hauling himself up after her. “I guess we’d better get going before I try to do something about that.” He adjusted his jeans, trying to get comfortable again. Mina was able to control him with little more than a sidelong look. “You go on in, and I’ll come in afterwards.”
“Wouldn’t it make sense for you to go first?” she asked.
It was a conversation they had anytime they snuck out of the building, which had become more often over the last few weeks. Mina was always eager for more time away from her home, which had become her prison, even if she couldn’t be with Skid. While there had been a few times she had disappeared to go shopping, he liked it much better when she was with him.
“You know it doesn’t. I want to make sure you get in safely, and I can do that much better from here than anywhere else.” Skid was beginning to understand why Park felt so protective toward his daughter. He, too, was beginning to worry about her more. He found himself imagining members from a rival gang sneaking into their part of town and abducting her before she was safely inside her room. The idea made him shudder, but his brain kept gnawing at it like a dog with a bone.
“Fine, but before I go anywhere, I want you to tell me when I’ll see you next.”
“I need to see what Park’s schedule is like. He’s been busy lately, and I haven’t had any private meetings with him this week. Give me a couple days, and I’ll let you know.”
She folded her arms, and even in the darkness Skid knew she was pouting. “You’re no fun.”
“Nope. Now go.”
With a final parting kiss, Mina headed back for the clubhouse. They could see it easily from their rendezvous spot, and he didn’t take his eyes off her as the slipped along the shadows of a few scraggly trees, ducked behind a dumpster to avoid being seen through the windows, and stole in through the door near the stairs. Even at a distance and in the dark, her ass was killer.
Still, Skid sighed as he waited a few minutes before he went home as well. They were acting like children, stealing kisses out here in the moonlight. He wanted to tell Park what was happening, but he didn’t want to ruin what they had. Dragging his relationship with Mina into the open would mean they’d have to hash it all out with Park, and that was once the old man stopped throwing punches. He might have to leave the Legion, and then what would he do? It was easy to forget about reality while he was with Mina, but it always came crashing back down on him once she left.
With a heavy heart, he clomped slowly back toward the building. He didn’t have to be nearly as discreet as she did, since Skid could come and go as he pleased. Just as he came in through the side door and into the living room, Park and several of the other men came in from the garage.
“Skid, how’s everything here?” Park’s blond hair was windblown from the ride, and he smoothed it back with a weathered hand.
“All’s quiet on the home front, sir. How about you?”
“Step into my office. I have a few things to discuss with you.” Park led the way down to the basement.
Skid obediently followed. He knew he should be more concerned about club business than anything else, but his mind wandered to figuring out when he could see Mina again. No matter how many times he had her, she always left him wanting more. The way she looked at him let him know that she wanted him, and it turned him on in a way he hadn’t experienced with other women. No, Mina wasn’t just some club girl.
“I was torn when I went out to meet this new recruit,” Park began as he closed his office door and reached into the mini fridge in the corner. He retrieved two beers and set one in front of Skid. “I’d much rather have had you at my side so I could get your opinion on him as well. Grill has vouched for him, but that doesn’t mean he’s good material for the Legion. Still, I didn’t want to leave the place completely unprotected, and that’s what I want to talk to you about.”
A lump of nerves ricocheted in Skid’s stomach. Had someone spotted him with Mina that evening? “I’m listening.”
Park cracked open his beer and took a swig before he spoke. “I’ve had something nagging at the back of my mind for a while, and I finally realized what it is. The Sons of Chaos came into town a few weeks ago, that night you spoke with Stomper. I didn’t worry about it too much, at that time, but I’ve discovered that they haven’t left. They’re just hanging on the outskirts of town, but I don’t like it. There’s no real reason for them to be here.”
Skid nodded as he used the edge of the desk to pop the lid off his beer. “That’s true. Usually when we have other clubs come through, they’re a little more forward about it. They let us know they’re passing through, and then they leave.” It was the way things were supposed to work, as long as nobody was looking for any trouble. And a club that started up trouble with Satan’s Legion wasn’t a smart one.
“Exactly,” Park agreed, tipping his bottle toward his VP. “The good thing is, I’ve got a direct link to this gang. I’ve got you.”
Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, Skid breathed a private sigh of relief. His secret wasn’t out yet. He at least still had that to himself. “What do you want me to do?”
“Stomper seemed interested in talking to you that night. I have a feeling he wouldn’t mind doing so again. I mean, like you said, the two of you were in the army together, and that creates a special kind of friendship. Go talk to him, spend some time with him. See if you can find out what they’re up to.”
Skid pursed his lips and looked down at the floor. It was old linoleum that had probably once been white, but the years had stained it to a dingy tan. His mind cast back to his days in the service. There were no specific memories, just random flashes of imagery that exploded through his mind. It felt like a separate life, one that he had lived before he became Skid of Satan’s Legion. It was a life he hadn’t thought about in a long time up until he’d run into Stomper. That conversation had cracked open a door he’d kept firmly shut for years.
Still, he was loyal to Park. He would need to continue building that loyalty up so that he didn’t lose everything he had when his president found out about him and Mina. “I can do that.”
“Good. They’ve been hanging out at The Billy Goat all the time from what I hear. He shouldn’t be too hard to find. Don’t say anything about me sending you there. Just be casual, and don’t ask too many questions. You think Stomper is the kind of guy to reveal his secrets?”
Skid thought about that for a moment. “It’s hard to tell. None of us are the same people we were back when we were serving, not really.”
“I get it.” Park took a deep draught of his beer and chucked the bottle in a nearby trash can. “I knew I could count on you, Skid. I always can.”
Most of the men were in the living room or the garage, watching television or fixing bikes and listening to music. Skid didn’t feel like doing anything social. He couldn’t be with Mina, and she was the only person he wanted to be with. Instead, he trudged up to his room and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to figure out just how he was going to do this.