CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Blaze
I was surprised at how natural it felt having Lake riding bitch on my bike. Maybe I liked it a little too much, since my dick had been hard for the past fifteen minutes.
It wasn’t like I’d never had a guy on the back of my bike before—I’d given several of the club members rides—but I’d never felt like I did with Lake behind me, arms wrapped around my waist, face and warm body pressed against my spine, calves hugging my hips.
He didn’t cling to me like most of the girls I’d dated had, but I felt every line of him just the same.
Maybe I was fucking crazy.
When I pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop, Lake climbed off the bike.
“What time do you get off?” I asked him.
“Two.” Lake looked uncertain.
I revved the engine. “I’ll be back to get you.” I drove off before he could find a reason to tell me no.
When I climbed the front porch to the clubhouse twenty minutes later, Ax was sitting in one of the two high-backed wicker chairs whittling, which he usually only did when he needed to think something over.
“What’s up?” I asked, taking a seat in the matching chair. I needed to make an appearance at Hard Time, but it could wait. I’d learned over the years to read Ax, and something was bothering him.
Ax’s gaze didn’t lift from his task.
“Come on. You’ve been playing matchmaker with me, so it makes sense I deserve some insight into your love life.”
The corner of Ax’s mouth quirked, and for the dozenth time since he’d started growing out his hair, I marveled how much that one change had softened his face.
“You get with Lake last night?” Ax asked without looking up from what he was doing.
I snorted. “No. But I’m thinking about it. That good enough?”
Ax only grunted. A long curl of wood dangled from the piece he worked on with his pocket knife.
“That a Great Dane?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“Yup. Caleb’s companion dog. It was Swish’s idea to get him. He helps keep Caleb calm.”
“Oh. I didn’t know they had dogs for anxiety.”
Ax nodded, held the piece of wood up for a second, then turned it around to start on the other side.
Whatever had happened to Swish’s friend Caleb in the past had made the kid timid around everyone and absolutely terrified of Ax, which was too bad, as Ax definitely had a thing for Caleb.
“He talking to you yet?” I asked.
Ax shook his head. “Nope, but he doesn’t run away as fast as he used to.”
I smiled. “That’s good. Means you’re making headway. I’ll bet it’s the hair.”
Ax chuckled and then sobered. “I dunno. He might never trust me.”
“Don’t give up,” I said.
Ax raised his eyes from the dog he was whittling long enough for me to see the brief flash of pain there. “You think there’s a chance?”
I nodded, hoping I was right.
Ax sighed. “Every time I see him, I look for some little sign. Pretty pathetic, right?”
I shrugged. “You never know. I say don’t give up.”
Suddenly, Ax grinned, and I realized what a good-looking guy he was.
“Thanks, Bossman. You gonna be there tomorrow for dinner?”
“Definitely.” I got to my feet. “Wonder if I could persuade Lake to join us.”
“Worth a try,” Ax said.
I left him to his whittling and walked around the clubhouse toward Hard Time. I had a meeting scheduled with Julianne later that day, and I wanted to be able to say I’d packed up the stuff I planned to move to the offices. A moving van would be bringing the sets from Steel and Velvet over to the warehouse in a few days.
Whistling, I entered the door of the warehouse.
***
I met Julianne at a deli on 37th Street. The more I got to know my future business partner, the more I liked her. I was starting to get excited about our merger. We talked while we ate, and when I mentioned I was thinking of adding BDSM to our gay porn videos, she loved the idea.
“Actually, I was thinking about a little light BDSM for the Cane and Tony video,” she said.
“I’m still not sure Tony’s on board for that.”
Julianne looked disappointed. “Would more money help?”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
After hashing out plans for the following week when we would be doing all the moving, we lingered over coffee until it was time for me to pick up Lake.
“Take him my leftovers.” Julianne pushed her Styrofoam container across the table. “Tell him I knew I wouldn’t eat them later.”
I smiled and reached for the box.
“I’m glad you’re helping him,” Julianne said. “I’m sure if his friends knew he’d been kicked out of his apartment, they’d cancel their vacation and come straight home.”
“No need. I like having him at the clubhouse. You said Lake’s mentioned his parents. Do you have any idea what happened there?”
Julianne frowned. “I always got the feeling they didn’t like that he’s gay. Lake and I really don’t talk much, so that’s just a guess.”
Her statement dragged at my heart like a bag of rocks. I hated thinking of anyone—Lake especially—struggling so hard by himself. I realized with a jolt I wanted to take care of him. Me, the guy who ran at the first sign of commitment. What did that mean?
I gestured to the waiter for the bill. “Lunch is on me.”
When I pulled up to the coffee shop, tiny flakes of snow were swirling in the air. Lake was waiting outside on a bench, head bent over his phone, fingers flying over the screen. At the sound of my bike, he looked up and stood. I handed him the spare helmet and watched him put it on. My body instantly responded when Lake climbed on the bike behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, delicious heat burning a trail from my toes to the ends of my hair. I pulled out of the parking lot, enjoying the way Lake’s hands pressed against my abdomen as we swerved into traffic. By the time we got off the expressway, the sky had darkened to the color of wet cement and snow was falling fast and hard, splatting against the shield of my helmet. Lake moved closer to me, plastering the front of his body against the back of mine, and I welcomed the shared body heat. The temperature must have dropped ten degrees in the past couple of hours.
I was relieved to pull into the driveway of the clubhouse, but a second later I tensed when I saw the motorcycle parked beside the garage. Definitely not a Hedonist’s bike.
“What’s the matter?” Lake asked, taking off his helmet. Snow swirled between us and settled on the top of his head like a cap as his gaze was drawn toward the porch. I turned and looked to see a man step out of the shadows.
“Seems we have a visitor. Stay behind me,” I said and started toward the house.
As I got closer, I thought I vaguely recognized the man, but I couldn’t pinpoint where I’d seen him before.
“Can I help you?” I asked, stopping at the bottom of the steps.
The man walked down to meet me, holding out his hand to shake. His worn face reflected a life of struggle.
“Name’s Dave Watson, but you may remember me as Jackal.”
Realization dawned. “You used to be with the Pistons.”
He nodded once. “Was kicked out three years ago.”
“They burned the tat off your back,” I said with distaste.
Dave nodded. “They would’ve killed me, except my sister’s one of their old ladies.”
Curiosity nudged at me. It was dangerous, even for an ex-Piston, to visit a rival MC. “What brings you here?”
He glanced over my shoulder at Lake.
“He’s okay,” I said.
Dave scanned the street.
“Wanna come inside?” I asked.
“Naw, I’d rather keep an eye out,” Dave looked back at the porch. “We’ll sit out here, if that’s okay.”
“I’m going to go on in,” Lake said, passing us. I followed and unlocked the front door for him.
When Dave and I were both seated, he let out a long breath.
“You probably don’t know this, Blaze, but I went to school with your brother Tim.”
I raised my brows. Dave looked a decade older than my brother would have been if he’d lived.
“Life’s been hard on me,” Dave said, as though he’d read my mind. “My fault, though. I made a lot of wrong choices. Used to run with your brother’s crowd until I fell in with some guys I shouldn’t have.” He took a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket and offered me one.
“No, thanks. What can I do for you, Dave?” I hoped he wasn’t there to ask a favor; I didn’t want to be any higher on Spoons’s shit list than I already was, not that I had to say yes to Dave—but there was that thing about me and helping people.
Dave took a drag off his cigarette before answering, eyes scanning the street.
“Tim once saved my life. We were swimming with a bunch of kids from school at Fort Tilden Beach, and a wave knocked me under. I swallowed a bunch of water, panicked, went unconscious. Woke up with Tim giving me CPR.” Dave laughed and shook his head. “For a split second I thought he was kissing me, then I started coughing up water.”
“He never told me that.” Tim wouldn’t have, though. He’d never bragged about anything.
“I figure I owe him, and that’s why I’m here. I heard it from my sister that Spoons has started up again talking about getting his retribution for Vanessa’s death. Seems he’s gonna do it soon. My sister doesn’t like the idea.” He leaned forward, eyes serious. “This didn’t come from her, understand?”
I nodded, heartbeat kicking up a notch. Both Dave and his sister were taking a huge risk to get this information to me. “Until now, we’ve been blackmailing Spoons to keep him quiet with the threat of telling Sniper Spoons in the reason he was put away. It’s worked for the past year and a half. What’s changed?”
Dave scanned the street, scooting farther into the shadows of the porch.
“Wanna push your bike into the garage?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Not mine.” He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to me. “The guy who took over the Hogs when Sniper was put away met a nasty end recently. His buddies found him strung up and skinned out in front of the clubhouse.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “By one of their own?”
“Could be. Word is, Sniper’s next.”
“Fuck.” I leaned back in the wicker chair, absorbing the news as I, too, scanned the street for possible watchers. Senses now on hyper alert, I no longer felt the biting wind. If what Dave was saying was true—and I had no reason to think it wasn’t—we were in deep shit. Morgan might have a hit on him already. I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed Zeke. The phone rang and rang before going to voice mail.
“Zeke. I need to talk to you as soon as you get this message.” I disconnected and looked at Dave. “You’ve taken a big risk telling me this. I won’t forget it.”
We talked for a few more minutes before Dave stood as though, now he’d delivered his message, he was eager to leave. “Like I said, I’m just paying back an old debt. Take care, man.” He descended the steps and strode toward his bike, leaving me stunned and more than a little worried.