CHAPTER 13

Flick

When I arrived at the clubhouse in the early evening, one full day after agreeing to be Taz’s, I was more than a little nervous. I’d arrived at Styxx ready to work, but Nitro had just grinned at me and told me to get my ass over to the clubhouse. Apparently, I had the night off. I figured Taz was up to something, but Nitro refused to give me even a hint as to what.

Locking up my car, I strolled over to the front door, which was being guarded by two big men who were watching me with open curiosity. And lust.

“Who you here for, darlin’?”

“Ah, Nitro told me Taz wanted me here, so here I am.”

A wide grin spread over his face. “You must be Flick, then. Head on in. He’s waiting for you.”

Clearly these two knew what was going on. That, or they’d heard about me dumping Taz on his ass last night. I really hated being the last to know anything, especially when it was something that affected me, so hopefully it was the later. On full alert, I stepped through the door, into the clubhouse for the first time. The room I found myself in was rather anti-climactic, all things considered, but I guess it was still pretty early for things to be overly wild. There was a bar along one wall, while the other side of the room was a mix of couches and small tables with chairs. There were a few men hanging around, but not many. I couldn’t see Taz anywhere and had no fucking clue where I should go from here to find him. Figuring the guy behind the bar might know something, I headed over there but got stopped before I made it all the way.

“Hey there, darlin’.”

Oh, good grief. Did every man here think they were the only ones with a southern accent? It was Bridgewater, Texas. The majority of the fucking population had the same damn drawl, me included.

“Hey, sugar, don’t suppose you know where Taz is?”

I exaggerated my own accent to throw it back at this guy. But he didn’t take the hint. With a smirk, his gaze focused over my shoulder, then he reached to put his hand on my hip.

“I wouldn’t—”

The guy manning the bar didn’t get to finish his warning before I’d knocked his arm to the side, grabbed it and twisted it up behind his back, so the asshole with the grabby hands was now kneeling in front of me.

“Tried to warn you, Keg. Flick put Taz on his ass over at Styxx last night. You didn’t stand a chance, brother.”

I glanced up at the man who’d spoken—he’d moved from behind the bar toward me. He was a huge hulk of a man and I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to win against him. His vest had a patch on it that ironically said “Tiny”.

“Flick, honey, you can let my brother go. Trust me, he won’t try to touch you again.”

“Damn fucking straight he won’t. Bastard.”

I released Keg, who scrambled to get back to his feet, where he rolled his shoulders with a wince.

“Settle the fuck down, Taz. You flirt with all the old ladies, just thought I’d give you a little payback. Somehow, I missed the story of you getting put on your ass by your own old lady, brother.”

Taz had told everyone about me agreeing to be his already? Fuck, he didn’t waste time.

Taz’s arm wrapped around my middle and pulled me back against him. “That’ll teach you for nicking off for the past week. Now you know–don’t mess with my woman.” He paused to press an open-mouthed kiss on the side of my throat. “Hey, kitty. So glad you decided to drop by tonight.”

I scoffed. “Don’t talk shit. You told Nitro to send me over here.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure you’d follow those instructions.”

I shrugged. “Since Nitro gave me the night off, I didn’t have anything else to do.”

Taz gave me a squeeze as he barked out a laugh. “You don’t fool me, my curious little kitty. I know you were dying to know why I wanted you to come here.”

“I thought you weren’t one-hundred percent sure I’d come?”

“I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure, babe. Now, come on through to the back. Need to introduce you around. The fool you’ve already met here is Keg, big guy there is Tiny.”

They both nodded at me as Taz led me from the room. By the time we made it out the back door, I’d met over a dozen guys and was really grateful their vests had their names on them.

“Cuts, kitty. We call them cuts, or our colors, not vests.”

Huh, must have said that out loud. “Okay, well, so long as you boys keep putting your names on them, I don’t care what you call them.”

Taz chuckled as he led me past a fire pit that was, no doubt, going to get a lot bigger later, over toward a couple of picnic tables. I recognized most of the people sitting at them, either from when I’d gone to Marie’s Cafe or from Styxx.

Before Taz could introduce me, Silk smirked over at me. “Hey, Flick, I hear you said yes. It’s all over now, you know?”

Zara laughed and came over to give me a quick hug. “We’re always open to having new old ladies around the place! The testosterone is liable to get overpowering, otherwise.”

She gave me a wink before she returned to sit on Mac’s lap. The big, bald, tough-looking man’s face instantly softened as he rested his palm over Zara’s swollen belly and stroked it. It made something deep inside me ache. Weird. I’d never planned on having kids. Hadn’t wanted to. I liked my life, or at least I thought I did. In a matter of days, Taz had upended everything in my world.

“Um, how did you all meet again?”

I grinned at how nervous Taz sounded as Scout stood to pull me in for a fast hug. “Your girl got curious and came down to Marie’s the other day. Met us all there.” He turned his attention to me. “How you doing, Flick? Guess having club protection as an employee wasn’t enough, huh? Had to upgrade to an old lady.”

He said it with a wink, so I figured he was trying to be funny, but I felt heat flash in my cheeks. Is that why Taz asked me? In an attempt to keep me safe? Did he not know about Scout already telling me I was under club protection due to my job at Styxx? I glanced at Taz with a raised brow. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the eyebrow I’d arched at him. “Relax, kitty. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you as mine. Protection for you is just one small part of it.”

He’d whispered the last part into my ear, but the others obviously heard the first few words.

“Kitty? Seriously? You’re calling her a pussy? Taz, get out of the damn gutter once in a while!”

Silk’s words set everyone off into fits of laughter. Once Taz recovered enough to talk, he turned to her.

“Control your woman, Eagle. Damn. I call her Kitty because she’s so fucking curious about every damn thing.” He pointed at Zara who was smirking and trying to not laugh. “You, shut it! Bunny.”

Mac rolled his eyes when I looked to him for an explanation. “I started calling Zara bunny because the woman kept running off like a scared rabbit.”

“Still tattooed a playboy bunny on her ass for an extra reason though. Hey, Flick, want a tattoo? A cute little kitty-cat on your ass for Taz to stare at?”

My body shook with my laughter. “I don’t think so. I don’t have any ink, and I ain’t starting by having a pussy inked on my ass.”

As I predicted, that set all the men off again. Then Silk got up off Eagle’s lap and pulled Zara from Mac’s. “C’mon, ladies. We got food to arrange. These boys won’t feed themselves!”

Scout got gruff with them for that one. “You know, we can actually. Look after ourselves, that is.”

“Shut it, Scout. Marie sent over a couple pies for afterward. Don’t piss them off or they won’t serve them.”

Before I could catch Scout’s response to Mac, the two women had me between them, herding me toward the building. With a smile, I let them. I could see why Taz liked it here. This was like a big, messy, slightly crazy family. The whole place felt almost homey, with no tension or stress in the air. And everyone was being really friendly with each other. Hell, this place was easier to be in than my office at the FBI headquarters in Dallas. I hadn’t expected this. I’d figured it would be all seriously gruff bikers grumbling and cursing at each other. But I hadn’t seen any of that. Surprisingly, there were even a few kids running around the yard.

“So, the clubhouse is family friendly, huh?”

Silk laughed. “For now, it is. These types of parties are for the families. But once it gets dark, most of us old ladies head home. All the kids are definitely out of here. That’s when the whores start to wander out of their room and begin to infiltrate the whole place. You should totally stay at least once, just to see how wild these boys can get. But not sure I’d be doing it just yet. Those bitches are gonna be pissed that you’ve taken their favorite toy away.”

I frowned. “Favorite toy?”

“Pretty much from day one, Taz has been their favorite. His stamina is apparently legendary.” She’d given me a sly side-eye look with that comment, making me chuckle.

“I’m not one to kiss and tell, but yeah. The man likes to fuck, and he’s got the skills to back it up.”

“Right, so you’re not gonna be real popular with the club whores. I’d recommend waiting till you get your cut. At least then it’ll be clear you’re an old lady and most of them do understand the pecking order in this place.”

“Pecking order?”

“Yeah, old ladies are the queens of this place. The club brothers are the kings, the prospects are like princes, or maybe knights?” She shrugged. “And the club whores are like the hired help. Seen but not heard, type of thing. I mean, don’t get me wrong, some of them are quite nice. But some are nasty cows.”

Man, maybe I should start taking notes about all these rules and shit?

“And you said when I get my cut?”

I looked at what the two women were wearing, along with the other ladies all bustling around the kitchen.

“Yeah, we get our own cuts too. But we don’t wear them all the time like the men do. It takes a little bit of time to get one made up. I’m sure Taz has already ordered yours.”

Zara turned and I saw the back of hers had the Charon MC logo in the middle of her back with the words ‘Property of’ above and ‘Mac’ below. Damn, but they really took the whole property thing all the way around here. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being property at all, let alone belonging to a man. Guess since I’d already said yes, I’d better hurry up and get used to it.

Silk snickered. “You could always come down and see me at Silky Ink and I’ll ink a Charon patch on you?”

“Oh, leave her alone. I’m sure you’ll get her in your chair soon enough.”

I focused on Silk’s arm. She was inked from the wrist up to under her shirt sleeve. Large red roses with black and gray swirls and shit behind and around them. It looked pretty damn awesome to be honest. Maybe I could try a little ink…

“Thinking it would be best to start small. And that winged skull thing is not small.”

Zara groaned. “Don’t tell her that! Damn it. You’ll have a full sleeve or something by the time she pops that baby out.”

Silk nodded. “That gives us three months. Totally doable.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. What the fuck just happened?

Taz

Several hours later, we’d all finished eating and it was just Scout and me sitting at the table.

“Your girl is settling in nicely.”

Flick totally had. She’d slid right in with the old ladies, helping with the food. She was now inside helping clean up with the other women. It probably helped she’d met Silk and Zara before. How had I not known about that?

“Why didn’t you tell me she’d come into Marie’s?”

Scout laughed. “Settle down, Taz. There hasn’t been time to tell you, it was only two fucking days ago.”

Since I couldn’t really argue with that, I took a drink of my beer instead of even trying. Things really were going way too fucking fast with me and Flick, but it felt right. Especially now she’d admitted to me she didn’t see me as just part of her assignment.

“What’s the word on Gus? He gonna pull through, or what?”

I tilted my head and glanced at my president. “What? Your contact at the hospital stop informing you?”

“Quit trying to rile me up, boy. The doctor down at the hospital only informs me when someone gets brought in that he thinks I should know about. Nothing more. Now, fill me in while we’ve got a minute alone.”

“Well, like I mentioned on the phone, Flick is Gus’s niece. Well, half niece. Looks like Gus was the product of an affair. Flick had no idea he was living in town before she got the call from the hospital.”

Scout adjusted the ever-present bandana on his head as he spoke.

“Seems odd that she’s listed as his emergency contact then, doesn’t it?”

I shrugged. “Not really. Gus has no one in town. Their family doesn’t seem real big, or that close.”

“Okay, well, is she gonna sign things over to you, then?”

“Not without talking to him first. We’re hoping he’ll come off sedation tomorrow enough that he’ll be able to at least understand us and give the go ahead for me to keep things open for him. I think that’s about all we can expect until he’s back on his feet. And honestly, this is more of a favor to a friend kinda thing. I can’t see him agreeing to sell the place. Not even now he’s got his health to worry about. That place is his life. Hopefully he’ll sign the agreement to let me work there. If he won’t even sign that, I guess we just risk the authorities coming to ask questions if they discover it’s not Gus sitting out there every day. Hooking up with his niece will hopefully help. I’m not just some random, but family now.”

Scout shook his head. “Cowboys won’t be happy with that long-term. Fuck. I’m not sure what they’re gonna pull to get the ball rolling here.”

“Can’t we move the shit for them some other way? Why the hard-on for the gun shop?”

“Who fucking knows? They ain’t told me what’s so special about the place. Maybe they just want a shop front to sell guns through for smaller orders. We’re not so far from the border that Mexicans won’t come up here to get what they need. And we all know Gus won’t sell shit to anyone he thinks is gonna use it against Americans. Can’t fault the old bastard on his patriotism to Uncle Sam.”

Unease ripped down my spine. “What do you think they’re gonna do next? Any chance they’ll wait for him to get over his heart surgery?”

Scout huffed and took a swig of his own beer. “No idea, brother. I’ll call Viper, maybe Maverick as well, tomorrow, see what I can swing. But they’re not the type of MC that’ll just sit back and wait. Shit will fly over this. It’s a good thing you’ve claimed Flick. Give her some extra protection. At least, hopefully they’ll honor her status as your old lady.” He adjusted his bandana again. “What a fucking mess.”

“Yo! Taz! Come handle your woman!”

“What’s she doing?”

“Her and Tiff are getting into it in the hallway.”

I had to smirk at Keg. “What? You too chicken to get between two women?”

“It’s not being a chicken to know to steer clear of a woman you know can put you on your ass. You’re the crazy fucker that’s claimed her ass, so you can go deal with it.”

Scout was chuckling as he rose beside me. “Got a good feeling about your girl, brother. She’s made of the same stuff as the rest of us here. Don’t take no shit from no one, including her old man. Tell me, Taz, you done with the whores now you’ve claimed her?”

We walked over toward the back door. “Yeah, got no interest in any pussy other than what’s mine.”

“Well, fuck. Guess we should encourage a few of the bitches to move on, then. Gonna have too many floating around bored without you to pound them all for us.”

With a shake of my head, I flipped off my president, tossed my empty bottle in the bin, then headed in the back door with him by my side. There was a small crowd gathered about halfway up.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Scout’s voice was loud and serious. All signs of the man who’d joked with me a moment ago were instantly gone. People parted and I followed Scout through, not sure what the fuck we were about to find. I groaned when I saw my girl. Tiff was face-first against the wall, puffing like she’d just run a marathon. Flick had Tiff’s arm up behind her back, while one of her own arms was braced across Tiff’s shoulders. My cock jerked in my jeans. Flick’s feet were in a fighter’s stance and she didn’t appear to be straining at all. More like she was casually dealing with an annoyance, while poor Tiff looked like she’d been fighting for her life for hours.

“Flick, wanna tell me what’s going on here?”

I stayed to the side of Scout, letting the president handle shit for the moment. Once this was publicly sorted, I’d take care of my woman. How would her ass look all red from a spanking? Would she submit to it? Or would she kick my ass for even suggesting it.

Could be interesting.