Cass
“Brother, you need to go outside. I’ll stay in here with Keith for a minute.” Scott calmly approached them, grabbing Keith’s hands from Cass.
Cass looked up at Scott who wore a grim expression. “Fuck,” he breathed. He knew it couldn’t be good. Clayton hadn’t come in. Which meant he was still outside…for a reason. Cass bolted through the door. Ghost was kneeling next to Clayton who was leaned against the base of one of the larger trees surrounding the parking lot.
He had been hit, that much was clear, but where was the question. Ghost looked up at a panicked Cass. “He’s going to live.”
Cass let out a breath of relief before he was kneeling down next to them. Examining Clayton closely, or as closely as he could in the dark, he couldn’t see blood anywhere.
“Where’d you get hit?’
“In my side. Bullet missed my lung…barely…” he coughed out.
“Quit talking ‘fore you make that damn thing move in there.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works, Son,” Clayton rasped. “You’re gonna need a cleanup crew. You do have one of those don’t you?”
“What do I look like, an amateur? Of course I have one, but forgive us if we’re running a little short. Everyone’s out there doing what we’ve been doing. I’ll get with some of the guys at the house with the girls and see if they can fill in. The girls are fine now that Keith is in our hands.”
“Don’t make excuses, just get the...job...done…” Clayton barely got the words out before he was coughing so hard his whole head was turning colors, and that was saying something considering how dark it was out.
“Ghost, can you get him to the hospital? I got guys on their way to take Keith to the clubhouse. If I’d have known he was going to be that easy to get to, I wouldn’t have paid you half of what I paid for my damn house,” he chuckled.
“I can get him to the hospital. I’ll keep you posted. Take care of your club, kid.”
Headlights shone into the parking lot of the bar. Leo hopped out of his truck, Shorty right behind him, running over to where Cass and the others stood. “Shit,” he huffed, looking down at Clayton.
“Can you help me load him up? I need to get him across the street to my truck.” Ghost already had an arm wrapped around Clayton’s lower back, beginning to lift him up.
Leo obeyed, nodding as he helped lift Clayton off the ground. Shorty opened the back door to the truck and helped lift Clayton in. While they drove across the street and swapped Clayton from one vehicle to the other, Cass made a beeline for the bar. To hell with caging the beast. Keith had poked the sleeping bear for far too long.
Scott moved out of Cass’s way as soon as he made eye contact with him. Cass did not have the temper that should be taken lightly, and if anyone knew this, it was Scott. Cass untied Keith’s hands viciously. He wasn’t about to beat on someone who couldn’t defend themselves. As soon as they were free, Cass laid into him. Skilled blow after devastating blow of right hooks and upper cuts, Keith was knocked half stupid. He didn’t even try to block any of the punches Cass threw, and he wasn’t letting up.
“You sorry piece of fucking shit!” Cass hollered. He had had enough of this shit. He was sick and tired of the people he loved and cared about getting hurt and it was all at the hands of a grimy, no good, meth-snorting, coke-dealing, sorry piece of dog shit.
Keith laughed and blood sprayed from his mouth, leaving red dots all over Cass’s fists and forearms. After the third crunch Cass heard beneath his assault, he stopped. That was three teeth that he’d knocked out, or quite possibly down his throat.
Cass was out of breath, sucking in gulps of air as he tried to catch his breath. Keith groaned beneath him but made no effort to move. Somehow, they’d gone from standing up to Cass kneeling on top of him, beating his head into the floor. Keith’s head was turned to the side, blood pouring from his nose and mouth. He wasn’t so cocky, anymore. Cass’s beast was still hungry but it had been satiated enough to put it back in the cage for a while. Besides, Snapper would have a field day playing with Keith. He had learned multiple ways of torture first hand. His father used to beat him as a child and one day, beating him wasn’t enough so he water boarded him. After water boarding, he tried plenty other forms of torture, some of them so extreme that Snapper wouldn’t speak of them to this day.
“Aw, come on Prez. I gotta put that in my truck?” Leo asked, looking down at the bloody scene before him when he walked in. Shorty was standing behind him, trying not to laugh.
Cass stood up, looking Leo square in his eyes. “Seeing as you’re the longest running prospect, I think the answer to that question is yes. But feel free to clean him up first if that makes you feel better,” Cass said, a smirk tugging on the corner of his mouth.
Leo was going to make a fine brother, but he was easy to pick with about damn near anything.
“Man…” Leo sighed and grabbed a rag from the bar. Leo sat him upright and wiped his face with the dirty rag. It got the blood off his face for the most part. Keith laughed, spewing bloody spit all over Leo’s face and the front of his shirt.
“Fuck you, prospect.”
Without hesitation, Leo reared back and landed a blow to Keith’s face, hitting him right between his eyes.
“Shit!” he muttered, pulling back and looking over at Cass. Cass grinned at him and shrugged his shoulders.
“Good job, prospect.”
Leo smiled and grabbed Keith’s arm, hoisting him up to his feet. “I’m not your fucking prospect.” He shoved him forward and out the door.
Scott started laughing. “How much time you think he’s got left?”
“I don’t know, but I feel like it just got a lot shorter.”
They laughed about that as they walked outside. “I gotta get Clayton’s bike back. Hey, Shorty!” Cass called, making his way toward Leo’s truck.
“Yeah?”
“I need you to take Clayton’s bike back to the clubhouse.”
“Good, I didn’t wanna be cooped up in the truck with those two. If Leo doesn’t kill him before they get there, I’ll be surprised.”
“Heard that!” Leo yelled from the driver’s side window. He continued to mumble something toward the back seat, no doubt a string of curses directed at Keith. He got the truck turned around and pulled up next to them.
“Want a ride? You’ll have to sit next to a fucking jackass, but hop on in, guys,” Leo said, sounding like an enthusiastic tour guide, ready to show them all of the wonders of a new town.
Scott and Shorty got into the back seat, Shorty sitting closest to Keith while Cass got in the front, both Cass and Scott shrugging out of their cuts before getting in to avoid fines. The circumstances might be extreme, but club bylaws were club bylaws.
Leo drove them the short distance from the bar to the store they’d stowed their bikes away at. Ghost’s truck was long gone, not that they’d seen it when they’d arrived, anyway. The three of them exited the truck just as quickly as they’d entered.
Cass gave Leo the go ahead to take off since they’d likely catch him once they got on the road. Cass unlocked a saddlebag, pulling out his leather jacket. The temperature had continued drop and the night air would be cool on the bike. Scott followed suit while Shorty stood there with his arms crossed.
“That’s not even funny. Ain’t no way in hell I’m going to fit in anything Clayton’s got. Dude’s twice my damn size!”
Scott laughed as he slipped his arms inside his jacket. “Sorry ‘bout your luck.”
“I’ll make sure we give you a gold star at church,” Cass joked, latching his helmet before he put his gloves on.
“Screw you guys,” Shorty laughed through a sudden shiver. He was straddling Clayton’s bike, ready and waiting on them.
Before Cass put his gloves on, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Digger’s number.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” he asked and Cass heard the chatter in the background fading.
“I need something from you. Our cleanup crew consisted of Old School and Snapper, and…well you see how well that’s going. I need you to grab the two Sinners that are there and take them with you to clean up the sites. I can have Snapper send you coordinates as men get back to the clubhouse and report to him.”
“Yeah, no problem Prez. I’m on it.”
“Oh, and Dig?”
“Yeah?”
“Leave Gater out of the loop on this one.”
“You got it.”
The call ended and Cass set his phone up in the cell phone holder on his dash. He fired up first, the other two right behind him as he took off in the same direction Leo had gone. Cass pulled the throttle back, taking off as fast as he could. Scott and Shorty were right behind him, trying to keep up. He slowed down as they approached the only red light between the bar and the clubhouse. When it turned green, he was on it again. Once he’d gotten a small taste of the speed that always seemed to level his head, he let off, slowing down as they entered a long curve.
It didn’t take long for them to get back to the clubhouse and from the looks of it, a lot of the guys were already back. Cass smiled a proud smile, a proud accomplished smile. They pulled in and lined up near the front entrance. Cass walked in first, leaving the guys outside. He needed to talk to Snapper, first…alone.
Snapper was already in one of the rooms beneath the stairwell, likely beginning his methods of torture on his newest victim. Cass knocked at the door and was met with a loud bang from something metal colliding with the wall near the door. “What?” he screeched, unamused to be interrupted.
“It’s me.” Cass’s declaration got the door opened for him and Snapper emerged.
“Look, you know I’m in the middle of something, right?” he asked, his eyes wild.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here. I talked to Gater earlier. Something is off with him and I don’t like it. I need you to find out who’s been feeding him information. He knew about the house.”
Snapper’s eyes widened, but he didn’t comment on it. “I’ll find out what this guy knows.” The sincerity in his voice assured Cass he would do just that. Leaving Snapper to what he did best, Cass headed back into the bar area that was filling up with Hounds and Sinners who had successfully completed the tasks they were given, or more so, taken the life they were assigned to take.
Cass moved through the crowded room, making his way to the office. He knew Snapper would’ve delegated someone to take his place, ensuring every job that was given was completed. Snapper was thorough when it came to shit like this, that’s why he was the one in charge of setting it up.
Mario sat at one of the three desks in the office. He was one of the newest members in Baton Rouge. Originally from Belize, he was tanned and spoke with an accent. However, he was one of the most trustworthy men in the club. There was no question as to why Snapper put him in charge.
“What’s up, man?” Cass asked, greeting Mario. Mario had been out of town for work for the past few weeks, but when he got wind of what was going on back home, he did what he could to get back as soon as possible. From the looks of it, he showed up just in time.
“Hey, Prez.”
“You got here just in time.”
“I know. Snapper brought me up to speed when I got in.”
“I need something from you, but I need it to be between you and me.”
Mario eyed Cass suspiciously, but didn’t question him. “Okay,” he said hesitantly.
“Send Digger the coordinates for every completed job with a fatality.”
Mario nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket and began going through the stack of paperwork that lined his desk.
“Thanks, brother,” Cass said before closing the door behind him.
While everything was being taken care of there, all he could do was wait. Wait? I don’t wait. I make shit happen. Fuck this.
Cass searched the clubhouse for Scott. As big as he was, somehow he was always the most well-hidden fucker in the building. It took Cass a good twenty minutes to find him. He was sitting down in a corner from which he could see everything around him. Eyes on all entrances, no one would sneak up on him.
“I’m going to the house. Got some unfinished business to take care of there.”
“You want me to ride with you?” Scott asked.
“Yeah, come on.”
* * *
Lilly
Four in the morning. It was four in the morning and Lilly was the last ol’ lady awake aside from Ryan. She was curled up on the couch with Gater and they were in their own little world, oblivious to Lilly’s presence in the kitchen. The other guys were outside somewhere, guarding the house like it housed the most precious ancient stones.
Lilly sat quietly at the bar. Seeing as their dining room table wasn’t there yet, the bar was all she had furniture for. She could hear Gater and Ryan talking from where she sat.
“What have you really been doing all this time? I know that the club isn’t where you’ve been getting all this money.” Ryan’s voice was quiet, yet clear.
“I told you I’ve been working more at the shop to help cover for Cass while he’s been gone.”
“All night long, too? The shop closes at five, Gater!”
“No, at night I’m out doing club shit.”
“What kinda club shit?” Lilly could tell by her tone she was growing more annoyed with each passing minute.
“Ryan, I’m not having this conversation with you right now,” he sighed, then everything was quiet.
The sound of motorcycles approaching had the back of the hair on Lilly’s neck standing up. Stirring outside the windows at the front eased Lilly’s mind, if only a little. The guys would protect them. She walked to the kitchen window, peeking out to see if she could spot anything from where she was. Two motorcycles pulled into the driveway, straight back under the carport. Lilly had never been so happy in her life to see a chrome helmet. Cass stepped off his bike, Scott right behind him.
Lilly was yanking the back door open before Cass could grab the handle to walk in. Without warning, she jumped into his arms, nearly knocking him on the ground. He was able to find his footing, though, before they tumbled over.
“Hey to you too, beautiful.” He squeezed her tightly as she covered his face in kisses.
“Hi,” she whispered, resting her forehead on his. Her eyes were closed and she was soaking up his presence.
“I’m gonna put you down now so we can go inside.” He set her on her feet and she walked through the door, allowing him and Scott to enter along with her. Linc and the strawberry blond prospect were now in the living room, sitting across from Gater and Ryan. Brock was nowhere to be found, Lilly figured he had found somewhere to get a cat nap in.
Lilly knew he was going to update his brothers and the rest of the guys on what was going on and what had already happened, but she couldn’t deny she was a little bit jealous. She was missing him something fierce and wanted nothing more than to be selfish. Tell all these people to leave. Take Cass to bed. Curl up with him and talk for hours. Hear everything he had to say. Then rip his clothes off. Take her time pleasing him. Loving him.
She curled her hand around his arm, and he jolted. Her fingers traced over something thick and wet. When the light from the kitchen shone on them, she could see the blood. “I cut it. Easy, it hurts.”
“You need to clean it before it gets infected.”
“I will. In a little bit. First, I need to chat with some of these guys.”
Lilly nodded and headed upstairs. She knew what that meant. When he had something to say, it was usually done in private between him and the guys in the club. Lilly respected that, for the most part. She especially respected it when he was no longer in danger and she could breathe easily knowing he wasn’t plotting to go out and kill someone.
The other ol’ ladies were asleep in the master bed and she didn’t want to disturb them. Besides, she had a craft room upstairs that they had put a few things in yesterday, including a futon. It had a black cushion and was put together with black painted metal. She curled up on it, telling herself she wouldn’t get comfy, but she knew better. She knew as soon as her head hit the soft cushion that she’d be dead to the world. Exhaustion from not sleeping was finally starting to kick in. Cass was here and safe and she was free of worry for the moment. Free of worry long enough to drift off into a, for once, peaceful slumber.
She woke sometime in the middle of the morning to a clean-scented Cass curled behind her. His strong, smooth arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her into his chest. She inhaled deeply the scent of Cass mixed with soap and exhaled until her entire body relaxed. Cass’s hand that rested on her lower stomach began rubbing circles on her skin. He moved feather light touches from her panty line, up to her bra and back down again.
Her breath hitched as each time his hand went further beneath her underwear until he was spreading her lips. Cass was teasing the hell out of her. She didn’t even notice how worked up he had gotten her until she realized she was panting.
This time, when his hand slowly trailed back beneath her underwear, it didn’t come back out. He spread her open and pressed on her swollen nub, rolling it beneath his finger. He dipped it into her slick sex before spreading her wetness back up and rubbing circles on her clit. Hushed moans flew from her throat and her hands were gripping the rail above them. Cass’s free hand snaked around her head, his hand firmly pressed over her mouth, muffling the screams she knew she was about to unleash.
He moved his finger faster and faster, giving Lilly that familiar building sensation she was quickly growing addicted to. Her tongue snaked across one of his fingers that covered her mouth, to which he responded by inserting a finger into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around it and sucked hard before she jerked her head back, freeing herself of his hand on her mouth. She sat up, stopping his motion and slid the pair of pajama pants he had on down his hips, freeing his hard length. She leaned forward, sliding out of her own pants and underwear, giving him the perfect angle to continue the torture he’d begun as she spread her legs wide for him.
Without warning, she swallowed him whole until he was halfway down her throat and her eyes were starting to water. The guttural moan she got was reward enough as she slowly eased up then back down again. He wasn’t the only one with a method of torturous pleasure.
“Fuck, baby. I know you missed me,” he whispered, his free hand tangling in her hair while the other worked fervently between her legs. The better she made him feel, the better he made her feel.
From this angle, it’s a win-win because damn does it feel so motherfucking good to make him feel so motherfucking good.
Lilly picked up her pace, sucking him fast and hard when utter pleasure nearly consumed her. Cass had replaced his fingers with his tongue, devouring her clit like it was the only meal he’d ever eat in his lifetime. Her moans vibrated around his hard dick, shoved deep in the back of her throat. He moaned as his tongue continued to lap up every drop of wetness her body would give.
Lilly was building again and this time she wasn’t going to let him stop until she came all over his face. Her hips began to move, pressing her pussy into his mouth. She pushed on his stomach, rolling him from his side to his back, and tossed her leg over his head. She was straddling his face and began rocking her hips. The better it felt, the harder and faster she sucked on his cock. Sitting straight up for a better angle, she replaced her lips with her hands. With one hand she stroked him from tip to base, pounding his dick as he moaned beneath her while she rode his face. With the other hand, she massaged his ball sack, squeezing it lightly in her hand with each stroke.
Cass began making noises she’d never heard him make before, and the sound of him being pleased sent her spiraling over the edge. Her orgasm consumed her while she continued to fist him in her hands. Screams wracked through her as her body convulsed, but she never lost her pace. She was rewarded with Cass’s own release spurting over her hand as he moaned and screamed, his mouth still hot on her pussy. Lilly kept going, not wanting to stop while he was in the middle of his orgasm.
His screams slowed and his body went completely slack as Lilly lifted herself from him and hopped out of the bed. She scanned the room in search of a rag…a towel…anything. The boxes along the wall were all labeled. She said a silent thank you when she saw a box labeled ‘House Stuff’ knowing that she had packed towels and rags in there when she was packing up her house the first time.
She pulled the box down and pulled a rag out. She wiped her hand as best she could before handing it to a sated and happy Cass.
He sat up slowly and leaned against the back of the futon. “Fuck, me.”
The look on his face said it all. His eyes were half-lidded, a happy smile was spreading across his lips, and his head was thrown back, resting on the top of the cushion. He moved in slow motion as he grabbed the rag from her and lay it over himself.
“I would, but after that orgasm I don’t think you want to move,” she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek affectionately.
“You’re so right. I don’t even want to lay back down. I just wanna sit here and bask in the pleasure that is you. I don’t know what you did, but fuck have I been missing out until now.”
Lilly grinned and laid her head on his shoulder. “So, that’s definitely in the top ten, then?”
“Top ten? Shit, that’s top two. And I only say two because at this very moment I can’t remember one ever being more fucking amazing than that. That’s what I’ve been missing out on?” he asked in disbelief. It was like she’d just told him the sky was green and he was seeing it for the first time.
Lilly giggled at him being so awestruck, but she didn’t want to move either. She’d had a great orgasm and she was finally in his arms, or at least close enough for now. Cass wiped up with the rag and tossed it aside. It landed inside of a box a few feet away, but neither one of them cared enough to move at that point.
Cass finally rolled onto his back, laying down so that Lilly could curl up with him. Now she was certainly ready for sleep. He rubbed her arm mindlessly as she lay in the curve of his arm, her head resting on top of his shoulder. His chin came to rest right above her forehead and she felt her entire body relax. Within seconds, he was snoring. She smiled and let the sound of his snores lull her to sleep. For once, she didn’t have thoughts. She was just happy.