Chapter Twenty-Three
Charlie
Riding was the second best thing in the world. Sex with Joe topped the list. My God, he’d put me out with that last orgasm, and we’d been in the club kitchen. But I refused to worry about that. I was riding a Harley on my own, and as soon as this standoff was over, I’d be buying a bike. I wasn’t sure if I loved the thrill or sense of freedom more.
JoJo rode next to me a smile cracking his face wide. No helmet, though he made me wear one. We rode the back road that connected the clubhouse to members’ houses. We drove the big circle that took us past another house, then the big metal building where they made the porn movies and we were back at the club. Joe parked, but I was ready to ride more.
“When do I get to go on the road?”
“After Franco calls off his hitmen.” Joe ruined my high.
For a couple of hours I’d forgotten about the men hunting me and the reason I was here. So far the club wasn’t what I’d expected. Lots of rough-looking guys, but they were nice, even the meanest-looking ones, or especially those. Both Jericho and Thorn had made me feel welcome, yet they had this intimidating aura that screamed badass.
I liked Joe’s friends and the clubhouse was growing on me. Despite my imaginings, I hadn’t seen a single thing that resembled that biker show from TV or the outlaw stories that spread through the police station. Wild parties. Free-flowing drugs. Women used as slaves. The stories were extreme, and totally without basis, here anyway.
“Come on, I owe you some payback.” I crooked my finger for him to follow me.
JoJo had shown no mercy when he’d rocked my world and I’d never thought feelings shot so deep, could overtake me so completely. Now I needed to see if I could do the same for him.
We hurried into the small clubhouse bedroom and slammed the door shut.
“Undress.” I pushed him back toward the bed.
“Yes, ma’am.” With a smug grin he tugged off his shirt. The Jericho Brotherhood tattoo covered his heart, reminding me that they were a package deal. Before we’d come here, I’d have said that was a deal breaker, more so after the rocky first night, but now I could see it working. The club wasn’t terrible and my feelings for Joe went deep.
I knelt between his open legs and met his gaze, then slowly took him into my mouth, circling down his shaft with slow licks.
He moaned, and a thrill chased through me. I wanted him at my mercy, just like I was with him.
* * *
Days passed with me cooking, cleaning and learning to ride, but not even the bike held the pleasure of a few days ago. I might go insane if I had to stay another day.
We sat in the main room, just finishing off the pot roast I’d cooked today. Somehow the crowd had grown to include Thorn, Delta, Zero, Elle and Rebel. I was glad Elle was here. The testosterone surrounding me was epic, and I’d had enough.
“Thorn, what else needs fixed?” JoJo spoke while he chewed. No manners.
“Nothing, brother. Go out and buy shit to decorate the place. The women have been on that project for months now.” He shook his head. “Now, I have no idea when that will happen.”
“Dare okay?” JoJo frowned.
Thorn shrugged. “Dare, Jericho and Bear rode out a few days ago.”
“Is he fucking stupid?” JoJo asked.
“Yup, and tell him if you feel like a second helping.” Rebel nodded to his black eye and bruised cheek, both fading but not gone.
“I can’t hang out here any longer, I’ll go crazy.” JoJo sounded like a pouty kid, but it summed up my mood too.
“Take her south, go hunting for a bounty.” Rebel grinned. “Maybe you can convert her.”
Bounty hunting? That could be fun.
“Any good cases? So I can train Charlie on how to hunt criminals.”
I smacked him in the ribs. “I know how to apprehend, thanks all the same.”
“You should take Viceroy, we really need to tie that one up, and Rebel and I are busy with Longstreet, the bastard keeps slipping away from us.” Elle grinned at me. “Charlie can show you the right way to do it.”
“But I wanted that bastard. He’s down for murder, worth a cool hundred.” Rebel pulled Elle onto his lap. “But if the boss says...”
“Exactly.” Elle grinned at us. “Charlie and you should be able to take him, no problem.”
“Why aren’t you after him?” JoJo asked Delta.
“I’m covering your ass in Oklahoma City and babysitting.” Delta sighed. “I miss Vegas. Can you wrap your shit up, soon?”
“Delta’s addicted to the tables, but he wins, a lot. He’s in Vegas more than here.” JoJo squeezed my knee before glancing at Delta. “You could always go there and straighten Franco out.”
Delta tucked in to his food.
As the guys cleaned up after lunch, Elle and I sat together in back. “You doing okay?”
I nodded. “I learned to ride a motorcycle, and the guys like my cooking, but I could use more action.”
“Viceroy is a murderer, worth a hundred grand.” She stood up. “Let’s go get the file. I have it in the truck.”
“Really, that much?” I hadn’t realized they had contracts that big.
“Yeah, we like the big contracts—Rebel, me, Delta and JoJo. We have a competition. Anyone who doesn’t bring in 100K in bounties has to buy drinks when we go out.”
“Drinking and betting. Two of their favorite pastimes?”
“You know it.” Elle winked at me. “Read it over, you guys need to get out and rile up Franco again. Word is he’s feeling the money drain.”
“Really?”
“No one looks good when three attempts fail.” She patted my shoulder. “You’re almost clear of this. Then the fun really begins.”
“What does that mean?”
“What will you do when you aren’t running from Franco?” Elle gazed at me with knowing eyes.
“Rebuild my life in Oklahoma City.” I had a house to rebuild, a career to get back to, and I wasn’t sure where JoJo fit in my boring normal life or if he even wanted to.
I slipped in the back door and into the room we’d stayed in the past six days. I opened the file and began reading. Al Viceroy was out on bail for armed robbery. The bank guard had died, now he was up for murder. An arrest warrant had been issued, but Viceroy had eluded police for the past four months. He’d had a string of arrests and done three stints in prison over the years, two in Montana and one in Texas. He’d be going in for life this time. The background was extensive—credit charges, phone bills and more. We didn’t have access to this kind of information, unless we got the mother of all warrants. I didn’t see a clear lead here, but I wasn’t familiar with Dallas or Viceroy’s hangouts. Hopefully JoJo would see more in the file.
He came in a few minutes later. “Elle said she gave you the file.”
I handed it to him. He scanned it and smirked. “Pack for three days, tight and revealing should be the theme. Don’t forget your gun.”
I stood and looked over the file he held. “What do you see that I didn’t?”
“All these charges at bars—biker bars. But Viceroy isn’t with a club. So he’s at best a friend, most likely a wannabe. He’ll be easy to track. I’m sure he thinks this card is clean, it’s in his cousin’s name.”
I hadn’t noticed that detail. “It says A. Viceroy.”
“But the detail in the report says that account belongs to Alex Viceroy of Austin, Texas. Our guy lives in Dallas. The skip tracer included the cousin’s address as well as other family.”
“Skip tracer? What’s that?” I knew police investigations, but this wasn’t the same.
“Bounty and bail bonding has different specialties, very few do it all. Skip tracers focus on the web and computer tracks to find bounties. But some don’t like to do the takedown. We have a company who does our skip tracing for us.”
“All that info can’t be legal.” Yet Joe wasn’t bothered he’d admitted he paid someone to break the law.
“It’s a shade of gray I’m comfortable with.” He smacked my ass. His universal response when he didn’t want to talk anymore. “Pack. We’ll leave in thirty minutes.”
“Is your leg up to a chase?” I’d noticed him limping when he thought no one was watching.
“Yeah, good as new.” He smacked his thigh where the wound was.
Ow. Men could be complete idiots sometimes.
I sorted through the few clothes I had. Nothing would work, most of them had been given to me by someone else. All my stuff had gone up in the fire. My gut twisted at the reminder of how much I’d lost. Sure, Danvers had started the claim process and I’d talked to the adjustor, but my life was in ashes, literally.
“We’re going to have to go shopping on the way.”
“Sure, I’m surprised you waited this long.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Just grab a bag to put it all in and I’ll buy whatever you want.”
What did he say? “I can buy my own clothes.”
“You can.” He glared at me. “But I will.”
“Goddammit. Why are you being so stubborn?”
Anger smoldered in his dark eyes. “You’ll have lots to buy thanks to Franco, just let me do this for you. Believe me, I make good money.”
He blamed himself. I saw it there behind the anger. I knew that emotion too well since I blamed myself for the fire. I should’ve noticed sooner, been able to do something different—the thoughts had chased me in my downtime this week. Something I’d had too much of.
I cupped his cheek and brushed a kiss across his lips. “Okay, you buy today.”
“Thank you.” He kissed me back, long and slow. I loved his kisses. Loved everything about him.
We headed out in one of Brotherhood Bonds’ black SUVs, making great time to Dallas. After a fun and frantic shopping trip at a mall at the edge of Dallas we checked into a motel. Joe had a thing about access to the outside, but it was quite a bit nicer than the clubhouse bedroom. I’d grown attached to our bedroom at the clubhouse. It had its own shabby charm, or maybe it was all the orgasms he’d given me there. Getting over the way I felt for him might not be impossible, but going back to my sexless existence would be. Yet the idea of anyone but JoJo in my bed felt wrong. Yup, I was screwed.
“So when do we hunt?”
“Now.” He prowled toward me. “Change, the slinkier the better, and we’ll go.”
“Why don’t you have to go all sexy?” I laughed.
“Darling, you can’t improve on perfection.” He winked at me. “Tonight my cut will be what matters.”
I put on the slinky jean skirt and crop top I’d bought. My gun went into my purse and I slipped on a pair of wedged heels. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to give chase tonight.
“You look good enough to eat.” Joe jerked me into him. “Let’s start tomorrow.”
I pushed against his chest, but it might just as well have been a brick wall. “We’re going.”
“Fine. The places we’re going are sleazy at best. Stick to me, and remember we’re undercover, so what I say is pure bullshit.”
“I know, you don’t have to...”
His look pierced me. Yeah, I deserved that. I’d thought the worst of him at every opportunity.
“We’re both undercover.” I rubbed against him and squeezed his dick before twirling away.
“That’s just mean.” He followed me out the door.
We drove into a seedy part of Dallas. I’d only been here a handful of times, so I couldn’t say where we were exactly, but someplace where criminals outnumbered the law-abiding citizens. Places like that just had a look, more a feel. “How bad a neighborhood?”
“Off the scales, but it’s Bandit territory, so we’re fine.” Joe parked the SUV. “Should have brought my bike.”
“Why is Bandit territory fine?” I tried not to jump to conclusions.
“The guy we met at Jack’s Place runs the Bandits in Dallas, and he’s a friend. No one gets on that guy’s wrong side.”
“Friends with a criminal?” I heard my own disapproval.
“Darling, we’re legal and don’t worry about our friends, as long as they don’t ask us to step wrong,” Joe chided me.
Why did this bug me so much? I looked for things to dislike. It was as if each piece of proof strengthened my case, but that was craziness. None of my facts would change the outcome—me alone in bed crying for the man I loved. What was worse, I changed direction like a kite in a windstorm, first imagining forever then planning to run away. This was beyond me, no matter what I did, this would end badly.
“Let’s go.” I hopped out of the SUV.
We walked across the street to a wooden building in need of paint. A dimly lit sign proclaimed the place Buzzard’s Nest. Inside, Buzzard’s Nest was worse than outside—the air reeked of smoke, sour beer and body odor. Two pool tables dominated the back of the bar, and bikers were packed around tables on the floor. Barely dressed women were draped across the men.
My pulse raced and I expected a fight, but then I remembered I wasn’t here as a cop. The bikers glanced at JoJo and away. We belonged here. Unease made my skin tight and my insides tangled.
“Relax, darling. Whiskey or beer?”
“Nei—”
“Pick one.” He spoke low.
“Beer, not out of that tap.”
He chuckled and guided me to the bar.
“Two Buds in a bottle.” Joe laid a hundred on the table.
“No bottles here. Can or tap?” The guy read Joe’s cut and grinned. “You know Rebel?”
“Of course, we work together.” JoJo nodded. “Cans then.”
The bartender slid across the two cans and pocketed the hundred. Expensive beer. I glanced at JoJo but he just smiled.
“You seen Al Viceroy? I need a word with him before he disappears.” Joe’s whole manner became threatening.
The bartender stepped back. “Here two nights ago, he’s not a regular. Likes to hang with the Alphas.” He nodded to the big group in back. “His brother is in the club, but he’s not here either.”
“What’s his brother’s name?”
“Everyone calls him Coyote, don’t know his real name.”
JoJo nodded. “There’s a better reward in it if you call me next time you see him.”
The bartender nodded and went to help another customer. He brought us two more cans a few minutes later. JoJo slipped him a twenty that time, again no change.
“Why no change?” I spoke low.
“Brotherhood has a rep, what we lay down is yours to keep.” He kissed me and I wanted to pull away, but that’d ruin my cover.
He stood and tugged me after him. “I’m playing pool and you’re going to listen.”
A solid plan.
He put his money on the table and backed me into the wall, then bent to kiss me again. He stroked my thigh, up my stomach and across my sensitive nipples. I couldn’t move, afraid to blow our cover and getting more aroused by the second. This wasn’t me, yet as he nuzzled my neck, I knew one thing, I wanted his hand back on my breast.
“You want to come?” he whispered in my ear.
I rocked into his leg, needing the friction for relief. God, I wanted to come, but that wasn’t something I could do.
His tricky fingers traveled up my thigh, his chest brushed against my nipples. I was lost to him as he played my body like he owned it.
“So fucking sexy. Can’t wait to fuck you.” He nibbled my ear.
Then he bit the spot on my neck, the one that always sent me flying. My body tensed and Joe pushed me on and I let him, hell, needed him to give me what was only seconds away. I arched as the orgasm tore through me, quick and savage. Joe’s mouth covered mine and swallowed my noises with his kiss. Floating in the bliss, I didn’t want to come back.
“You good, darling?” He nipped my ear. “My turn to play.”
He left me leaning dazed against the wall with an “I’ve just been fucked” look on my face.
Slowly reality penetrated my bubble.
With him, I had no damn rules. Next, I remembered my assignment. Glancing around, I noticed that two Alphas played at the other table. Joe played against a Black Bastard. Biker clubs had colorful names. Where Joe had propped me was a great spot between the two tables. I listened to the conversations buzzing around me.
I heard Coyote’s name once and fucking brother once. Half the conversation was in Spanish, and my Spanish was second-rate at best. JoJo played against the other biker. It was a tight game. I couldn’t hear what they said, but they both laughed, then the game turned serious again. Joe scratched on the last play and lost. He grinned and turned over a hundred dollar bill. They shook hands, in a biker kind of way, and my man headed back to me.
We strolled out of the bar and back to the SUV.
“And we learned?”
“You have a sweet pussy.” He licked his finger.
I covered my face. “I don’t...that’s not me. You do things to me.”
“Like make you come against the wall.” His feral smile stoked my desire.
“Make me forget myself.” I cleared my throat, refusing to admit how much I liked what he’d done to me. “What did we learn?”
“No one likes Viceroy there, especially the Alphas. They’ve turned him down. The Alphas told Coyote to keep Viceroy away from the club. They don’t like the heat.”
“Your Spanish is good.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I grew up in South Texas, and the biker I lost to likes to gossip. I guess there was a fight about it last night.”
“Did you lose on purpose?”
“Of course.” He winked. “People tell you more when you lose.”
We visited two more bars but didn’t see Viceroy, and Joe didn’t make me come against the wall again. I almost wished he had.
No, I didn’t. I wasn’t that kind of person. Was I?