BRANDON
I watched her sleep from the doorway of the bedroom. The morning sunlight already began to creep into the room, almost shining right on her. After staying up most of the night reinstituting who owned that luscious body of hers, she needed more rest. I wanted to get on the road, put more distance between us and the MCs, but it could wait another hour.
Finding her had been like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I knew where she was, Carly had given me the address and directions, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think I’d get to her before Carter. He may have had someone tailing her who would have easily been able to follow her all the way to the cabin. The woman had no sense when it came to surviving within the MC world.
Seeing that rusted car sitting in front of the cabin had eased some of the ache in my chest, but when she peeked out from the curtains, the little look of shock in her face had finally put to rest my worst fear that I’d be finding her bloody body in the cabin. That woman brought out my protective side in the strongest way. Maybe because she’d been so selfless taking care of her mom all those years. Maybe because when she looked at me with those large brown eyes, I wanted to be sure they never looked at me with sadness or worry again.
Leaving her to rest a bit longer, I went out on the front porch to give Shark a call.
“You find her?”
“No ‘hello’?” I laughed.
“Nathan has been banging on everyone’s door, searching you out, and Carter’s doing the same lookin’ for her.”
“Nathan made it pretty clear he’d be happy to see my ass walking out the door.” I kicked some dirt from the porch.
“Yeah, well. This shit with Mateo and Eduardo is getting fucking messy. Martin came by the diner last night while I was out with Lacy. He’s taking over for Carter.”
A rebellion in the Soldiers? “How’s that gonna go?”
“Fuck if I know. He just told me that once Mateo buries his brother, he’s heading up here. He doesn’t give a shit about Nathan; he wants Martin to run things. If Nathan won’t play along with that, then Nathan will be out, too.”
“Jesus. Out of the cartel crap?”
“No, out. Mateo is backing Martin, taking over the Riders and pulling them into the Soldiers.”
“What the fuck? He can’t do that shit. This isn’t his business.”
“Running his shit is his business, and having two clubs fighting for his attention isn’t working for him. Dude, he fucking took out his brother and his mistress.”
“She gave him access to Eduardo, that’s all that was.”
“Yeah, I figure the same thing.” Shark shouted something in the background to Lacy. “You coming down to get my girl? She’s getting on my last nerve.”
“She feeling okay?”
“Other than a sore ass, she’s fine.” I could imagine the shit-eating grin on his face when he made that boast. He would never harm Lacy. If she sat tender it was because she’d wanted it that way. “She’s just getting antsy waiting for everything to go down. I shoulda sent her with our moms; she woulda been safe.”
“From Nathan maybe, but those two hens woulda pecked her to death.” I laughed.
“Mom loves her, especially now that she’s giving her a grandkid and got the noose around my neck.” No matter how derogatory Shark made marriage sound, I’d never seen the son of a bitch so damn happy. “You found your girl?”
“Yeah. I found her. She’s fine.” I looked back at the cabin, through the window. Hannah stood in the kitchen drinking a bottle of water. The white tank top she wore barely covered her flat stomach, and her purple panties hid nothing from my view. Since when did she wear thongs?
“We’ll swing down this afternoon if Lacy’s ready.”
“She’ll be ready.” Shark took a deep breath, letting it out slow into the phone. “Your girl better be worth all this shit.”
I kept my eyes glued to Hannah while she pulled her hair into a ponytail. The tank lifted up, almost showing the swell of her breasts. “She is. See you this afternoon.” I didn’t wait for a reply before I hung up.
Hannah stood in front of the fridge, holding the door open, searching for breakfast. I hadn’t thought about eating, at least not about food. I slid up behind her at the fridge, wrapping my arms around her waist. She didn’t even jump.
“How’d your phone call go?” she asked without looking back at me.
“Good. You gonna make us breakfast?” I nuzzled the soft base of her neck, basking in her morning scent. Sex and sleep.
“Well, I’m not as stocked up as I thought I was. We have cereal or cereal on the menu.” Grabbing the milk, she shut the door.
“We can stop on the road.” I took the milk from her. There wasn’t enough for even one of us to have breakfast. If I hadn’t gotten to her, how long would she have gone before she ran out of food? That car of hers might have made up the mountain the first time, but I didn’t give it any credit to make it a second.
“Where are we going?” She stepped out of my grasp and turned to lean against the counter.
“After we pick up Lacy, I’m taking the two of you up north. There’s a cottage that belongs to Lacy’s grandmother. We should be okay tucked up there for a while. We’ll pick up provisions on the way. Shark will join us later when this all settles down.”
“I’ve never asked you about club business, but I’m asking now. What’s going on? Are you in danger from more than just Carter and Nathan?” The little wrinkle in her brow tugged at me.
“Both of the clubs have been working with the cartel for a while now. We had to make the truce in order to do business with them because Eduardo, the one running shit for the Mexicans, didn’t want a turf war. Since then, both Nathan and Carter have been trying to trip the other into doing something stupid, make the cartel believe the other wasn’t honoring the truce. Mateo—Eduardo’s brother—had some other grand plans. He got both of the MCs to try to take out Eduardo. Shark and I were the decoy, making Eduardo’s wife think we were taking out Eduardo so she could be with Mateo, but Mateo had the Soldiers on standby taking out Eduardo and Valentina, his wife.”
“Shit. Like a really bad soap opera.” She gave me a sly smile. “How do you keep up with who’s on your side and who’s not?”
Good question. Nathan not doing shit about Aaron’s death played into everything, but I had no clue how. He seemed to be in the dark about Valentina being a target while we were down there. Shark didn’t think he knew about Martin taking over both clubs. If he did, Nathan sure as hell wouldn’t be wasting time looking for me, he’d be hunting down Martin. “I take good notes.” I tapped the side of my temple. “It’s all up here.”
She rolled her eyes and gave a sexy laugh. “Whatever. Do I have time for a shower?”
I looked at my phone. “You have exactly two minutes to get your naked ass in the shower. I’ll be there in three.”
She rolled her eyes again and sauntered past me, heading back to the room. I reached out and gave her ass a swat, enjoying the jiggle of her cheeks as she bounded down the hall and into the bathroom.
HANNAH
Biking down the highway, my arms wrapped around Brandon, was the calmest moment I had in months. I snuggled closer to him as he revved the engine and picked up speed, and I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose whenever my arms started to slack around his middle. The man needed my touch almost as much as I needed his.
The decision to leave my car behind at the cabin had, of course, been his. I liked my little rust bucket, and I argued that he could fix it up for me if he thought it was such a death trap. In the end, he shook his head and told me to get on his goddamn bike if I knew what was good for me. I knew what was good for me, the bossy man pretending to glare at me from his motorcycle.
As much as he blustered, I knew he’d never lay a hand on me. Not in any way that didn’t make my insides melt. I let him have his way on the car thing; as much as I liked it, he was right. The thing barely made it up to the cabin. Besides, when he strapped my helmet on under my chin, he did promise to come back for it later.
Taking an exit from the highway, Brandon moved his hand from the handlebars and placed it on my thigh. I squeezed him even tighter, and I heard him laugh. “It’s okay, babe. Almost there.” He called back to me over his shoulder. “And I can handle this baby with no hands.”
“I believe you,” I quickly said into his ear before he got any bright ideas in that department. I still wasn’t used to being on the back of a bike, and empty country road or not, I had no interest in any parlor tricks while I was on it.
Twenty minutes later we pulled into the drive of a small ranch house. The screen door needed fixing, but other than that everything looked pristine. The flowers in the beds along the side of the house bloomed with confidence, and the fresh cut grass smell still lingered in the air. I took a deep breath when I climbed off the bike. It had been such a long time since anything felt close to a home, and this place smelled every bit of one.
Shark bounded out the front door before Brandon stepped foot on the porch. “Hey.” He jerked his head to the side and Brandon followed him around the house.
“Hannah, go on inside. Lacy’s in the kitchen.” Brandon peeked out from the corner of the house.
I found Lacy sitting at the kitchen table holding a rag. She stared out the back window at the small yard, not making a sound.
“Hey, there.” I tried to sound pleasant, like we weren’t both worried and stressed out about what the men outside were talking about.
When she turned to look at me, I gasped. A large gash ran down the side of her face. I noticed then the rag had blood on it. The wound had stopped bleeding for the most part, but the skin was still raw and jagged at the edges. Her eyes filled with tears.
“Did Shark do this?” I demanded, taking the rag from her and moving to the other side of her chair in order to get another look.
“No. Of course not. He’s still standing, isn’t he?” She tried to grin, but the movement must have hurt because she ended up cursing. “Carter was here,” she said through her hiss when I dotted the blood away from her cheek.
“Carter did this?” I whispered, sinking into a chair and letting the weight of that hit me. Carter was looking for me, and he knew I’d be with Brandon. It only stood to reason he’d check Shark’s house. Who else would know where Brandon ran off to, if not his best friend. “You need stitches.” I focused on the moment; I could let my guilt take me over later. The cut was ragged, but could still be stitched up. Carter may not have let me go to school for nursing, but he couldn’t stop me from reading all the books I could get from the library, or watching every reality show involving emergency care.
“He came looking for Shark, but he wasn’t home. He’d gone to get me eggs. We didn’t have any and I wanted some scrambled for breakfast. He didn't believe me that Shark wasn’t here, and the screen door was locked. He punched through the screen and shoved me away.”
“Carter’s an asshole. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The tears built in my eyes.
“It’s not your fault.” Shark walked over to Lacy and squatted down in front of her. “Plans have changed, baby. I’m going to take you two up north after we get this looked at.”
“It’s already started to heal, Shark,” I spoke up, earning myself a glare from him. “If you wait much longer they won’t be able to stitch it properly. She needs to go now.”
“Take her.” Brandon nodded. “We’ll wait here.”
Shark looked at his wife, the love and care showing clearly in his entire expression. His brow wrinkled with worry, while the rest of his body tensed with the immense anger he felt at his woman being hurt. And it was all my fault.
“Maybe it would be best if I just went up north alone,” I whispered.
“No.” Brandon kept his anger at my comment from reaching his voice, but I could see it in his eyes. “Don’t suggest it again.”
“Carter did this because of me.” I pointed at Lacy.
“Hon, this ain't your fault. This is his doing, not yours.”
“He was here looking for me.” I wanted to sink lower in my chair, let it swallow me whole.
“Carter was looking for Shark, not you.”
“If I hadn’t run, he wouldn’t have come here.”
“Maybe not. But if you had stayed, he wouldn’t have stopped at only this on you.” She touched the ragged cut on her cheek. “The man is out for blood. He’s crazed. He kept muttering something about Mateo. He’s either coming or he’s already here. I couldn’t make it out while he was talking to himself.”
“Still—”
“I don’t want to hear another fucking word about you going on alone. Do you get me?” Brandon didn’t move toward me, he just stood at the other end of the room. The anger radiated off him.
Shark shook his head. “Lacy, get your purse. Let’s get to the doc and get you patched up.” He stood up and helped her from her chair. She still wore normal clothes, shorts and a tank top, but the little baby bump had started to peak through. “Then I’m going to fucking kill Carter.”
“You’ll have to get in line,” I muttered as they made their way from the kitchen.
Brandon stood glowering at me until the front door closed. Then he pounced. “What part of no more running confused you?” He nearly shouted. Two months ago, having him towering over me with such angry eyes would have made me nervous.
But I was tired. Tired of running. Tired of being scared. “It’s not running when you know where I am. I didn’t say I was going to run away. I said it might be best if I was not with you guys right now. Carter’s lost it.”
“Yeah, and not just about you. His being here had more to do with the shit I was telling you about with the cartel than about you. If he finds you, that will be a bonus, but he’s tracking down anyone who might be able to join him and go against the cartel when they get here. Word’s out about Mateo helping Martin take over the Soldiers. It’s only a matter of time before they go over to Nathan and take him out, too.”
“Wouldn’t your VP be next to take over your club?” The MC life still confused the hell out of me, so many rules and rituals—I couldn’t keep them all straight.
“If the Riders don’t agree to band together with the Soldiers, they’ll just be wiped out.”
“Why would they do that?” I sounded ignorant, even to myself.
“Because they can.” He shrugged.
“Brandon, where’s your leather?”
He took Lacy’s seat and pulled me into his lap. “It’s where it belongs,” he said, wiping a strand of hair from my face.
“What the hell does that mean?” I swatted his hand away. Playing with my hair distracted me, and I wouldn’t let him go there, not yet.
“It means, I left it behind. I’m getting out, and leaving it at the club at the table signifies my intentions.”
“Your president is just going to let you walk?”
“We aren’t some street gang.” He let out a little chuckle, but I could tell it still wasn’t as easy as all that. “I left the kutte behind to let him know I’m getting out. Now I just wait for the next club vote to get voted out with creds or with blood.”
“Oh that sounds reassuring.” I rolled my eyes.
“It just means that the rest of the club will vote if I leave with good standing or if I leave with no credibility—I’d have remove some of my ink, never claim the club as brothers anymore, that sort of thing.”
“Does any of that matter with this Mateo guy coming up here to tear everything apart?”
“Probably not.” He kissed my shoulder, pulling the neckline of my dress to the side and kissed my collarbone.
“Shark and Lacy could walk back in—” I tried to shove his hands away when he started to unbutton my dress, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
“It will take at least an hour, and that’s if the clinic is empty. Now stop getting in my way. I want to see those tits.” He finished unbuttoning my dress, pushing the thin material to side. “I haven’t touched you in at least three hours.” A slow wink had me grinning. He stared at my breasts for a moment, looking contemplative. Cupping both breasts in his hands, he thumbed my nipples, bringing them to full attention. “Your body knows who it belongs to. It responds to my touch so easily.” I couldn’t argue with that; if the man said jump I’d probably be powerless to stop my body from obeying.
“Don’t go getting too cocky, biker boy,” I teased. A piercing pain shot through my nipples as he pinched them hard for my comment. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” I hissed and he released me, replacing his fingers with his mouth.
He rolled my nipples with his tongue, and sucked with gentle tugs on each of my now engorged breasts. With almost no effort, he hoisted me off his lap and onto the kitchen table. “Lean back.” He stood from his chair and hovered over me. My dress completely open, giving him access to my entire body, I obeyed him. My body couldn’t stop from wanting him, from needing every touch he gave.
He looked down at my panties and then back up at me. Before I could scoot out of his range, or protest, he reached down and tore them from my body.
I gasped. “That was my last clean pair.”