CHAPTER17
Tank
Axel had just dismissed Church at the Rusty Pelican when I felt my cell phone vibrate in the pocket of my pants. As the others started finding chairs to sit down on so that the beers could start flowing for the night, I slipped out my phone and stared at the unknown number on my screen.
“Yeah,” I said when I answered the call, and for a few seconds, the person on the other end said nothing.
“Who the fuck is this?” I growled, immediately assuming it was one of the Dragon Knights trying to call and spook me.
I ducked away from the group, walking towards the doors of the bar so that I could step outside into some silence.
“Tank?” it was Noelle’s voice, and I would have recognized it anywhere. I stopped in my tracks at the door. My feet had simply stopped moving. My grip on the cell phone at my ear grew tighter.
“Tank?” she said my name again, and I felt like I was going to explode. This was not a part of the plan. She wasn’t supposed to reach out to me. I thought I had taken care of it.
“How did you get my number?” I growled into the phone, trying to hide the weakness in my voice with rage. I had been dreaming about Noelle for the past three months. She had filled every waking thought I’d had since I last saw her, but I didn’t want to let her know. I needed her to keep hating me.
Noelle faltered as she spoke into the phone, she sounded nervous.
“Hospital records,” she replied, in a low, squeaky voice and I pushed through the doors of the bar and stepped out into the cool night.
“Why are you calling me, Noelle?” I asked her, trying hard to sound harsh, when all my heart was doing was exploding in my chest. Even though I couldn’t see her, I could picture her exactly as she was. Demure, and luscious with the sexiest body I had ever seen on a woman. I wanted her instantly, just by the sound of her voice.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Tank. I know you don’t want anything to do with me. I don’t want you to think that I’m pursuing you…or…stalking you or something,” her voice sounded weak as she spoke. I wished I could just confess everything to her. I wanted her to know that she could never do anything to make me want her less. I had to clench my jaws to stop myself from screaming.
“What is it, Noelle?” I asked, and she waited for a few beats again.
“I just wanted to let you know, just as information…that I met someone at the hospital today who seemed to recognize me…someone who knows you,” she said and my brows crossed. Every nerve in my body was on high alert.
I had already started striding towards my parked bike.
“What do you mean you met him? How did you meet this guy at the hospital?” I barked, and Noelle seemed nervous again.
“He came in for a few stitches to the forehead, and I was taking care of it. Then he caught my wrist and said that he recognized me. That he had seen me with you at the restaurant we went to for dinner,” she continued, and I kicked my bike with my left foot. I growled right into the phone.
“Tank?” Noelle’s voice was soft.
“Who was he? Do you know his name?” I asked her, running a hand through my hair.
“His name was Mark Kaz, and I saw the patch on his leather jacket. He belongs to…” she said.
“The Dragon Knights,” I completed the sentence for her, and there was silence on her end of the line.
“Well, Tank, I just wanted to let you know what happened today. In case it’s of any use to you. I have no idea how he recognized me, or how he knows me…but he seemed like he was pretty mad at you,” she continued, and I let out a deep breath.
My plan had unraveled. The Dragon Knights had found her. But the point was, would they care about her anymore? Now that they knew that we weren’t together?
“Did he do anything else? Did he hurt you in any way?” I growled, and Noelle seemed to be thinking about her answer.
“No. He was just a little rough with me, but he couldn’t have done anything, we were in a public place. He just scared me a little I think, but I’m all right now,” she replied. Sweet little Noelle… she had no idea that a war between two MCs entailed not caring about how public the place is. If Mark Kaz, or Viper as I knew him, wanted to harm Noelle, he would have done it.
Chances were that they wouldn’t give a shit about her anymore since she wasn’t associated with me. But I was responsible for having scared her, and I was worried. I needed to make sure she was safe.
“Noelle…I know I’ve been rude to you, and I know that you might never want to have anything to do with me, but I want to come and see you,” I said into the phone. She was silent, and it seemed like years before she spoke again.
“You’re right, Tank, you’ve been rude to me and hurt me, and I don’t think I want to see you again,” she replied, and I ran a hand through my hair and pressed my eyes closed.
“I’ll stay away from you if you really want that, but I really need to come over and see you,” I argued.
“I told you I’m all right. I was just calling to let you know what happened,” she said, and I heard the wounded sizzle in her voice.
“I know, and I’m glad that you called. Now, please let me come over so that we can talk this through,” I told her, and once again, she fell into radio silence. It had to be at least a couple of minutes before she finally replied.
“Okay,” she said and ended the call.
I jumped on my bike and rode to her apartment building as fast as I could. I had waited nearly three months to see her, and this was my opportunity.
***
I was nervous when I knocked on the door of Noelle’s apartment. I had daydreamed about this scene before, several times, but these were not the circumstances I had predicted I would be seeing her under.
When I heard the door opening, I felt like I was going to explode. Then I saw her, peeking out from the side of the door. She opened it wide, and we were finally standing face to face again. Me looking at her, she looking at me. Everything I had felt that day when I first saw her at the hospital, had returned. Was she even more radiant now?
She was in jeans and a baggy cotton t-shirt, her dark hair was left down, her bangs fell over her forehead, her blue eyes glowed and were it possible that she looked even more deliciously curvy now? My cock moved in my pants. I wanted to ride her. I wanted to push her back into the apartment and just take her.
“Noelle,” I said her name as softly as possible, hoping she wouldn’t notice the way my cock was behaving in my pants.
“Come in,” she said and dragged her eyes away from me and stepped back from the door to let me in.
I walked into Noelle’s swanky apartment. I knew she lived in the more upscale part of town, but I hadn’t expected her apartment to be this luxurious. Her parents had provided it for her, no doubt. Seeing her apartment reminded me of the world of difference between us and how this could never work. She would never be happy with a guy like me.
She walked away from me, as far away as she could and stood behind her plush leather couch. I watched her as she crossed her arms over her breasts, and for some reason, they looked even bigger and juicier now. It had to be the time away from her, that made her look sexier to me…if that was even possible.
“You didn’t have to come and see me, Tank. I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” she said and tucked hair behind her ears. I could tell that she was nervous to be around me. Was she afraid of me as well?
“Yes, I know that…but someone gave you a scare today, for which I am responsible. I wanted to come over and make sure that everything was okay,” I told her. We were staring at each other, and I could see that she was struggling to hold my gaze. Did she want me gone?
“Everything is okay. He has nothing to do with me,” she replied, and my eyes traveled over her body, drinking in all the curves I’d missed and fantasized about.
“How are you, Noelle?” I asked her, and she thrust her chin up in the air, looking down at me over her small cute nose.
“Why do you care, Tank? If you’re asking me all this out of some sort of guilt, let me stop you right there. You don’t need to concern yourself about me. I heard you loud and clear when you said that I wasn’t your type of woman,” she went on, and there was that same sizzle in her voice again. I knew I had hurt her, and just like me, she hadn’t been able to get past it either.
“I know what I said, and I’m sorry that I hurt you,” I told her and Noelle jerked her face away from looking at me.
“It’s over now. I’ve moved on. You’ve come over here and done your duty of checking on me. So you can go now,” she said, and she was refusing to meet my eyes.
“Okay, I’ll go if you want me to,” I said, but she still didn’t look at me. This was a fruitless effort. I had successfully managed to ruin everything between us, and it was all my fault…just like I had planned it.
I drank her in again, staring at her beautiful body one last time before I left her apartment. When my gaze fell on her belly, I noticed that her baggy t-shirt looked tighter over it. At first glance, it could have just been that she’d gained some weight…it made her look even more delicious for the taking. But as I scanned the rest of her body, I noticed that only her breasts looked bigger. There was a red flush on her cheeks…she was glowing. I hadn’t imagined it when I first thought that she looked even more luscious somehow. At that moment, I knew. Noelle was pregnant.
“Noelle!” I exclaimed and stepped hurriedly towards her. She looked frightened for a second, and she jerked her head to look at me. She’d caught me staring at her belly, and her hands flew defensively to it. Any doubts I had in my mind regarding her pregnancy were dissipated immediately by that reaction.
“You’re pregnant!” I said, drawing closer to her and she stepped away from me, in fear. Like I was going to do something to the baby she was carrying in her belly.
“Talk to me!” I growled at her, losing control of myself. She was near enough to touch, and yet I could see that she didn’t want me to touch her.
“Are you pregnant with my child?” I growled, and she clasped a hand to her mouth, as though she was afraid of what she might say.