Nitro

I knew she was lashing out with the first idea that came to her because she was overwhelmed and hurting, but there was no way in hell I was going to let her push me aside to appease this fucker. Not ever again.

“I don’t want to see you hurt.”

I shifted my grip so I was holding her neck in one palm and her cheek in the other.

“Babe, you kicking me out of your life will hurt me. And I hope this fucker does try to come after me, because, babe, it’ll be last thing he ever does. And then you’ll be free of him.”

That had her freezing for a moment before she relaxed a little and her gaze softened. I pressed a short kiss to her lips before moving my arms to hold her tightly against me again.

“Did you get another note yet? You know this might be a random act. Your aunt’s not exactly the nicest person in the world, babe.”

“When she called, she tried to sound like she’d only just found out, but look at it. This was all over hours ago and she’s not even here.”

I took that as a no on the note front. The hurt in her tone tore at me. She loved this place, and for her aunt to not call her the moment she’d known would be tearing her up almost as much as the damage from the actual fire.

“Why don’t we drop your car back at your place, and you come for a ride with me back to Bridgewater? I’ll show you around the clubhouse and Styxx. You can meet some of the men and their old ladies, might even be able to find a baby or two for you to cuddle.”

I knew if I really wanted her to seriously consider moving to Bridgewater to live with me, I had to make her fall in love with the place. Hopefully, if she met a few of the other old ladies, and their babies, along with more of my brothers, she’d feel more comfortable with the idea. And c’mon, what woman didn’t get cheered up by babies? Her body lifted a little as she took a deep breath and I dropped my arms away as she pressed against me so she could stand on her own.

“Well, it’s not like I’ve got anything else to do until tonight now. It might be nice to get out of Houston for the day. Um, who’s with you?”

I winced as I realized I’d completely ignored my brothers from the moment we’d pulled up.

“Ah, fuck. Sorry, completely forgot to do introductions.” I paused as she wiped at her face and took a few deep breaths, then with my palms on her shoulders, turned until we both faced my brothers who were all still sitting on their bikes waiting for me to indicate what the fuck we were going to do next.

“Men, this is my girl Cindy. Cindy, this is Mac, Arrow and Keys. Three of my Charon MC brothers.”

“Hi. Ah, sorry I interrupted whatever it was ya’ll were doing earlier.”

All three got off their bikes and came over to shake her hand. It was Keys who spoke up.

“No worries, sugar. It was just some paperwork. We were all happy to leave that behind and head out for a ride.”

That got a small smile out of Cin, but not for long.

“Well, I guess we’ll all head back to my apartment, then.”

I grabbed her for another kiss before she could climb back into her vehicle. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive? I can drive you home then get a ride back with one of the boys to get my bike.”

Riding bitch behind any of my brothers would be a moment I’d never live down, but I’d do it for Cin.

She reached up and cupped my cheek in her palm. “You are too sweet. I’m fine to drive. A little heartbreak isn’t going to keep me from living my life, Nitro.”

I much preferred how she sounded saying Johnny, but I couldn’t complain. Not when I had insisted she call me Nitro when we were around other people.

“Okay, we’ll be following you. See you in a bit, babe.”

With a peck to her cheek, I held her car door open as she climbed in. Once I’d closed her in, I headed back to my bike.

“Follow her down into the garage. After we park, I’ll run up with her, then we can all head back to Bridgewater.”

“Sounds good, brother.”

Slipping back on my bike, I started it up and once Cin drove past, followed her out with my boys at my back. She didn’t live far away and within ten minutes we were all pulling up in her apartment building’s garage.

“Right, we’ll be back down soon.”

Leaving my brothers to chill in the garage, I ushered Cin toward the elevator. Now that she’d agreed to spend the day with me, I was anxious to get moving with it. I hadn’t managed to get her on the back of my bike yet and the hour or so it was going to take to get from Houston to Bridgewater was going to feel like heaven with her pressed up against my back the whole way.

Once the elevator doors closed and she jabbed the button for the lobby, I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her to me.

“What do I need to wear to ride on your bike?”

That had me grinning. She wasn’t thinking about the fire anymore, but about being wrapped around me, on my bike. Before I could answer, the doors opened again and I followed her as she walked over to the mailboxes.

“Jeans, vest or jacket. Have you got some sturdy boots?”

As she slid the key in the box, she smirked over her shoulder at me. “I think I have something that’ll work.”

I mulled over her words as she gathered the few envelopes that were in the box and then locked things back up again. She didn’t look at them as we went back to the elevator.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll see.”

She began flipping through the envelopes but stopped suddenly. Her face went pale and her breath hitched as she seemed to be suddenly intently focused on whatever it was she held.

“Cin? What is it?”

After a ding, the doors slid open and when Cin still didn’t move, I scooped her up and strode down toward her apartment. When we reached her door, she cleared her throat.

“Put me down, please.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper. I set her back on her feet and she carefully opened her door. By the time I followed her in, I was worried enough I shot off a text to the boys downstairs to come up. This wasn’t going to be a quick stop and go.

Trailing after Cindy, I waited until we were inside her room before I said anything.

“Cindy? What is it?”

She shook her head as she sat heavily on the side of the mattress.

“I knew it was him.”

Walking over to her, I dropped down to my knees in front of her. “You mean your stalker? Did he leave you a note?”

She finally looked up from the paper she still held and into my eyes. The agony I could see in their depths hit me like a sucker punch to the gut.

“Can I see it?”

“Do you have to?”

I cupped her face between my palms, stroking my thumbs over her cheeks, trying to decide how to handle her in this situation. She’d told me she wanted my dominance. On top of what Natalie had told me, I’d been doing some Googling so I had a better idea now what she was asking for. But this wasn’t a sexual situation, would she want me to take control outside the bedroom? She looked so completely lost and broken right now, I was willing to try just about anything to put her back together again.

Putting a hard edge to my voice to indicate I wasn’t negotiating here, I wanted that letter, and she was going to give it to me, I held her gaze as I spoke.

“I need to know as much about this fucker as I can. The more we know, the easier it’ll be to catch him. So, yes, you need to hand that over and let me take care of it. To take care of you.”

She closed her eyes and winced, so I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“We will catch him. And no matter what he says in that note, it won’t change how I feel about you. Let me be who you need me to be—to be strong enough to take this from you and deal with it.”

Her body relaxed as she seemed to finally understand what I was telling her. I reached for the envelope and letter she was still holding and she allowed me to take them from her just as someone started banging on her front door.

“Go have a shower and get ready for our ride, babe. I’m going to let the boys in and see what we can do about this.”

After giving her another quick kiss, I stood and headed out of her bedroom with the note in hand. Twisting the lock, I opened the front door and let my brothers inside.

“What’s happened now?”

That was Arrow, direct as always.

“Not entirely sure, but she stopped to grab her mail and when she opened this in the elevator, she shut down. She’s only just handed it over so I haven’t read it yet.”

“It from her stalker?”

“That’s what she said.”

I lifted the note so my brothers could read it as I did. It was clearly written in a rush, the handwriting rough and entirely in capital letters.

“That’s one angry fucker.”

I grunted at Keys’ observation as I read the words. My own anger built with every new word. Yeah, this fucker was mad as hell, and furious that Cindy was defying him. I hated that this shit had cost my girl her grandma’s shop.

“He’s escalating, and he’s going to keep escalating now that I’m back.”

I didn’t make it a question. We all knew it was the truth.

Keys took the envelope it came in and examined it. “This wasn’t posted but delivered. There’s no postmark or stamp on it. When we get back to the clubhouse I’ll look at the video feeds and see if I can work out who delivered it. Never know our luck, this might just be the break we’ve been waiting for. How long till we’re ready to roll out?”

I glanced at my watch. “I told her to take a shower. I’ll go check how she’s doing. But I want to get moving ASAP.”

Leaving the letter with Keys, I strode back to Cindy’s room. When I didn’t see her there, I continued on to the bathroom. She was standing at the vanity, leaning her weight on her hands that were on either side of the bowl, with her head hanging forward. She’d wrapped a towel around her middle and in the steamy room, she looked so defeated. The thought she’d let this fucker win after all this time had my temper flaring, but I pushed it down as I walked up behind her. She didn’t need my anger. Gathering her hair in my hands, I moved it to the side before I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her shoulder, then the soft skin of her neck.

“Don’t let this beat you, Cin. You’re stronger than this bastard.”

Cindy

I had no intention of letting this asshole beat me, but losing Retro Funk was a deep wound to my heart and soul that I needed more than a second to be able to process.

“I just needed a few minutes. Trust me, I have no fucking intention of laying down for this bastard.”

Turning around, I wrapped my arms around Nitro’s neck, letting my fingers run through the shorter hair at the base of his skull. I desperately wanted to change the subject, to not talk about, or even think about the stalker who was so insistent on ruining my life.

“You know, this’ll be my first ride on your Harley. That’s kind of a big deal for you MC boys, isn’t it?”

He frowned at me for a moment before his expression cleared and he smirked down at me with a scoff.

“Yeah, babe. Having my old lady on my bike for the first time is a fucking big deal, and you can’t do it wearing a towel.”

“Not sure I like the whole ‘old lady’ thing.”

With a laugh, he wrapped his palms under my butt and when he lifted me, I wrapped my legs around his waist before he moved us back into the bedroom and over to my closet.

“Just about every old lady I know didn’t like the term to start with. Just like them, you’ll get used to it and realize it really isn’t a negative title. Quite the opposite.”

He’d explained to me before about how it works, how an old lady is the property of her man. Sounded all very old-fashioned to me, and I wasn’t completely sold on it. But that was part of what today would be about. I’d get to hang out in Bridgewater for the day with the Charon MC and meet some of the other old ladies. See if it would be possible for me to find my place in Bridgewater.

“Okay, well, if you really don’t want me going in a towel, you need to put me down and let me get dressed. Because at this point, it’s kinda you holding us all up, babe.”

With a shake of his head, he lowered me down until I could put my feet on the carpet. Then when I turned to face my closet, he gave my ass a solid smack. Just hard enough for me to feel through the towel. Even though it didn’t really hurt, it was a surprise and I turned to glare over my shoulder at him.

“Oww! What the fuck?”

He was smirking again. “Just giving you want you want, Cin. Don’t make me wait long or I’ll be back in here and you’ll be over my knee for a lot more than one.”

With that, he strode out of the room and I was left standing there with my mouth gaping open in shock. What just happened? Did Nitro just go all Dom on my ass?

With a smile, I reached into my closet and pulled out my biker boots. I wore them to Titanium sometimes, but it would be fun to tease Nitro about why I had them. The spanking threat was intriguing, but I didn’t want to keep the guys waiting, or wait any longer for my first ride on the back of Nitro’s wheels. So I rushed to get my underwear before tugging on a pair of jeans, fitted long sleeve shirt, and a jacket. After grabbing a pair of socks, I took my boots over to the bed and got them on as quickly as I could.

Then, after a quick trip back into the bathroom to dump my towel, brush out my hair and put it in a messy braid, I was grabbing my bag and striding out of my room toward the voices I could hear in the living area.

“We ready to go?”

Silence greeted my question, then I got a couple of low whistles as Nitro prowled over to me looking like he was on the hunt.

“Fuck, Cin.”

“What? Don’t you like what I’m wearing? Is it not suitable?”

I looked down at myself. My jeans were a pair of fitted ones and they hugged my legs and hips perfectly. I’d gone with a plain, black, long sleeve shirt under my vintage-look green leather jacket. The jacket was biker style, with the front zip off to the side and the collar high around my neck.

“You look fucking amazing. But I had no idea you owned actual riding gear. Who’s taken you riding before? Natalie?”

I reached up and ran my nails through his scruff, one of my new favorite things to do.

“I kinda want to string this out because you’re getting all jealous and being adorable, but I really want to go for this ride.” I paused to lick my lips. “I’ve never been on a bike before. I wear the boots at Titanium every now and then, and I bought the jacket because I love vintage stuff and fell in love with it when it came into the store last year. But it’s not a proper bike jacket with all the extra safety stuff built in.”

“What you have on is perfectly fine for being on a bike. Damn, it’s gonna be a hard ride.”

One of the men snickered. Arrow, I think. “Don’t you mean you’re going to be hard on the ride?”

I bit my lip to stop from laughing when Nitro turned a dark glare his friend’s way.

“Shut the fuck up, Arrow. Let’s roll out.”

Cool. I had it right. Allowing the excitement of my first ride on a Harley to fill my thoughts, I forgot all about that fucking letter as we made our way back down to the garage. At the bikes, Nitro produced a second helmet from somewhere and secured it on me.

“Let me get on first, then hop up behind me. Put your foot on this peg, and swing your other leg over the back. Once you’re on and settled, wrap your arms around my waist to hang on. Okay?”

“Sounds good.”

I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. I wanted to get on and go already! To be so close to Nitro, to feel the engine beneath us. He chuckled a little as he swung his leg over and settled on the seat.

“C’mon, Miss Excitable, get your sexy ass saddled up.”

With a little squeal that had all the men laughing, I hopped up and plastered myself against Nitro’s back. Feeling cheeky, I slipped my palms up under his shirt so they were resting against his six-pack. The muscles tensed beneath my touch and I grinned like a loon when he started the engine and we all headed out of the garage.

I took a deep breath and smiled as Nitro expertly weaved us in and around traffic until we hit the highway. By the time we rolled into Bridgewater about an hour later, I was addicted. I loved the feel of the bike under me, the wind in my face, Nitro so close. It was perfect. I started to wonder if Nitro would let me have my own ride. Did old ladies do that? Or do they have to stay on the back of their man’s bike? I shook the thoughts free as I started to see familiar buildings. I’d ask Nitro later about getting my own bike.

I hadn’t returned to Bridgewater at all since I’d left. A lot of the town was the same, just with fresher coats of paint. There were a few newer homes and shops, but it looked like the town hadn’t had the growth spurt some other cities had experienced over the past nearly two decades.

We pulled in through the big gates that certainly hadn’t changed at all. I suspected, other than an occasional new coat of black paint, they hadn’t changed at all since the day they’d been installed. The wrought iron was thick and strong, and had “Charon MC” over the top of the gate in an arch. I’d never really seen the actual clubhouse before, other than briefly as I went past on the road, so I couldn’t remember anything about its past appearance.

The building itself wasn’t anything special to look at from outside, especially when you got an eyeful of the bikes that were sitting in front of it. There were only a couple, but they were gorgeous, gleaming in the sunshine. They were clearly well looked after machines. Nitro turned in front of them and I was so busy checking them out, I nearly missed him tapping my hand to indicate I needed to hop off. After I was free, he shuffled back so his bike was neatly in the line-up. His golden yellow machine was just as perfect as the others. It made sense that MC members would take care of their rides. But this was more than merely maintaining them, these bikes were clearly their owners’ pride and joy.

“You want to come in, or do you just want to stand out here all afternoon?”

There was a heavy dose of humor in Nitro’s voice.

“More than ready for the rest of the tour. I was just taking a few moments to relish in the knowledge that I’m just realizing how much I love Harleys.”

The other men chuckled at me as they made their way ahead of us through the front door of the clubhouse, which was being guarded by another club member. I gave him a smile when he nodded our way. It had to be the most boring job ever, but he seemed content standing there, keeping guard. I wondered what the fuck he must have done wrong to have landed the job.

Once through the door, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. It was a gorgeous, sunny Texan day today, so even though the clubhouse was well lit, it was still more dull inside than out. The room had a bar along one side, with the rest of the area filled with various tables, chairs and couches.

“This is the main room. It’s a lot busier in the evenings, especially if we have a party going.”

“Great, you made it back. You must be Cindy, I’m Scout, president of the Charon MC. It’s good to finally meet the woman who’s had Nitro in knots for so long.”

I felt my face heat and had no clue how to respond to his comment.

“Shut the fuck up, prez. Quit embarrassing my old lady.”

My breath caught as Scout’s eyebrow went up and he lifted a hand to stroke his beard.

“That didn’t take long.”

Nitro’s arm snaked around my waist and pulled me tight against his front. “Yeah, well, I ain’t letting her run off on me again. I want my patch on her back and my ring on her finger.”

I turned my face so I could glare at him. “Were you planning on actually asking me if that’s what I want?”

He winked down at me and kissed the top of my head. “I already know it’s what you want. But if you’re good, I might ask before I slip a ring on your finger. Or you know, you might just wake up one day with a ring on.”

I shook my head and chuckled. He was so ridiculous. And I was very glad that he was all mine.