Shaker (Blackwings MC Book 5)

by Teagan Brooks

  I downed the rest of my beer and excused myself from the table. After dropping an armload of empty bottles in the trashcan, I took quick strides to my room. Her text could have meant anything, but the dread pooling in my gut had me thinking it was something significant. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to ride by her house and see if anything was going on.

  I managed to slip through the back door and reach my bike without being seen. If the girls spotted me leaving, I would have been bombarded with questions. I was well aware both Ember and Harper thought I was into Keegan. And they weren’t wrong. I was into Keegan, really into Keegan, and that scared the hell out of me. I gave my whole heart to a girl one time, and she shattered it. Not long after, I gave a piece of myself to another girl, and, again, she destroyed it. So, yeah, I was into Keegan, but I didn’t have anything left to give her.

  When I pulled onto Keegan’s street, I noticed the lights in her house were on, and a car was parked in her driveway. The sight of the ostentatious sedan had my hackles rising. I climbed off my bike and didn’t even bother knocking since her door was slightly ajar. I didn’t hesitate to push it open and let myself in. And, I saw red.

  Chapter Nine

  Keegan

  After turning in my resignation, things did not go as I had expected. Ember tried to talk me out of leaving at first, but ultimately said she understood when she realized I wasn’t going to change my mind. Later the very same day, Ember asked me to come to her office. When I arrived, she told me she wanted to expand her current farm to include raising and training thoroughbreds, and she wanted me to run it.

  I sat in her office with my jaw hanging open, unable to formulate a response. “Don’t look so surprised,” she giggled. “I’m always looking for ways to expand our current business ventures. I told you earlier today you’re a valued employee, and I didn’t want to lose you. This way I don’t have to...if you accept that is.”

  “This sounds like a dream come true for me, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’m qualified to run it,” I admitted. “I do have experience as a rider and as a trainer, and I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Equine Science, but I’ve never been the one to oversee the entire operation.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ll find a consultant to come in and show you the ropes. I won’t let you fail,” she said, her blue eyes full of hope.

  “Okay,” I murmured. “I’ll give it a try.”

  Ember squealed and rounded her desk to hug me. “This is going to be great. I’m so excited!”

  I smiled genuinely, “I am, too.”

  The next day, I was scheduled to work at the barn. I arrived on time and was shocked to find Duke waiting for me in the office. I glanced at my watch to double check the time making sure I wasn’t late. “Do you have a minute?” he asked.

  “You’re the boss, you tell me,” I retorted.

  “I owe you an apology. A big one,” he stated. I could only stare at him. “I’ve misjudged you and treated you poorly from the first day you arrived. When you asked questions and talked about your previous experiences, I took that as you questioning my capabilities. It never occurred to me that you were trying to learn. I don’t have an excuse for my behavior, but I am truly sorry. If you’re still interested, I’ll be happy to answer your questions and share what I know,” he said.

  I was flabbergasted. The giant asshole known as Duke was apologizing and offering to help me. I narrowed my eyes, “How did you figure out I was trying to learn?”

  He looked to the ground and kicked at the dirt with the toe of his boot. “Let’s just say it was brought to my attention and leave it at that.”

  “Ooookay.” I was unsure of what to say to him at that point.

  “So, are you still interested in trying to gain some useful knowledge?” he asked.

  “Might as well,” I shrugged.

  That day and the next were like working with a completely different person. Duke was a wealth of knowledge. For the first time since I started working at the barn, I was not looking forward to my days off. Duke promised to pick up where we left off the next day we worked together. At the end of the second day, I thanked him repeatedly before finally getting into my car and driving home. Harper and I had plans, and I was desperately in need of some girl time.

  I showered and got myself ready to meet Harper. We were planning to do some shopping and then have a late dinner. I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup when I heard someone knocking on the front door. Assuming it was Harper, I yelled for her to come in. Once I finished in the bathroom, I walked into the living room and stopped dead in my tracks.

  “Hello, Keegan,” an unwelcomed voice said.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, stunned to see Preston Hensley in my living room.

  “I wanted to see you, and we need to discuss a few things. Have a seat,” he stated, gesturing to my couch.

  “You should’ve called before driving all the way down here. I have plans with a friend tonight.”

  “Cancel them,” he ordered. When I opened my mouth to protest, he added, “I’m not leaving. We are having this discussion tonight. Call and cancel your plans.”

  Maybe it was the tone of his voice or the darkness in his eyes, but something told me not to argue with him. I sent a text to Harper canceling our plans and warily took a seat on the couch. “My plans have been canceled. What do you want?”

  “I know you are aware of our impending nuptials. While in public, we should have a proper courtship, but I see no reason to maintain that façade in private, especially after I learned of your association with a motorcycle gang,” he sneered.

  “I’m not following,” I said, a sense of unease unfurling.

  He scoffed, “I did not wish to spell it out for you, but you are leaving me no choice. I see no reason to wait until we have said our vows. If you can spread your legs for a bunch of gang bangers, you can spread them for me, too.” Before I could respond, his hand shot out and wrapped around my throat. Squeezing tightly, he used his hold on my neck to position me on my back on the couch.

  I clawed at his wrist, kicked my legs, shoved at his chest, anything I could to try and get him away from me. “That’s right. Fight me,” he purred in my ear. I didn’t know what to do. My instinct told me to keep fighting him, to protect myself by any means necessary, but if I couldn’t fight him off, I didn’t want to make his violation more enjoyable for him. His free hand slid up my shirt and roughly squeezed my breast, causing me to freeze. This wasn’t happening. Couldn’t be happening.

  He pawed at my body while he ran his open mouth over my cheek, ear, and jaw, leaving a trail of his disgusting saliva behind. Tears streamed down my face as he reached for the button of my jeans. My will to fight kicked in again, and I began thrashing beneath him. He groaned and pressed his hips between my legs. I could feel the bile rising in my throat, and I started to panic. I was going to die choking on my own vomit while this bastard raped me in my own damn house. I could barely breathe, and my vision was getting fuzzier by the second.

  Suddenly, the hand around my neck was gone, and his crushing weight disappeared. My head was spinning, and my vision was blurring in and out. I could hear loud noises followed by groans, but I was too weak to raise my head and look. I curled into a ball and tried to concentrate on breathing. I was well on my way from having my air supply cut off to hyperventilating.

  A hand landed on my shoulder causing me to jerk away and let out a yelp. “Keegan,” a familiar voice called. “Open your eyes. Please.”

  The desperate plea had me cracking my eyes open just enough to make out the person crouched in front of me. Shaker. Before I could think about what I was doing, I launched myself into his arms and sobbed. He held me tightly, rocking back and forth while murmuring soothing words into my hair for long minutes.

  When I finally had myself somewhat composed, I raised my head, and my eyes immediately landed on Preston’s bloodied body lying motionless on the floor. I gasped, “Is he dead?”

>   Shaker snorted derisively. “No, the fucker’s still breathing.”

  I turned back to Shaker. He didn’t have a single mark or scratch on him. And then something occurred to me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ll explain later. Did he, did he, um—,” he stumbled. I knew what he was trying to ask.

  “No, he didn’t, but he would have if you hadn’t stopped him,” I told him. Then, barely above a whisper, I added, “Thank you.”

  A small nod was his only acknowledgment of my gratitude. “Do you want the club to handle this, or do you want to report it to the police?” he asked.

  I chewed on my bottom lip while I thought about his question. I would much rather the club handle it, but Preston was affiliated with rich and powerful people, and I didn’t want the club to get into any trouble. On the other hand, Preston was affiliated with rich and powerful people and would likely get out of any charges against him, especially if he was affiliated with Lawrence. We weren’t in Kentucky though, so maybe it wouldn’t be as easy for Lawrence to sweep it under the rug. For my own sake, I needed to try handling the situation the correct way. If that didn’t work, I would explore other avenues.

  “I think we should let the police handle it,” I said softly.

  He nodded and made the call.

  Several hours later, Preston had been arrested, Shaker and I had given statements, and the police finally left my house. All I wanted to do was take a shower, put on my most comfortable pair of pajamas, and crawl into bed.

  “I don’t think you should stay here tonight,” Shaker said. “Let me take you to the clubhouse, at least for tonight.”

  I didn’t have the energy to argue with him, and honestly, I didn’t want to stay at my house. Preston hadn’t broken in or anything like that. I had unknowingly told him to enter my home, but I still felt creeped out just from standing in the living room. “Okay. I need to grab a few things, and I’ll be ready to go,” I agreed.

  He looked shocked but didn’t comment. When I was packed and ready, he locked up the house and led me to his bike. Without a word, I climbed on behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He pulled onto the road, and I laid my head against his back, breathing him in. I didn’t know Shaker very well, but there was something familiar about him. I briefly wondered if I was losing my mind. First, I thought there was something familiar about Jacob and now Shaker. Clearly, I had an underlying issue with males that was choosing now to surface.

  When we arrived at the clubhouse, he led me through the back door to another door that opened into a quaint bedroom. “You can sleep in here tonight,” he said.

  “Whose room is this?” I asked, partially wondering if I should request new sheets for the bed.

  “Mine.”

  “Where are you going to sleep?”

  “If you want me to stay, I can sleep on the floor or in the chair. If you would rather be alone, I’ll go home and crash.”

  “What were you doing at my house?” I asked again.

  He sighed and ran his hand down his face, “I overheard Harper telling Reese that you had to cancel your plans because you had to deal with something that came up. As soon as she said that, I knew something was wrong and rode straight to your house.”

  “But how did you know something was wrong?” I asked.

  “Because I’m not the person you think I am,” he blurted.

  “What?” I shrieked and started to back away from him.

  “That came out wrong. I am Shaker.” He paused for a beat before meeting my eyes, “But my given name is Jacob Kingsley Marks.”

  Chapter Ten

  Shaker

  “Get out,” she ordered, her tone eerily calm.

  “Let me explain,” I insisted. “Then, if you still want me to go, I will.”

  If looks could kill, I would have dropped dead on the spot. She crossed her arms over her chest, making the top curve of her plump tits visible. I tried not to look, I really did, but my eyes paused there before lifting and locking with hers. “You have five minutes. And keep your eyes on my face, asshole,” she spat.

  Fair enough. I exhaled slowly and began, “I didn’t set out to intentionally deceive you. I thought you were safe because you agreed to stay away from your stepfather. Then, Harper told me he was insisting that you attend the charity ball, and you were planning to go. Harper said she was worried about you, and frankly, so was I. I called my mother and asked her to have me added to the guest list. My only intention was to watch over you and make sure you were safe. I had planned to stay out of sight, even after I found out it was a masquerade ball. When I finally spotted them, I hovered near Senator Hastings and the Hensleys, eavesdropping on their conversations when I could. But, when Preston walked up and said you were in the ladies’ room, I decided to check on you since I hadn’t seen you all night. I didn’t expect to find you in the hall fighting back tears. I also didn’t expect the sight of you to steal my breath away. I probably should apologize to you, but I’m not going to because I’m not sorry for dancing with you, and I’m not sorry for kissing you.”

  I paused to gather my thoughts. I wanted to explain my current behavior without delving into anything from my past. “I’m not going to explain the how or why, but I didn’t tell you who I was because my mother doesn’t know that I’m involved with the Blackwings, and I don’t want her to know. On that note, no one in the club knows that I am, as you put it, ‘the never seen, never heard from’ son of Jacob and Jacquelyn Marks. That’s not who I am anymore, and I don’t want to risk them treating me differently if they found out I could buy everything in this town and still have plenty of money left over.”

  “None of that explains what you were doing at my house tonight,” she muttered.

  I shrugged, “Call it intuition if you want. I just knew something was wrong. I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything to ride by your house. When I saw the car parked in your driveway,” I shook my head and cast my eyes to my boots, “I knew Senator Hastings wouldn’t have driven himself to your house, but I had a bad feeling. I was going to knock when I noticed your door wasn’t closed, and then I heard what sounded like a struggle. So, I pushed the door open. You know what happened after that.”

  She kept her eyes on me and remained silent long enough for it to become uncomfortable. “How long have you known who I was?”

  “I had no idea you were Hastings’s stepdaughter until the day I came to return your wallet,” I said. “Before you ask, I didn’t know that our mothers were friends either.”

  She nodded, still staring at me with her arms crossed. I took that for what it was and sighed, “I’ll let you get some rest. I’ll be back in the morning.”

  I moved forward to pass her so I could get to the door. I was right beside her when she whispered, “Don’t go.”

  I stopped and turned my head toward her, searching her eyes, “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m tired, and I need to sleep. We can talk about this more tomorrow,” she said with a yawn. I moved toward the chair in the corner of my room, preparing myself for a night of little to no sleep when she added, “We’re both adults. Sleep in the bed and keep your hands to yourself.”

  I climbed into the bed beside her, keeping as much distance between our bodies as I could considering the size of the bed. I was by no means the biggest brother in the club, but I wasn’t what anyone would consider a small man either. Keegan was average height for a girl, and she had a small frame, so we were able to sleep on my queen-sized bed while respecting each other’s personal space. She rolled to her side with her back toward me. Within a few minutes, I heard her breathing even out and knew she had fallen asleep.

  I tossed and turned for hours before drifting off to sleep. I couldn’t get my mind off Keegan. I felt drawn to her in a way I had never felt before, not even with Beth, and that scared me. The pain I felt from Beth’s betrayal almost destroyed me. What would it feel like if I let Keegan in and she did the same thing or something even worse?
I couldn’t take that chance. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t let anything happen between us. We could be friends, but nothing more.

  I woke the next morning to find Keegan wrapped around my body. Her head was resting on my chest, with one arm slung over my stomach, and one leg intertwined with mine. And I was hard as a rock. Fuck! That was when I realized I had one of her tight ass cheeks in my hand and a perky tit cupped in the other. I immediately removed my hands from her body and started trying to extricate myself from the bed when she rolled her hips forward and let out a soft moan. Fuck me. What had I done to deserve such torture? Was this some sort of test of my willpower? Because seriously, I was going to fail and fail epically.

  “Keegan,” I called, my voice gruff and raspy from sleep. “Wake up.”

  “Mmm, Jacob...please,” she moaned, rocking those damn hips of hers again.

  I couldn’t take much more of this. “Keegan,” I barked loudly.

  She jolted and sat upright with wild eyes darting around the room. When her eyes landed on me, her cheeks flushed. She tried to maintain her composure, but she couldn’t hide her embarrassment from me. “What the hell, Shaker?”

  “Need to piss. You were on top of me,” I grunted and quickly got out of bed. Her eyes fell to my hard cock. I shrugged, “Morning wood.” Then I bolted from the room like the bitch I was. I had to get away from Keegan Kensington and get myself together.

  Strolling into the bathroom, I figured a cold shower was the only way I was going to get my dick under control. Well, I could have rubbed one out, but with Keegan on the other side of the door, I didn’t want to take the chance of her overhearing.

  Distractedly, I reached for my body wash while I rinsed the shampoo from my hair. But, when I tried to flip the lid, it wouldn’t open. Confused, I looked at the bottle in my hand and immediately cursed when shampoo ran into my eyes.

  “Shaker? You okay?” Keegan called out as she knocked on the thankfully locked bathroom door.