They hadn’t eliminated the gang problem in Rockwell, but they’d found the missing child and clued the Shadow Demons in to the fact that the city was figuring out who and what they were. At least, the underbelly of the city was. Gangs could do damage with that kind of knowledge, a fact the Demons found out when the child had been taken.
Rain waited for a minute, but Arkham didn’t come for her. He lingered in the garage for some unknown reason. Finally, cold and tired, Rain gave up waiting and just went into the clubhouse.
Their compound looked like an overly large hotel. A resort maybe. Flanked with fruit trees and what looked like a space for a very large garden, she wondered how lush and green the place would be in the spring and summer. Would she be around to see it?
“Rain.” Torpedo met her inside. He and Cain had been the first ones inside. She supposed the others secured their bikes or whatever and the president and vice-president were left to do as they pleased.
She smiled awkwardly in greeting. “Thanks for letting me tag along.”
“I hope you’ll like it here. I know the women will be happy to have you here. I think they sometimes feel outnumbered by the patch chasers.”
God, she had to learn a whole new vocabulary. “What will I be doing here? I mean, I have to earn my keep.”
“We’ll figure out where you best fit in in a few days. I’m sure you’ll want to get your bearings.”
“Where’s Arkham?” She couldn’t resist asking after him for another second.
“Uh, I’m not sure,” Torpedo said, crossing his hands over his chest and looking anywhere but at her. “I think he had some things to do.”
“Oh. Well, is there someplace I could dump my stuff?” She didn’t have much, other than what Mrs. McDonald had brought her, but she needed to stash her bag someplace.
“Yeah.” He motioned to a wizened woman behind the bar with a man about the same age at her side. “Mama will show you where to go.” Torpedo waited until Mama approached them. Even at her age, the woman was stunningly beautiful with chestnut hair streaked liberally with silver. She had clear grey eyes that seemed to look into Rain’s soul. “Mama and Pops over there aren’t members of Bones, but are very important to our club,” Torpedo said by way of introduction. “She can introduce you to the women once you’re settled. If you need anything, you can go to Mama until you learn your way around.”
“Such a beautiful young woman,” Mama said with a warm, welcoming smile.
Rain blushed, her mouth dropping open. “I -- uh, thanks.”
“Come on,” she said, circling Rain’s shoulders with one surprisingly strong arm. “This place is huge. Like a big hotel.”
They walked down the hall and up one flight of stairs. Mama took her about halfway down the hall and opened a door, handing her a key. “This is your own space. Decorate it however you want. You clean after yourself and help with the housework. Once you figure out where you fit in, you just see what needs to be done and do it. Everyone kind of finds things they like, and it becomes their special thing, you know?”
“What’s your thing?” Rain’s chest was tightening. First, Arkham had other things to do than make sure she settled in here, now she was shown a room that wasn’t Arkham’s for her stay.
“Pops and I try to be a guiding influence on Bones. I was a doctor in a past life so I help patch them up when things don’t exactly go their way in the field. Pops…” She trailed off, her eyes looking haunted for the briefest moment. “Pops is Pops.” She smiled faintly. For a brief moment, Rain thought Mama looked much older than she first appeared. There was definitely a story there that Mama wasn’t going to share.
“What kinds of things will I be doing? What if I don’t find anything I fit in doing? I don’t really have any specialized training.” Other than what she’d picked up on the streets. Given how she’d reacted in the tunnels, Arkham wouldn’t let her learn how to fight so she could go with him on rides or whatever MCs did. Besides, she already knew they were more than a bunch of guys running together on motorcycles. They had combat training. All of them. That much was clear.
She shrugged. “Depends, I guess. Mostly, the women cook and clean. A few of them… Well, this club does stuff outside the law sometimes. When they go looking for… companionship, keeping it inside the club is preferable, especially when they’re running something questionable. Some of the girls are here for that purpose. They give the men a good time with no strings attached. But they still help with the housework and cooking. Everyone but me, Magenta, Luna, Darcy, and Angel.”
Rain tilted her head, confused. “The four of them don’t help with the upkeep of the place? ‘Cause they have other jobs?”
“Somewhat. But mostly because they’re ol’ ladies of patched members. The men don’t like to have their wives in with the rest of the club women. They’re just too possessive. They don’t want there to be any misunderstandings with other club members or prospects.”
“I see.” Rain did. And it felt like a punch to the gut. She wanted to cry. Instead, she gave Mama a bright, grateful smile. “Thanks for showing me up here.”
“Come back down once you get unpacked. Supper should be ready in half an hour or so. You can join us and get to know everyone.” Mama seemed like a genuinely nice person. There was a little something in her eyes that made Rain think she’d been through a lot but had found her happiness.
“Thanks. I might do that.”
After Mama left, Rain locked the door and looked around. There was a large bed, a desk, a table, and a kitchen in two rooms. One bathroom. Like a hotel suite. The place really was like a resort or something. Instead of feeling relieved she was someplace safe, or happy she was finally in a permanent home if she chose to stay, Rain felt the weight of the world settling on her shoulders.
Arkham was just like every other man she’d ever met. He’d gotten what he wanted, and he was leaving her. Rain could handle that. It would hurt, but she could handle it. What she couldn’t handle was seeing him with another woman. That would shatter her heart.
Rain walked to the window feeling more lost and confused and hurt than she could ever remember feeling in her life. Even her torture at the hands of the Shaw gang hadn’t hurt like this. They’d never touched her inside. Arkham had captured her heart, her imagination. She hadn’t even acknowledged to herself everything he represented to her. A home. A family. Someone to always stand in front of her when danger came. Now… She didn’t know what she was going to do.
When she reached the window and looked out, her heart leapt to see Arkham hurrying out of the garage where they’d parked their bikes. Unbidden, a smile found her lips, and she pressed her palms to the glass as if she could reach out and touch him. Was he headed back to the house? To her?
Then a woman hurried out of the garage and handed him his jacket. As if he’d left it behind in his haste to exit. Was she adjusting her clothes? A slim African American, she was tall. Nearly as tall as Arkham. She sported long braids that fell past her ass in a thick mass pulled back with a tie. Several long strands had escaped the tie and fell around her face. Arkham took the jacket, unfolded it carefully and looked at the back of it. He nodded, seeming satisfied with something before folding it once again and holding it against his chest. The scene was enough to make Rain’s knees weak, but when Arkham took the woman in his free arm and hugged her tightly, something inside Rain shattered.
She collapsed to the floor underneath the window, her legs just not supporting her any longer. She could hear herself moaning but couldn’t seem to stop. The tears couldn’t be stopped either. There was now a gaping hole in her chest where her heart had been, and Rain knew she had no one to blame but herself. She’d allowed herself to believe a man as extraordinary as Arkham could want her for his own. Hell, he might still want her, but he obviously didn’t intend to be hers as well, and that was something Rain couldn’t tolerate.
Taking a shuddering breath, Rain stumbled to her feet and went to the bathroom to wash her
face. She had to pull herself together if she was going to get out of here. It was time to run.
Chapter Eight
Arkham still couldn’t believe he was doing this. When Cheetah had given him the jacket he’d asked to have made for Rain, something inside him had swelled, leaving a full feeing in his chest, an excitement he’d never felt before. Rain was going to be his ol’ lady. She’d wear his property patch on her back, and she’d be with him forever. He expected to feel a sense of dread. No woman had ever had a claim on him, and he hadn’t expected one ever would. But Rain had taken his heart, and it was hers irrevocably. Now, he just had to explain things to her. Not only had he brought her with him away from her home and the danger there, he was never letting her go. She was his. He was hers.
He stepped inside the house and was immediately greeted by his brothers with shouts and claps on the back. Trucker was gleefully telling everyone about the woman who’d captured his brother’s heart. He made Arkham out to be a mushy pushover and Rain to be a little pixie Amazon, but Arkham was OK with it. As far as he was concerned, Rain was one of the bravest people he’d ever met.
“Where is she?” Arkham looked around the room, searching for his woman. His heart seemed to swell with each beat. Just the making the decision seemed to have altered him in a profound way.
“I left her in her room,” Mama answered. “I’m a little confused though. You said nothing about keeping this girl for your own. I’d have taken her to your room if I’d known.”
Arkham held up the jacket for Mama to see. He couldn’t help his grin at the satisfaction of letting others see it. “It’s a surprise for her. She knows I intend to keep her with me, but I just decided on the way home I wanted it to be a permanent arrangement.”
Mama grinned. “Well then. I suggest you go collect your woman and introduce her properly, young man. She thinks she’s just another club girl around here, and none of us knew the difference.”
“Oh, shit,” he muttered. “Which room?”
“Middle of the hall on the left. Overlooking the bike garage.” She tossed him a key. No doubt it was to Rain’s room.
“Thanks, Mama.”
Arkham jogged down the hall and trotted up the stairs. He knew exactly which room Mama had put Rain in and started calling her name as he neared.
“Rain!” He knocked on her door with a knuckle. “Rain, come out. I’ve got something for you.”
No answer.
“Rain?”
When she still didn’t answer, Arkham unlocked the door and let himself in. Her bag was on the bed, open, and her things seemed to be all there, but her coat was not.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Arkham went to the window and looked out. Below he saw parking lot where the RV was still parked and the garage where they kept the bikes in winter. He also saw the spot where Cheetah had given him the jacket she’d just finished with his property patch sewn lovingly on the back.
And where he’d embraced the woman in thanks.
“Rain!” He roared her name, his world tunneling toward one goal. Finding Rain before he lost his fucking mind. The door to the bathroom was open, but she wasn’t there. He hadn’t seen her in the hall so that meant she’d probably left not too long after he’d exited the garage. That had been about fifteen minutes.
“Fuck!”
Taking out his phone, he texted Torpedo. She couldn’t have gotten far because she didn’t have a car. No one had reported a car or bike leaving so he was confident he had a good chance of finding her quickly, but it still made his gut churn. Rain was hurting. Because he hadn’t bothered to inform his club exactly what she was to him, it was his fault.
His phone rang.
“Everyone’s on the move. What do you want us to do when we find her?”
“Let me know immediately. Follow her but don’t approach her unless she tries to get into a car or something. I don’t want to make this any worse than it already is.”
“What’d you do?” Torpedo sounded angry. Likely, he suspected Arkham had acted like an ass. Torpedo was the vice-president, but he sometimes had to function as the voice of reason when the members forgot they were human and not unthinking animals. Usually where women they desperately cared about were concerned.
“Didn’t inform Mama Rain was to be taken to my room and not put in a common room like the other club girls.”
There was silence. “OK. That’s not good, but not devastating. What else?”
“Why do you assume I did something stupid?”
“Did you?”
Arkham wanted to answer in the negative, but he didn’t lie to his brothers, no matter how hard. “Maybe. I gave Cheetah a hug when she brought me the jacket she’d sewn for Rain with my property patch on it. I can’t be sure, but I’m betting Rain saw that. I haven’t seen her since we got back from Rockwell.”
“OK. Again, that’s bad but not a deal breaker. What else?”
“Nothing else. Other than she’s young and inexperienced in sexual matters. I don’t mean physically. Mentally. I’m sure she knows the difference between sex and love and I’m afraid she may think we shared the former.”
“Did you tell her you loved her?”
“Well, not in so many words. No.”
“Idiot,” Torpedo muttered.
“It’s only been a few days. It kinda snuck up on me.” Arkham scrubbed his hand over his face. “You know, someday you’re going to be the one in this situation, and I hope I’m still here to watch.”
“Let’s just get your woman back so you can straighten all this out, brother.” Arkham could hear the amusement in Torpedo’s voice. His brothers would help him find Rain. They would help him bring her home. Then Arkham would bind her to him forever. It was as good as done.
* * *
It was cold outside. Perhaps that’s why Rain couldn’t seem to get moving. It certainly wasn’t because she was hesitant to leave Arkham. If she wasn’t good enough for him to be with her and no one else, then she didn’t want him. Hell, she couldn’t imagine being with another man the way she was with Arkham! How could he want to be with another woman?
Except she did want him. She ached with wanting him. Every step away from Arkham was like a knife to her heart. In the short time she’d known him, Rain had come to depend on him. And, goddammit, she just plain liked him! He was larger than life. A force to be reckoned with. He’d taken charge in the tunnel and hadn’t condemned her when she’d become too incapacitated to continue. More importantly, he’d gotten her and the child out, protecting them both with a fierceness matched only by his brothers. Yet, they hadn’t been needlessly cruel or deadly. When they’d given their report to Azriel, Torpedo had acknowledging leaving most everyone alive. He’d told the other man, “This isn’t our territory to judge. You know the people much better than we do. This was a rescue mission. Not an execution party.” Surprisingly, Azriel had agreed. Shadow Demons had no wish for anyone to be killed needlessly. They’d be dealt with individually. Not as a group. That conversation had shed more light on both groups of men than anything she’d witnessed before.
Rain made it as far as the road leading to the compound before she sat in a little thicket of trees, out of sight from anyone. She just couldn’t make herself go any farther. Not yet. Rain doubted Arkham would look for her. It would probably relieve him to know he didn’t have to take responsibility for her anymore. And why the fuck was she sitting there feeling sorry for herself? If she was the woman Arkham deserved, she’d be up there fighting for her man. Instead, she sat in the snow and cold, tears streaking down her face like a teenager with a hopeless crush. Which, she kind of was, she supposed.
“Fucker,” she muttered.
“You wanna tell me what the fuck you’re doin’ out here in the fuckin’ cold instead of waiting for me at the clubhouse?”
Arkham!
Even as her heart leapt, Rain wanted to scream in frustration. “Ain’t none of your goddamned business.”
“It�
��s every bit my goddamned business, Rain! Fuck!” He reached inside her little hiding place and plucked her out by the back of her jacket and shirt. She nearly squealed like a little girl. “Just where the fuckin’ hell do you think you’re goin’?”
She stuck her chin up. “Away.”
“Away where?”
“Don’t matter. I’m leavin’. I don’t like it here.”
“Stubborn, pigheaded little runt,” he muttered before scooping her up and tossing her over his shoulder.”
“Put me down!” Rain screamed and beat against his broad back with her fists, kicking out wildly. Of course, he took the opportunity to swat her ass none too gently.
“Stop squirmin’!”
“Bastard!”
“Runt!”
“Oooh!”
Knowing there was no way she was getting away from him if he didn’t want her to, she did as he told her, bracing herself with her hands on his back. “Just know that I will get down from here, Arkham. When I do, I’m gonna kick you in the balls and I’ll be long gone before you get off the ground.”
“You can try, honey.”
The worst part was he didn’t sound put out. He sounded almost amused.
“You better not be laughin’ at me.”
He cleared his throat as three of his brothers fell into step around them. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Liar,” she muttered.
They marched on in silence until they reached the steps of the compound. Arkham set her on her feet then. With the blood rushing to her head, she was a little dizzy but stood her ground with only a little sway.
Arkham spun her around to face him, steadying her by the shoulders. He met her eyes in a fierce stare. Without saying a word, he reached out to Torpedo, who handed him a jacket. Arkham raised an eyebrow as he turned the jacket around so she could read the patch on the back.
“PROPERTY OF… ARKHAM.”
The stitching was in bold silver lettering lined in gold on a top and bottom rocker. In the middle was the Bones MC patch.
Arkham (Bones MC 5) Page 7
