Outlaw Souls MC Box Set: Books 1-6

by Hope Stone

  My headache was starting to come back.

  “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what you want?”

  “Okay. I wanted something really special to me, you know?” I thought about the memorial I’d done last week for a man that lost his wife and wanted to honor her. That had been special and some of my best work, in my own opinion. “So, I was thinking I want the words live, laugh, and love on my shoulder blade.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes. Could she have picked a more generic phrase?

  Whatever.

  “Okay, let’s pick colors.”

  Whether I liked the girl’s choice or not, it was time to get to work.

  Blade

  I needed to find a job. The street fighting could be lucrative, but it was far from a steady paycheck. I had a sweet setup at my old job, working on the demolition crew of a construction company—which also helped me to work out my aggression—but I had been unceremoniously fired when I slept with my boss’s wife.

  In my defense, she hit on me.

  Luckily, I had a broad skill set. As I pulled up to the little tattoo shop that was hiring, I couldn’t help thinking about the little hole-in-the-wall place where I had first learned how to use a tattoo gun. That had been a small shop in a northern Californian city, where I’d lived right after graduating high school eight years ago.

  After failing to enlist as was expected of me, I’d left my father’s house. He was going to charge me rent to keep living there anyway—I was now an adult, after all, and he was a vindictive ass—so it wasn’t worth putting up with his attitude just to stay in a house that I didn’t even care about.

  I’d learned not to get attached to people or places when I was young. Every new school, new friend, and new house was temporary. The army kept my dad moving around too much, which uprooted all our lives. My mom was more understanding than me, but she’d signed up for that life when she married him. I didn’t have much of a choice.

  So, suddenly, living on my own at the young age of eighteen had been exciting. I could finally settle somewhere. I threw myself into the job at the tattoo shop, starting by working closely with a seasoned tattoo artist, learning everything the older man knew. It came easily to me, and I was working on my own within three months.

  I liked the work, but I always had a knack for finding trouble. After less than a year, I got locked up for six months for stealing a car. I hadn’t even really wanted the thing, but I was trying to impress a girl. It worked, but by the time I got out of jail, she had moved on, and my spot at the shop had been replaced.

  I was young and stupid back then. At least it was the only thing on my record.

  Since then, I had worked various jobs, but I still owned a tattoo gun and did the occasional tattoo for a reasonable price out of my home. Going back to it as a job felt like a good move.

  I pulled my bike into a spot in the parking lot, pulling off my helmet and checking out the artwork on the side of the building. Fancy.

  Even from the outside, Ink Envy was completely different from that last shop I’d worked in. That place was small, old, and dark. I was pretty sure it wasn’t even remotely up to code. Hell, it probably wasn’t registered as a business.

  By comparison, this place was swanky.

  I grabbed the portfolio out of my saddlebag, filled with pictures of some of my best work. Walking through the door of the shop, the first thing I noticed was how clean and white everything was. There was a lot of love that went into this place.

  There was a woman sitting on a stool behind a glass counter where there were rows of jewelry on display. I spotted earrings, nose studs, and tongue rings. I had numerous tattoos, but piercings weren’t my thing. They looked hot on a woman, though.

  I turned my attention to the woman behind the counter, who was watching me curiously. She was an older woman, probably in her forties, with two full sleeves covering her pale skin, and her long, brown hair was in dreadlocks.

  “You must be William,” she said, and I tried not to cringe at the use of my real name. My dad was the only one that called me that these days, but my friend Hawk had insisted that it was necessary to use my legal name on a resume, and I had sent mine when I replied to the job listing online.

  “Yeah, but everyone calls me Blade,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand as she stood.

  “I’m Brie. I own Ink Envy.”

  “Nice place,” I said, meaning it.

  “Is that your portfolio?”

  “Oh, yeah,” I handed it over, mildly surprised that we were doing this here instead of in an office.

  Brie opened the leather folder on top of the glass case, and I stood there awkwardly while she flipped through the pages. She stopped to stare at some pictures for several seconds and barely seemed to glance at others. She asked no questions, and I had no idea how this was going.

  There was a big red curtain just beyond the counter that I guessed led to back rooms where the work was done. I could hear the unmistakable sound of tattoo guns buzzing and the low murmurs of conversation coming from the other side.

  Finally, Brie closed the folder and looked up at me. “This is some good work.”

  I was relieved to hear that, but I braced myself for her to question the gaps in my employment, starting with the reason I left my old tattoo shop, but she didn’t.

  “Now, as a tattoo artist here, you’d really be a subcontractor, with me taking thirty percent off the top. The rest of your earnings belong to you. The clients would be yours, and you have freedom there. I know that this is art, and I’m not going to get in the way of it. Regardless of your appointments, I would like for you to be here during regular business hours for walk-ins, which are Monday through Friday, nine to six. Does that work for you?”

  “Really? It’s that easy?”

  “Of course,” Brie gave me a small smile. “I think you’re talented. That’s all I really need to know.”

  I grinned. This was the easiest job interview I’d ever had. “Hell yeah, that works for me.”

  “Good. Just one more thing. I don’t want drugs of any kind here. No buying, selling, or using them in the shop. I don’t want that shit here.”

  “No problem,” I said without hesitation. I smoked a little pot on occasion, but I wouldn’t even think to do that at work, and I’d never been interested in trying anything more intense. I’d seen too many people in my life get addicted to everything from crack to heroin.

  It wasn’t worth it.

  Brie pulled out paperwork, and I signed on the dotted line. Just like that, I was employed. While we were taking care of the papers, the curtain pulled back, and a woman walked out with a burly man following close behind her. There was a large bandage on his shoulder.

  “Now, keep the bandage on for two hours and use the aftercare cream,” the woman was saying as they walked past us. She had short, dirty blonde hair and a little too much makeup on for my taste.

  I finished signing the papers as she walked the man to the door. Brie called her over to us.

  “Piper, this is Blade, our new tattoo artist.”

  “Gary’s replacement?”

  “Yep.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “It really is. I think we’ve already covered all the appointments he had scheduled, but it’d be nice to have some help with walk-ins.”

  “Let’s take him back then,” Brie said, coming around the counter.

  I followed them through the curtain and saw the space was divided into three sections. There was another woman bent over a man’s wrist with a tattoo gun in her hand in one of the sections. I couldn’t see much of her, just a curtain of dark hair that was shielding her face.

  “That’s Kat,” Piper said, nodding at the woman. She didn’t look up at the sound of her name. I didn’t blame her. I recognized an artist in the zone.

  “Here’s where you’ll work,” Brie gestured to the obviously unused workspace. It was pretty basic. A long counter with drawers that probably held the tat
too gun and other supplies, with an adjustable black leather chair in the middle and stool that must have been meant for me. It was a nice setup.

  “Here you go, Jack,” a voice said behind me. I turned to see that Kat was finished with the tattoo she had been working on and was talking to the man in her chair. Her back was to me, so I still couldn’t see her face.

  “Don’t bother with a bandage,” the man said, but she shook her head.

  “Not gonna happen, just like I told you last time. You leave here with the bandage. After that, it’s up to you if you want to keep it on or not. But I suggest you don’t be a dummy.”

  I smiled. I liked her attitude.

  Kat didn’t walk her customer out of the shop. Instead, she pushed her stool over to the counter to take a massive swig of a canned energy drink while he made his way to the door himself. That was when I got my first look at her.

  Long dark eyelashes surrounded shockingly blue eyes. I trailed my eyes over high cheekbones and full lips. When she stood, I saw that her black tank-top and skintight jeans left little to the imagination, showing every slight curve on her thin body.

  Damn.

  I wasn’t expecting to be hit with a fireball of lust in the first ten minutes of my new job, but there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. This chick was hot.

  And we were going to be working just feet away from each other.

  “Take a picture.It’ll last longer,” she said with a little smirk.

  I laughed lightly. “You've been holding onto that since the fifth grade or what?”

  “Kat, this is the new tattoo artist,” Piper interrupted, reminding me that she was still there. “Blade, this is Kat.”

  “Blade?” Kat repeated with a quirked brow. “That’s…unique.”

  “What can I say, I’m one of a kind.”

  “Is that why someone busted up your lip?”

  I reached up and ran a thumb over the fresh wound. The swelling had gone down since last night, but the skin was still split and would take a couple of days to heal.

  “What can I say? I’m a charmer.”

  Kat snickered, and the bell above the door announced the arrival of another customer. I looked around and realized that Brie had already left, presumably resuming her position at the front counter.

  I spent most of the rest of the day watching Kat and Piper work, getting a feel for the way things were run around here. Perusing the drawers, I was impressed by how well-stocked they were. Brie ran a tight ship around here, and I had a feeling that I was going to fit in well. As long as I didn’t screw it up somehow. My eyes lingered on Kat.

  Yeah, it was probably not a good idea to go there.

  This was confirmed when the end of the day arrived, and we were all leaving. Looking around the parking lot, I saw that there were only two cars and my bike. I opened my mouth to ask if someone needed a ride, but before I got the words out, a man on a Harley pulled into the parking lot.

  He pulled up in front of the four of us, and Kat stepped forward.

  “See you guys tomorrow,” she said and pulled a helmet on. I watched her wrap her hands around the man’s waist, and my gut clenched.

  I told myself that there was no reason to care if that guy was her boyfriend. I just met this woman. Sure, she was sexy, but there were plenty of good-looking women out there. I didn’t need to get hung up on Kat. I wasn’t a one-woman kind of man, anyway.

  I glanced at the time on my phone and hurried to my own motorcycle. I was expected to be at the Blue Dog in ten minutes for the Outlaw Souls meeting. My sex life would have to wait. I arrived with no time to spare. Everyone’s bikes were already in the parking lot when I parked. I caught the eye of my sponsor for the motorcycle club, Trainer.

  He was a big guy with a full beard and long hair. He looked like trouble, with his closed-off expression and large stature, but the truth was, he was a great guy. Trainer was a devoted husband and father to two kids that turned him into a big softie when they were around.

  I had bought my bike off him months ago, a Sportster with the prettiest red paint job I’d ever seen. The thing was a hell of a smooth ride, both in town and on the highway. He bought bikes cheap and fixed them to be resold, and he was good at his job. I loved my motorcycle and had gotten to know Trainer when I bought it.

  He was the Road Captain of the club and nominated me to become a prospect. It wasn’t fun, I had to admit. There were two of us, myself and Axel. We did all the grunt work for the club but hadn’t earned any of the rewards yet. It reminded me of pledging to join a fraternity. You had to do whatever they said and prove yourself. Until then, you weren’t directly involved in club business. Tonight, Axel and I would be keeping watch over the bikes during the Outlaw Souls meeting.

  It was dull unless someone got stupid enough to try to mess with the motorcycles. Outlaw Souls were good people, overall, but that didn’t mean you wanted to piss them off.

  “Cutting it close, aren’t you?” Trainer asked when I joined him in front of the building.

  “Yeah, I got a job today at a tattoo shop. I just left.”

  “Good for you. Just try to stay out of trouble.”

  Trainer knew about my bad luck, although he tended to contribute it to poor decision making on my part. I watched as he went inside with the others, leaving me leaning against the building while Axel paced around. The guy always seemed to have a ton of energy that he was trying to burn off. When we first met, I thought he might be a tweaker, but now I knew that he just didn’t like sitting still. His overactive mind wouldn’t allow him to chill out.

  It could get annoying, but I never called him out on it. I was here to watch over the most valuable property of the club, and I was going to do it, no matter who I was with. Hopefully, I’d earn my place and get to attend the meetings soon. I wanted to have a sense of brotherhood with these men. I was ready to wear an Outlaw Souls patch.

  Kat

  The ride home from work was uneventful. Jason had bought me a new tire to replace the one that was flat, and the spare was back in my trunk. He didn’t even complain or try to get out of it, to my surprise. Jason didn’t usually have much money, but he’d managed to fork over the cost of a new tire and installation on short notice. It was odd, but when I questioned it, he blew me off. His demeanor reminded me of when he was questioned about Las Balas. He always got so damn evasive.

  Jason still hadn’t been back home, and when he asked to stick around for dinner, I knew that he was avoiding it. But he couldn’t run away from his problems forever. So, despite my hatred of an empty house, I told him that I would only cook dinner for us if he promised to leave afterward and make up with Lexie.

  So, I stood in the kitchen, forming raw hamburger meat into round patties. I was no Martha Stewart, but I could grill up a couple of cheeseburgers for us just fine. Jason half-heartedly offered to help, but I knew better than to ask him to do anything in the kitchen. He was a terrible cook, too easily distracted.

  He settled in on the couch while I worked and turned on some kind of History channel show about presidential assassinations. I could see the TV from the kitchen island due to the open concept of the rooms, and it was interesting, but I soon found my mind wandering.

  When I met Blade today, I found myself attracted to a man for the first time in months. It wasn’t just physical, although he did have that going for him with his stubble beard and dark eyes. I usually went for guys with long hair, something I could grab onto during sex, but Blade’s close-cropped cut worked for him.

  It was his personality that got to me. The guy had a swagger, and during our short interaction, I had gotten a glimpse of his confidence. That had always been my sweet spot with men, enough self-assurance to be attractive without crossing the line into being a cocky asshole.

  He’d only been at the shop for a few hours today, observing, and I had clients most of the time to keep me busy. There was a constant awareness prickling at me, though, letting me know that he was watching me. I kept telling
myself that it was just a professional curiosity kind of thing, but that didn’t stop my body from responding to him. My skin felt more sensitive, and the juncture between my legs ached.

  It had been way too long since I’d had sex.

  Pushing thoughts of Blade to the back of my mind, I took the plate full of hamburger patties out to the grill. The outdoor space was my favorite part of this place, and I suspected that it was the reason that my mom had bought this house in the first place.

  There was a covered patio where we kept our grill and seating area, with a glass-topped table and cushioned chairs. Beyond the concrete patio, there was a privacy fence around the yard, which was perfect for sunny spring days when I wanted to lay out on a lawn chair in my bikini without the neighbor’s teenage son gawking at me. Along the west side of the yard, my mom had always had a vegetable garden. She grew tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs back there, often sending me out to grab a handful of basil or dill while she was in the middle of preparing dinner.

  I didn’t have her green thumb, and it made me sad to know that there would be nothing growing in that patch of dirt this year. Out front, there were flower beds along each side of the porch steps. With the warm spring weather, there were already Hosta plants growing up out of the ground, since they came back every year. Each day, when I left the house, I saw them, and it made me happy. I wasn’t fit to carry on the tradition of planting big beautiful flowers in the garden, but at least I still had her perineal Hostas.

  Jason joined me out on the patio, his arms laden with hamburger buns, plates, ketchup, and a container of potato salad. It wasn’t extravagant, but we weren’t fancy people. Sitting at the patio table, we dug in. Jason took a big bite and let out a moan.

  “Damn, Kat. How do your burgers always taste so good?”