by Ruby Carter
“Ayes” unanimously go around the table. The men who are standing up, including the two prospects, I am thinking of voting them in. But not today. Maybe when I find out why this man was helping out Dani’s ex...
“Good. Is there any business anyone wants to bring to the table? No? Then church is over.” I bring the gavel back down on the table.
I go on the look for Sue, Doc’s old lady. She’s in the kitchen, what a surprise. She is like a surrogate mother to all of the men in the club. “Hey, Sue. How ya doing? Can you take a sandwich and some chips to Dani? She’s in my room resting.”
“Xavier Cole! You may be the president, but I remember changing your butt. Why don’t you make the sandwich and take it up to her? I am sure she would much prefer you taking it up to her and sitting with her. The way you have been prowling the hall outside your room these past few days has even me on edge,” Sue says with a hand on her hip and her salt and pepper hair tied up.
“I know, I know, Sue. But she doesn’t need me to make her life complicated. She has been through enough shit in her short life. Plus, if it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t be in that state,” I say with a cracked voice while I grab at the back of my neck, trying to ease the tension in my body.
“Stop that right now, Axe! If it wasn’t for you and the men who found her in time, god only knows what would have happened to that poor girl up there. So stop blaming yourself, boy, or I will slap you upside the head!” Sue says with anger and warmth in her eyes. I know she is saying that to make me feel better, but it won’t work.
“Right, Axe. Shoo, shoo. Get outta my kitchen. I am going to make your girl a nice, big sandwich. Nothin’ she allergic to or doesn’t like?”
“Nah, Sue. Whatever will be fine. I am sure she will like it. You make the best sub sandwiches. Look, I’m gonna go to the gym, ok? If anyone wants me, that’s where I will be. Also, tell Doc to check on her soon. She will need her meds.”
I get to the gym and strip, putting my workout shorts on and strapping up my hands. I start punching the bag that’s hanging in the far corner of the gym, working out my aggression on the bag so hard. I just keep punching and punching until my arms and back start to ache. I slump to the ground and sit against the wall with my head bowed between my arms in defeat. I let a long, low sigh and shake my head.
Sue is wrong. She isn’t my girl. She can’t be. She needs to feel safe. That’s what she deserves and she can’t feel safe around with me, even if I am crazy about her. I need to stay away from her. Even her sitting in my bed with one of my t-shirts on, battered and bruised, she made my dick stir in my pants. She looked beautiful…
But all of this, it’s my fault. If I didn’t arrive at her apartment so late…
It’s my fault. She was kidnapped by her crazy fucking ass ex.
It’s my fault she was beaten, bloodied, and has bruises over that beautiful face and body of hers.
But why can’t I shake the pull I have towards her?
~ Chapter 18 Dani ~
An hour later…
I hear a knock at the door and try my hardest to sit up against the headboard without calling out in pain. The sooner I can prove to Axe I feel or look better, the sooner I can be out of his way. He clearly doesn’t want me around.
In walks a skinny woman with clearly fake breasts, bleach blond hair with dark roots. She has a very short red skirt on. PVC, is it? With the smallest crop top she could cram those fake tits into. She is wearing clear heels. Oh my god. Realization hits. This is what Zara called a “club whore”.
“Hey, are you the girl they rescued? What’s your name, darlin’? “She says with such a husky voice, and not the nice kind. The kind you know she has smoked too many cigarettes in her life. Fuckin’ hell, she must smoke 40 a day, the way her voice sounds like sand paper.
“Errrm yeah. That’s me. My name is Dani. Can I help you with anything? If you are looking for Axe, he hasn’t been back in a while.”
“Oh cool, Dani. My name’s Brandy. No, Dani, I’m not looking for Axe. It’s usually the other way around. He knows where to find me.” Alright, I get it, lady. You don’t need to piss on your territory.
“I just thought I would help you get cleaned up, you know. Woman to woman, you know. I have bought a clean shirt with me.”
“Oh, ok. Thanks, Brandy. You don’t have to do that.”
As I try to slide out of bed, I carefully put my full weight on my legs, and I feel like a newborn calf trying to use its legs for the first time. As I turn to head towards the bathroom…”Oh my god, girl. You got a lard ass on you, aint ya? And look at them thighs. Jesus. No wonder Axe isn’t in here with you. He likes them like me, darlin’ I doubt you would even be able to get his dick...”
“BRANDY!! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! LEAVE THE GIRL ALONE. I WILL BE TELLIN’ AXE WHEN HE GETS BACK!” The bellowing voice comes from a curvy lady with graying hair pulled up in an updo. She has a gentle, loving face and she reminds me of my mom. She’s got a round face, blue eyes, and nice red lipstick on with a folded apron around her waist.
“Don’t listen to Brandy. She can’t think straight with all that silicon in her body. The stupid bitch… You are beautiful, Dani, and I can see why Xavi… I mean Axe, has been on the prowl in the hall for the past few days. Let’s say we get you cleaned up and you can have my sub sandwich I made you. I brought a bottle of water with me too, as I didn’t know if you liked coffee or tea. I hope that’s alright? Ohh listen to me, rambling on.” This lady is so lovely. I like her already.
“Yeah, ok. That’s lovely, thank you… Oh sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”
“Oh it’s Sue, dear. Doc is my ol’ man. Right, let’s get you in that shower, lady.”
Once I come out of the shower, I feel loads better. I feel clean, even with my cuts and bruises. I step back into Axe’s bedroom and his smell hits me again. It calms and comforts me. Sue is sitting on his bed with the food she has prepared. “I will leave this here, huni, and step out for a few minutes, let you get changed. I grabbed another shirt of Axe’s. I’m sure he won’t mind."
I dry myself and sit down on the bed, butt naked, and I look at my thighs where the old scars are, but now there are deep red slashes across them. I run my fingers over them and just sob my heart out. I cry because someone who I used to care about and love did this to me. Then the words from Brandy earlier repeat around my head: 'you got a lard ass on you, ain’t ya? And look at them thighs. No wonder Axe isn’t in here with you. He likes them like me darlin’.
I cry harder and grab my legs, bringing them close to my chest and hugging them with all my might.
Then after a while, I get angry at Brandy and myself. How dare she say such disgusting things? I may not have complete confidence about my body, but I have to come to live with the fact I am never going to be skinny or a runway model.
I doubt Axe asks many girls out, but why would he ask me out on a date if he wasn’t attracted to me? Not that I get that part. He’s beautiful. But he’s lost his spark. I grab the shirt Sue got out for me and I inhale Axe’s scent. Mmmmm fresh air and all Axe… Earlier Sue went to call him Xavier. Xavier hmmmm… It suits him.
Sue knocks on the door and calls through the door, "you ok, Dani? Can I come in?"
"Ermmmm yeah, come in," I say as I try to pull the hem of the shirt over my thighs.
"So how you doin', darling'? You ok?" Sue asks me as she sits next to me on the bed with her motherly arm around me. "I'm … I'm ok, I guess. I'm just fed up feeling' achy, that’s all. And my hair is all knotted from where… well, Paul grabbed it. Could you help me brush it? My arms won’t let me keep them in that position for longer than a minute." She looks over me and into my eyes.
"Yeah, sure sweetheart. I will just grab my brush from my bag. I won’t be a minute."
As she leaves to get the brush, I start nibbling a lovely chicken salad sub while I grab my phone and ring Zara. Otherwise she would be panicking.
"Hey, babes! How are you? I have been worri
ed sick, but Axe has been keeping me updated…" I stop her talking. I just want a face I know. "Zara… Zar, can you bring me some clothes, panties, jeans, and makeup over? You still have my key. Let yourself in. Also, bring some DVDs. Only thing Axe has is horror." I ask, trying not to let my throat sound too choked up, as I really need my best friend now. "Yeah, course babes. I will go round now. How many days worth to you want me to grab?"
"I …I don’t know. Grab 3 days worth, as I will be back in my apartment by then and I will be out of Axe’s hair…Let’s just say it would be better the sooner I get out of here," I say with sadness and disappointment, as I want him to at least show that he cares.
"Ohhh babes, he doesn’t think that at all. All the time you were out of it, he was worried sick. He hasn’t slept since he found you…Look, we will talk when I get there and we can watch some of your favs, ok? Right, huni. I will leave now. See you in about an hour or so. Love ya, Dan."
"See ya soon, Zar," I say as my eyes well with big tears and I look up and see Sue standing there with a brush.
I cough to try and clear my throat and rapidly blink my eyes to make the tears go away. "Thanks for this. You're so kind to it." As Sue sits behind me on the bed, she slowly starts at the ends of my hair, brushing out and slowly brushing up my hair, doing it so gently not to hurt me.
"Do you really think that, sweetheart? Do you really think that Axe doesn’t want you here or doesn’t care?" She asks so softly as she is brushing my badly knotted hair. "Errrrm, I didn’t realize you heard that. I'm sorry I caused offence. But yeah, that’s how it’s felt, especially early this morning when he would barely look at me. I'm clearly not wanted here. So the sooner I get outta his hair, the sooner I can go back to my apartment."
"Dani, huni, Axe does want you around. He is trying to deal with what happened to you. And as for you going back to your apartment… well, I think that you should talk to him about that…Right, hun. You’re all done. Try and rest up," she says with sincerity, kind eyes and a loving smile.
I wonder what she meant when she said I should talk to Axe about going home?
He can’t keep me here if I don’t want to...even though I want to stay, but
he makes me want to leave.
Men!
~ Chapter 19 Axe ~
I stroll through the clubhouse and end up sitting up on a bar stool around the bar with my feet propped up on another stool. I have a bottle of Jack and a beer. I am drinking the Jack straight. I have knocked a couple of shots back by the time I hear some walking behind me. I turn around to see Zara and she shoves my arm off the back of the stool.
“You fucking jerk, Axe! She wants to fucking leave, you asshat! She thinks you don’t want her here! What the fuck, Axe. I thought you said you could keep her safe. You know I can’t, what with me covering her shifts and doing my work, too.” She is raging at me and I can understand why I did say I would keep her safe. But I have been a dick, practically ignoring her at any length of time since she has woke up. “I know. I know I said I would and I mean it. Calm the fuck down, will you!”
“Calm down? Seriously, Axey boy? She is still healing. You can’t mess Dani around, Axe. She isn’t a whore. She’s special and been through too much! She is feeling pretty low about herself as it is, and you blank my girl in there. And to top it off, to put the cherry on that huge fecking cake, YOUR club whore is giving her shit. Saying shit about her weight and how she looks, that she has a lard ass and fat thighs, and no wonder you won’t go in to see her. She doesn’t need that shit. She has been through enough! If you can’t look after her like you promised, Axey boy, you can tell her why!” She says all of that with her arms flailing around like a damn bird, looking like it’s trying to fly, and storms out of the clubhouse.
“Fuuuckk!!” I say aloud to the empty room. I gotta make this right.
I hate to admit it, but I do like Zara. Yeah, she’s loud, but the way she fiercely loves and has Dani’s back is what family is about. It makes me furious to my fucking core to think of someone, let alone another woman, speaking absolute shit about her and her body. She needs to know her curvaceous body is beautiful, that it has so many… Stop it! You need to fucking protect her. That is it!
I go looking for Brandy. The bitch. The club whore.
“Brandy!” She is ‘servicing’ one of my brothers. She is on her knees, sucking his dick. The bitch doesn’t reply. She carries on.
So I walk further into the room and bellow again, “BRANDY! GET YOUR SKANKY ASS HERE, NOW!” That makes the bitch look up, get up off her knees, and walk over to me, wiping cum off her mouth.
“Yeah, Axe? What’s up? Did you want me next? Let me finish off…”
“Shut the fuck up! I don’t want shit from you, woman. What you said to Dani crossed the line. She’s a guest here. You stay the fuck away from her, you hear?” I say with such fury and venom in my voice as I stand wide legged and with my arms crossed over my chest.
“I only went to help her get cleaned up. Whatever she said, she’s lying. You don’t even know her, Axe.” She replies. I know she is lying about it, as I believe Zara over her any day. Plus she’s not helping her case, as she won’t meet my eyes.
“Look, bitch! I know exactly what the fuck you said to her. I know her better than I even want to know you! Yeah, Dani is curvy and her thighs are thick, and you know what? I can’t wait until they are wrapped around my waist while I am balls deep in her. Dani is beautiful. You are as fake as your own tits. You will never fucking compare to her! So before you go running your mouth, thinking you can lay claim to me like I am your fucking ol’ man, remember one thing. You are just a good time girl. You will always be just that! Nothing more!” With that said and done and her face looking exactly what I was going for, she looks like she has just been slapped around the face a couple of times.
Who the fuck does she think she is, thinking she can one, talk to Dani like that, two, thinking she has any sort of claim on me, and three, be delusional to think I don’t want to bury my dick in Dani.
Yeah I am fucked. I want Dani.
I want Dani. BAD!
~ Chapter 20 Dani ~
After Zara left for the night, I am laying in Axe’s room, in Axe’s bed, Axes t-shirt. All I can smell is him and my body tingles from just his smell, leather, his aftershave and just… Axe. But the man himself isn’t here.
I haven’t seen him since earlier; I would have thought he would have come to check on me, but nothing. Instead I have the constant smell of him every which way I turn my head.
I turn the TV off. Darkness. Darkness surrounds me. But I need to remember I am not in that place. I am not with him. I am safe. I can sleep, I know I can, as my eyes are drooping and getting heavy. But I just don’t want to. I am afraid that if I do, this would have been a dream, me being safe.
My eyes and my brain finally give up and I finally doze off...
I hear someone shouting my name and moving my shoulder back and forth “…Dani. Dani, can you hear me? Wake up. You are ok, babes!”
“Huuhhh, what’s going on?” “Sweetness, wake up. It’s Axe!”
I peel my eyes open to see Axe leaning over the bed, over me. His eyes look haunted. Mmmmm. And he’s showered, according to his damp hair. Why does he keep looking all over my body like he’s looking for something?
“What’s up, Axe? What’s the emergency?” I turn to his bedside table and see it’s 2 am. “It’s 2 am. Can this not wait?”
“Sweetness, you were screaming bloody murder in here. I came as fast as I could. You were having a nightmare, Dani.”
“Ohhh. Oh, I’m sorry if I woke you up, Axe. I’m fine now. Don’t worry about it. Ok.” Why does he have to look so beautiful? It hurts to look at him, especially in the dark. The light from the moon is shining in the room and lights his face and eyes up. My heart starts to speed up from looking into his eyes. I’m mesmerized.
“Are you sure you are ok, Dani?" I can't say anything, as I really want to say “No! I am not ok
! You have fucking ignored me all day, you jerkwod...”
"Look, I will see you in the morning, ok?” he says as he starts to walk out of the room. “No. Stay. Please, Axe. I don’t want to lay in the dark on my own. I won’t sleep properly as I will be thinking …about it! Please.” I look at him with a pleading look as I don’t want him to leave. I want to feel safe, even for a few minutes.
He is having a war with himself. “Ok, sweetness. I will lay with you until you fall asleep. Ok?” He reluctantly slides into bed fully clothed, minus his biker boots and socks.
He smells so good, warm, freshly showered and just…. Axe. He lowers his big body into his own bed. I just lie there for a while, staring at the ceiling, until he puts his big, muscular arm underneath my pillow and has his other arm folded under his head. “Sleep, sweetness. I’m here, ok? You’re safe.” I just nod into the darkness. Then I realize he probably can’t see me clearly.
“Yeah.” I say so softly, he probably didn’t hear me.
I drift off…
Mmmmmm. I feel so warm and comfortable. I groan and move my hand in front of me and hit something hard but soft at the same time. Then I feel a big warm hand on my lower back. I slowly open my eyes looking through my eyelashes.
Shit! I am lying on top of Axe, my legs are tangled with his, my chest pushed up against him. He must have fallen asleep after me. “Mmmmmm” he feels and smells so good. Then I realize I moaned aloud as Axe stirs in his sleep and squeezes my big ass.
