Abandon (Midnight Saints MC Book 1)

by Iris Sweetwater

  “She is to us,” I answered. “She and Dan are like parents to all of us. Your being here is upsetting everyone, so she’s a little put off too. She’ll get better as she gets to know you. Oh, the profanity, and harsh tone won’t change. That’s just her, but she’ll grow on you.”

  “I doubt it,” she mumbled.

  Mom had the shower going already. She waved us in, and said, “Let’s get her stripped before the hot water runs out. I hate waste.”

  I tried to avert my eyes when Reagen’s shirt was removed. It was difficult. The tight bandage over her ribs lifted her plump, full breasts high. Their roundness was clearly emphasized. My dick twitched. My mouth watered. I wanted to suck on the rosy, distended nipples more than I wanted to live.

  The dirty sweatpants slipped down her legs. She wore nothing underneath. The doc must have removed her underwear due to the blood he said had been on her thighs. Her ass was perfect. She stumbled when she went to step out of the pants, and it was up to me to brace her. I got a handful of one ass cheek, and almost climaxed right there. I had started to let my hand roam toward her center, before I got control of myself. I really wanted to feel inside her, to check and see if my touch made her wet. The knowing grin on Mom’s face stopped me.

  Reagen’s whimper when the hot water touched her beaten body, brought me back to the present. I finally took note of every bruise that covered her from head to toe. Beneath them, there were old scars, attesting to the torment she’d suffered many times.

  Her tattoos couldn’t completely hide the cigarette burns that scarred her arms. When I glanced at Mom, I saw pity in her eyes. I’m sure I had the same expression.

  “Please. Don’t look at me,” Reagen begged. “I’m hideous. I’m so ashamed for you to see me like this. This isn’t normal. I can look good. I really can. It’s embarrassing to be so weak.”

  “Did you fight back?” Mom asked her.

  “Like a demon from hell,” she answered. “I tried to knee him in the balls. That’s when he choked me. Even when I couldn’t breathe, I gouged his eye with my thumb, but he got off on it.”

  “Then, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You didn’t lay still and take it. You fought. Karma, and my boys will do the rest,” Mom promised. “Let’s soap you up and wash your hair, before you can’t stand there due to weakness.”

  My heart ached. The bastard who did this would be hunted. Tony and the guys would help once they learned of how badly Reagen had suffered. Mom would make sure they had a clear picture in their minds of every bruise, burn, and break.

  Mom had supplied silk pajamas. The camisole was low cut, and revealed more cleavage than it hid. I raised an eyebrow at her when I saw them. Her reply was classic. “You don’t think my old man would fuck me so often if I didn’t wear some sexy shit, do you?”

  She left me to get Reagen back in bed, but the doc arrived. He made me remove the tiny camisole and help him bind Reagen’s ribs with a fresh, dry bandage. My hands and arms encountered her breasts so often during the process, it was more like teenagers fumbling foreplay in the backseat of their parent’s car.

  Her breasts were swelling in invitation. Her nipples were so distended I thought they would burst. My dick was throbbing against my pants, pleading for release. I could smell the scent of sexual tension in the air. I knew Reagen was wet. I’d recognize that smell anywhere. One finger flicking the secret button between her legs and she would explode. I wanted to touch it. I wanted the wetness to spill on my hand, then I would lick it off, and drop down between her legs for more.

  I fidgeted. Reagen noticed, and glanced down at my stretched-to-the-limits pants. Her hand quivered, nearly reaching out to caress my quivering shaft. I moaned, but doc ignored it all. Either he was oblivious of our sexual distress, or like Mom, he could deal with a porn show.

  Finally, after what felt like a fucking week, we were done. Doc sent me away to retrieve some ibuprofen for Reagen, but leaving the room didn’t ease my pain. I could barely walk with my dick trapped and throbbing so hard. I stopped in my own bathroom, and released it from the tight pants. I used my hand, and the picture of Reagen’s nude body in my head, to bring myself to a quick orgasm. It hurt so good! Only the actual reality of Reagen’s sweet lips on my dick could have felt better.

  Reagen was passed out when I returned with the meds. The doc said to leave her alone. Sleep was the best cure of all. I put the meds, along with a glass of water on the bedside table, and practically ran from the room. Staying would have meant climbing in beside her sleeping form, and touching her in places that were forbidden at the moment.

  Tony, Austin, and Vince already straddled their Harleys by the time I got out of the building. Their eyes locked on mine, asking a question without saying a word. I sighed loudly, and then answered, “She’s not a spy. She’s a victim. Give me some credit for knowing the difference.”

  “No one else sees it that way, Seth. You better be right. One false move, and you’re both out of here,” Tony growled.

  Tony was my friend, but he was also the Prez. He wouldn’t want to choose between the crew and me, yet he would. I would have to come out the loser, because the club was everything to the crew. It was family, job, and shelter all rolled into one.

  We sped down the winding road, and across the city at breakneck speed. We would not miss the two o’clock deadline. Tony hadn’t told us why the Crypt Keepers wanted to talk. He might not know either. However, they had called the meeting in a fairly public place, which meant they weren’t going to ambush us. It would be a peaceful meeting. They might warn us, inform us, or become allies. Whatever they wanted was a necessary evil. We were already surrounded by enemies. A friend would be helpful.

  The lake’s parking lot, which contained a large boat ramp, was completely filled with huge, kick-ass trucks. Each was attached to a boat trailer. It was hard to find the Crypt Keeper crew among the giant trucks. Finally, we spotted them under the shade of a few trees, slightly hidden beneath low branches for privacy. Their placement gave me the shivers. A knife across the belly would be silent. They could drop us with relative ease, then walk away. No one would find us until the boats came in at the end of the day, maybe not even then. The darkness would hide our bodies.

  Tony must have had the same shitty thoughts. He was glaring at the trees, but the damn Crypt Keeper Prez had known we would be fucking nervous, so he stepped out of the trees and held his hands high. The two men with him did the same.

  “Frisk us if you want,” the Prez said. “We left the damn weapons on the bikes. There won’t be a fucking fight today, unless you start it.”

  As a sign of faith, Tony told him, “Put your damn arms down. We’ll forgo the fucking frisking. Let’s get back to the shade, and have a long ass talk. I’m pissed off and overanxious to discover what the hell you called this meeting for.”

  I kept my eyes on the Crypt Keeper’s mates, but listened intently to what their leader had to say.

  “The word on the streets is some bastard put a hit out on you,” he stated, as he probed Tony’s eyes for an answer. “Whether you’ve discovered the fucker responsible or not, I’m here to tell you his identity. It was that rat bastard, The Preacher, your own damn Prez.”

  “Tell me something I don’t already fucking know,” Tony replied.

  “Chill the fuck out, man. I wasn’t sure you’d figured it out, or if you had that you’d damn well believe it. Who expects their fucking leader to shit on them, then put a price on their heads? The asshole has gotten himself into a world of shit. It was a matter of kill or be killed. He fucking wanted to live, so he had to wipe your ass out. With you gone, he figured it would be damn easy to run both the Midnight Saints and the bloody Blue Diablos. He fucking needs money and protection— fast. Taking control of both clubs was his only damn option,” the Crypt Keeper explained.

  “It didn’t fucking work, so now what? Is he gonna be a bigger asshole, and try again?” Tony asked.

  “He won’t have to. Word of the fuck
ing massacre is all over the clubs. He’s spun the story against the Midnight Saints. According to him, you’re the fucking traitors. You tossed his sorry ass out, then lured the Shadow Order to the bar under some shit assed pretext of a treaty. You supposedly fucking ambushed them. The other clubs have taken the bastard’s side, man. We’re the only ones who believe there was a damn double-cross. The fucking bounty is still on your head. We just thought you should know,” the Prez ended.

  “Duly noted. Why did you go against the damn flow?” Tony blurted.

  “The asshole Preacher’s never been as pure as he wanted to seem. There was always something fucked up in him. It showed in his fucking eyes, and came out in his hell and damnation preaching. He lit up every time he mentioned death and destruction, like some bloody ghoul. He gave me the damn creeps. Then, he came too close to my fucking family with his damn drug trade. My cousin overdosed. He survived, but barely. I want the piece of shit taken out, one way or another.”

  “You’ll stand by us, then?” Tony wanted to know.

  “Fucking right. We just have one small issue to hash out. Word is you’re harboring a damn Blue Diablo under your roof. Who the fuck is it? And why would you be that damn stupid?”

  “That’s for Seth to explain,” Tony announced.

  My blood ran cold. Tony was making it damn clear that he wasn’t standing behind me on this situation. He wouldn’t stop the fucking Crypt Keepers from taking me down, or protect Reagen from them. That decision wasn’t exactly personal, but it was for the club’s survival.

  Swallowing the damn lump in my throat, I tried to explain, “It’s not a Diablo. It’s one of their ol’ ladies. She’s not a damn threat. She was looking for fucking sanctuary. Damn it! She barely made it to us. She was beaten to shit, bloody, and broken in ways you don’t even want to know. She has nowhere else to go. That fucking asshole, who calls himself a man, broke her nose, busted her ribs, tore her pussy, and damn near choked her to death. She has scars. A fucking shitload of damn cigarette burn marks are hidden by tattoos. We’re the damn Saints. Aren’t we supposed to defend and protect the damn innocents, especially the women?”

  “You actually fucking believe her story, man? She’s a damn trojan horse. Don’t you get it? She’s spying for her ol’ man.” the Crypt Keepers Prez proclaimed.

  “No, she’s not! She’s hurt too damn bad for this to be some kind of fucking trick. She’s for real. I gave her my protection, and I’ll bloody well suffer the consequences for any mistake I supposedly made, but I didn’t fucking make one,” I shouted.

  The Crypt Keepers stared at me blankly for the longest damn time. My body ached from being so fucking tense, expecting to get my ass kicked at any second. Then, their Prez cracked a smile from ear to ear. What the hell?

  “She’s got you by the fucking balls, doesn’t she? So, she’s not a trojan horse, she’s a damn Helen of Troy. You’d go to hell for her. What a fucking riot! You may find yourself doing exactly that, you fucking fool. We’ll let that shit pass for now. Just know, if this shit gets fucked up, we’ll be coming for her and you. Got it?”

  Yeah, I fucking got it. I was on my own and no one else would do shit to fucking help me if I had made a damn mistake. If Reagen was a liar, then we would both die, and our deaths wouldn’t be quick or easy.

  Chapter 9

  Reagen

  The woman Seth referred to as Mom checked on me several times during the afternoon. I pretended to be sleeping because I didn’t want to answer any damn questions. She had softened her fucked up attitude toward me since she saw my scars, but I knew she wanted to question my damn loyalties to Jacob and his shitty assed crew. I couldn’t provide her with more proof of my damn hatred, or explain what had finally sent me packing. She’d fucking cuss me out for not having the damn balls to leave his ass sooner, and she’d be damn right. I should have gotten the hell out of there a long time ago. Better yet, I shouldn’t have fucking gone with the bastard in the first place.

  Where was Seth? He would let the damn questions stay unanswered. He would fucking coddle me like I wanted. I needed him. I wanted his sweet, full, juicy lips to kiss me every fucking where. I wanted to caress his damn muscular chest and explore the stiff fucking machine I saw outlined in his tight pants. Being screwed by Seth would wipe away that bastard Jacob’s marks on my body and soul. I didn’t know why I believed that, but deep down, I knew it was the fucking truth.

  Finally, I couldn’t take the damn quiet and isolation any longer. When Mom returned, I sat up and dared to ask, “Where the hell is Seth? Is he fucking avoiding me?”

  “He damn well should be after you tried your bitch tactics to fucking catch him as a mate. I warned the fool, but he was too stupid to fucking listen to reason. Thank the Lord, he saw through your shitty plan, and didn’t take the damn bait you were wiggling in front of him.”

  She had thoroughly pissed me off with that damn uncalled for tirade. I was embarrassed enough by my fucking try to enslave Seth. It was a shitty thing to do, and one I wouldn’t repeat.

  “You didn’t answer the damn question, old woman. Is he fucking avoiding me? I want, no, I need to apologize for my fucking stupidity,” I snarled at her.

  “It’s about damn time you got some fucking sense. You can’t talk to him now, though. He ain’t fucking here. He had club business to attend to, and that takes a higher position than a damn rival club’s whore.”

  “Do you really hate me that fucking much, old woman? I don’t think you do. I saw compassion in your eyes when you helped me shower. What the fuck is your damn problem?” I questioned.

  “What you saw was pity, not fucking compassion. It’s a damn pity you were so fucking stupid that you stayed with that fucker for so long. It’s pitiful that you left with the lying asshole at all. We offered you sanctuary, but you were a stupid ass bitch and told us to go to hell. Do you remember that, girl? You turned your back on your club, and fucking betrayed it,” Mom raved.

  I gasped at her accusation. I don’t fucking remember her face, but she must have been there when I refused to take the offer of sanctuary. She saw me as a fucking betrayer. I desperately wanted to show her how fucking wrong she was. I wanted to have her as an ally. I fucking loved her shitty attitude, and her ability to say exactly what she was feeling. I knew she had a good heart beneath all that cussing and anger-filled sarcasm. I wanted the privilege of calling her Mom, just like Seth. I didn’t have a damn mother anymore. I never really had one in the first place. Mine was a real whore, bringing her cheap-ass fucks into our shack every damn day to screw her skinny ass for pennies. She would have offered me up to the assholes sooner or later if it brought her a damn dime. Instead, she fucking overdosed and left a twelve-year-old alone to follow her example of stupidity.

  At least I didn’t roam the fucking streets and sell myself to strangers. I settled in as a motorcycle club whore at the ripe old age of fourteen, after I had run from my filthy shithole of a foster home. I was passed around until Jacob took me on exclusively at seventeen. Now, I was twenty. I’d stayed with the asshole for three fucking years, and had the scars to prove it. Who was my father? Who the hell knows? Any of my mother’s fucking lovers could have been him. It didn’t matter, and I no longer fucking cared.

  “I didn’t betray anyone,” I tried to explain. “I wasn’t even a damn member of this fucking club back then. I wasn’t Jacob’s ol’ lady, just a shitty whore who he kept around to torment. I was too fucking scared of him to defy his orders and too stupid to know other men would treat me better. I thought all the fucking bikers were the same. Jacob’s anger and torture got worse, and he hid me away half the time, but I saw other ol’ ladies, and they loved their fucking men. They didn’t have cigarette burns or scars from knife cuts all over them. They didn’t have to cover bald spots where their fucking hair had been ripped out. Jacob swore it was all my fucking fault. The others behaved, but I was a damn, fucking pain in the ass. I needed discipline. I was a worthless piece of shit, and only he woul
d be foolish enough to keep me.”

  “What a fucking crock of elephant dung! Where was your damn self-worth? Once you saw there were better pickings out there, you should have killed the bastard. You almost waited too fucking long to get out. Then, you didn’t fucking kill him. Now, he’ll come searching for your sorry ass, and Seth will get caught in the middle. You’ve put a fucking gun to his head.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” I sobbed. “I didn’t know where else to go. No one out there gave a damn shit about me. It wasn’t my fucking fault Seth was the one who came to the door. It could have turned out different. One of the others could have answered and shot my ass immediately. Maybe that would have been better. I don’t know why Seth took a fucking shine to me, but I swear on my fucking sorry life, I will do my damnedest to keep him from getting hurt. I’m not the damn enemy,” I begged her to understand.

  Her steely-eyed stare softened just a little. “Fine,” she said. “I wasn’t exactly a fucking Mother Teresa before I found Dan. I did some shit I’m not proud of. Youth and mistakes go together like bikers and hard-ons. Just don’t forget, you’re on probation. If you fuck up, I’ll shoot you myself.”

  “You’ll shoot her for fucking up what?” Seth asked from the doorway.

  “Your sorry ass,” Mom announced as she left.

  “Gotta love that old bitch,” Seth laughed, walking nearer.

  “She still hates me, but not as much as yesterday, I think,” I told him. “It’s possible I’m growing on her.”

  Seth’s smile lit up the room. He had perfect fucking teeth, and dimples so deep you could dive into them. I wanted to stick my damn, watering tongue in each one.

  “How are you feeling? Is the ibuprofen enough, or do I need to call the damn doc?” he asked.

  “I’ll tolerate what’s left of the pain. I didn’t like being fucked up on meds. I prefer knowing what’s going on around me. I hate surprises or waking up to hear arguments about myself. Thanks again for defending my ass. I damn well didn’t deserve it. I shouldn’t have come here and endangered all of you.”