Shade

by Jamie Begley

  “She matters.” That time, it was Razer who spoke.

  “Not enough,” another bitch gave her unwanted opinion. “But I have a question I need answered.” Turning to Beth, she asked, “The one with all the tats, he do anything to hurt you? Because my fingers are dying to see how far down those tats go.”

  Shade just stood there, ignoring the woman while keeping his expression bland. He didn’t want that crazy-looking bitch anywhere near his dick.

  He was startled at Beth’s defense of him.

  “No, he is the best of the bunch. Never saw him laying a hand on the women. Never drunk, didn’t see him at the parties. I have no problem with Shade.”

  Shade’s eyes narrowed on Beth when she gave him a saccharine smile. She had told him she would pay him back for stopping her from leaving the house that day. It had taken a while, but she had gotten her revenge.

  The Last Riders’ mouths dropped open. Even though they knew she was throwing Shade under the bus, they could tell she believed what she had said.

  Natasha couldn’t prevent the laughter bubbling from her throat, and the other women from the club started laughing, too. “Are you serious? He’s the wor—”

  “Shut up,” Shade said, his tone promising retribution if one woman spoke another word.

  “Damn, you had to go and blow it, telling her to shut up. Don’t let him talk to you that way, bitch. Still, if you fuck as good as you look, I could always tape your mouth shut.” If anyone was going to be taped, it would be her.

  Shade was about to break his silence and tell her she couldn’t handle the way he liked to fuck. Her ass would be bright red when he finished with her.

  “You aren’t going to be touching nothing of his, bitch. Get on the back of my bike; we are leaving!” a biker behind Ace yelled.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you, Joker. We’re going to Beth’s house after we get done here. Sex Piston is going to cut her hair.”

  Shade studied the bitches at the table, easily guessing which one was named Sex Piston.

  “No, she’s not,” Razer and Beth spoke at the same time.

  Throwing a dirty look at Razer, she told her friends, “I was going to make an appointment next week, remember?”

  “I’m going to save you the trip,” Sex Piston said, slamming her drink down on the table, which caused what little was left to slosh over the side of the glass.

  “She’s going home with me. You’re not touching her hair,” Razer warned.

  “I’m not going home with you,” Beth argued.

  “Yes, you are,” Razer said between gritted teeth.

  “No, I am not.”

  “Beth is not going anywhere with you.” The crazy-looking one put her arm across the back of Beth’s chair while the rest of the biker bitches also scooted their chairs closer to Beth.

  “Back off,” Evie cautioned.

  “Listen to the bitch,” the crazy bitch taunted the men.

  “I was talking to you,” Evie said, stepping closer to the woman who was practically sitting on Beth’s lap.

  “Evie.” Natasha tried to pull Evie back.

  “Who are you?” Sex Piston asked.

  “Natasha.”

  “What kind of name is that?”

  “I haven’t really been given a nickname yet.”

  “You the new member Viper fucked a couple of weeks ago, and you let Beth think it was Razer?”

  Natasha flushed, letting Evie’s arm go. “Viper didn’t want anyone to know he was in town.”

  “Instead, it was easier to stick a knife in Beth’s back. I can think of several names for you, but first there is something I wanna know, been wondering ever since they walked in the door. He fuck as good as he looks?” She pointed to Viper.

  Natasha laughed. “Better.”

  “Damn.”

  “It don’t matter how he fucks; none of you bitches are going to find out. Hell, he’s keeping his own clubhouse of pussy warm; he’s not getting mine. Now get on the fucking bikes!” Ace’s face turned a mottled red.

  It was The Last Riders looking at the other club in sympathy as the women just sat at the table, ignoring the men, which finally pushed Ace over the edge.

  “That’s it.” Ace moved forward to grab Sex Piston, who threw her glass at him. When he dodged it, he accidently shoved Knox, who shoved back. Taking it as an aggressive move, one of Ace’s men punched Knox. From there, the shit hit the fan.

  The two clubs began fighting, taking their frustration with the women out on each other. Beth was almost thrown out of her chair when Evie ripped Crazy Bitch’s arm off her, and the two women began fighting.

  Shade knocked one biker back as he swung at him, seeing Beth jump up when Sex Piston grabbed Natasha by the hair and slammed her face on the table.

  “Which of these bitches is Bliss? I’m going to take care of her tonight, too,” Shade heard Sex Piston ask.

  Shade wondered why they were interested in Bliss.

  “Lucky bitch. I’ll have to deal with her later, then.”

  He would have to warn Bliss to stay close to the clubhouse. She would be no match against those thugs disguised as women.

  When Ace came at him with a vengeful look, Shade snapped out his boot, kicking him in the balls and bringing the asshole to his knees. Cash was fighting off a couple of bikers, so Shade headed toward him when he saw Viper trying to get Winter and her friends out the door. Shade moved forward to help, leaving Cash to deal on his own. One of the women was almost pushed down by a Destructor, but Shade managed to catch her in time, guiding them to the door.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” Viper ordered Winter.

  “We’re trying to.”

  Viper was on one side of the women while he was on the other. His attention on pushing the other women out the door, Shade didn’t have time to react when two of the other bikers he had fought at the gas station came at him. Joker slammed a drink tray into his face.

  Shade didn’t know which was more aggravating: the Destructors’ bitches or the brothers who were trying to beat him to a pulp. As he blocked the doorway, preventing the fight from spilling into the parking lot to give Razer time to leave with Beth, who was thrown over his shoulder, the sound of sirens started coming from the other side of the door.

  Shade ducked when a bottle of whiskey came flying toward him, crashing against the door. That pissed him off. Barreling forward, he took down three Destructors, pummeling them and not giving them time to regain their senses with him on top of their prone bodies.

  “Ace, get him off me!”

  The one who yelled got his fist, and Shade felt the skin on his knuckles split.

  “Stop, Shade.”

  He ignored the hands trying to tear him away. It took two sets for him to realize one was his father.

  “Arrest them all.” The sheriff glared at Shade as he yelled his command to his deputies.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Shade yelled. “They fucking started it!”

  “I Do. Not. Care!” The sheriff turned to grab Ace by the collar who was trying to resist arrest by his deputy.

  “Every last one of you are spending the night in jail!” While he handcuffed Ace then threw him through the doorway to his deputies, Shade saw Viper being handcuffed by another officer.

  “You’re not putting cuffs on me,” Shade said between gritted teeth.

  The sheriff wasn’t in the least fazed by Shade’s anger. “Then you better get your ass in the backseat of my squad car.”

  Shade knew when he was beaten. He couldn’t argue with his father in front of the others.

  “I’m going.”

  Razer is going to owe me big-time for this, Shade thought as he strode angrily out of the bar, going to the sheriff’s car.

  “Slide the fuck over,” Shade told Viper who scooted over to let him in. “This was a fucking mistake,” he told his president. “We should have waited until they came out and took care of them in the parking lot.”

 
Viper looked as bad as he did. His lip was split, and blood was oozing out of his nose.

  “Your nose is broken,” Shade said, leaning back carefully against the seat.

  “No shit, Sherlock.”

  * * *

  Shade limped through the club room, following the rest of The Last Riders to the kitchen where the women were already pulling out the contents of the freezer and handing them out for everyone to use.

  “Give me the ice,” Evie snarled at Natasha, who hastily handed it to her. “Were those bitches even fucking women?” she asked Shade.

  “Don’t know. Don’t want to know.”

  Evie dumped the ice tray into a bowl, wincing as she climbed onto a stool. Gingerly, she lowered her swollen hands into the ice. Jewell took the remaining ice, Shade didn’t object. The women had faced the deadlier adversaries.

  Dawn and Ember began trying to clean everyone up, and Viper’s harsh obscenities had Shade’s brow going up.

  “It hurts like a mother fucker. If the sheriff had let me go to the hospital, it would have already been set,” Viper excused himself.

  “He might have let you go if you hadn’t thrown his deputy on the floor when he took off the handcuffs,” Shade reminded him, handing him one of the raw steaks he found in the freezer, keeping the other for himself and leaving the frozen vegetables for the rest of the brothers to use as ice packs.

  Bliss came into the room with ibuprofen, passing the useless painkillers around. The beer she was handing out with it would do more good.

  Beth and Razer opened the kitchen door, coming inside to survey the damage that had been left in their wake. Shade saw the content look on the brother’s face and knew they had made up. He grunted at that. At least one of the brothers will be getting some; the rest of us will be too sore to fuck for a month…make that a week, Shade thought resentfully.

  “I think we better order some pizza,” Beth told Razer.

  “Did the Destructors look as bad?” Razer asked.

  “The men did,” Viper said, taking a beer from Bliss.

  “The women?” Beth asked hesitantly, twisting her hands together.

  “We don’t know. They were sitting at the bar drinking when the sheriff and his men arrested us,” Shade said, glaring at Beth.

  “You were taken to jail?” Razer asked in surprise, staring at Viper.

  “We all were. Held us until bond was posted an hour ago. Tried to call you, but you weren’t answering,” Shade stated through gritted teeth.

  “Figured you were kind of busy,” Evie said with a hesitant smile.

  “Where was Bliss?”

  “We didn’t call her. Beth’s new BFFs were waiting outside the sheriff’s office to jump her,” Shade said in a voice promising retribution.

  “Sheriff thought it would be better for everyone’s safety if she stayed here,” Viper cut in.

  “She could have relayed the message to me.”

  “They wanted you, too. Those bitches weren’t very happy with the way you packed Beth out of The Pink Slipper.”

  “Why didn’t the sheriff just arrest them?”

  “He did. He put us in one and the Destructors in the other.”

  “So who posted bail?”

  “An impartial party.”

  “An impartial party? Who?”

  “Pastor Dean. The sheriff figured they wouldn’t attack a man of the cloth.” Shade took another beer from Bliss with a shaking hand. “The crazy one asked for his number.”

  “Crazy Bitch?” Beth asked, pleased.

  The bottle Shade was lifting to his busted mouth froze. “That her name?”

  “Yes.” Beth nodded.

  “And you made frien—”

  Razer cut him off. “Don’t go there; you won’t like the answer.”

  Shade took a long drink of his beer before putting the bottle down carefully on the counter with a still shaking hand. All eyes were on him, tensely waiting, except Beth who was handing Train a paper towel to wipe the blood away from his dripping nose.

  “I am going to bed.”

  Beth nodded. “I’m sure you’ll feel much better after getting some sleep.”

  Shade’s lips tightened into a thin line. Limping slowly to the doorway, he stopped by Beth, who looked up from holding pressure to Train’s nose. Razer, Cash, and Knox shifted unobtrusively closer to Beth.

  “Is your sister like you?” Shade asked.

  “No, we’re the complete opposite of each other.”

  Thank God! Beth had managed to ignite a free-for-all between biker clubs, and those bitches weren’t done with them yet. They had threatened them all the way to their motorcycles.

  “Good.” He continued to the doorway. He needed a shower.

  “Everyone always assumed I was the troublemaker, but I was the one always having to get Lily out of some trouble she managed to get herself involved in before she went to college. Actually, her being away is giving me a break. Of course, I would never admit that to her.”

  Shade’s shoulders slumped. Stopping by the counter full of liquor bottles that were used to restock the bar, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey before leaving, his mind on car accidents, red panties, and long, black hair.

  Chapter 13

  Four Months Later…

  Shade held his phone to his ear, listening to the ringing on the other end.

  “Hey, bro, what’s up?”

  “Why does anything have to be up for me to call? Can’t I call and check on my little sister?” Shade tried to insert warmth into his voice. His relationship with his younger half-sister was as close to normal as he was going to get.

  A snort sounded through the line. Clearly, he hadn’t fooled her.

  “How is school?”

  “Good. Would have been better if Mom and Dad would actually let me go without having to live at home.” Penni hadn’t been able to come up with a valid argument for leaving home when they lived within a few miles of the University of Ohio.

  “I could help convince them to let you go to an out of state college.”

  “What’s the catch?” Suspicion laced her voice.

  “It has to be the college of my choice.”

  “What’s the name?” Penni asked excitedly.

  “Breckinridge College.”

  “Don’t recognize the name. Let me check it out on the web. Hang on.”

  Before he could protest, the phone was set down. It didn’t take long before she came back on the line.

  “No, thanks.” All excitement was gone from her voice.

  “Come on, give it a chance.”

  “No.”

  His snort could be heard over the line this time. “What will it take?”

  “A car, a generous allowance, and a vacation of my choice every summer.” Damn, the little vixen knew he could afford it, too.

  “Okay. Do the paperwork. I’ll talk to the parents.”

  “That’s not all.”

  “Penni…” he warned.

  “A reason?”

  He stared across the church yard at Lily as she filled her plate with food. She was the only reason he had come to the lame Fourth of July picnic.

  “Someone needs a friend.”

  “Deal.”

  Shade hung up the phone as Beth and Lily approached the picnic table he was sitting at, waiting for everyone to return from the buffet.

  “Where’s Razer?” Beth asked.

  “Getting the drinks.”

  As the two women sat down on one side of the table with filled plates, Lily didn’t look any happier than before she had left the picnic table. She had spent the last hour trying unsuccessfully to convince Beth to let her switch colleges.

  Razer set drinks in front of everyone before sitting down next to Beth, who promptly gave him her shoulder. Shade wondered why the blond was giving Razer a hard time now.

  “How long you going to stay mad?” he asked, picking up his hamburger.

  “At least past that date you had tatted on your razor knife.”
/>
  “Still can’t understand why you’re so mad. I thought it would make you happy,” Razer said in his own defense.

  “Most women get engaged with a romantic dinner and a ring, not the guy pointing to a tattoo then saying ‘let’s do it’.”

  “No sense in putting it off with a bun in the oven.” Razer shrugged.

  Shade almost burst out laughing when she nearly choked on her hamburger.

  “I am not pregnant,” she told Lily, who was unable to hold back her own amusement.

  “You will be if we miss that date,” Razer threatened. “Take a drink before you choke to death.”

  Beth reached inside her paper cup, pulling out a diamond ring.

  Razer took it from her, sliding it on her finger, then kissed her until Lily turned red watching the couple.

  “Is this romantic enough?” Razer asked, brushing the tears off Beth’s cheek.

  “It’s perfect.”

  “I’m so happy for you both!” Lily jumped up from the picnic table, giving them both hugs from behind as the brothers behind them began cheering. Shade nearly crushed his own cup in his hand as he watched Lily’s breasts press against Razer’s back when she hugged him. Lily was so happy she didn’t notice Shade giving Razer a warning look.

  Razer hastily stood up, moving to shake the brothers’ hands while Shade couldn’t prevent the jealousy storming through him. His hand trembled with fury at the sight of Lily gradually opening up with Razer, spending time with him when she visited from college on the weekends. He wanted her to grow closer to him, not Razer. On the other hand, he had no desire to develop the brotherly bond Razer was forming.

  Shade tried to look interested when Beth flashed her ring to the others standing around, using the opportunity to stand closer to Lily and smell the soft fragrance she used.

  Lily glanced up at him warily before gripping her sister’s arm. “I’m going to go help Winter with the kids.”

  “Okay,” Beth told her happily.

  Shade watched her skitter away like a doe sensing danger. He stood with the brothers, keeping her within eyesight as she began playing freeze tag with the children. She stopped suddenly when she saw a young couple arrive with twin boys.

  “I’m going to go fix some more punch. It’s beginning to get low,” Beth commented.