Merry Blissmas (Biker Bitches #3)

by Jamie Begley

  She had to clear her throat a couple of times to force the strangled greeting out.

  “Hi, Stark.”

  Chapter 11

  “You’re burning yourself!” Ginny jumped up from the couch where she had been sitting next to the biker Bliss had hoped never to see again. She took two of the cups, gingerly handing one to Stark then setting hers on the end table. “I’ll get some paper towels and an ice pack for your hand.”

  Bliss didn’t try to stop her.

  Moving farther into the room, she sat down on the chair across from the couch, setting her mug on the coffee table.

  “Why are you here?”

  “To see you, of course. I heard you’re not with The Last Riders anymore. That true?”

  Bliss wildly thought about lying for a brief second, but she knew he wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t already sure of his facts. “Yes.”

  She wanted to scream. She was nailing her own coffin closed.

  The grin on his smug face confirmed the fears churning in her stomach.

  Before either of them could say anything else, Ginny came back into the room, handing her some ice.

  Bliss carefully wiped her sticky hand off before placing the ice pack on the angry red burn.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” Bliss lied. She needed to get Ginny out of the room before Stark showed his true colors. “If you’re still in the mood, do you mind running to the diner and picking up some burgers?”

  “All right. Would you like me to get you one, Stark?”

  “No!” Bliss forced herself to calm her panicked voice. The last thing she wanted was to alert Ginny that something was wrong, or Stark wouldn’t let her leave. “He told me he can’t stay long.”

  “That’s a shame. He told me while you were in the kitchen that you’re old friends.”

  Bliss wouldn’t call what she and Stark had shared a friendship.

  “I’ll be right back,” she promised, picking up her purse.

  “Take your time.” Bliss gave her the only warning she could without making it obvious.

  Stark coldly watched the two of them with calculating eyes, and she tensed. If he so much as made a move to try to stop Ginny, she would throw the mug of cocoa at him, giving the other woman enough time to hopefully get out the door.

  He sat still, a smirk on his mouth as if he could read her mind.

  She didn’t break eye contact with him until she heard the door close behind Ginny.

  “You afraid I’ll hurt her?”

  “I know you would.”

  He shook his head at her. “You’re still the same stupid bitch you always were. You should know I do my homework better than that. She works for The Last Riders. Best friends with Lucky’s wife.”

  He had done his homework. The only thing that had kept her safe from the Devil’s Rejects had been their fear of The Last Riders. Ginny fell under the protection of the club, while hers had been withdrawn. She was a sitting duck.

  She should have run as soon as the club had thrown her out; however, she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of being away from them without even the possibility of catching glimpses of them. She had also hoped she had been with The Last Riders long enough that Stark would have lost interest and quit checking up on her. That weakness was going to cost her the very freedom she had gained when The Last Riders had helped her escape from Stark in the first place.

  “What do you want?”

  “What do you think? I’m going to make it a no-brainer for you. I’ll give you five minutes to grab what you want to take with you. If that sexy bitch comes back before we’re out of here, both of you will be leaving with me.”

  Bliss didn’t doubt him for a second. She was sure he wouldn’t have shown up at her front door without backup waiting outside.

  To Stark, she was a possession, like his boots and bike. He had told her one time, when she had come to after one of his chokeholds, that she would never get away from him.

  “If you die, bitch, I’ll burn your fucking body and keep your ashes on my bedside table. When I die, the brothers will bury your ashes with me. You’ve been mine since you were fifteen, and you’ll fucking die that way.”

  Bliss stood, going to the steps. She wouldn’t take a chance with Ginny’s safety. Hell was waiting for the young woman if Bliss didn’t follow his order.

  Her foot was on the first step when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was one of Stark’s men, she answered the door to find Drake on the doorstep.

  Bliss paled. Her nightmare had just become worse, if that was possible.

  Using her body to shield Stark from Drake’s view, she held the door with a death grip to prevent him from entering.

  “I thought I would stop by and see if you wanted to watch a movie.”

  “Not tonight. I’m kind of busy.”

  “Doing what?”

  Bliss’s mind went blank, and she became angry that her life was such an empty shell that it was going to get Drake killed. She tried a different tactic.

  “I have company. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, knowing Stark was going to make sure she never stepped foot back in Treepoint again.

  “Who?” Drake’s expression didn’t change; it was just as affable as when she had answered the door.

  Bliss heard Stark coming up behind her, and then the door was jerked from her grasp.

  “Me, motherfucker. You need to step away while you still have the chance before me and my friends stomp the living shit out of you.”

  Bliss pressed a hand to Stark’s chest. “It’s okay, Stark. Drake is leaving.” She turned pleadingly to Drake. “You better go.”

  Before she could blink, Drake shoved her back into the house, and Stark was thrust against the door with a gun pressed to the side of his head.

  Bliss stood, openmouthed, as two bikers jumped off their motorcycles and ran forward. Drake didn’t take his eyes off Stark.

  “You better call them off before Bliss has to have her door repainted, because no soap and water is going to wash away the brains I’m about to splatter all over it.”

  “Get back, Cracker, Whip. Go back to the bikes.”

  Bliss watched as the dangerous bikers pulled up short then began backing away when they saw a gun pressed to their leader’s skull.

  “They leave?” Drake snapped out.

  “Yes, they went back to their bikes.”

  “Call Knox and tell him to get his ass over here.”

  “I don’t have to. He’s pulling into the driveway.” Bliss wrapped her arms around her stomach, shivering from the cold air coming through the open door.

  “Ginny must have called him after she called me.” Drake was pressing the gun against Stark’s head so hard the ruddy flesh was becoming white.

  Her roommate hadn’t been as clueless as Bliss had believed.

  “You have a permit for that gun, Drake?” The stony face of the largest Last Rider, serving as sheriff, didn’t betray the many intimate moments they had shared.

  “I’ve had my concealed and carry since it became legal.” Drake didn’t move the gun away from Stark, holding it steady as Knox drew closer. His deputies surrounded the group of men sitting on their motorcycles.

  “Put it away. You might have a license to carry it, but that doesn’t mean you know how to use it.”

  “I know how to use it better than any of those deputies standing over there with their hands in their pockets.”

  “They don’t need to pull their guns on them. The only one posing a threat right now is you.”

  Drake moved the gun away from Stark, placing it back in his waistband.

  “You don’t keep it in a holster?”

  “No, the second it takes you to pull it free gives who you’re aiming for another second of breath.”

  “Holsters keep you from blowing your dick off.”

  “My gun doesn’t go off by mistake,” Drake promised as Stark straightened from the door, throwing him a venomous glare.

  �
��Want to tell me why you were aiming it at Stark?”

  “You know this piece of shit?” Drake gave Knox an incredulous look.

  “Unfortunately,” Knox admitted, casually placing his body between the two men.

  “I want him put in jail for attacking me!” Stark yelled.

  Bliss would have laughed at the look Drake was giving Stark, which was the same one he had given Knox, but she didn’t think he would find the humor in the situation.

  Drake raised his gun at Stark again, but Knox reached out, making him lower it again.

  “You attack him, Drake?”

  “Yes, he’s trespassing,” Drake ground out, glaring at Stark as if he was still thinking of shooting him.

  “I was invited inside,” Stark snarled.

  “That true, Bliss?” Knox questioned.

  Bliss found herself the focus of the men. Drake’s concern was obvious, while Knox was impassive, waiting for her answer. Stark was threatening, giving her a silent warning to watch her choice of words.

  “No. He told Ginny we were old friends, and she let him inside.”

  “We are friends.”

  “We were never friends, Stark.” Forcing her gaze to remain on Knox, she felt the menace coming off Stark in waves. “He was trying to make me leave with him, and he threatened Ginny’s freedom.” Bliss hoped Stark’s threat toward Ginny would rouse Knox to make sure she was safe from the biker lowlife. Knox would make no effort to protect her. However, if he saw to it that The Last Riders took care of Stark to ensure Ginny’s safety, then it assured hers, as well.

  “You didn’t want to go with him?”

  “No, I didn’t want to go with him,” Bliss snapped, her hands clenched at her sides. Knox knew damn well what life would hold for her if Stark had her in his possession again.

  She forced back the hurt feelings of his uncaring attitude. They’d had sex more times than she could remember before he had married Diamond. Her loyalty to the men had been unquestionable—it was the women they had chosen that she couldn’t accept. She would have died rather than betray any of The Last Riders, yet Knox was standing there as if he couldn’t have cared less that Stark would have made her life a living hell.

  The hurt feelings were useless and weak. She wasn’t the same woman the Devil’s Rejects had kept under their control. It was time Stark realized she wasn’t going to be his victim any longer.

  “I want him arrested.”

  “What for?”

  “Attempted kidnapping.”

  Knox motioned to his deputy to come and take Stark. When the deputy had placed the biker in the back of Knox’s squad car, he turned back to her.

  “I already planned on arresting him, but the charge isn’t going to hold long. When it goes to court, both of us know what’s going to come out of his mouth. It’s going to be your word against his. Did he threaten you and Ginny in front of her or Drake?”

  “No,” Bliss reluctantly admitted.

  Drake placed a supportive arm around her shoulder.

  “Come to my office in the morning and get a restraining order. You’ll stand a better chance of that succeeding.”

  “Okay.”

  Knox took her and Drake’s statements. Ginny came back and described what had taken place, learning the details of what had happened after she had left.

  “I’m so angry at myself. I shouldn’t have opened the door. I know better than that. I could have been responsible for you being kidnapped.”

  Bliss shook her head, not wanting Ginny to feel responsible. “If you hadn’t let him in, he would have caught me when I was leaving or just broken in after we were both asleep. You called Drake and the police. You saved me, Ginny.” Bliss gave her hand a grateful squeeze.

  Knox didn’t take long to finish his report. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Good night.” Bliss had started to close the door behind him as Ginny went into the kitchen to make coffee when Knox turned back around.

  “You know a restraining order isn’t going to stop him. It’s going to make him angrier,” he warned. “I want you to get the order, don’t get me wrong, but a smart woman would make damn sure she knew what she was going to do if Stark decides he wants to break it. Buy yourself a gun or borrow Drake’s. Hell, move in with Drake. Do what you have to do to keep yourself safe.”

  “I’ll be gone before he makes bail.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” Drake wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him. “’Night, Knox.”

  “’Night, Bliss, Drake.”

  Bliss couldn’t bring herself to face Drake, standing still in his arms as he leaned forward to shut the door. She was ashamed that he’d found out she had once been involved with Stark.

  “You okay?”

  “Hold me tighter.”

  His arms tightened around her waist, surrounding her in his warmth.

  Neither turned when Ginny came back in the room.

  “I set your coffee cups on the side table. I’ll leave you alone to talk.”

  “Thank you again, Ginny.”

  Her soft “You’re welcome” floated down the stairs.

  “You’re not leaving town,” Drake declared.

  Bliss stared sightlessly at the door. She wasn’t about to let her past destroy a man she had begun to care about. Not only could Drake get hurt, but Stark was dirty enough not to care who else was harmed in the process. Jace, Cal, and Ginny would mean nothing to Stark. He wouldn’t hesitate to use them to keep Drake in line.

  “I can’t stay. I couldn’t bear it if you were hurt. You’re not capable of dealing with Stark and his club. The Devil’s Rejects aren’t like The Last Riders. They’re evil, and I’m certainly not worth getting someone killed over.”

  “Don’t say that!”

  “It’s the truth.” Bliss gave a bitter laugh. “I’m a club whore. I’ve fucked every member of the Devil’s Rejects and The Last Riders. There hasn’t been anything or anyone I haven’t done. Is that the kind of woman you want in your life? Around your son?”

  Drake buried his mouth in her nape. “Jace cares about you, Bliss. I do, too.”

  Bliss reinforced the guards she had placed on her heart years before. “There’s no pussy worth dying for. I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

  “Stop before I spank your ass for talking about yourself like that! Stark won’t hurt you or anyone else. I’ll make sure of that.”

  “Stark doesn’t play fair. He thinks I’m his. My mother was a club whore Stark used to control me. He raped me when I was fifteen and was sharing me by the time I was seventeen. I can’t have children because they used me so hard one night that I spent a week in the hospital. I couldn’t press charges or leave, because my mom refused to go with me, and I wasn’t going to leave her behind.

  “After she died, I tried to leave twice. Both times, he almost killed me. I stopped trying to leave when my brothers came looking for me. Stark let them leave alive, but he told me that if they came back he would kill them. He gave me his word he would leave them alone if they stayed away.

  “I called them on the phone they gave me and told them I wasn’t interested in getting the family back together.” Bliss gave a bitter smile. “I could tell they were relieved. I didn’t look my best when they came in, could see they were disgusted. They thought I was just like our mother. And I was by that time. I didn’t care who or how I did the men in the club. I was just trying to survive one day after another.

  “You want to know something weird?” she continued.

  “What?” Drake croaked out.

  “I don’t know why I tried so hard to survive. I thought I deserved everything they did to me because I must have been bad. I hadn’t taken good enough care of my mother, couldn’t make her love me more than the drugs, hadn’t been smart in school.

  “If I made it through the day without getting smacked around, I thought it was a good day. The nights were the worst, though. That’s when I had to sleep with that disgust
ing bastard. He’s evil. The club used to joke that Stark always escaped being killed because the devil didn’t even want him.

  “I would still be there if it wasn’t for The Last Riders. The Devil’s Rejects bit off more than they could chew when they started a war with them. They stole some of the men’s bikes and a woman member when the club was out on a ride. Viper retaliated by striking back at their clubhouse. The difference was The Last Riders attacked while the club was there.

  “I still remember that night. I watched as every man in the club was killed or hurt badly enough to wish he was dead. The only reason Stark lived was because Viper wanted to humiliate him for not being a strong enough leader to protect his men.

  “Viper offered the women a place with The Last Riders if they wanted to leave. Five of us chose to go. Viper helped us back on our feet. None of us had willingly wanted to be with the Devil’s Rejects. Three of them found jobs and moved on. A fourth ended up marrying one of Viper’s men, and they left the club.”

  “You stayed.”

  “I stayed. I knew Stark would find me—he had before. Viper offered to help me find a place, to help me find my brothers.” Bliss’s eyes darkened in pain. “Viper found out Stark hadn’t kept his word to me. He had killed them a month after I had called them. He wanted to make sure I wouldn’t try to run to them.

  “Stark was never a man of his word, but Viper was. He asked me if I wanted him to find me another place to live, but I told him no. I liked The Last Riders. I felt safe. I wasn’t ready to give that up.

  “He wouldn’t let the men touch me for a year, said I needed time to get my head on straight and figure out what I wanted.”

  “Which was?”

  “To be one of them. They’re loyal and fierce, Drake. They would die to protect each other. I wanted that for myself.”

  “Bliss…”

  “A woman can become a member by fucking or making six out of the eight original members come. One night, I walked up to Rider and sucked his dick off in front of Train. They were my first two votes.”