Arsen

by Kathryn Thomas

  Fletch opened the door and stepped in. “You okay?”

  “Do I fucking look okay?” Colt snarled. “You didn’t do shit in there to back me up, so why do you care?”

  Fletch grimaced. “Couldn’t do it man. You know the rules, and we agreed to play by the rules until we were ready to move. If we’d come out in support of you then we would have been on everyone’s radar. You know that. Do you really want to risk it all over Sierra? You shouldn’t have brought her into this. Not now.”

  Colt burned. Fletcher was right. He usually was. “Fuck!” Colt snarled again, throwing the bottle cap hard into the side of the trailer. “I have to go get her out of there.”

  “No. Don’t do that. The women are helping to get her settled in. One of them will be with her all night. Gunner, Nic, Harrison and I are going to take turns sitting up in the next room. We’re not going to interfere unless it gets out of hand, but we’ll keep her safe.”

  “This is so fucked!”

  Fletcher stepped forward and put his hand on Colt’s shoulder. “I know, but we’re close. Don’t fuck it up now.”

  “I think it’s time to move.”

  “Now?”

  “Yeah. Sometime in the next couple of days. Sierra built some bridges today, generated some support from the lower ranks. We can use that. Then all we have to worry about are the hardcores in the middle. The Skyes, Monicas and Doms. We’ve always known we probably wouldn’t be able to turn them, but I think this may be our best chance to score some support from the lower ranks. What do you think?”

  Fletcher thought it over. “You could be right, but we need to bring everyone up to speed before you go off half-cocked. You’re pissed off right now, and that’s never good for decision-making.”

  Colt stared at Fletch, trying to reel in his anger. Finally, he turned and pulled another beer out of the refrigerator and offered it to Fletch. “I know. You’re right. It’s that goddamn Paul! He pisses me off like nobody else with his stupid little games. I can’t believe we haven’t been able to toss his ass out before now.”

  “It’s because some of the club like it just like it is. Drugs, sex, and rock and roll, baby.”

  Colt snorted and took another pull on his beer. “Well… that shit is about to change.”

  Bobbi opened the door to the sparse room and stepped aside as Sierra entered. Like the rest of the walls inside the clubhouse, the walls of the room extended up about eight feet and then just stopped, not reaching to the ceiling high above. There were no windows as there was nothing to see, no private bath, no…nothing. Colts’ trailer wasn’t exactly the height of luxury, but compared to this room, it was the Ritz-Carlton.

  “It’s not much, but it’s away from everyone so it will a little quieter,” Bobbi said as she eased the door shut. Like everything else in the DVMC, the walls were shit. Without being anchored at the top, it didn’t take a lot to tear one from the floor and send it crashing down. More than one romp against a wall had brought one down. Skye, in particular, seemed to get a thrill from being fucked against the wall so hard they would knock it down, and had on at least three occasions.

  “Nice place,” Sierra said, her tone giving lie to the words.

  “It’s just for a few nights.”

  “I don’t know all the rules, but I’m not opening my legs for the first hard on that shows up. If I knew Colt was going to fuck me like this, I would have never agreed to come back.”

  Bobbi’s eyebrows crept up. “He asked you to come back?”

  “Yeah. Do you think this was my idea? He offered me a chance to make a lot of money. I’ve never had shit so I thought, ‘sure, why not?’ But no amount of money is worth being used over. If that is what is expected of me, then I’m out of here right the fuck now. I’ll walk if I have to. I’d rather die in the desert than be raped.”

  Bobbi shook her head. “Nobody is going to rape you.”

  “So I’m not expected to put out? It sure looked like mix and match the last time I was here.”

  Bobbi scratched at her head. “You’re going to be expected to service the men. That’s a given. It’s part of the life, and the way you look, everyone without an old lady is probably going to want your services. So—”

  “Fuck that!” Sierra snarled, stepping around Bobbi and heading for the door. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I would rather die in the desert.”

  “Wait a minute!” Bobbi snapped, holding the door shut with her hand. “Let me finish. Colt must have a plan if he brought you back. He—”

  “Yeah,” Sierra interrupted, crossing her hands under her breasts. “He wanted to fuck me. Well, he did, all right.”

  “Colt never thinks just one move ahead. There’s more going on. I wonder what he’s thinking? If he asked you to stay, you should think about it before you wander out in the desert. You know how cold it gets at night, not to mention how hot tomorrow. You could die out there.”

  “So? Colt obviously doesn’t give a shit or he wouldn’t have left me in this mess. All he had to do was make me his old lady,” Sierra said, making tick marks in the air with her fingers. “Would that have been so bad?”

  “Maybe. You know about Anna, right? Gunner’s old lady? She came in as his old lady and nearly every member of the club was gunning for her…no pun intended. We tried to protect her as much as we could, but it was one challenge after another. They beat the shit out of her time and time again, until she had enough.”

  “You?” Sierra asked.

  “No. Not me. Not Perri or McKenzie either. The problem was Anna acted like just because she was Gunner’s old lady she should get special treatment, and that put the whole club against her, but you’re not like that. I saw you working in the kitchen. I heard some of the sisters talking. They like you. So you probably won’t have as hard a time.”

  “But the men?”

  Bobbi grimaced. “The men are going to be a bigger problem. Unless you are someone’s old lady, you are expected to put out. No way around that, but I will sit with you tonight, if you want, and help you. If they get aggressive I’ll help you back them off. If that doesn’t work, I’ll scream for Harrison.”

  “You’d do that for me? Why?”

  “Because I respect Colt and what he wants to do with the club. If he asked you to come back and be part of it, that means you’re probably someone I want to get to know better.” Bobbi gave her a crooked grin. “What better way to get to know each other than kicking some asshole’s ass together?”

  Sierra barked out a quick laugh. “How, indeed?”

  “But, Sierra, there’s a price.”

  “Uh-oh. I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “Yeah. Every guy you back off will take that as a challenge. There’s only one way that will go. You’ll have to stand for that.”

  “I’ll have to fight all the guys?” Sierra squeaked.

  “That or fuck them. You saw Monica and Skye going at it the day you arrived? It will be something like that.”

  “I can’t fight a man! No woman can!”

  “I know. That’s why it’s usually fucking. If you out fuck them, they can’t claim you again.”

  “I’m not doing that! No fucking way! I should just go!” Sierra said loudly as she reached for the door. “I thought I would be sleeping with Colt and nobody else!”

  “Do what you want,” Bobbi said stepping aside, “but you’ve shown me you have the moxie to stand your ground. Colt believes in you. Maybe you should trust him. Believe in him. Believe in yourself.”

  Sierra stood with her hand around the knob. “I’m not some whore who is going to fuck just anyone, Bobbi. I didn’t sign up for that. I want to be like you and Harrison, or Fletcher and Perri.”

  “Then wait and give Colt a chance. He must be planning something. He never does anything without a plan. You can always leave tomorrow.”

  “And tonight?”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Sierra looked into Bobbi’s dark eyes. “Are you as tough as Colt sa
id?”

  Bobbi smiled. “Tougher. I fought professional MMA for a while. I was on the way to a shot at the title.”

  Sierra’s eyes widen. “Why did you stop?”

  Bobbi smiled. “Harrison. He showed me a better way to deal with my aggression than beating the shit out of someone.”

  “What happened?”

  Bobbie giggled. “I was in Vegas for a bout. He kept hitting on me and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Finally I invited him to step outside. He can take a punch, I’ll give him that. After I sucker punched him, we got down to it. I couldn’t knock him out, so I finally took him to the ground to try and choke him out. He was too strong to hold so we ended up rolling around on the ground and…well…let’s just say that within five minutes of me throwing that first punch, he wasn’t pounding me with his fists anymore. We spent the night in jail for public nudity and lewd behavior, but, God, I had never been fucked like that in my life.”

  “So you became his old lady because he kicked your ass then fucked the shit out of you?”

  “He didn’t kick my ass!” Bobbi protested, but Sierra noted that Bobbi didn’t deny the second part. “After I started seeing Harrison, I had a bout with Dempsey. She was 28-1-0, I was 24-0-0, and whoever won that bout would get a shot at Kochick for the title.”

  “Who won?”

  “She did, in a split decision. In the final round I had her on the mat, and if I had ten more seconds, I would have knocked that bitch out.” Bobbi snorted. “You should have seen us. We were covered in blood where I cut her in the second round,” Bobbi said, drawing a finger over her left eye, “and the mat was smeared with it. It looked like something out of a horror movie. After the bout, I spent the night in the hospital with a couple of fractured ribs. That’s when I decide to hang up the gloves. Later I joined the club and fought my way to the top. Along the way I became his old lady. That was after Colt joined and started putting together his crew. That’s when I saw there were ways to get ahead, other than fighting.”

  Sierra thought about it a moment then released the doorknob. “Okay, I’ll stay, so long as you stay close.”

  Bobbi nodded, sitting down the bed. “I’m right here.”

  Colt rolled over and looked at the clock, the glowing red numbers mocking him. The sun would be up soon and he either hadn’t slept, or had slept fitfully, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he kept thinking about Sierra and what she was probably going through, and cursing himself for putting her in this situation. The thing that amazed him, when he realized it himself, is that he even cared. He’d never cared what a woman thought before, using them for his own needs then tossing them away. With Sierra he did care, and he wasn’t even sure why.

  He’d lost sight of the goal, and started thinking with his cock, and now Sierra was paying for his mistake, something that upset him and pissed him off at the same time. He and Fletcher had talked until they had an idea to turn the lemons into lemonade, but a lot rode on Sierra making it through the night unscarred. Fletcher was going to pass the word to the rest of the crew and they would talk about it later this morning.

  He was just turning over to try to get some sleep when he heard the soft knock at the door. He pulled this Glock from the holster and walked quietly to the door. “Who is it?” he asked, as he stood at the side of the door, his weapon at low ready.

  “Harrison. Open up.”

  Colt took his finger off the trigger. “It’s open.”

  A tired looking Harrison stepped into the trailer. “Perri just relieved Bobbi. Sierra is okay. She had a rough night, but nobody laid a finger on her. Bobbi said you would want to know. What the hell’s going on, Colt?”

  Colt heaved a huge sigh and flopped onto the couch. “Sit down and I’ll fill you in.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Just stay away from me,” Sierra snarled as she shoved past Colt and heading into the kitchen to help prepare breakfast. She was in no mood to deal with him this morning. She spent most of the night fending off one man or another, all of them there for one reason. Bobbi never had to intervene, but she’d been scared the entire night, afraid that one of the men wouldn’t take no for an answer and would rape her.

  She’d also been paid a visit by Skye and Monica, both of them wanting to bed her, as well. While she could admit both women were sexy as hell, she didn’t swing that way, so she added them to the list of ten men she rejected, all of whom now wanted a piece of her ass, either in bed or in the ring.

  “Bad night?” Blu asked as the women got organized.

  “You might say that,” Sierra muttered as she began cracking eggs.

  “Did you accept anyone?”

  “No. And I’m not going to either. I’m out of here today, as soon as breakfast is over. This isn’t what I signed up for.”

  Angela Bludowsky, Blu to her friends, nodded. “This life isn’t for everyone. I’ll be sorry to see you go, though. I think you and I could become good friends.”

  Sierra snorted. It would be nice to have some friends, but the price was too high. “Yeah me, too. I hoped I would fit in.”

  Vicki stepped up behind Sierra. “How many?”

  “Twelve, counting Monica and Skye.”

  “Monica and Skye? What did they want?”

  “What do you think? The same thing everyone else wanted.”

  Blu and Vicki looked at each other. “They’re setting you up. You must really have them worried.”

  “Setting me up how?” Sierra asked, holding a cracked egg over the bowl.

  “Monica and Skye are a lot of things, but lesbians they’re not.”

  Sierra went back to cracking eggs as she thought. “Why would they do that? What if I had taken them up on their offer?”

  “I don’t know. I guess they are looking for a challenge where they can control the event,” Blu said. “Have you told Colt?”

  “I’m not speaking to him.”

  Vicki frowned and nodded as she turned away to tend to the sausage.

  Sierra made it a point to sit at the table with Vicki, Blu, and the rest of the lower ranked brothers and sisters. She could see the hurt and concern in Colt’s eyes, but she didn’t waver. What did she care? She was leaving in an hour or so anyway, and if Colt wouldn’t take her, she could offer to lay on her back for one of the other guys once they got to Reno.

  She ate, and laughed with the people sitting around her, but she couldn’t shake the weight in her stomach, the sickness that came from Colt’s betrayal. She was stupid to trust him, a mistake she wouldn’t make again.

  After breakfast she helped clear the remains, smirking to herself as Colt hovered, obviously wanting to talk to her but unwilling to make the first move, so she ignored him.

  “We need to talk,” he finally said, taking her by the arm and pulling her to a stop as she emerged from the kitchen to collect more dishes.

  She shook her arm free. “I don’t know what there is to talk about. You made your feelings pretty clear last night.”

  “That’s what we need to talk about,” he hissed as he leaned in close. “But not here.”

  She huffed. “You going to tell me of your undying love, now? How last night was a test, and I passed?” She turned her back to him and began to gather the last of the dishes, but he grabbed her and spun her back to face him.

  “I know you’re pissed, and you have a right to be, but you can get off your pissy high horse right now. You’re the one who wanted to come here, remember?”

  “It wasn’t supposed to be this way! I’m not some whore for you to pass around to all your buddies!”

  “I know! That’s what we need to talk about.”

  “I just want to go.”

  “Go? Go where?”

  “Reno. Or Vegas. I made a mistake coming here.”

  Colt fumed. “Come with me,” he said, taking her by the arm again and dragging her out of the clubhouse. “Get on,” he ordered as he mounted his bike and thumbed it to life.

  She stalled but finally m
ounted behind him. The moment she sat down, he gunned the bike, fishtailing in the loose dirt as they rocketed out of the clubhouse compound.

  They rode about halfway to the main highway before he stopped and killed the bike, waiting for her dismount. He stepped off the bike and leaned against it to prevent it from falling over on the rutted road. “You can leave if you want,” he said without preamble. “I won’t try to stop you, but last night wasn’t supposed to happen. Paul and some of the members are trying to make an example out of you. There was no reason for you to spend the night in the barracks. I could have picked any other woman there and taken her to my trailer and nothing would have been said.”