“She’s still staying in my bed. She needs me, Prez. As a friend at this point, more than a lover.”
“I can live with that.”
His hand grips my shoulder, squeezes it gently, then he walks off.
Mel looks fuckin’ amazing lying in my bed. Only her head is peeking out from under the sheet, her dark hair lying over the pillow. My gut clenches at the sight I’d never hoped to see.
“You got anything on under that sheet?” If she’s naked, it will be fucking difficult to keep the promise I’d just made. I’m a man, after all.
Her face goes pink. “I helped myself to one of your tee shirts. I hope you don’t mind.”
Of course I don’t. Though she’s darn near turned difficult into fucking impossible. A wave of possessiveness goes through me.
If she left me now and went back to Skull, it wouldn’t just hurt. I think it would be a mortal blow.
Moving forward, I stand at the end of the bed. “What would it take, Mel? What would it take for you to go back to Skull?”
She sits up at my question. The sheet falls revealing she’s snagged one of my favourite tees, an Iron Maiden one. Good taste, darlin’. “What are you talking about, Pyro? There’s nothing at all that would persuade me to go back.”
“What if he’d lost his memory and had truly forgotten you? What if there’s a valid reason for all this?”
She looks down at her hands. “I’ve been thinking about that. Am I awful to say it wouldn’t make a difference? All these months he’s been gone, I keep going over and over things that we said, the way he’d walked out and left me at first for just that one night. He blamed me for something that was down to him. I think he expected me to be the adult in the relationship. I was older, and he persuaded me our age difference didn’t matter. But looking back, I think it did. In little ways, it’s hard to pinpoint.”
I’m relieved as fuck that she wouldn’t return to him. “Age means nothing. Any man can behave like an ass. Can throw out his toys when the going gets rough. I don’t think age had anything to do with it. Don’t think he treated you as well as we thought, but who knows what goes on between a man and a woman behind closed doors?”
I take off my cut and remove my boots, she looks on like I’m unwrapping a present. But I leave on my jeans and tee and lie on top of the covers.
“I thought we were going to cuddle?”
“Still can, darlin’. But we’ll do it with the comforter between us. I don’t need any more temptation. Prez has just reminded me of something.” At her questioning look, I continue, “Until we’ve come to some decisions about Skull, you’re still technically his woman, and therefore, off bounds to me.” As she bristles, I stop her speaking by resting my fingers gently over her mouth. “Nothing more than we’ve already agreed. Just given another reason for it.”
“So claiming is for life? Why can’t I unclaim myself? I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“No one would have an argument with that, Mel. Just need to do things properly. Doing it right means we need to put the brakes on until we get answers and everyone’s satisfied. Skull’s not dead, we’re all sure of that. Not saying you have to think yourself his woman while he still breathes, nor that any of my brothers would think less of you for taking up with me. But there’s a right and wrong way of doing things. I’d rather wait if that’s what we need to do. You’re worth it, Mel. Fuckin’ believe that.”
I wonder if she’s going to protest further. I’m already thinking of what else I can say to try to make her understand, while not saying out loud that in the eyes of the club, she’s still Skull’s property, when not for the first time, she surprises me.
“But you’re in here with me?” Her brow creases. “Should I leave?”
“Nah. They’ll all know we aren’t getting up to shit.”
“How?”
“Because they’ll see I’m walking bowlegged from the hard-on I ain’t getting release from, and also, when we do get to fuck, I’m going to make it my mission to make you scream louder than you’ve ever done before.”
“I didn’t, I don’t…”
I cock my eyebrow. “Walls are thin, darlin’.”
Her mouth opens in an O, then, slowly, she starts disappearing under the sheet.
It might have been the ultimate fuck up of a day, but I bellow a laugh, and make that silent promise to her and myself. One day I’m going to make her scream louder than Skull ever did.
Early the next morning I hear three bikes heading out, the roar of their exhaust shattering the peace. Glancing over at my phone I see it’s still early, only five-thirty am. I don’t blame them getting an early start, they’ve got a twelve-hour journey ahead of them, and that’s if they don’t make any stops, which they’ll need to, to top off tanks and stomachs.
Quietly sending them good vibes for keeping the shiny side up, I turn on my side and watch my woman sleeping. No, not mine as yet, but hopefully, soon.
Unused to having company in my bed or sleeping with an unresolved rod of iron in my pants, I’ve had a restless night, but used it to do some thinking. I’ll fly Mel across to Vegas. I wouldn’t ask a woman unused to riding to make a seven-hundred-mile journey without leading up to it, even if she wasn’t pregnant. No, she can travel in relative comfort. Not that flying economy is a luxury, but better than spending hours on the back of my bike.
My woman and child. Christ. How did I get so lucky? Was it only yesterday I awoke, not daring to dream that we’d be making any commitment? That I had any hope of ever moving out of the friendzone. Now all we’ve got to do is get Skull back firmly in the rearview, then we can start living. For ourselves.
If it comes to it, I’ve no worries about leaving the club. Would hate it, but I could survive in the civilian world if I have to. I’ve managed an auto-shop for years, got all the right qualifications. With my army record as well, I shouldn’t have trouble finding employment. I’ll definitely be able to support my old lady.
Of course, I’d prefer to stay in the club. Get Mel her own property vest. Idly, I wonder why Skull hadn’t. He’d had enough time, just hadn’t taken that step. I shift, trying to get comfortable when my mind conjures up a vision of her wearing only a leather cut with my name written on it. Of course, there’s that old rule that I know Demon wouldn’t insist on, that she gets ‘Property of Pyro’ tattooed on her back. I’d like that. I’ll be sneaky about it, get Violet to design something really attractive, have something to show her before I approach it. Thank fuck Skull hadn’t done that, and she has nothing that needs to be covered up.
Her missing cut and tattoo. Signs Skull had never been totally serious? If so, it’s not just her he had fooled, but all of us.
“Good morning.”
I think her face smiling up at me is going to become my new favourite way to wake up.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Surprisingly I did. I think I must have been mentally exhausted. But now he’s pressing on my bladder and I need to go pee.”
I nod. Watching her move off the bed, my eyes follow her to the bathroom.
When she returns, I look up from my phone and tell her, “We’ll fly to Vegas. It’s just under a four-hour flight.”
“Oh, thank God. I wasn’t looking forward to driving it.”
“Thought that. When do you want to leave?”
“I’ve just got to talk to work, make sure they’re okay with me taking time off. Then whenever you think.”
“Tomorrow’s soon enough. Tonight, the brothers will get to the clubhouse and start preparing to go out searching. There won’t be any news today. I’ll text Sparky later, ask him to ask Red to get a room ready for us.”
“Sounds good, Ro.”
“You get dressed and ready, then we’ll get a bite to eat. I’ll take you home so you can get packed and make the arrangements and I’ll come pick you up later.” I frown slightly, running over what I’ll have to put in place to keep the shop going while I’m gone.
&nbs
p; “I need to call Beth and tell her I’m okay. She was so guilty that she was the cause of me breaking down yesterday.”
“Christ darlin’. Tell her from me, I’m glad she spotted him. Otherwise we could have gotten blindsided when we least expected it. This way, we know what we’re dealing with. Sooner or later, we’ll catch up with him.”
“What will happen if we don’t find him? What will it mean to us?” Her anxious face turns toward me. We’d spoken about this before, so now I think she’s talking about the revelation I laid on her about her relationship in the eyes of the club.
I shrug. “I’ll take it to the table. Hopefully the brothers will vote him out of the club, so we can be together.”
She swings around fast. “Surely there’s no doubt they’ll do that?”
“Club rules are club rules. We don’t break them lightly.”
Her eyes widen. “So, we might never be allowed to be together?”
“One way or another, we will, and you can take that and bank it. If it means me leaving the club, then I’ll do it.”
She frowns. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
So do I.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Melissa
Having made my calls, including one to a very relieved Beth, and gotten time off work by playing the pregnancy sympathy card with my boss, I pack a small carry-on bag with stuff I’ll need in Vegas.
I tidy and clean my house, just to keep busy. I was startled by Pyro’s revelation that he’d leave the club to be with me, just that one statement in many ways showing what had been missing with Skull. Real commitment. A sign that he was going to be all in.
Of course, Skull had once mentioned doing the same thing, but I’d known at the time that would never have worked. Pyro, though, he’s more mature and while I’d had doubts about Skull being able to live in the citizen world, I don’t have the same fears about Pyro, believing I, and the baby, come first with him.
Having done everything I can, I sit on the couch, leaning my head back, thinking. Suddenly I feel a little flutter in my stomach. Wind? Hard to tell. But it could be my baby moving.
I sit still, hoping to feel the sensation again, proof that new life is growing within me.
I’m not surprised there’s nothing more. It could have been my imagination.
Pyro comes and collects me as promised. We have dinner at the club and a pleasant enough evening where the elephant in the room isn’t mentioned. Then, I again sleep in Pyro’s arms with the sheet separating us.
It’s an early start to get to the airport. Karl drives us to Pueblo Memorial, leaving us at the drop off point, so we don’t have to worry about parking.
“Have you spoken to your Mom and Dad about Skull turning up?” Pyro asks, as we line up for check-in.
“No.” I shake my head. “Didn’t seem to be any point in worrying them.”
“Don’t keep them out, Mel. You need people in your corner.”
I grimace. “I know, but there’s a balance between people trying to help, and you trying to stop them from overreacting. If Dad knew, he might be on the next plane to Vegas with a shotgun.” Half of me isn’t joking.
Pyro snorts. “Think he’d have to join the line.”
I find out something new about Pyro. He hates flying. On take-off he closes his eyes tightly, and holds my hand, only relaxing when the flight attendant starts serving. If it wasn’t for me, he’d be riding, or at least driving. Another reason to fall in love with him.
“Are we hiring a car?” I ask, once the plane’s levelled out and he seems more comfortable.
“No, Red will have someone picking us up.”
“Is the Vegas club different to the Colorado one?”
“Yes, and no. Devils are pretty similar. Their compound is an old warehouse, a few miles out of town. Nothing special.” He laughs. “Has Jayden told you about the Tucson club?”
“A few times,” I smile. “Has it really got a swimming pool?”
“Yes. It was an old vacation resort and looks like one.”
“Has Red got an old lady?”
He snorts. “No. Red, er, Red likes the ladies if you get my drift. Can’t imagine him ever settling down.”
I bump his arm. “I seem to remember you weren’t much of one for settling, either.”
“Nah, but it takes a very special woman to give up the single life, and I met you first. There’s only one of you, darlin’. Red’s out of luck.”
I smile at the implied compliment. Then continue my inquisition. “And he’s called Red, why?”
“I think you’ll find out when you see him.”
Pyro’s just as tense on landing, so our conversation falters. I sit, watching the ground come into sharper focus beneath, but rather than trying to pick out the sights of Vegas, I’m seeing Skull’s face in my head.
The man beside me is keeping me sane, though I don’t think he knows he’s doing it. If I didn’t have him, if he wasn’t so earnest in how he sees me and what he feels for me, if his declarations didn’t drip with sincerity, and had those words not come at exactly the right time, I’d feel completely destroyed. Worthless. Though those feelings are there, lurking, Pyro is helping to keep them at bay.
I find out the reason for Red’s handle much sooner than I’d expected. It’s the Vegas prez himself who’s driven to the airport to collect us. He almost needs no introduction, his cut with the name and Prez patches were redundant in relation to his thick red hair and bushy beard which scream who he is. Though Pyro uses the words while making the introductions, I really didn’t need them.
He’s tall, about the same height as Pyro, well-built and his tee, struggling to contain his muscles, shows he’s ripped.
I nudge Pyro and he bends down so I can whisper into his ear, “If I’d seen him first, you might not have had a chance.”
His eyes widen, then he sees me grinning. His hands come to my sides and the bastard tickles me.
“Stop, stop!” I demand, unable to stop giggling.
“Christ. And I was led to expect a demure pregnant woman.” Red’s eyes sparkle though, and the way he relaxes leads me to suspect that he was worried he’d have a distraught female on his hands.
He might well have had, if I didn’t have Pyro to distract me.
Red’s eyebrows have risen at my whispered words and Pyro’s response. “Anything I should know, brother?”
Pyro looks at me. I mouth, don’t you dare tell him. He shrugs. “Mel was just saying…” I gasp. “…that she’s never been to Vegas.”
“Well, then, let me welcome you on behalf of the city.”
Pyro sits up front alongside the Vegas prez. I’m happy to sit in the back, and take in the new surroundings, only half-listening to the conversation between the two men. I can’t stop myself searching for the man we’ve come to find, half-hoping, half-dreading that we’ll see him. Of course, it isn’t that easy, and anyway, Vegas is vast.
“Judge, Wills and Sparky arrive okay?”
I eavesdrop on Pyro and Red’s conversation.
“Yeah, they got in last night. Didn’t say they had any problems.”
“Any sightings yet?”
My ears perk up. “Nah, had all my guys keeping their eyes open. They’ve got copies of those pictures you sent. So far, they haven’t come up with anything. Will help now your men are here as they actually know him.”
“I’ll go out myself once I’ve got Mel settled.”
“Hey, Pyro. I want to come along.”
I don’t miss the glance exchanged between the two men.
“Mel,” Pyro leans around the head rest, “I’ll probably go on a bike if Red’s got one to spare. Easiest way to get through the Vegas traffic.”
“I can get you a bike easy enough,” Red agrees.
“Well, can I have a car then? It makes sense for me to go looking.”
Again looks go between them, and Pyro just says, “We’ll see,” making me bristle and feel like I’m a child.
&n
bsp; Though, I think as I sit back grumpily, they may have a point. I can’t ride on Pyro’s bike, and I’ve no idea where I’ll be going in this unfamiliar city. I’ll end up aimlessly driving around. Even if I do see Skull, finding a place to park a car isn’t as easy as pulling a bike off to the side. From the way the traffic’s already starting to build up around us, I’ll need my eyes on the road, not to be scanning the sidewalks on either side. Still, much as it makes sense for me to be the little woman at home waiting for news, I won’t be happy doing it.
“Mel?” Pyro calls my name to get my attention. “We find him, we’ll bring him back to the compound. You’ll have the chance to speak to him face-to-face. You deserve his explanation.”
“Same as the club,” Red adds. “Fucker walked out, and he better have a fuckin’ good reason for that.”
Off in the distance, I can see buildings which I suspect are the hotels and casinos around the strip, but Red skirts around the centre, so I don’t see them up close. It makes me wish I was here under happier circumstances and could enjoy Vegas with Pyro beside me as my man.
The best I can hope for is that we find the needle in the haystack we’re searching for and that Skull has an explanation that we can accept and provides me with closure. Then, that he rescinds any claim to me even if the club allows him to stay as a member, so I can truly be with Pyro instead.
Eventually we draw up at the compound. It’s scruffy on the outside, and the inside looks tired, the couches, chairs and tables all having seen better days. Apart from the age of the furniture and the nicotine-stained walls, the clubroom itself isn’t too different from that in Pueblo. There’s a bar, pool tables and presumably because we’re in Vegas, a one-armed bandit with flashing lights.
Music is playing loudly. There are scantily clad women hanging around which doesn’t surprise me, and an older woman behind the bar which does. The men’s faces might be unfamiliar, but the cuts and general uniform of jeans and tees are the same as in the club I’ve just left. There at the bar are the three men who rode up yesterday.
Devil's Dilemma: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #4 Page 20
