by London Casey
“I guess that’s a good reason,” he said.
I glanced to my left without moving my head. I swore Duke was trying to look down my shirt. How typical. Yet it made me smile. I’m sure men had hit on me in the last year or so but I just never noticed it. I never cared. But to Duke here…
“Figured you would have done something big like that,” Duke said.
“What?”
“Nursing school. You never stayed all that grounded.”
“I didn’t say I finished,” I said. I ripped off some medical tape and started to tape the bandage. Touching Duke’s skin was almost too much. His muscles were like steel and he wasn’t even flexing. Hell, he wasn’t even flinching, not even in pain. He’s not human.
“You didn’t finish?” he asked.
I taped another corner and backed away. “I had to take care of Jim.”
“Shit.”
“I went to college and took some classes here and there. I was waiting…” I was waiting for you, Duke. To come home. To figure out lives together. “I was just waiting for something to hit me. Then Jim got hurt. So I went into the nursing program. When he came home, it was hard. On Dad and on me. Everything changed. Dad got sick. So then everyone turned to me. I had no choice but to drop out. So I could help here. Then it all got worse.”
I felt my eyes well up with tears. But I didn’t care. I kept my gaze on Duke. I ripped another piece of tape without breaking my stare.
I waited for him to speak but he didn’t. He just fucking sat there in silence.
So I took the high road.
We only had a few minutes left here in this reunion.
“How’d you get shot?”
“With a gun,” he said.
“Okay.”
I ripped the last piece of medical tape quickly and slapped it to his shoulder. That caused him to jump back a little. It also caused every muscle on his beautiful body to flex. And that caused a reaction between my thighs.
Just what I needed.
I closed the first aid kit and left it on the sink.
“There you go,” I said.
“Thanks,” he said.
He reached for his shirt and leather cut. Yeah, I watched him get dressed. And, yeah, there was a small piece of me that wanted him to not get dressed, but instead get fully naked and take me into the shower and show me what all those manly muscles were capable of doing to me.
“You think he will be okay tonight?” Duke asked. “I could stay, just in case.”
My heart screamed Yes! but I shook my head. “He’s fine. I, uh, was just frustrated. He’s done dumb things but never like that. I thought he was going to die. I just wanted one second of real help.”
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t answer,” Duke said. He nodded to his shoulder. “I had other things going on.”
“How’d you get patched up so nicely? If you went to the hospital…”
“Guys like me don’t go to the hospital, sweetie,” Duke said. “We have friends. That’s all you need to know.”
Duke stepped forward and my hand shot out. My fingertips pressed against his shirt, against his rock hard ab muscles. “Are you in danger?”
“Every single day.”
“For real.”
“For real.”
“What about right now?”
Duke reached and touched my face with the back of his fingers. “This right here, sweetie, is the most dangerous position I’ve ever been in.”
His fingers went into my hair. Then he slipped his hand to the back of my head. His strong grip set me on fire. Then he pulled at me as he brought his mouth down toward mine. I had a split second to make a decision on whether to let him kiss me or not. Before my mind could process that reality of things, our lips were together. His tongue gently caressed mine, bringing it to life. My hands quickly grabbed at his leather cut. I turned, purposely wanting my back against a wall, wanting Duke against me. I pulled at his leather cut. He pressed that rock hard body of his against mine. Our tongues battled, but Duke won that battle easily. He was so big, so strong, the boyish bad boy I once knew was now nothing but an outlaw man.
Holy fuck…
Duke put both his hands to my hips. I thrust forward at him. His fingers started to go under my shirt.
You’re really doing this, Belle? After all the years? After what he did? So many unanswered questions…
Duke’s hands moved up, over my shirt. He was literally an inch from cupping my breasts when he slammed his hands against the wall and pushed himself back. Our lips came unattached with a wet smack sound. We were both breathing heavy. I had a lingering taste of Duke and whiskey in my mouth. The smell of his skin - leather, grease, the exhaust of his motorcycle - it all threatened me. My panties were wet, twisted, my knees shaking with fear and excitement.
Just like our first time together.
Although, I wasn’t Duke’s first. But he was mine. Forever mine.
“Christ, Belle,” he whispered. “The years…”
“It’s okay,” I quickly said.
I collected myself and slipped under his arm and out of the bathroom. I moved faster than I should have, wanting to literally run away and find a place to hide and cry. I wanted to scream until time would listen to me. To go back and make Duke not go overseas. I know, that was so greedy to think. So many men and women who gave their lives for our freedom and so many men and women would forever serve and be real heroes. But in my world, my little bubble, it all had been fucking destroyed.
I blasted through the front door, out to the porch, and finally got a deep breath of fresh air.
Duke was shortly behind me.
“Are you sure Jim’s okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. I stood at the pillar. “He’s fine. He’s a mess though, Duke.”
Duke walked by me and touched my lower back. “I know, sweetie. So am I. And so are you.” He walked to the steps and climbed down two before stopping. He looked back. “Of all the things I’ve done, not showing up to Big Jim’s funeral is one of the worst. There’s not a day I don’t think about it. I should have been there, Belle. For everything he did for me. For Jim. For you. And I should have been there for you that day.”
I couldn’t explain it but I didn’t want his fucking apology. Who was this asshole? He shows up, picks a fight with my handicapped brother, talks about my life, won’t tell me about his criminal life, kisses me, then suddenly stops like he’s some kind of gentleman… and then he wants to apologize?
Fuck you, Duke.
Only I didn’t say that.
I had a different way to take a shot.
“No worries,” I said. “My boyfriend was with me.”
A sly smile crept across Duke’s face. “Well, I hope your boyfriend doesn’t mind what just happened. Last thing I need is another bullet coming at me.”
I opened my mouth to blurt out I was single, but I couldn’t find the words.
Then Duke said, “Have a good night, sweetie. If anything else happens, don’t be afraid to call me.”
My mouth was still open as I watched Duke walk to his motorcycle. He climbed on it, fired up the engine, and left. The roar of the motorcycle cried out into the night and cried out even longer in my memory and heart.
I wished right then to never see Duke again.
That wish… that wish would never come true.
eleven.
(duke)
We stood outside in the midday sun. Cash, Hudson, Kye, and Xavier all had their heads back, sunglasses on, soaking up the sun, trying to let the heat burn off their lingering hangovers from the night before. The clubhouse had been rowdy the last few days, mostly my fault. I couldn’t get Belle out of my mind and my destructive personality bled into the MC.
The party seemed to never end. We only took breaks to nap before we’d start up again. Booze, guns, fights, strippers, gambling, you name it, we did it. Trev put Jasper in charge two nights ago when Eden called with stomach pains. I started an early celebration for
the birth of their baby only to find out later that it was just some kind of fake contraction stuff going on.
I found any reason to party. The harder the better.
Yet I hadn’t fucked a single woman.
That was the kicker.
I took plenty to bed, but didn’t fuck them. Hell, I had them in my bed while I stood at the door and watched them handle their business together. And even that didn’t do it for me. When they finished, I booted them out and jerked off into the bathroom sink. Did I think about two women on top of each other, their tongues slicing up and down each other’s pussy? Nope. I thought about Belle. About pinning her against the wall in the bathroom. About touching those full tits of hers. About showing her what a real man was. A man who had seen death, faced it and won; a man who could handle any of her pain, worry, fears, and doubts.
Trev came out of the clubhouse and all attention went to him.
Eden was next to him, the woman wobbling like a penguin as she walked.
“How’s Mama?” Cash asked.
“Big,” Eden said with a frown.
“Still beautiful,” Cash said.
“Thank you, Cash.”
“Does Prez tell you that enough? If not…”
“Easy,” Jasper said.
“Max, Austin, I’m relying on you two to stay here with the prospects and take care of Eden.”
“And Harlee,” Trent added.
“We’ve got it,” Trev said.
Harlee and Eden had a strong friendship going. I figured it was only a matter of time until Harlee was all knocked up too. What a fucking MC we had, huh? We went from almost getting wiped out because of the old Prez and his bullshit to now having guys fall in love, getting engaged, their girls getting knocked up.
Fucking time was a weird thing.
Max and Austin came forward and each hugged Trev. They then led the way for Eden to go back inside the clubhouse.
Trev then walked to his ride and grabbed his helmet. “You guys know I can’t go in there. I don’t like it.”
“We’ve got your back, Prez,” I said.
“I want in.”
“We voted,” Jasper said. “Not sending you into that bar. You’re an easy target.”
“And the rest of you?” Trev asked.
“We do what we do best,” Cash said. “Fuck shit up.”
All of us let out a cheer.
“Jasper and Hudson hang back with me,” Trev said. “I want Cash, Trent, Kye, and Duke going inside.”
We all nodded.
The only one missing was Cade. He had some meeting with our lawyer and accountant to make sure the front business was all intact. He was also helping to ensure our fifty large payment from the Russians was properly put away without any eyes getting on it.
Once we hit the road, my adrenaline got going. Happened every time I got on the road, knowing we were heading into a war zone. Shit, it used to happen when I was overseas. Too many times we’d load up whole and come back broken.
Not this time. Not this time.
Belle flashed in my mind, as though she had become some reason to fight harder to ensure my own safety. That was just fucking stupid.
There was always a big risk cruising into another club’s territory. While we controlled all of Daurian, there were chunks that were overrun with other crews. We called them the weeds. They didn’t belong and they didn’t leave. Heading to north and east, we crossed into Hell Five territory. You’d never know it staring at a regular map because this shit - the outlaw life - that wasn’t listed on any county lines or mile markers.
Right on cue, Prez and Jasper hung back. Then the rest dropped off about a mile from the bar.
It was me, Kye, Cash, and Trent.
We fucking rode right up to the bar and parked our rides. I counted ten motorcycles outside the bar. Now, this wasn’t exactly the main meeting place for the Hell Five, so some of these rides were just for regular bikers. Guys passing through. Prospects looking to get in on the crew.
Trent grabbed for the door and I stopped him.
“Let me,” I said.
“I’m the goddamn enforcer, Duke.”
“And they goddamn shot me in the leg,” I said.
Technically it wasn’t really a gunshot wound, nothing like my shoulder. But it was enough to make Trent back off for a second.
I tore open the bar to the Hell Five and stepped inside.
An enemy… looking for a fight… with a giant target on my back.
**
I ordered a shot of whiskey while Kye, Cash, and Trent ordered a beer.
All eyes were on us.
I took note of three guys in the back corner playing pool. They stood with their sticks in their hands, shocked at our appearance in their bar.
I threw the shot glass back and felt it burn all the way down to my belly.
“What do I owe?” I asked the barkeep.
“You’re not from around here,” he said. He reached under the bar and put a gun on the bar.
“I’ve got one of my own,” I said.
“Mine’s bigger,” Cash said. “He gets jealous.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” the barkeep said.
“Not getting a tip that way,” Kye said.
“I’ll give him a tip,” Trent said. He leaned over and quickly put his hand on the barkeep’s gun. “If you ever talk to one of my brother’s like that again, I’ll kill you.”
Trent moved quick and smooth, taking the clip out of the gun.
From the corner of my eye came the three guys that were shooting pool.
Guns were already drawn.
“Sorry about your beer,” I whispered to Cash.
“What?” he asked.
I grabbed Cash’s beer mug and tossed it to my left, hitting all three guys with beer. I then jumped to the middle guy and smashed the mug off his fucking face. It hit with a hard thud and didn’t break.
As I drove him back, a brawl broke out.
I waited for a gunshot or ten but it was quiet. Other than the fighting.
I took my guy back and over a pool table. I landed two rights to his nose before I felt a hot fire against my ride side. I rolled out of the way and fell against a pool table. A guy stood there holding half of a broken pool stick. He then thrust the broken piece at me like a spear. I jumped back and grabbed for a pool ball. It was the eight ball. How lucky of me. I tossed it forward and clanked the asshole right in the forehead. He dropped the pool stick and grabbed for his face. I went after him, dropping him with two punches.
Cash had a pool stick against one of the Hell Five member’s throats, lifting him up the wall.
Kye put a guy head first on the bar and slid him down, knocking over all the drinks. At the end of the bar, he threw his arms and the guy went off the bar and into the kitchen door. The door swung open and then shut, smacking the guy in the head.
Trent had two guys working him pretty good.
I hung back, knowing Trent would figure it out.
I saw the barkeep going for the gun. He probably had plenty of ammo under the bar.
I quickly took out my gun and shot, hitting him in the shoulder. He flew back into the wall of booze, clearing half a shelf.
That’s when all the fighting stopped.
Trent broke away from the two guys he was tangling with. Then in typical Trent fashion he threw a right hook at the guy on the left and a left hook at the guy on the right.
Then he turned and grabbed two guns off the floor.
Shit, we had done good. We disarmed the Hell Five guys that were there and fucked up the bar.
“Clear the register,” I said to the barkeep.
“Fuck you,” he yelled. “Call Carlo!”
I shot, breaking a bottle right over his head.
That was my version of a warning.
Trent had another.
Trent jumped over the bar, grabbed the old barkeep, and tossed him right back over it. The barkeep crashed into barstools and hit the floor hard. I
stepped up to him and put my boot right on his back.
“You fuckers are dead!” one of the Hell Five guys yelled.
I looked to Cash and nodded.
Cash grabbed a pool ball and tossed it into the air. “Corner pocket… no, wait… eye socket!”
He laughed and smashed the pool ball against the guy’s eye. Over and over and over, putting the guy to his back.
When the other guys moved, we turned our weapons to them.
They were fucking helpless.
Trent opened the register and cleaned out the cash.
“Where’s the safe?” I asked the barkeep.
“Fuck you,” he yelled again.
I pressed the front of my boot right to the base of his skull. It was an instant pain pressure point that made you feel like you were suffocating and about to throw up.
He groaned and tapped a hand on the floor.
I let up.
“Try again,” I said.
“In the fucking back.”
Trent hopped the bar and we got the barkeep to his feet. The old bastard had pissed himself on the floor.
“If you lie, Trent is going to kill you,” I said.
“Let’s go,” Trent yelled.
They returned a minute later, Trent with a handful of cash and a handful of the barkeep’s shirt. Trent tossed the guy aside like a toy and made way for the door.
“Wait!” Cash yelled. “It’s… too clean in here.”
We all then unloaded our weapons. Breaking bottles, shooting the bar, the pool tables, the neon lights in the windows and the ones hanging from the ceiling. We reloaded, all nodded in unison, and left the bar.
There we were, just a bunch of crazy outlaws, tearing up a bar, stealing all their cash, and riding away unscathed.
I had to admit… it felt fucking good to do.
Shit, being in that bar, fighting, shooting, and stealing, it was the only time that day I didn’t think about Belle.
**
“Seventy-five-hundred,” Trev said and clapped his hands together.
“I didn’t expect that,” Jasper said.
The cash was spread out across the table.
“What do we do with it?” Max asked. “Call Ivan?”
