OWNED & UNTAMED (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel)

by London Casey

  “No,” I said. “We have the rest of our lives to figure everything else out.”

  “We have to get back to reality, sweetie. Back to the clubhouse.”

  “You brought me up here just to have sex with me, didn’t you?”

  “Guilty as charged,” Duke said. “But I doubt you’re going to complain.”

  Duke got up and fixed his jeans. He then dropped to one knee and handed me my panties and jeans.

  “You on one knee handing me my panties,” I said and laughed. “That’s romantic.”

  Duke then tugged the panties back. “What do you want, sweetie? A fucking engagement ring?”

  “Maybe I do.”

  “You’ve been mine from the day we set eyes on each other. I don’t need a fucking ring to tell the world that. I’ve got fists.” He let the panties go.

  I wasn’t sure whether to take that as romantic or not. Living in the world of outlaws meant giving up that fairy tale story.

  I saw Duke tug at his leather cut and caught sight of his gun.

  That was just another hint of how real this stuff could get.

  He looked back at me and smiled.

  Then again, no matter how real it got, as long as I had him, I felt okay.

  I trusted Duke with my life.

  That thought was going to be tested the second we got back to the clubhouse.

  chapter twenty-five.

  (duke)

  I pulled around the turn to get into the lot and saw a very familiar sight. Fucking Ivan and Peter were there. Only there was one big black SUV and just the two of them standing there. It had the allure of a more peaceful meeting but when dealing with the Russians you never knew what was going to happen without notice. I rode through the lot, purposing throttling my ride and letting it scream as loud as possible, all the way to the door of the clubhouse.

  I helped Belle off and leaned in close to her. “Get inside. Find Maggie, Harlee, and Eden. Make sure all of you hang toward the back of the clubhouse. Stay safe. Do not come out for anything.”

  “Duke…”

  “Don’t,” I growled.

  Belle went into the clubhouse and I joined Trev and Jasper.

  The rest of the guys were hanging back but I got right up in the middle of it. After all, Ivan had shot me and then accused me of working with the Hell Five to fuck everyone over. I had a personal stake in this bullshit.

  “Where were you?” Ivan asked.

  “Are you my father?” I asked.

  “No,” Peter said. “But he’ll make you his bitch.”

  The way his accent rolled off his tongue made me laugh.

  “This is bullshit,” Ivan said. “Burn the clubhouse down.”

  Peter snapped his fingers and every door on the SUV opened.

  Trev pressed forward. “Hold up here, Ivan. What are you trying to prove?”

  “I want the truth,” he said.

  “We gave you the truth,” I said. “We have this under control. The land deal is going to be dead soon enough. We’re going to rip apart the Hell Five to get your blood money, okay?”

  “Who was the woman on your motorcycle?” Ivan asked.

  “A friend.”

  “Her house. That’s the one you were at. Her land…”

  “It was my land!” a voice called out.

  Jesus Christ… Jim just put the biggest fucking target on himself.

  Jim walked forward, a beer bottle in his hand, trying to look tough.

  “Who the hell is this?” Peter asked.

  “An old friend of mine,” I said. “He was tricked into selling the land…”

  Ivan ripped out a gun and shot at Jim. The bullet hit the bottle, making it explode in Jim’s hand. That stopped Jim dead in his tracks. I saw the look on his face. The wide eyes. The shaking. The panic and terror that spread across his face.

  Fuck.

  He was having a flashback.

  Next thing I knew, Jim was running right at Ivan, swinging his fists.

  Ivan raised the gun, ready to let a bullet rip Jim’s heart to shreds. That’s when I had to intervene. I turned and threw my shoulder into the side of Jim and walked him away from the entire thing. Jim’s hand clutched at my shirt. The look in his eyes was dangerous. Sweat collected at his forehead. His lips started to move but it took a few seconds for him to speak.

  “Fuck…”

  “It’s okay, man,” I said. “You’re right here with me. With us. It’s going to be fine.”

  “He sold land?” Ivan bellowed. “We kill him now. Right now. Prove yourself.”

  “He was tricked,” Trev said. “The Hell Five have financial backing along with a well-structured dummy corp. We’re taking it all apart right now, Ivan.”

  “No,” Peter said. “No.” He pointed to Jim. “He sold land. He dies. Right now.”

  “You can’t kill him,” I said.

  I let Jim go and turned to see the look on Trev and Jasper’s faces. They were considering it. Letting Jim die would definitely give us a huge boost of respect from the Russians. It would be the ultimate proof and would make them ease up a little.

  Then an idea came to me.

  “No fucking way,” I said. “You kill Jim you don’t get your money back.”

  Ivan chuckled. “Then I burn it all down. I rule the town.”

  “Listen, you like to place a wager here and there, huh?” I asked. “Betting men. I have something for you. We weren’t going to share this…”

  “What the hell are you doing, Duke?” Trev asked.

  Saving my best friend’s life… and possibly the entire MC.

  “You can get your money back easily,” I said. “And it’ll be covered in blood.”

  “How so?” Peter asked.

  “Fight.”

  “Fight?” Ivan asked.

  “Bet on a fight with us. The club will pull our money together. You pull some of yours. Whatever we win, you get it. And I’m sure it’ll be more than sixty-five.”

  Ivan growled. “Fuck that. You show up and who’s going to bet against you? It’s all a setup…”

  “We’re not fucking fighting,” I said. “Jim is. His proof to you and to this club that he didn’t do this on purpose.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  “Really?” Peter asked.

  “What the fuck,” I said, shaking my head. “You think we’d just let someone like him into this clubhouse? Tell him Trev.”

  “We’re not idiots, Ivan,” Trev said, picking up right where I left off. “We know what we’re doing here. Truth is… the money with the Hell Five is tied up. We don’t want you worried about that or tied up in our affairs here. Every time you come around, it’s a waste of my fucking time. So we’re putting Jim in a fight. He has to prove he can be trusted. We’re throwing in cash and we’ll make something to give to you. But if you put up some of your own, you’ll make a lot more.”

  “Why?” Ivan asked.

  “Show him,” Trev said.

  I looked at Jim. “Do it.”

  Jim picked up on what we were doing. He pulled up his pant leg and showed Ivan and Peter his fake leg.

  “Christ,” Peter said.

  “Lost it in Iraq,” Jim said.

  “And you can fight?” Ivan asked.

  The greedy prick had dollar signs in his eyes.

  “Yeah,” Jim said.

  “It’ll be heavily favored the other way,” I said. “We throw him in and see what happens.”

  “And what happens if he loses?” Ivan asked. “Huh? Then we’re out even more money.”

  “That answer is easy,” Trev said. “If Jim loses the fight, we take our turns killing him, Ivan. And then Duke is on the line for the cash lost. Personally. Right Duke?”

  “Sure thing,” I said.

  “There’s no other way,” Jasper added. “You want your blood money, Ivan, this is your shot. We need you off our backs.”

  Ivan grinned. “I like a good gamble. Either way I win. I’m going to get everythin
g I want in the end, Trev. I hope you know that.”

  “Now get the fuck off my lot,” Trev said. “Before another war starts.”

  They walked to the SUV and got back inside. We all stood and waited until they were gone before anyone spoke.

  “That’s what you came up with?” Trev asked.

  “We need a good fight,” I said. “Jim could do it.”

  I looked back at Jim. He was nodding. “I’ll do it. I don’t care. If I did this, I’ll help to fix it.”

  “I fucking hope so,” Jasper said. “Christ. What a fucking mess.”

  I was then left alone with Jim right there in the lot. I walked to the railing and leaned against it. Jim walked to the railing and grabbed it.

  “What the fuck is this?” he asked.

  “Reality, brother,” I said. “You’ve been floating around for a long time. This is the extreme version of reality. But this is where we’re at. I’m sorry I threw you under the bus there.”

  “You had to do it,” Jim said. “I could use the action.”

  “Seriously, you think you could pull this off?” I asked.

  Jim looked me dead in the eyes. “Do I have a choice?”

  “No, you don’t. If you fuck this up, we’re all dead.”

  “We used to say the same shit over there, brother,” Jim said.

  I patted Jim on the back. “Welcome back.”

  I walked away from Jim.

  I needed a drink and I needed Belle.

  I suddenly felt safer being at war halfway across the world.

  **

  I got my drink and I got my girl. I threw back a couple beers and had my arm around Belle’s waist. I loved digging my fingers into her side and feeling the natural curve of her body. Feeling her hip made my cock pulse and start to fill.

  The clubhouse was busy but it wasn’t the same free-as-fuck kind of attitude. It was obvious every guy in there had some shit on their mind. That always happened when our lives were threatened to be rattled. Having the Russians showing up like they did put a kink in Trev’s Presidency. I could tell the guys were wondering if voting in working with the Russians was a bad idea. Shit, it brought up a ton of money, so it wasn’t a bad idea. Everything with Ivan and Peter would smooth over on its own. They were old school pricks and they enjoyed killing people just to say they did so. But they also needed us to help them. If they really thought they could come to Daurian and take control, they were out of their minds. They would muscle it though with murder and power, ruining the town, which they didn’t fucking want either.

  I pulled Belle close to me and kissed her cheek. She looked at me and had weary eyes.

  “Talk to me, sweetie,” I said.

  “Nothing to talk about,” she said. “I’m just looking around here…”

  “And this is why I’m here,” I said. “This is my family. This is my brotherhood. This is where I found my freedom. You want to do something with me?”

  “Anything,” Belle said. “As long as I don’t get shot at or something.”

  “Nah, not here.” I stood and backed up. I winked. “Then again, we’re both wanted people, aren’t we?”

  “Me?” Belle asked. “What do I have to do with this?”

  “Ah, sweetie, you’re screwed.” Her face dropped. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I know, it’s terrifying. Just let me work this all out. Before that though, come for a walk with me.”

  I don’t know why I had the urge to take her where I wanted to go. I hadn’t been there in a while. And I sure as hell never took a woman there. It was a private place. A little piece of peace that I enjoyed.

  I took Belle to the back of the clubhouse to a storage closet. I pulled the chain on a light and shut the door. In the corner was a metal ladder.

  “Right there,” I said.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Going up to the roof of the clubhouse,” I said. “Trust me.”

  I walked Belle to the ladder and I went first. Looking up, it was all dark. At the very top was a small latch to unhook and then the door flipped open. It was a heavy door and groaned in protest of being moved. It smacked the roof when I tossed it over its rusted hinge. I got on the roof and crouched down, offering my hand to Belle. Having her look up at me, the way her eyes still lit up in the darkness of the night, goddamn, it was all the proof I needed that an outlaw like me could find love. And not just crazy good love between the sheets either.

  There were a few chairs up on the roof. A little table with an ashtray and plenty of empty beer and whiskey bottles. I walked Belle near the edge so she could see the ground. We weren’t miles up in the air or anything but it was high enough that I felt her clutching at my leather cut.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “It’s actually beautiful up here. Somber but beautiful.”

  “We come up here a lot to think. A lot of bad shit down there so we try to find peace up here.”

  “When was the last time you were up here?” she asked.

  I thought about it. It had been a long while. A real long while.

  “The MC has been going through some wild shit,” I said. “Our former President was not a good one. He had been working against the MC for a long time, benefiting himself. Trev came up from another charter to take the gavel. He’s a good man. A good President.”

  “I like Eden.”

  “She looks ready to pop.”

  “She is,” Belle said. “I can’t imagine.”

  “What? Being knocked up?”

  “Well, besides that, just being in this world like this. How does it all work, Duke?”

  “It just does. You either get it or you don’t.”

  “What if someone dies? What if someone ends up jail?”

  “Same thing could happen anywhere else,” I said. “I know, it’s hard to understand our life sometimes but you’ll get used to it.”

  “Get used to it?”

  “Sweetie, you’re not ditching me,” I said. “I’m not ditching you either. Whatever happened in the past I can’t control. I’ll apologize for it every day but I won’t let it happen again. I’m here for good. You’re here for good. You want to get married, sweetie? I’ll make that happen. You want to be like Eden? I’ll knock you up right here, right now. Shit, we’ve been going at it how long now without protection?”

  Belle grinned and blushed. “I know, Duke. That doesn’t mean I did not protect myself.”

  “I could end that in a heartbeat,” I said. “But that’s not why we’re up here.”

  “Then why are we up here?” Belle asked.

  “To catch our breaths for a second. Because it’s going to get crazier before it gets better. And I wanted to be alone with you, Belle. To look at you. To feel you. To give you a chance to think for a second.”

  “I’ve got nothing at this point, Duke,” Belle said. “Honestly. I can’t believe what has happened since I called you. It’s like… like I started a fire.”

  “Meaning what? You regret that call?”

  Belle swallowed. “Duke…”

  “Hey, it’s okay. You could regret anything you want.” I felt a little pain in my heart hearing that. “Anything, sweetie.”

  “I just had no idea this was your life, Duke. I mean, are you happy?”

  “I’m happy right now. That’s all I’m worried about.”

  “Then explain it to me.”

  “I told you how it all happened. You go over there and you come back changed. We were warned about it. But me and Jim… we just wanted action. I never thought it would happen the way it did. I came back and just couldn’t shake it all off. What was I going to do? Go from shooting at people that wanted me dead to what? Fixing cars and arguing with the general public over the cost of labor? Going to an office to… fuck that, sweetie. I needed that sense of power and freedom. I needed to break away from all that had taken me down to hell. And the second I landed with these guys I just knew it was right. We take care of each other and that
’s all that matters. There’s no judges or juries. No lawyers. We take our shit to the table, talk, vote, and when that gavel hits, you do what’s told to do.” I slipped my hand into Belle’s hand. “Now, you and I together, sweetie, that’s right to me. And if you hadn’t made that call and I hadn’t seen what the pricks from the Hell Five were going to do, not only would Jim have been killed, you would have a war in your backyard. That call you made saved everyone. Shit, sweetie, it saved me. You saved me.”

  That’s when I lost my breath for a second.

  What the hell was I doing acting so vulnerable to her?

  I backed away from Belle and turned around. Shit, I was right back to the same spot as before. Realizing that she was my real family. From the moment I met Jim, met her, met Big Jim. They all did more for me than my family ever did.

  The emotion swung and hit me square in the chest. My throat closed up for a second and I stared out to the night. The stars up in the sky and the random lights from buildings and houses all around.

  “Duke?” Belle asked.

  I ignored her.

  I was back there again. Staring up at the stars at night. We used to sit outside when allowed and shoot the shit. Talking with my boys from Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, and Florida. Scattered across the country but united over there for one purpose. I never talked to anyone after the IED’s went off that day. The night before it all happened we were talking about the women we left behind. I painted a picture of me and Belle that was just…

  I was back to reality and I spun around. Belle was a foot away and I grabbed her hands. My fingers locked into hers.

  “You are everything to me,” I said. “From the day I saw you. Your dorky hair. Your ugly braces. When you had to wear glasses for a couple years. Through every awkward moment of yours I watched a beautiful woman flourish from it. And I waited patiently for the right time. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, sweetie. The right time… the right life. Well now, I’m going to tell you something. Fuck that. Fuck the right time. Fuck the right life. All we have is this time and this life. And I want it with you.”

  Belle’s mouth fell open. There were a few moments of silence and then she smiled.

  “About time you’ve realized that,” she said. “Because that’s all I’ve ever wanted. You, Duke. Just you. And if having you means having this life, the club, whatever else, then I’m there. I just need you to tell me what’s going on and what to expect.”