...or something: Ronacks Motorcycle Club

by Debra Kayn

  "You know what you need to do to make me disappear."

  "No," he said.

  The caller puffed air over the phone. Battery gritted his teeth. He could smell the pipe smoke without even being near the man. The smell deep-rooted in his memories that even a whiff would send him back years.

  "Have it your way." The caller's voice became louder the longer he talked. "I would suggest then, Mr. Thurlow, that you spend your time wisely with the girl. You won't always have her around to enjoy."

  The phone went silent. He pulled the cell away from his ear. The call had ended.

  His sweat clouded the screen. He dropped his hand to his side. "Motherfucker," he mumbled.

  "Who was that?" asked Bree from behind him.

  Battery ran his hand over his face, turned around, and shook his head. "Wrong number."

  Bree's eyes saddened. "Don't start lying to me now, Batt. That's my phone. Unless you took the black diamond cover off of mine and decided you wanted to spiff your cell by using it, that's my phone you were talking into and now holding."

  He glanced down at the fake diamonds sparkling off the back cover in his hand mocking him. Shit.

  "I need to get dressed." He had nowhere to put the phone.

  Buck naked, he'd rolled out of bed and came awake the second he realized it was Bree's phone vibrating with an incoming call. He'd waited for some kind of communication and he'd finally received positive proof of who he had to deal with and the news wasn't surprising.

  Bree walked up to him and slipped her arms around him. Her cheek still warm from sleeping pressed against his skin. He threaded his fingers in her hair, and his cock pulsed for attention despite the severity of the situation.

  She gazed up at him. "Come back to bed and let's talk."

  "Don't feel like talking." He lifted her chin and trailed his thumb over her bottom lip.

  Her tongue came out and licked him, and she lowered her voice. "Come back to the room and I'll give you a blow job."

  "I want more than that," he said, leading her toward the hall.

  She wrapped her arm around his waist. "Let me return what you did for me last night and then I want to talk."

  He wasn't going to talk.

  "I'll just get dressed." He kissed her hard. "I've got a busy day."

  She shook her head. "Not until I'm finished."

  His cock answered her by growing thicker, harder, and sticking straight out and showing off.

  He grunted and walked with her into the bedroom.

  First, a blow job. Then, a meeting with Rod and Swiss. After he had Bree settled and his MC brothers informed, he was going out and killing the person responsible for the danger dogging Bree.

  Battery sat down on the bed. Bree kneeled on the floor, her greedy hands going to his cock, loving on him. He let his chin fall to his chest, stretching his tense shoulder and neck muscles.

  Her breasts brushed his sprawled legs as she scooted in between his feet. His balls tightened at the sight of her lips opening and drawing closer.

  "Fucking sexy, carny-girl," he mumbled, rubbing her cheek.

  Wet warmth encompassed him. He closed his eyes. He'd taught her too well. He wanted to stay here all day and fuck her senseless until they both forgot about the threat happening outside the house.

  Bree's mouth moved down his length and on the slow upstroke, she sucked harder, gliding the flat of her tongue along his cock. The sensation curled his toes, and he sucked in air through the growing pulse at the base of his cock and between his legs.

  She consistently kept the same speed, only moving her tongue in different ways, making sure every inch of him received stimulation. He gathered her hair at the back of her head and held the mass with one hand, directing her up and down.

  Bree moaned, pressing her breasts against his thighs. His breath came fast and harsh. Too early in the morning for him to hold back, he let her reign down on him and bring him pleasure.

  "Almost there," he said, his voice shaking.

  She went deeper.

  She went harder.

  She went louder.

  He exploded. Bree swallowed. Pulse after pulse of come shot out of him at the intense release of pressure.

  Bree slowed down, drawing relief from him. His sensitivity to her tongue left him shuddering.

  He let go of her hair and sighed, expanding his lungs at the brush of her soft curls falling on his legs.

  She removed her mouth from his cock with a soft pop, caught her bottom lip between her teeth, and laid her head on his stomach. "I love you, Batt," she whispered.

  "I know," he inhaled a deep breath. "You want my hand on your pussy?"

  She shook her head and pushed off the floor. "This was enough. I only wanted to help you feel better this morning."

  He caught her wrist before she could step away. "You okay?"

  She smiled sadly and he damned their life. He wanted her happy. Nothing in his life, in the club's life, should ever affect her.

  "I'm going to get dressed and then I want to talk with you." She walked away.

  He sat on the bed. His hands were tied regarding what he could tell her. It wasn't enough for him to continue to protect her. She had a right to know what went on around her, and he'd taken that knowledge away from her.

  Knowing the sun was up and the members who were off last night and slept at their houses, with their wife, their kids, would be arriving soon, he needed to get downstairs and talk to his V.P. and Swiss who were two of the six that stayed to patrol the area and guard Bree. He got dressed and carried his boots, pistols, and extra magazine clips out to the living room. He had no idea how things would go down today.

  Richard was missing, and now he had proof the Russians were behind the attacks and phone call. He could be going up against one person or a hundred, and he'd need to prepare for anything.

  He shoved the magazine full of hollow tip bullets in the three-eighty and put one in the chamber. Then he repeated everything with the nine-millimeter. He wasn't taking any chances. His promise never to leave Bree and never send her away would carry him forward to face the past.

  Bree walked into the room and stopped. "What are you doing?"

  "Taking care of business," he said, walking over to the kitchen and reaching above the fridge and grabbing a smaller gripped three-eighty. "I want you to have this on you at all times. Put it in your back pocket. You hear anything or see something abnormal inside the house, use it."

  "Ronacks will be around." She ignored the weapon. "I'm not going outside. Right now, I don't care if I live the rest of my life as a hermit."

  "That's not going to be necessary." He picked up her hand, placed the gun in her palm, and wrapped her fingers around the grip. "You know how to use it."

  "Battery, shooting the gun outside at a target in the yard is fun. What you're asking is impossible. I can't kill someone."

  He lifted her face. "You will if you're in danger because you want to stay with me."

  Her shoulders sagged. He kissed her forehead. "I'll be back later. Swiss and Rod will be in the house with you today."

  He walked to the door. Bree followed, and he kept going, knowing if he stopped, he'd only delay the inevitable.

  "Battery?" she said.

  "Gotta go, carny-girl." He walked down the stairs.

  "Battery?" She called from upstairs on the landing.

  He turned around at the bottom. "Bree, I need to go."

  "You know who is after me, don't you?" she asked.

  His jaw tightened, and he clamped his lips together. It wasn't the right time. It would never be the right time.

  "Please. If you love me, tell me if you know who is after me." She crossed her arms and cupped her elbows.

  He looked away from her vulnerable eyes. "Yeah, I know."

  "Then this is all happening because of something I've done," she whispered.

  He gazed up at her. "No."

  "Then it's because of you?"

  He scoffed lightly and
exhaled. "No, carny-girl. This is because of something before you. Before me. But, I'm going to end it for us."

  Not letting her have any more information, he turned around and entered the main floor of the house to find Rod and Swiss. Then, he escorted his MC brothers outside.

  Battery lit a cigarette and made sure they were alone, and the other members were stationed around the property.

  "I received a phone call this morning from Bree's phone, and I was right. The Russian organization is the one behind the shooting and the phone calls and we should prepare ourselves for an attack. I don't know where shit will go down or start or if they're even in Montana." Battery sucked on the cigarette and exhaled above his head. "While you all go about your day on high alert and keep me informed of anything you see, hear, or happens, I have another problem I'll be dealing with and trying to wrap up as soon as possible."

  "What can we do?" asked Rod, ever ready to protect his president and his club.

  "There's a man who I believe is close or will be getting closer to the house and Bree. We need to stop him. He's white, six foot two, about two hundred pounds. He wears his long hair pulled back tight and usually fastened at his neck. He's probably wearing a flannel shirt and black pants—the heavy kind that loggers wear. He'll be armed and have enough ammo to start a God damn war on the house and Ronacks." Battery flicked the ashes off his smoke.

  "How old?" asked Swiss.

  "Early forties." Battery gazed around the perimeter of the house. "He knows these fucking mountains better than we know the front yard. He's strong. He's smart. More importantly, he's got nothing to live for, and he'll take risks. He will not stop until he gets Bree."

  Rod toed Battery's discarded cigarette into the ground. "What do you want us to do if he shows up or we find him?"

  Battery looked back at the house, the windows, and assured that Bree was nowhere in sight, he said, "Kill him."

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Raelyn stood in front of the entrance to the living room. Bree, curled up in the corner of the couch and covered with a blanket, motioned her friend in. Dead tired, she couldn't sleep with Battery away to God-knew-where and welcomed the distraction.

  "Which one of the men sent you up here?" Bree propped her elbow against the back of the couch and rested her head in her hand.

  "Swiss." Raelyn kicked off her shoes and sat on the opposite end of the sofa and put her feet on the middle cushion beside Bree's covered feet. "He's worried because you didn't eat dinner with the rest of them."

  She shrugged. "I didn't feel like going down there with everyone, so I'm waiting for Battery. I'll eat when he gets home."

  "You know, Duke's with him." Raelyn lifted her brows. "I'm sure they're all right."

  "Yeah." She looked away from her friend.

  As the day moved into evening and now night settled down on all of them, she was finding it harder to stay positive. The little information Battery gave her early this morning only confused her more. If the man or men after her had nothing to do with her or Battery, then why the hell was she the one who got shot at and they used her phone number to make contact?

  The man said he was coming after her. Someone wasn't telling the truth, and everything pointed at Battery. His behavior, while he made an effort to act like everything would be okay, worried her. He'd distanced himself.

  Not in any way that others would notice, but she noticed. He looked at her longer when he believed she wasn't looking or asleep. He stopped himself from touching her as if he'd harm her. There were times, she'd seen him pause, and his whole body went rigid. She could almost sense the anger rolling off him.

  The carefully hidden rage scared her. He never lost his cool around her or the club.

  Battery was the most controlled person she'd ever known or met. She relied on Battery to be the strong one and the new chink in his armor she was seeing, also drove him to keep secrets from her. Out of protection or mistrust, she had no idea.

  "When did you get here?" asked Bree.

  "An hour ago. Duke's keeping me with him and it was his turn to go out with Battery, so he locks me in the house. When we're home, he's got our place looking like a fort, prepped for war."

  Bree head throbbed. "I'm sorry."

  "It's not your fault." Raelyn tapped her foot against Bree's toe. "What did you do today?"

  "Cleaned." Bree pulled her legs closer and snorted. "I even conquered vacuuming out the couches downstairs, and spot cleaned the felt on the pool table."

  "Look at you being all maid-like and handy." Raelyn laughed. "I took a nap for four hours this afternoon. Though I made a lasagna and put the dish in the freezer for later. I'm trying to stock up on already-made food for when the baby comes so Duke won't have to fend for himself."

  "You've got six more months. Does food last that long in the freezer?" She tossed the blanket off her legs.

  "I wasn't sure, so I called my mom before I started and she said it would be fine considering the lasagna was already cooked." Raelyn rolled her eyes. "I'm so not domesticated. I went from living at home with my mom to living with Duke and then marrying him. I should've paid more attention to how my mom did everything when I was growing up."

  "You'll learn." Bree shifted and put her feet on the floor and laid her head on the back of the couch. "I lived with this one foster mom when I was twelve. She made everything from scratch. Before her, I had no idea what scratch meant. But, the food was good."

  "I love that idea, especially when it comes to feeding the baby." Raelyn rubbed her flat stomach. "Duke says not to worry about it, but I do."

  Bree pulled at a string on her cutoffs. "Look at us sounding old and mature. Next thing you know, we'll be teaching each other how to knit and probably complaining about getting no sex from our men."

  Bree fell silent, looked at Raelyn, and laughed. She laughed hard and long enough tears welled up in her eyes and the amused emotion quickly turned to sober reality and she sniffed hard to stop herself from crying.

  "Well, we can add overemotional tendencies to our friendship now, too," said Raelyn wiping the corners of her eyes.

  "Yeah, but at least yours are mostly hormonal. I think mine is insanity." Bree hiccupped and turned to Raelyn. "I've never told you this before, but I appreciate your friendship."

  "You haven't had too many friends, have you?" asked Raelyn soberly.

  Bree shook her head. "I can't miss what I've never had. The day Battery talked to me at the carnival, everything changed for me."

  "In what way?"

  Bree hummed through the onslaught of memories. "In every way. There was an instant connection with Battery. A trust. I can't even explain how I knew that he would be in my life until I die. Looking back, leaving the carnival with him was the stupidest thing I'd ever done. It could've turned out so differently, and I never would've met you or became a part of Ronacks. I don't know. I guess most people would say our dependency on each other makes our relationship unhealthy, and then there's the age difference. We know it's not normal, but it feels right, for us."

  "And, now you have Battery, and the club is your family," whispered Raelyn.

  She nodded and dropped her gaze to her lap. "But for how long?"

  "Don't think that way. Nothing is going to happen. Ronacks will protect you."

  Bree shrugged. "I hope so, but..."

  "What?"

  "Just a feeling I can't shake." She sighed on her exhale, tired of the antsy paranoia crawling through her body all the time. "It's like there's something bigger going on and I'm a part of it, but I have no clue why. It's driving me nuts. I can sense it—which makes me sound crazy—crazier, and I probably am letting the stress get to me."

  "You're not crazy," said Raelyn.

  "I think Battery knows something and isn't telling me." She stared across the room.

  The stress she was under would also explain why last night she dreamed about Battery pushing her under the water at the pond again. An unfounded fear, she woke up gasping for breath.
Instead of being scared, her first thought was to find Battery and stay by his side. Even in her dreams, she couldn't make up her mind.

  "Eh, bikers are like that. Duke and I can be close enough to crawl underneath each other's skin, and I swear I know every single thing about him. Then the next day comes, and I'm living with a stranger. A stranger I'm not even sure I like." She laughed. "I love him because he does know how to irritate the hell out of me."

  "That's the thing. Battery never makes me crazy on purpose," she said. "He makes everything right. He fixes me. He creates wonderful experiences and surrounds me with love."

  "We both have different relationships, and yet the men give us what we need. That's the beauty of love, my friend." Raelyn sat up and folded Bree's discarded blanket.

  Bree swallowed her unease. "Maybe there's something wrong with me."

  "Oh, come on now. You are being stup—"

  The door banged open, and Battery filled the doorway. Bree jumped to her feet, instant relief sweeping through her.

  Battery's intense gaze pierced Bree. Her stomach warmed, and she stepped, hurried, and then ran to him. He caught her and wrapped his strong arms around her. Not wanting any space between them, she pressed against him, holding on.

  "I, um, will leave you two alone," said Raelyn. "Call if you need me."

  "Thank you," mumbled Bree against Battery's chest.

  His heartbeat thumped steadily against her ear, and he picked her up. Cradled in his arms, she grabbed his hair and turned his face toward her.

  "Are you okay?" she whispered.

  He nodded.

  She studied him, unsure if he would tell her the truth because she'd never experienced a situation where someone wanted her dead or Battery distanced himself from her. "Is the danger over?"

  He shook his head. "Soon, carny-girl."

  She helped him with his boots and stripped him out of his clothes. The idea of feeding him a meal forgotten after seeing the frustration in his every move, every word, every breath. He needed sleep. He needed her.

  Bree pulled down the bedspread and covers and patted the sheet covered mattress. "Lay down, honey."

  She took off her clothes while he crawled onto the bed and laid down on his side. Naked, she crawled on her knees toward him and laid down, pressing her warmth against him.