Ghost

by Jessica Coulter Smith

  The only good thing that come out of the M.C. was that Richard had started having his girls tested weekly to make sure they weren’t carrying anything. She’d been tested just three days before and knew she was clean, assuming the M.C. brothers hadn’t given her anything. But if the whispers were true, she didn’t think they were able to carry diseases. She knew of the wolf pack in town, had accidentally seen some of them shift during a full moon one night. The M.C. weren’t wolves that she knew of, but she’d be willing to bet they were all shifters of some sort. And word on the street was that shifters didn’t carry diseases. Not that many people believed shifters really existed.

  Shelly reached out and lightly trailed her fingers across his cheek, down the blade of his nose, and brushed them across his full lips. There was something about Ghost that made her want to get closer. He wasn’t as handsome as some of the other men in the M.C., and yet, she found him more fascinating than any of the others. Unable to stop herself, she gently pressed her lips to his. When he’d kissed her last night, it was the first time she’d ever been kissed so gently. Most of the men she slept with were rough and quick, only out for their own pleasure. But Ghost…she’d felt tenderness in his kiss and she yearned to feel it again. It filled an ache she hadn’t even realized she had, an emptiness that echoed in her heart.

  His eyes fluttered open and she pulled back, embarrassed at being caught kissing him.

  “I told you that you don’t have to pay for your room here,” he said, his voice scratchy from sleep.

  “I wasn’t trying to pay for my room,” she said softly. “I just…”

  “You just what?”

  She felt her cheeks warm. “I liked it when you kissed me last night. I wanted to feel it again. No one’s ever kissed me like that before.”

  He cupped her cheek and caressed her skin softly. “What do you need from me, Shelly?”

  “Kiss me again?” she asked. “Like last night?”

  Ghost leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against hers. He coaxed and teased and when she opened, he slipped his tongue inside for a taste. He kissed her sweetly, softly. Shelly melted against him, feeling like a woman for the first time in her life. Until this point, she’d always been an object. A thing. Just a way for men to find relief. But Ghost’s kiss breathed sunshine and light into her existence and showed her there was so much more out there, so much more that she wanted.

  She felt the hard press of his cock against her and wondered what it would be like to have a man make love to her slowly, to savor her and treat her as if she mattered, as if he cared. No one had ever done that for her before, but something told her that this man could make that happen. Despite his cold exterior, there was a gentleness to him, a kindness that she felt in the very marrow of her bones.

  She pulled out of his kiss and stared at him intently, trying to judge his emotions. She knew he desired her, wanted more, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to take it. Why didn’t he take what he wanted like everyone else did? Wasn’t that what men did? Take? But no, Ghost wasn’t taking. He was giving. She’d asked for the kiss. Could she ask for more? Did she dare?

  He smoothed the hair back from her face. “You look so beautiful.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes and she blinked them back. She’d been told countless times that she was beautiful, that she was hot, that she had a smokin’ body, but no one had ever said the words with such reverence before. When Ghost told her she was beautiful, he meant it. He didn’t just want in her pants; he wanted her to know that she was special. How could a gruff biker, who went around waving guns at people, be so sweet?

  “Make love to me.” She fisted her hands in his shirt. “Please. Show me what it’s supposed to be like between a man and a woman.”

  “I take it all you’ve ever known is a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am from the men you serviced and from my brothers?”

  She nodded.

  “I can bring you pleasure without having sex with you, Shelly. You don’t have to give yourself to me.”

  No. She didn’t. But she wanted to. And it wasn’t as a way to thank him, even though that’s probably what he thought. For once in her miserable life, she wanted to be with a man who was worthy of being loved, a man who was so much more than someone like her could ever hope for. Decent men didn’t come along very often, and Shelly wasn’t going to kid herself into thinking she was going to have a fairy tale, happily-ever-after now that she’d left Richard. Men would still think she was easy, would still take what they wanted from her. The only difference was that they wouldn’t be paying for her services with money, but with dinner and a movie.

  “I wanted you the first moment I saw you,” she admitted. “But I was too scared to approach you. I was worried that if I had you, I would want more than you could give me, more than I would be allowed to have. I watched as you ignored all of the women in the clubhouse and I knew you were different.”

  “Don’t make me out to be something I’m not, Shelly. I’ve fucked my share of women, and quite often there were few words spoken and no emotions involved. I’m not some goddamn saint.”

  “If you’re not different from the others, why didn’t you take any of us to your room or fuck us up against the wall?”

  He looked like he wasn’t going to answer, but she knew the eact moment he had decided to be honest with her.

  “Because you deserved better than that. I’m not an emotional man, Shelly. I don’t do I-love-yous, candlelit dinners, and walks in the moonlight. I take what I want, when I want it. Just the same as any brother in this club. But when it came to you, I couldn’t give in to my instincts.”

  “Why?”

  He twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. “Because you’re different. I knew if I ever got my cock inside of you, I wouldn’t want to come back out. I knew the moment I joined us together, I’d want to keep you. And the last thing I need is an old lady. I’m not good mate material. I’m too fucked up in the head.”

  Mate material. She knew enough about animals to know they called their partners mates. He was as good as telling her that he wanted her as his mate. His other half. And it broke her heart that he didn’t think he deserved her. Her! A woman who had slept with so many men she’d lost count, and had charged for her services. And he thought he wasn’t good enough for her?

  She slid her hand around the back of his neck and pressed her lips to his again. “I don’t know what you are, Ghost. I don’t know who you were in the past. But I know that now, right this minute, you are a good, kind, decent man. And if anything, I don’t deserve you. I’m trash, no better than a used condom.”

  “Is that really how you see yourself?”

  She couldn’t stop the tears that streaked her cheeks. “It’s true. You may have saved me from Richard, but for what? Who is ever going to want a used up whore? It’s a miracle I haven’t contracted some sort of disease by now. And…”

  “And what, doll?”

  Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “I’ve never conceived. I’ve been under Richard’s thumb for five years. Five years of men fucking me without a condom, but who cares if the whore gets AIDS or has to have an abortion? And not one time have I ever gotten pregnant. Who will want a woman who can’t have kids? A woman who has serviced half the town?”

  “You’re breaking my heart, doll. Any man would be lucky to have you by his side.”

  Ghost looked like he was at war with himself.

  “If you don’t want to make love to me, you don’t have to.”

  He shook his head. “It isn’t a matter of not wanting to. I’m worried I won’t want to stop, that once won’t be enough.”

  Shelly didn’t have a problem with that, but obviously, he did. She didn’t understand how shifters worked. In the books she’d read, there had been destined mates for the shifters. Women the wolves or were-bears hadn’t been able to resist. The look in Ghost’s eyes told her she was important to him, more important than just some
random woman he’d decided to save. Her heart warmed at the thought that she might mean something to the big, burly shifter. But at the same time, she cautioned herself against getting attached to him. If he didn’t want someone permanent in his life, there wasn’t much hope for a happily-ever-after with him.

  Chapter Four

  It killed him to leave Shelly lying in bed, looking all soft and warm. She’d nearly broken down all of his defenses when she’d asked so sweetly for him to make love to her. He should have never kissed her last night, and he definitely shouldn’t have repeated it this morning. But with her large, blue eyes looking at him with such trust, how could he deny her request?

  The taste of her lingered on his lips and her sweet scent clung to his skin. He had business to take care of and couldn’t be mooning after his mate. And yes, he could admit that she was his mate. But unlike Axel and Viper, he had no intention of falling for her. No matter how sweet and vulnerable she appeared to be, no matter how much she seemed to need him, to want him…she deserved so much more than a broken ex-soldier. He’d done some horrific things in his life, and now that he was President of the M.C., he was certain there would be more horrific things to come.

  He and his band of merry men didn’t go after just anyone though. They sought out the bad guys, having this driving need to punish the wicked. All right, so they’d lined their pockets in the past by hocking stolen car parts. And when he’d first joined, the M.C. had been running drugs, but Reaper had put a stop to that soon enough. These days, they were completely legit. Their Treasurer was a whiz with the stock market and had taken all of that dirty money and invested it.

  There was talk of opening a few businesses in town. They’d thought to open a motorcycle repair shop, but it seemed the alpha, Gabriel Andrew, had beat them to it. There was already a strip club in town, and really, they didn’t want to put women in that position if they didn’t have to. Ghost wasn’t entirely certain what the hell they were going to do for some extra cash. There were enough ex-Special Forces guys hiding out in M.C.s that he supposed they could band together and offer their services to the government, but he really didn’t want to go that route if he didn’t have to. He’d earned a quiet life. Well, as quiet as his life would ever be.

  As everyone gathered in the boardroom, he banged the gavel to get their attention. He was wearing his cut again, with the President patch on his chest. It felt good. Felt right.

  “As you all know, Preacher was buying whores from a man named Richard here in Ashton Grove. I threatened him last night when I rescued Shelly, but I don’t think he’s going to heed my warning. The last time she tried to escape, he beat her. She’s also been whipped and shot. That isn’t the kind of man that’s going to let go of his investments quite so easily.” Ghost banged a fist on the table. “But we are not going to let him get away with this shit.”

  “Do you want us to handle it or do you want to involve the police?” Axel asked. “These women had to come from somewhere. Surely they have families missing them.”

  Hell, he hadn’t even thought of that. Did Shelly have family out there somewhere, wondering where she was? Would they swoop in and take her away from him? He might not think he deserved her, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to let her go either.

  “I’d personally love to get my hands on him, but we’ll put it to a vote,” Ghost said. “All those in favor of calling in the police?”

  A bunch of hands went into the air.

  “And those who want to handle it personally?”

  His rescue team raised their hands.

  Uneasy looks went around the room. Bone finally spoke up. “If your team really wants to handle this, I don’t see how we can stand in your way. I’d just be worried about it coming back on us if the police find whatever pieces of the guy you leave behind. I know you’ve left bodies around town already, and I’m not sure how much heat we can take. We’re above board, but the town doesn’t know that. It wouldn’t take much to get them up in arms and try to run us out of here.”

  “Bone has a good point,” Ghost said. “Maybe we need to assign a clean-up crew to take care of any bodies left behind in the future. We should have done that before now.”

  Switch, Pistol, and Digger raised their hands. “We’ll be the clean-up crew.”

  Switch smiled. “I’ve had a little experience disposing of bodies in the past. There’s nothing to it.”

  “Very well. We’ll let the three of you handle any future bodies or other clean-up that might come along.” Ghost looked around the room. “Now that we have a crew in place, does anyone have an objection to us handling this matter ourselves?”

  No one spoke up so Ghost nodded. “Very well. Axel, Whisper, Crimson, and Viper, stay behind so we can work out a plan of attack. Everyone else is dismissed.”

  Everyone filed out of the room, except for his crew. After the doors had closed behind their brothers, the others moved closer to the head of the table. Axel steepled his fingers.

  “I was put in charge of this group, but now that you’re the Pres, maybe you should take over,” Axel said.

  Ghost shook his head. “As far as this team goes, you’re still lead. I know I should probably step down and assign someone else, and maybe I will. But I want to take care of this threat first.”

  Whisper smirked. “You mean the threat to Shelly.”

  Ghost felt heat creeping up his neck. “The threat to all the girls who decided to stay with us. Where are the other two anyway?”

  Crimson looked a little uncomfortable. “One stayed with me last night. I told her she didn’t have to pay for room and board on her back, but um…well, things sort of got out of hand. I think we need to get them to Gabriel today. All of them.”

  Ghost’s inner fox didn’t like that idea too much. Take Shelly away? Over his dead body. He might not be ready to make her his old lady, but he wasn’t ready to watch her walk away either. Maybe that was selfish of him, but he wanted to hold her in his arms again tonight. But the other two definitely needed to go.

  “I can call Gabriel as soon as this meeting is over,” Viper offered. “I think Scarlet is hanging out with the alpha’s mate today, so he’s probably over at the garage.”

  Ghost nodded. “Tell him to make space for two girls.”

  Crimson’s eyebrows shot up. “Two? Last I checked, there were three of them.”

  Whisper nudged Crimson. “Don’t you know he’s fighting himself over Shelly? That girl isn’t going anywhere. I’d be willing to bet cold, hard cash that he makes her his old lady before the week is over.”

  Ghost scowled at Whisper, but the smirk never left the other shifter’s face.

  “Do we know how many girls this Richard still has?” Axel asked.

  “One went back to him last night, but he could have others. I can ask Shelly,” Ghost said. “When I took her from that house, she was the only one there, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others who were out working the streets.”

  “When do you want to take him out?” Crimson asked.

  “Ideally, I’d love to go in tonight. I want to make sure we leave a crew here to protect Shelly, but I want to go after that bastard at his house before he even thinks of coming after the girls. Viper, see if you can get the other two moved out of here within the hour. I want them on lockdown at the pack apartments.”

  “I’m sure Gabriel will agree with you,” Viper said.

  “I want to hit that house hot tonight. Two in front. Two in back. And one on lookout, just like the last time, when we rescued Amelia.” Ghost looked around the room and stopped on Axel. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  Axel shook his head. “I’ll take point with you. I want Whisper and Viper at the rear and Crimson on lookout this time. We’ll use the comm units again so you don’t confuse us with all those damn hand signals you like to use.”

  Ghost grinned.

  “When we get in, we’ll subdue Richard, then I want Whisper to head up
stairs and see if there are any women tucked away. If there are, we’ll get them to Gabriel tonight. One of us will drive the cage just in case.” Axel looked around the room. “Any volunteers?”

  “I’ll do it,” Crimson said.

  Axel nodded. “I think our side arms will be sufficient.”

  Ghost’s grin faded. “I’ll take my Desert Eagle this time. I want to put a hole through that man’s chest that he won’t be able to survive. The Glock is nice, but it doesn’t have the same stopping power.”

  “If that’s what you want. Just no rifles.”

  Ghost shook his head. “No worries on that score. I don’t plan on taking this man out long range. I want to see the look in his eyes when he knows he’s going to die.”

  Axel stared at him a moment. “This is personal for you, Ghost. Are you going to be able to keep hold of your temper when we go in there? I need you to be objective and not let your emotions rule you.”

  “Why the hell would my emotions rule me?” Ghost asked.

  “Because whether you want to admit it or not, you’re sweet on Shelly. We’ve all seen the way you watched her over the past few months. And we aren’t going to question what happened in your room last night, but you seem mighty fond of Shelly. Perhaps even more so than before.”

  Ghost let out an annoyed gekkering sound and glowered at Axel.

  Axel lifted his hands in the air. “I’m just saying what I’ve observed. You can ignore your beast all you want, but it’s obvious that your fox has decided Shelly is your mate. The sooner you succumb, the better for the rest of us.”

  “Not like you’ve been getting laid anyway,” Whisper said. “You think no one’s noticed you’ve gone without since the moment those girls hit the clubhouse several months back?”

  Ghost ground his teeth together.

  “Am I the only one who didn’t know how he felt about her?” Crimson asked, looking a little gray. “Look man, if I’d known that you liked her, I never would have treated her that way.”