by Ryder Dane
She turned away and went back to her desk chair, still feeling shaken, but determined to remain as matter of fact as possible. There was no way she was going to break in front of this man. If it had been any of the other brothers of the Breed, she knew she’d probably be blubbering like a baby right now. John Handy had a habit of making her want to gain his respect, and crying like a five-year-old was not going to cut it around him. The one thing she needed from him was comfort, but it was the one thing she was sure he’d consider a glaring weakness.
“I need a gun. I have a puppy coming, but he won’t be ready to leave his momma for at least another two weeks, and he won’t be much help until he gets older anyway. I heard a motorcycle start up and leave when the man left, so I’m pretty sure it’s an MC making the threats. Since it’s not the Breed, I figure it’s either the Burning Bastards or the Swamp Kings. They want the money in an envelope, and told me they’d be by to pick it up on the first of the month.”
John hadn’t expected this. Maybe problems with a patron, or a brother, but extortion? The bruises made him want to find the fucker who hurt her, and put the cocksucker in a casket. He’d damn sure never touch her again.
“Did he rape you?” He forced the words out through gritted teeth, because he wanted to do damage to someone or something right this minute, and he didn’t want to give her the impression he might hurt her.
She kept her head down, pretending to look at the papers in her fingers that showed the way she was trembling from the way the corner edge appeared to be vibrating.
“I asked you a question.” He stood and she jerked her head around to watch him, he could see she was spooked and he had his answer without her having to voice the words. She looked ashamed, and there was no way he would let her believe there was any reason for that.
He kept his steps short but continued toward her, cursing a blue streak very low under his breath, but she heard him and cringed inside. No matter how many times she’d told herself it hadn’t been her fault, that she was not trying to entice the bastard, it didn’t help. She looked at herself as less than she was three days ago, and the knowledge hurt her independent nature. She had to snap out of this feeling, like she had given herself to the pig. He’d laid that knife on her neck and pressed the blade into her flesh, which stopped her from fighting him.
John reached down and pulled her to her feet as she cringed backwards. He refused to stop pulling her to his chest, and she stomped on his booted foot, but it did no good. She opened her mouth to scream at him to leave her alone, but his lips were already sealing themselves with hers, and it confused her. His arms wrapped her body tightly to his and she stopped trying to push him away. She couldn’t decide if it was the feeling of security she had while he held her to him, or the way her mind seemed to accept him as if he belonged in her arms like this.
How could she feel this way, especially after that animal had held her on the floor and took her body as if he owned it. The only pain she’d felt at the time was where his filthy fingers and hands held her down. His dick was not the weapon he must have delusions about. To her it was a loss of choice, and she almost hadn’t called the cops. If her assailant hadn’t promised her a repeat visit, she might not have told anyone.
“I will find the fucker who hurt you and you won’t need to worry about him again. You are beautiful, smart, and talented, don’t let him take any of that from you, Stevie.” John kept his hold on her and rubbed his hands up and down her back. He dropped his forehead onto hers, “I promise, if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make sure you’re protected from him and his Swamp Rats. I plan to ask Baron, but I don’t think it’s the Bastards, the men I’ve met are assholes, but they seem like decent assholes. The Swamp Rats, now those fuckers are not above any crime or dumb scheme. Extortion is one of their main incomes, too bad they decided to enter Breed turf.”
He loosened his hold on her and leaned down for a quick kiss. “Yeah, I know I act like a caveman, you seem to bring out that quality in me, and truthfully, I like it.” He set her back in her seat and went back to his own. “Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened, start to finish.”
“John, I’ve already told the police everything that happened, I went to the hospital and they did a rape kit, and took pictures. I already told you everything that happened, so what exactly do you want to know? Will it make a difference in what happened for you to know I quit fighting the bastard when he put a knife to my neck? Believe me, I felt the same things any woman would when her choices consist of dying or giving in. I never saw his face, I felt his breath on my neck, and was creeped out when his whiskers dragged on my skin while he threatened to keep coming back because he liked me.” She stared at him for a few minutes, then turned her head toward the plant in the corner.
“I was as frightened as I ever want to be in my lifetime, and he knew it, he liked it, and told me so. After he was finished, I laid on the floor for a long time, hating my weakness. I should have fought harder, I should have let him slice my neck up, I should have been more careful.” She shook her head, not paying attention to the tears sliding down her cheeks. “He told me not to think his fucking me would let me off the hook on the payments. The next time he had to come and talk to me, he would be bringing a few other men with him.” She drew a deep breath, let it out, and took another one for good measure to calm herself.
“I tried to tell him that he was making a big mistake, that I had a mortgage to pay to Lucifer’s Breed, but he kept slapping me every time I tried to speak. Will it add to the story when you tell your friends about what happened, to know the inside of my cheeks are like hamburger from my teeth when he hit me? Will your club brothers laugh when they hear I can’t go back to my home because I’m too afraid to?” She laughed bitterly, and turned back to look him in the eye.
“Will they think I’m a coward for giving into him, for sitting on the floor of my shower scrubbing my skin until it hurt to touch it? How about the hour I sat at the drugstore waiting for them to give me a morning after pill to make sure I wasn’t carrying my rapist’s kid. They might get a chuckle out of the fact I had to have blood drawn to check for STDs. It’s routine now, did you know that?”
Her sinuses were so full of snot she had to grab a tissue and blow her nose noisily. She looked up at John, who’d sat through her pity party, and wondered what he was going to do now. “Look, I know I am coming off as a weak-kneed bitch, but that’s how I feel. I know you’re a good guy, but right now, men are not my favorite people. I’m just a little bit bitter.”
John heard every word she spoke, and he understood her questioning his discretion, but she needed to learn he wasn’t her enemy. “Stevie, look at me, I’m going to tell you this one time, and one time only. The next time you question my integrity, I will put your ass over my knee and spank it. I’m not getting off on hearing that some fucker had his dick in a woman I’ve been interested in for myself for a long fucking time now. The fact he hurt you and made you cry sealed his fate.
“As far as me telling the brothers’ every detail, that won’t happen, they will know what he did, but not a blow by blow, it’s not necessary, and I wouldn’t share anything that intimate with another person. I needed to hear what happened, because I want you whole when I sink my cock inside you, trust me, you will feel me when it happens, but I won’t bruise you or take what you aren’t willing to give me.”
Stevie shook her head, did he just say, “What do you mean, your cock will be… Look, you don’t have to take responsibility for me. I told you I’m going to buy a gun and the puppy will bark if anyone is around, he won’t be much of a guard dog for a while, but I will have enough notice to be prepared in case it happens again. You don’t have to play at being my lover, I’ll be fine.
“I only told you because I know there would be hell to pay if Lucifer’s Breed found out I was paying another MC for protection, and if something were to happen to the building or the business, I’ll probably be in a shallow grave somewhere or
they’ll find my body in the middle of the bar cremated already. You all need to know who to blame if something happens, that’s all I wanted the Breed to know.”
John stood and placed the chair squarely in front of the desk. “You close the bar at midnight?” She nodded and he told her to stay inside of the building until he got back. “If you leave before I get back, you won’t be happy to find yourself over my knee and cuffed to my bed until we get this sorted out.”
“You can’t tell me what to do, and you can stop threatening to spank me too, I’m a grown woman, and don’t need a daddy.”
The last few words were spoken to the room. John had left, rather than stick around to listen to her arguments it seemed.
She blew out a breath and scowled at the idea he seemed to believe her misfortune gave him permission to boss her around.
Chapter Two
Baron stared at the normally stoic ex-Ranger, now arguably the best mechanic in this corner of the state. John Handy was also one of the few men Baron was damn glad to name as a friend. There might have been a handful of times in the past few years that he’d seen the man so animated. However, this time, Baron sensed it was something John considered personal.
It was about damned time as far as Baron could see. John had lit up every time Stevie Hill’s name was mentioned. When Skids and Tank had speculated if she might be interested in a good time, John had threatened to castrate Skids if he went near the girl. Tank had raised his hands in the air in surrender that day. Neither man wanted to test John physically, but his reaction to their teasing had given them more than enough fodder to tease the big man later on.
“You know I have to try to settle this first, right? I’ll call Pappy D and warn him off. But we know they won’t listen until someone gets his ass beat. They will back off and come sneaking in again in a few months. That persistence is about the only good quality those fuckers can lay claim to.” Baron took a list of numbers from the top drawer of the desk and scanned for the number of the Swamp Kings’ clubhouse.
John had already shown the letter that Stevie had given him to Baron and Leech. Before Baron started punching in buttons, John spoke up. His words of intent to do damage to the man he wanted to see face to face puzzled Baron until he heard what the real reason for John’s anger was about.
“You can tell that Swamp Rat that I want his fuckin’ rat-faced bastard who threatened Stevie, I will find him, or they can give the bastard up. If I have to pick them cocksuckers off one at a time until I get the right one, then it’s no skin off my back. I need the target practice.”
Leech had been sitting in a chair with the legs propped up, and let the legs hit the floor. “John, clubs threaten people all of the time, hell, we have had to make threats to get our point across too many times to remember. We usually settle for busting a few heads until the next time they slither from the stinking vegetation.”
John turned on Leech, and advanced toward him slowly with his hands fisted at his side. “Really? Tell me how many times have we tried to extort money from a woman, and sent someone to threaten her in a hands on way?” He grabbed the smaller man and raised him up to speak to him. “Do we send in fuckers to rape them and kill her fuckin’ pet? Is that what we do? Do we leave hand sized bruises on her body, Leech? If that’s what we do you can have this fuckin’ patch and I’m outta here.”
He released Leech after setting him back on his feet, and turned to Baron. “You are the Prez, I got mad respect for you and the brothers, but the fucker who raped and beat Stevie is mine, I find him, and God is the only one that will save the motherfucker from the reaper. You can tell that pussy cocksucker that for me. Anyone looking to stop me will have to stand in a fuckin’ line, I’m going hunting, any of those Rats get in my way? Collateral damage.”
He turned to leave the room and was knocked in the jaw with enough force to rock him on his feet. Leech came at him and John held up his hand to stop him from stepping closer. “You got one free, I’m too fuckin’ pissed to keep my temper in check, and you pushed the wrong damned buttons. Hit me again and I’ll hurt you, it’s even as far as I’m concerned.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I like Stevie too, but I wasn’t told to begin with that she was hurt, you didn’t say a damned word about it. Next time you lay hands on me it’s on, buddy, I don’t take that shit from no one, not you, not anybody. You know damned well we don’t hurt women like that.”
John nodded, and left the room.
Baron grinned at his friend. “You hit like a girl, that little bitch slap was like a love tap to a brother like John, I was afraid I was going to have to step in between him and your broken ass.”
Leech shook out the hand he’d used to punch the man. “That fucker’s jaw is like a damned rock.” He sat down, still flexing his fingers, “He’s got it bad for little Stevie. She must be special to him, I’ve never seen him so deadly intent on getting his hands on someone. If it was anybody but one of the Swamp Kings, I might say give them a heads up that he’s a lethal fucker, but I think I’ll let them find out for themselves.”
Baron nodded, “Yeah, about that. They won’t give up the son-of-a-bitch. I’ll warn Ol’ Pappy D, but that is all he gets, they know where the lines are drawn on the southern boundary. My money says they knew it was Breed territory, but thought they could intimidate a lone girl. They couldn’t know it is part of our empire. I’m about to explain it to them in small words so they understand what I’m saying.” He punched in the numbers to connect. “This is going to be interesting.”
By the time he finished talking to Pappy D, he was shaking his head and wanting the drugged up fucker to run across his path soon. He looked at Leech.
“Well you heard what he said. The reason I put him on speaker is because you all think I’m shitting you when I say talking to him is like talking to one of the gators in that swamp those boys play in. Brains about the same size too. We might have to deal in a harsher way with them this time, they have ambitions.”
Leech nodded. “Yeah, ‘Causin’ we be in ta ways of the Swamp Kings progress.” He mimicked the voice of Pappy D. “I swear, man, it was all I could do not to laugh out while that mumble-mouth tried to speak English. Damn shame he’s hiding in that stinking swamp if you ask me.”
The two men shared a laugh, and Baron left for home. Gunner and Stretch were already there. And he was looking forward to sitting in his recliner after dinner and pulling her little ass down onto his lap. The thought stayed with him as he backed his bike out of the parking spot in front of the club.
Leech went into the bar and Myrtle set up his favorite beer when she saw him headed her way. He took the barstool next to Burger and gave him the rundown on their nemesis, the Swamp Kings.
Tank, Skids, and Joker were hanging out looking bored, so Leech and Burger walked over to a large table so the others could be in on the conversation. The Swamp Kings, better known as the Swamp Rats, were hated by the brothers in Lucifer’s Breed.
Tank didn’t have a lot to say, the man was almost as quiet as John normally was, but Skids made up for any slack in the vocal denouncement of the Swamp Rats. “We should’a capped all of them blue balled jug fuckers last year when we had the chance.”
They all agreed that it was going to take more than a polite request for the Rats to sacrifice one of their own.
Tank started smirking, and began to laugh. That was unusual enough, but his plan to deal with the Rats was perfect.
“How about we catch a few of those ol’ boys and keep them as guests for a while? Torment them sons-a-bitches, keep ‘em blindfolded and scared. I can see them now, gather them in the blocks, keep ‘em chained like dogs, and wait ‘til someone notices they’re gone. It shouldn’t take long, maybe a week or so.”
Burger was rubbing his moustache and thinking. “Easy enough to do, the little fuckers think respect is just a word they ain’t heard before. They’re always in town causing shit with people. We feed them good while we have them, tell them a man sho
uld have a full belly before he gets dead. They’re mostly dopers anyway, won’t eat much, ‘specially when we slip one or two out of the mix, and his buddies think they got the bullet that’s coming to them.”
Leech grinned and laughed. “You are some sick motherfuckers, makes me proud to ride with you. What say we go find our first Swamp Rat?”
They got up and headed for the door leaving the table full of empties and a few scattered people wondering what that pack of jokesters were up to.
*****
John left the club and went home to take care of a few things before he went back to the bar. His place was in the middle of twenty acres of hardwoods, rocks, and wildlife. This was his sanctuary when people became too fucking much for him to deal with. Knowing he planned to bring a stranger here made him pause while slapping the clip in his favorite Colt Semi Auto .45 cal. It was an original, and there had been times it had kept him alive since he bought it from an old timer shortly after he got stateside from the Middle East.
“You dumbass, you had to wait and see what she needed. You always have to find where you fit, and you found it, too fuckin’ bad you had to drag ass until she’d been hurt to man up.” Berating himself just added fuel to the deadly thoughts he was having. The more he thought, the colder the intent.
He secured the clip and added two extras to his shoulder rig. He’d made it especially for his body, mainly because no one manufactured what he was looking for. The daggers in his boots were checked and the throw down was taken outside to run a round through before going into his saddlebags. He’d hate to leave it behind, it was a sweet little .380, but as far as a weapon for practical use, his hands were way too big to use it comfortably. He had others, but this one he’d already taken it to the grinding wheel and removed the serial numbers. The bullets were wiped clean before he slipped them into the mag. In fact, every centimeter of the gun was clean, no prints.
