HALE: Lords of Carnage MC

by Daphne Loveling

  “So.” Cyndi puts an elbow on the bar and looks at me. “You wanted to change the subject? What should we talk about?”

  I think for a second, and then come up with something that’s both a total change of subject and something Cyndi will approve of. “I went shopping in Dayton today,” I say. “And I got a really cute dress and shoes.”

  “Ooh!” Cyndi gives me a wide, excited smile. “Do tell!”

  “Um, the dress is kind of champagne colored? And cute? And the shoes are sort of the same color, like nude, and strappy…” I try to think of something else to say about my purchases. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about clothes, mostly because I rarely have the money to buy them.

  “Is the dress strapless? Backless? What kind of waist does it have?” Cyndi presses me.

  “Sleeveless, I guess? And I dunno… it just has a waist.” I shrug. Tentatively, I down the rest of my shot, grimacing. “It’d be good for clubbing, but it’s not too over the top.”

  “Do you have it with you?” she asks. When I nod, her eyes light up. “You should go get it and show it to me! Oh, and you should put it on!”

  “Here?”

  “Um, yeah,” she rolls her eyes and stares pointedly at what I’m wearing. “You’d be less conspicuous in that dress than you are in your farmer outfit. Besides, look around you. There’ll be a party starting pretty soon. There always is. You said you’ve had a rough day. Why don’t you let your hair down a little and enjoy yourself?”

  I open my mouth to decline, but Cyndi stops me. “Don’t,” she pleads. “Don’t say no. Come on, you always say you’re gonna come out with me but you never do! Please? Please please please?”

  I can’t argue with that point, because actually, I do pretty much do that. And to be honest, the idea of putting on my nice new dress and just not thinking about everything for a little while sounds amazing.

  Cyndi must be able to read my thoughts in my face, because her eyes brighten and she bounces up and down on her stool a little. “Is that a yes? That’s a yes, isn’t it?”

  I take a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, it’s a maybe. Let me check on my dad first. And if he doesn’t need me at home, then… Okay.”

  “Eeeeek! Yay!” Cyndi’s smile is so wide and excited that I think her face might actually crack open with glee. I can’t help but laugh as I pull out my phone.

  “Let me call my dad,” I smile at her. “And if he’s good, then let’s go outside and see if the garage is done with my truck yet. My dress and shoes are in there.”

  11

  Hale

  My convo with Axel takes longer than I expect it to. When I get back into the main room of the clubhouse, Kylie’s nowhere to be found. That chick Cyndi that Mal’s been fucking is gone, too.

  “You seen Kylie?” I ask one of the men, but he has no idea who I’m talking about. I ask the prospect behind the bar.

  “You mean Cyndi and that other girl?” he asks. “Yeah, they were here, but they went outside together a little while ago. I don’t know if they’re still out there, or what.”

  I go out the front door to check for them. Kylie’s truck is in the parking lot, empty. There’s no sign of either one of the women.

  Muttering to myself, I stomp back inside the clubhouse. An MC isn’t the place for an unattended female if she doesn’t wanna get groped, or worse. Especially because now the place is filling up with Ironwood brothers, and the booze is starting to flow. As I scan the room again, someone puts some music on, and the opening chords of a Skynyrd song fill the space with sound. Over in one corner I see Mal talking to a tall, muscled guy with a long red beard named Rogue.

  “Hey, you seen Kylie anywhere?” I ask him.

  “Yeah, Cyndi and her are in one of the apartments changing clothes.”

  “What?”

  “I dunno, I guess Kylie had some new clothes she wanted to put on. Cyndi took her into one of the rooms.”

  Huh. Maybe my ribbing her about what she was wearing got to her. I chuckle to myself and go to grab a beer. But just as I’m taking the bottle from the prospect across the bar, a chorus of wolf whistles stops me and makes me turn to look.

  “Fuck yeah!” one of the brothers yells. “New meat! Come to papa, darlin’!”

  Emerging from one of the apartments comes that chick Cyndi, and with her Kylie — who’s shed her T-shirt and mom jeans and is wearing a low-cut short clingy dress, fuck me heels, and scarlet red lipstick that’ll make every man in here look at her mouth and imagine it wrapped around their dicks.

  My cock jumps in my jeans, straining against my zipper. Holy Jesus Christ. Every goddamn curve she has is on full display right now. I’m hit with a need so hard that I almost fucking stumble.

  Kylie’s face falters for a second, but then she straightens up and lifts her chin, walking into the room behind Cyndi and ignoring the catcalls that follow her. Cyndi heads for Mal’s high-top table, and Kylie does the same.

  I’m not about to leave that girl alone around these men, so with a growl of frustration, I go over and join them.

  I walk up next to Kylie, trying to ignore that her dress is ringing all my goddamn bells. It’s just a little darker than her skin, and clingy enough that she looks practically naked in it. “I’ve been lookin’ for you,” I tell her in a low voice.

  “Oh?” She turns to me, looking genuinely surprised. “Did you want to tell me my truck’s ready? I saw it in the parking lot.”

  “Yeah. And I also wanted to tell you it was time to leave, before the men get too many drinks in them and start to get out of hand. But it looks like I’m too late for that.” I stare pointedly at her dress, a hard edge to my voice. “What the fuck are you thinking, changing into that get-up?”

  Kylie meets my eyes, her lips lowering into a slight pout. “Don’t you like it?”

  I snort. “It ain’t that I don’t like it,” I say thickly. “It’s that everyone else in here does, too. You’re a walking centerfold, sweetheart. That’s a dangerous thing around men like this. You’re giving ‘em ideas. Someone could take advantage.”

  She scoffs. “No one’s going to do that.”

  I lean forward and murmur in her ear. “Every man in this place is looking at you imagining you with that skirt hiked up around your waist with his dick inside you. Every man here wants to do the same thing.”

  Kylie draws back, a shocked expression on her features. “You’re gross.”

  “I’m a human male, sweetheart. We ain’t complicated.”

  Cyndi, dressed in an even more revealing black leather dress, bats her eyes at me and smiles. “Doesn’t Kylie look great?” she coos. “She never buys dresses like this! I must be rubbing off on her!”

  “Yeah. Great,” I mutter.

  “Let’s get this party started, ladies!” Mal calls, his arm moving to wrap possessively around Cyndi. “Hale! Looks like our girl Kylie needs a drink! Where’s your manners, brother?”

  I look at her. “You want something?”

  “I can get it myself,” she shoots back.

  Fuck her smart ass attitude. I push down my irritation and shrug. “Suit yourself.”

  With a huff, Kylie pushes herself away from the table and goes toward the bar. Across the table, Mal lets out a low whistle as he stares at her ass.

  “Hey!” Cyndi protests, fake-punching him in the shoulder.

  “Lord, that girl’s got the goods,” Mal rumbles. “She should dress like that more often.”

  “No she fuckin’ shouldn’t,” I spit.

  “You’re just jealous!” Cyndi coos. “You want her all for yourself!”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “She ain’t mine. I’m just not in the mood to play fuckin’ babysitter when the rest of these goons jump all over her.”

  Mal lifts his chin toward the bar. “Speakin’ of which…”

  As Kylie leans over the bar, waving her fuckin’ ass in the air, just like clockwork the men start to swarm. Rogue gets there first. He steps up behind her and pu
ts a hand on her ass.

  “God fuckin’ dammit,” I seethe, setting my beer down with a bang.

  In three strides, I’m at the bar, just in time to see Kylie turn around to look at Rogue in surprise.

  “Hey, darlin’,” he drawls, pulling her to him. “Come spend a little time with me.”

  Kylie raises her hands to his chest and tries to push him away. “I’m with friends,” she protests, but he doesn’t loosen his grip.

  “Consider me your new friend,” Rogue leers. He leans forward to kiss her, but I grab his other arm and twist it behind his back before he knows what’s happening. He yelps in surprise.

  “The lady is with me,” I grit, yanking up on the fucker’s arm.

  “She don’t have no sign on her,” Rogue growls, trying to wrench away.

  “She don’t have to. I’m tellin’ you now.”

  “Fuck you,” he hisses.

  “You got ears, motherfucker?” I rasp. “Or do I need to explain it to you some other way?”

  I yank up again, and he grunts in pain. “I got ears.”

  “Good.” I ease up, but before I can push him away, he rounds on me and throws a punch. The fucker’s off balance, though, so I put out a boot and knock his legs out from under him. The floor does the rest of the work for me.

  “Your ears do not seem to be working, brother,” I snarl as I tower over him. “You better hope that changes, before I pull them the fuck off of you.”

  For a second, Rogue looks like he’s planning to continue the fight, but one look at my face must convince him I’m serious. “Fuck it. No gash is worth this bullshit,” he spits.

  For some reason that just makes me madder, but I manage to stop myself before I bend down and beat the shit out of him. “Fuck you, brother. You stay the hell away from her. Permanently.”

  I grab Kylie by the bicep and pull her back toward Mal and Cyndi. “Are you fuckin’ crazy?” I bite out.

  “What?” Kylie pretends not to know what I’m talking about. “That wasn’t my fault!”

  “Jesus, you are fuckin’ crazy!” I wipe my hand over my face in disbelief. “Fault ain’t got nothin’ to do with it. That dress is like a goddamn beacon in here!”

  “Cyndi’s dressed like this!” she protests. “They are, too!” she says, pointing at some club girls in the corner.

  “Yeah, because they want the men to be all over them,” I bite back. “Is that what you want?”

  “No.” She shakes her head emphatically. “I just wanted to wear my new dress.”

  “Well, you picked a shitty place to try it out,” I mutter. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Back to the room where your other clothes are. You’re changing out of this.”

  “No I am not!”

  I actually see Kylie dig in her heels in response to my order. But I’m not about to take no for an answer. She tries to pull away from my grip, but those shoes she’s got on don’t give her enough purchase. I slam open the door to the apartment she came out of and move her inside, then slam the door shut.

  “Do not treat me like a child, Cam!” Kylie cries, whirling to face me.

  “I’m not treating you like a child,” I bark back. “I’m treating you like a woman who doesn’t know how much fuckin’ trouble she’s in.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake!” Kylie flings up her hands. “It’s not like this is some dark alley, Cam! There’s plenty of light out there, and plenty of people to see what’s going on. It’s not like I was gonna be raped for wearing a dress!”

  I take a step toward her, but Kylie doesn’t budge. “The men out there don’t all care about consent, Ky. They look at the dress you’ve got on and they see it as a giant neon sign saying, ‘I’m down to fuck!’ Whether you want it or not doesn’t make one goddamn bit of difference. I don’t know these men well enough to tell you which ones, but I’ve been around outlaw bikers long enough to know there’s at least a few of ‘em out there who aren’t gonna take no for an answer. And don’t count on the rest of them to come to your aid, when what they really want is to watch!” I take another step closer, until I’m towering over her. “Is that what you want?” I roar. “Is it?”

  Kylie’s eyes don’t move from mine, but her defiance visibly lessens. She pulls her lower lip between her teeth. “No,” she admits.

  “Well, neither do I!” I realize I’m still shouting as I continue to stand over her. I’m fucking furious right now. My adrenaline is pumping, and I realize it’s because I didn’t get my fix by beating Rogue within an inch of his fucking life like I wanted to. Kylie flinches a little and moves back a step, like she’s afraid of me. Fuck. That’s not what I want. Hell, I don’t know what the fuck I want. The thought of any of those goddamn men’s hands on her sends me into fuckin’ orbit. I want to kill every last one of them who looked at her like that. I want to lock this goddamn door and bolt it closed so none of them can get to her. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!

  “Jesus Christ,” I mutter, turning away and running a rough hand across my scalp. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kylie half-whispers. “Okay? I didn’t mean to make you so angry. I…” she sucks in a shaky breath. “I realize you’re only trying to protect me.”

  “Damn straight I am,” I retort.

  “But… why are you so angry at me?” she continues in a soft, subdued voice. “I didn’t do it on purpose, Cam. You could have just… you know, told me without freaking screaming my head off.”

  “Would you have listened?” I challenge.

  She hesitates. “Maybe. Maybe not. But I probably wouldn’t have argued as much if you hadn’t treated me like some idiot.”

  “Christ. I didn’t treat you like an idiot.” Goddamnit, are we gonna have to have a talk about feelings or some shit like that?

  “Yes you did. Ordering me around like some little child who didn’t know any better.” Her eyes, wild and challenging now, stare up into mine. They’re smoky, the pupils large and dark. Her mouth glistens with the lipstick that she must have put on when she changed into that fuck-me dress. She’s about eleven inches away from me, and every goddamn inch counts. My cock surges in my jeans. I’ve never wanted to fuck anyone as bad as I want to fuck Kylie right now.

  I turn away, squeezing my eyes shut so can get a break from looking at how her tits swell under that goddamn dress. I’m ready to erupt like a goddamn volcano. I wait a second, then two. Then, I turn back to her and open my eyes, trying like hell to calm down before I reply.

  “I ain’t treating you like a child, Ky. Or like an idiot,” I say. My voice comes out hoarse. “I’m treating you like a woman who looks like she’s begging to be kissed. And more. Whether you like it or not, every man in this club is hard as fuck for you right now.”

  Kylie’s eyes never leave mine. I see her swallow, and then her lips part again.

  “Every man?” she questions softly.

  My cock strains in my jeans as I let out a low groan. Then my mouth is on hers, tongue sliding past her lip gloss to claim her. Kylie draws in a gasping breath, but then she’s opening to me, her tongue meeting mine in a dance that sends a bolt of fuckin’ electricity straight to my dick.

  Holy shit. I’ve fucked dozens — maybe hundreds — of women in my time. I’ve had chicks from every conceivable end of the spectrum, in every position and combination I can think of.

  But none of them have ever given me the jolt that this kiss is giving me right now. My body goes into overdrive, every single cell telling me this is gonna be the fuck of a lifetime. Kylie’s body is soft and pliant under me, but the urgency in her kiss and the way she presses up to me leaves no question in my mind. She wants this, too. As much as I do. All of a sudden, I know she doesn’t want any of those freakin’ jackasses outside. This is what our bodies were meant to do. My cock was meant to be inside her.

  My hands move to cup her ass, pulling her into my hardness. Kylie groans, her arms around my neck. Then I’m pressing her up against t
he wall, wrapping her legs around me. My mind is an explosion of want. My mouth leaves hers, trailing down her neck to bite at the soft skin. I hear her gasp in response, as she angles her hips so her pussy will meet my cock through our clothes. I feel her tremble, and then suddenly stiffen.

  “Cam,” she chokes out. “Cam… I… I need to go.”

  What the fuck? “You… what?”

  Kylie pulls in a shaky breath and then moves her hands to my chest. “I need to leave,” she says, pushing at me.

  I stare at her for a second in disbelief. She won’t meet my gaze, but her eyes are dark as night, her skin flushed. She still wants this. There’s no doubt in my mind. She’s fighting against herself. But I’m not about to force the issue.

  Lowering her to the ground, I watch as she fumbles to adjust the skirt on her dress, then lifts a hand and nervously combs her fingers through her hair. “I’m gonna go,” she mumbles.

  I try to think through the haze of testosterone that’s clouding my brain. “I’ll take you,” I rasp.

  “No. I’m driving myself.” She swallows and takes a few unsteady steps toward the door. Opening it, she glances back at me briefly, her eyes still not quite meeting mine. “Goodnight, Hale.”

  And then she’s gone. Leaving me staring at the space where she was standing.

  “Goddamnit,” I hiss. “This shit is seriously fucked up.”

  12

  Kylie

  All during the drive back home, I’m shaky at the wheel. I haven’t had enough alcohol for it to be a problem, but that’s not what is making me feel unstable.

  My whole body feels stretched taut as a guitar string waiting to be plucked. And only Cameron Hale can play me the way I want to be played.

  I’ll never quite know how I managed to pull away from Cam and leave that apartment at the clubhouse. It was easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’ve never wanted a man so badly in my life. Hell, I’m not sure I’ve wanted anything that much, period.