“The fucker got lucky again,” Max said, guessing what I was searching for.
He climbed onto his bike and I got on behind him. It felt strange wrapping my arms around someone other than Stone. I tried not to think about what waited for me back at the clubhouse, wondering if it would be another session with Ripper. Instead, I tried to focus on being happy that Maddie had been rescued and that neither of us was in Wildman’s clutches. She was riding with Reggie in front of us. I was worried that she hadn’t said a word during the whole ordeal. Maybe a shower and some sleep would knock her out of her stupor.
The closer we got to the club, the more nervous I began to feel. I’d never seen Stone like that before. It was as if he’d flipped off a switch. He’d been closed off, like a stranger. It had frightened me when the only response I’d got out of him had been almost robotic-like. Although he’d claimed me in front of his club, he’d never really made a commitment to me. In actions, perhaps, but in words, definitely not. Something told me that even if he had, after today, our relationship was going to be very different.
Max maneuvered his bike backwards into a spot against the building of the club. Once he switched the engine off I dismounted. My gaze went to Stone’s bike. The four of us walked into the clubhouse together, stopping in the bar when we saw Stone standing at it with a drink in his hand. Rita was next to him, but he seemed to be ignoring her. I recognized a man who was deep in thought when I saw one. The room was full of his brothers and the club’s sweetbutts, but they didn’t approach him. Instead, they looked at their president with unease.
He swallowed the contents in his glass and held it up to Ty, indicating that he wanted a refill. “Take Maddie to one of the vacant rooms and put her to bed. She can sleep off whatever shit she’s on.”
I wordlessly watched Reggie pick her up and carry her down the hallway until they disappeared. I wanted to go with her, but instinct warned me to stay put.
“Stone, I’m sorry.” I knew that I had to try to make him understand. A muscle twitched in his clenched jaw, but he didn’t look at me. “I, I—” The words wouldn’t come. The reasoning that had once been so clear to me suddenly seemed very inadequate. Stupid!
I glanced at Rita. The look on her sneering face was triumphant. I watched her hands, with their claw-like nails, wrap around Stone’s muscular bicep. She rubbed it in further by rubbing against Stone like a bitch in heat. Had I pushed him back into her bed? She certainly seemed to think so.
“Stone—”
He slammed his glass down on the bar and turned to me. You could have heard a pin drop after that. I held my breath, tears burning once again in my eyes. For what seemed like a thousand minutes his burning gaze held me captive, bars that were solid and impregnable, and left me feeling cold. I searched his eyes for the man that I loved, but only saw the ruthless leader of a biker club.
When he finally, spoke my heart broke into a million pieces.
“I can’t be with someone who doesn’t fuckin’ trust me to take care of her and her family.”
“Stone—”
“I told you we would get Maddie back,” he continued, as if I hadn’t tried to speak. “I told you to stay the fuck out of it. If you were a prospect or a brother you’d be dead right now, because I won’t tolerate someone going above my decisions and putting the club at risk.”
“I’m sorry, Stone.” God, how many times would I have to say it before he believed me? I tried to ignore the smirk on Rita’s face, but it was damned hard to do when she was right there next to him. “It wasn’t about going against your orders or not trusting you, I wanted to avoid bloodshed. I know Wildman and thought…” Thought what? That I could outsmart him? That I was strong enough and smart enough to go up against a monster and he’d just roll over and do what I’d asked? God, I’m such a fool! I wanted to say so much more, but the words stuck in my throat.
“Your impatience cost us a brother.”
I caught my breath at the icy reality of his words, the tears now falling freely down my cheeks. His words cut like a knife. He was right. Animal would still be alive if it hadn’t been for me.
“Prez—”
“Stay the fuck out of it, Max.”
“You can’t put that on her, man—”
Stone glared at Max. “It’s her fucking fault that Animal is dead,” he said firmly, leaving no doubts to anyone in the room as to how he felt.
I breathed in deeply, because if I didn’t I was going to be sick. I had fucked up everything. “I was trying to do the right thing.” My voice was low and raspy, but I knew that Stone had heard me. “I—” What did it matter? I could see in his eyes that he’d made up his mind to hate me.
“I’m done with you.” For the first time since we’d returned to the club he included the brothers in the room. “This woman belongs to the club now.”
I sucked in my breath, my eyes rounding with disbelief. Next to him Rita was all but shouting her glee. A murmur of shock rippled through the room. My knees nearly gave way, and I reached for the back of the nearest chair for support. Pain ripped into my heart and my soul at the knowledge that he could so easily give me up when I thought we’d had something. How could I have been so wrong?
“She and her sister will work off their debt as club whores.” Some of the men cheered and clapped.
No! No! No! I’m not hearing this!
“Stone,” Max drew Stone’s attention back to him. “Don’t do this, brother. You can’t undo it once it’s done. Giving her to the men—”
“You want her, brother?” Stone snarled.
“I’ll take the bitch!” someone yelled out, laughing. I didn’t recognize him. The only bikers that I was familiar with were Stone’s officers. The others were just rough, manly faces in a sea of black t-shirts, cuts, and jeans. “She’s got nice tits.”
“Stone,” Max said again, shaking his head. “Think about this, Prez. If the woman means anything to you—”
I stared at Stone, willing him to answer. Did I mean anything to him? Obviously not. Our eyes locked, but the coldness in his never changed.
“She was a good fuck.”
His words cut through me like a knife, and I started to feel frozen inside. I guess that said it all. All he’d wanted me for was sex. Well, at least I’d been good at it. How could I have fallen in love with a man like him? Maybe it wasn’t love, maybe it was just infatuation. I’d never been in love before, so I really didn’t know what it felt like.
Except that I did.
And he was standing in front of me, giving me up, giving his men the okay to take me to their beds. I wanted to beg him not to do this. I’d find another way to pay back Ronald’s debt, but I wasn’t going to become a fuck toy for the club. I was beginning to feel numb, dead inside. I’m sure I was in some kind of shock.
“I’ll claim Rachel, then,” Max said, smiling. “Been looking for a good fuck, someone who hasn’t been with all the other brothers.” He grabbed the front of his pants. “She can continue working the bar when she’s not working my pole.” Laughter followed his comment.
What? I could only stand and watch as Stone and Max went back and forth. Max had never shown any interest in me before now. Without warning he stepped closer to me and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. I kept my eyes on Stone. The only thing that revealed any reaction to Max’s words was the subtle tightening of his lean jaw. Was it regret?
No, his next words solidified his approval.
“It’s done, then. Pack up her shit and move it out of my room.” He stared at me the whole time that he spoke. Damn him. I think at that second that I hated him. I do hate him! I refused to break down in front of him again, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was killing me inside.
I felt Max’s hand move from my waist, and forced myself to remain still, even when he palmed my breast and gave it a squeeze. Stone’s gaze dropped there briefly, something dangerous flashing in his eyes before he could hide it.
&
nbsp; “I hate you for this,” I said softly, drawing his gaze back to mine.
“Good.” He glanced around the room, obviously looking for something. I held my breath when he paused on the cluster of sweetbutts sitting at one table. “Trudy.” He motioned her over with a lift of his chin. Stone ignored Rita’s outraged huff and shook her off.
Trudy and I locked eyes. She was hesitant, I could tell that she didn’t want to go to Stone, but she really had no choice. When she reached him he put his arm around her shoulder. “Come on, babe. I need relief.” Her regret-filled eyes darted to me, before she cast her gaze down to the floor as Stone walked her out of the room.
I wanted to crumble to the floor. The thought of him fucking Trudy was just too painful to bear. At that point I wished that I were anywhere but there, even back with Wildman. I could handle his abuse far better than I could handle my broken heart.
Chapter 18
STONE
I could feel Trudy’s slight form trembling beneath my arm. I’d never fucked her before, but she had nothing to worry about, I had no intention of fucking her now. Everyone knew that Ty was in love with the girl, and unlike some of my brothers, taking another man’s woman, even though unclaimed, wasn’t my fucking style. Besides, as cute as Trudy was, she wasn’t the woman I really wanted, she did nothing for me.
I hated myself for what I’d fucking done to Rachel. I’d seen something more in her eyes than the hurt and pain I’d inflicted on her, and had watched the life fade away like a dying ember. I’d let my anger over the situation, Wildman getting the fuck away again, and grief over losing Animal control my actions and words. I was a bastard for blaming Rachel for his death. The brothers knew what being a member meant. Their lives were on the line every fucking day.
When Max had claimed Rachel it had been all I could do to keep myself from killing him. We were more than club brothers, we were fucking friends, and had been for almost as long as we’d been alive. We’d grown up together in the same shitty neighborhood, had attended the same rundown schools, and run after the same skanky girls. Back then we’d shared just about everything, and when I was done with one girl she’d move on to Max, and vise versa. Fuck, we were wild back then.
But claiming Rachel?
I wondered what Max was playing at. Once I’d calmed the fuck down I realized that offering Rachel up to the brothers as a sweetbutt had been a mistake, and I thanked fuck that he’d claimed her. I realized that I’d gone too far, but I couldn’t back out and save face. Max knew me, better than anyone else, and he fucking knew that Rachel meant something more to me than just pussy. He’d had the insight to claim her, which would protect her from my brothers.
I thanked him for that.
If he slept with her I’d fucking kill him.
But he had the right.
I couldn’t remember ever fucking up so badly.
We reached my door and I glanced down at Trudy. So far she’d refused to look at me. I took her chin in my hand and forced her to meet my eyes.
“I know I’m a sweetbutt, but Rachel is my friend,” she said in a shy voice, clearly not wanting to go into my room with me.
It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if they were fucking sisters. A sweetbutt didn’t get to choose. If a brother wanted her she went with him willingly or she got out. I grinned. I wasn’t vain, but I knew that any other sweetbutt would think it was a privilege to sleep with the president of an MC.
Her comment made me curious, though. “Why would fucking me change that?”
Her eyes grew round. “Because she loves you!” she replied, as if I should already know.
“I doubt that,” I said.
She shrugged. “A woman in love recognizes another woman in love.”
I decided to change the subject. The topic of love had always made me fucking uncomfortable. Love was one of those sappy emotions that fucking ruined people, and made relationships complicated, at least in my opinion. There was no place for it in an MC.
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to fuck you.” An immediate look of relief came over her pretty face and, scowling, I said, “You don’t have to look so fucking happy about it.”
“I’m sorry,” she quickly said, clearing the happy shit off her face. “Do you want me to send Rita back?”
“Fuck no!” I didn’t even have to think about that.
I turned her loose and opened the door to my room. “Get gone.”
She skittered down the hall and disappeared.
I released a heavy sigh. Maybe a shower and some sleep would fucking give me the clarity I needed to undo the shit I’d just done, and still save face with my brothers.
Then we would deal with fucking Wildman.
****
RACHEL
“We’ll have to get your clothes later.”
After Stone was done fucking Trudy. I didn’t want to think about it, but it was right there at the forefront of my mind. The feeling of betrayal was like a knife twisting in my heart, even when I knew that was silly because you had to mean something to someone in order for them to be cheating. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, refusing to shed another tear. Fuck Stone. I could turn it off just as easily as he did, and I decided that I hated him.
I’d never get over him fucking Trudy.
Max opened his door and I followed him into his room. Once the door was closed I turned to him instantly and said, “I’m not sleeping with you, Max.” I swallowed with difficulty, knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able to stop him if he insisted. “You’ll have to rape me.” Okay, it was a little dramatic, but I wanted to make sure that he knew how strongly I felt.
He chuckled. “Relax, babe, I didn’t claim you to sleep with you. I claimed you to keep you safe from my brothers. They can be brutal with new pussy.”
His comment caught me totally by surprise. “But why?”
He placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me down onto the bed. “I did it for Stone,” he said, sitting next to me. “Right now he’s making decisions because he’s pissed, and grieving. Later on, when he’s had a chance to think about shit, he’ll regret what he did.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Look babe, I know Stone, he’s proud, too fucking proud and stubborn to take you back after you’ve slept with half the brothers, especially since he gave you to them. He’d rather live with his mistake and pretend it’s not affecting the fuck out of him. That’s why I warned him not to do something he couldn’t undo.”
“But he’d be okay if I just slept with you?” I asked, not convinced.
He shrugged. “It’d fuckin’ bother him, but he needs to be punished a little for giving up the best thing that’s happened to him. Don’t get me wrong, babe, what you did is serious shit, no one goes against the prez. But your biggest mistake was in not trusting him.”
“I do trust him,” I insisted.
His eyebrows lifted. “Then you should have trusted him to get your sister back.”
“Look, babe, I know Wildman,” I said, mirroring his comment about knowing Stone. “I thought by doing it my way it would be quick, safe, and blood-free.” I thought about Animal. “I was a fool for thinking so naively. I was trying to prevent a fight between your club and the Red Devils.” By going freely to a man that I despised.
“You had good intentions, babe. I get that.”
Why couldn’t Stone have come to the same conclusion?
“We had plans to end Wildman—” he stopped abruptly.
“What?” I encouraged him to continue, but he only shook his head.
“Club business.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. “I want to go see Maddie.” I stood up, and he followed suit. “Do you know what room she’s in?”
“Has to be the one down the hall and around the corner, it’s the only vacant room I know of.”
When we stepped out into the hallway Max went one way and I went the other. I was anxious to check in on Maddie. I didn’t
bother to knock, opening the door quietly and peeking inside. Maddie gave the appearance of sleeping, but I went inside anyway and moved to the bedside. I put my hand on her forehead as I sat on the edge of the bed. She surprised me by opening her eyes.
“Rachel!” She sat up and we hugged each other tightly. “I’m so glad to see you. Where are we?”
I smiled. “We’re at the clubhouse of Dark Menace, honey. You’re safe.”
She lay back and sighed heavily. “Oh, God, what a nightmare.” Tears filled her eyes and she glanced toward the wall. “You were right about Wildman. He’s an evil monster. He likes to play mind games.”
Maddie wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I could well imagine the terror he had put her through with his filthy promises and verbal threats. I wondered if she had as many bruises beneath her clothes as the ones that were visible. I brushed some of the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.
“You should see a doctor, Maddie. You might have injuries that need attention.”
“No,” she said flatly. “No doctor. I just want a bath and change of clothes. I’m fine.” The look on my face must have told her that I wasn’t convinced, because she added, “They didn’t rape me, Rachel, I promise.”
I had no choice but to believe her. “Can you tell me what happened? How did Wildman find out about you being my sister?”
She snorted. “Ronald—” She began to cry softly. “He told me about the money he owed Dark Menace, and how there was no way he’d be able to come up with it by the deadline. He was desperate, Rach. He said he was giving a tat to a biker when they began to talk. When he found out it was a member of the Predators he panicked, but he couldn’t just stop in the middle of a tat, and then he was offered a job.”
“What kind of job?” I frowned.
“They wanted him to keep his eyes and ears open and report back any information he could get on the activities of Dark Menace. He was going to turn them down, Rach, but the money was too good. Ronald said he’d be able to pay back what he owed Dark Menace a lot faster.”
Dark Menace MC: Stone Page 15
