Lucky (Inked Menace MC #1): Shifter Biker Club

by Hawk, Ryanne

  In answer, she donned the helmet he handed her and lifted her left leg, hopping onto the seat like she’d done it every day. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her chest against his back, and rested her head on him. “Been a while, but it’s not something you forget.”

  “Good. The less I have to teach you, the better. We’ll talk more about who you rode bitch for, later.”

  Her laughter rumbled behind him. “Oh, will we, now?”

  “Here,” he said, passing a pair of earplugs back to her. “Put these on to help with the wind.”

  “Thanks,” she mumbled. He felt her wiggle behind him and then she said, “Ready.”

  She tightened against him, like she was made to be watching his back and be his old lady. He shook his head. Now was not the time for relationship thoughts. He had to bring her to the club, introduce her to his brothers, and outfit her with a vest. Normally, the brothers’ old ladies decided whether or not they wore their clubs patch, but he’d decided for her. The more in your face they were about her status, the better. They didn’t want the Dogs or Rangers to think anything funny was up. Although it could go either way.

  They had to play this right. And without claws or teeth.

  He eased on the throttle and pushed off toward their next move, his brothers behind him, and, for the moment, peace fell over his mind despite not being able to breathe well after the beating he’d taken last night.

  Lucky felt Cecelia relax behind him, even though she was clutching his waist like a dying woman. Someone had obviously taught her to ride, and why that bothered him so much he wasn’t sure. But he didn’t want to look too deep, either. The little spark he had for the bird sitting bitch meant something. He just wasn’t sure what it was yet. He clamped down on his wolf’s thoughts about mates, forever, and fate. He didn’t believe in that shit.

  The ride was over too fast, and he and the guys pulled in to the warehouse, the gates closing behind them. Hammer wasn’t taking chances anymore, not after what had happened with Amber and Remmy. Not with two clubs out gunning for blood money.

  He stopped the bike and swung the stand down. Cecelia eased from the back and shook her legs out.

  “Been a while?” He glanced down, resisting the urge to let his mind wander to what she might taste like, and raised a brow.

  “Eight years, I think.” She shrugged and eyeballed their surroundings. “Oddly enough, I feel safe here,” she muttered.

  He tried to see it through her eyes. The line of motorcycles, the male bodies decked out in leather, tall buildings, and a gated fence with barbed wire. All that, and she had no idea what other tricks his MC had up their collective sleeves.

  “We try. Inked Menace at your service. Keeping crazy at bay since 1945,” he said with a bow.

  The smile she shot him twisted something in his heart. He wanted to see more of those pearly white teeth, and fewer lines marring her face. There was tension around her eyes, and a hardness to her lips, but her body appeared relaxed. So he’d count it as a win.

  “What now?”

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, playing the part of loving boyfriend, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Now we enter the hornets’ nest and pretend the sting doesn’t hurt.”

  She sighed. “This isn’t going to be fun, is it?”

  “Ever been inside a motorcycle club before?”

  Her hesitation had him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and raising a brow. She was chock full of secrets.

  “Yeah. Quite an experience. Are most clubs the same, as far as women, sex, alcohol, and drugs are concerned?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Are women going to be all over you?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, it’s not like that with me. I haven’t been to the meets in a long time. Most of the pussy–” he started, then she suddenly swung around and faced him with her hands on her tiny hips. Her lips parted.

  “Sorry,” he amended with a laugh and held his hands up, palms facing her. “Women. Most of the women here don’t know me anymore since I’ve been away, but I have a patch, so yeah, they might flirt or try to get in my pants.”

  She gave him a lopsided grin. “So, is that how you got your name?”

  He sobered. “No. I got my name because I cheated death, and they said I was lucky to be alive.”

  “Oh.”

  Her brow furrowed in thought, and he waited for the next round of questions, but she surprised him.

  “What should I call your brothers?”

  His face must have registered shock because she continued, “You’ll have to teach me some stuff, at least about your club, but I do know a thing or two about a thing or two.”

  “Cryptic. It’s okay, though. I don’t expect you to share all your secrets with me. Not yet, anyway. If you’re gonna be my old lady, I’ll let them decide what they want you to call them.”

  “Does everyone know who I am?”

  Lucky shook his head. “No, just the officers. So we’re going to really need to sell that you’re my girlfriend to the rest of the club. When the other heads get to town for the sit down, I don’t want anyone from our club questioning the legitimacy of our relationship. If we can sell my club, we can sell any club.”

  “Is this insane?” she asked, and walked forward to wrap her arms around his waist. She pressed her head flat against his chest.

  He grinned down at her when she pulled away. “The best things in life are, I think.”

  He watched, fascinated, as her body seemed to shift gears, a mask falling over her vulnerability.

  She nodded. “Okay,” she said, and let out a long, slow breath. “I can do this.” Her face broke out into a huge smile and she lifted onto her toes and kissed his lips.

  If he could pull this off without developing further feelings for the little bird, he might be okay too. His wolf growled inside his head, a low hum he fought to ignore.

  They walked hand in hand to the door and went inside.

  Chapter Seven

  “So this is hell,” Cecelia said and clucked her tongue. “I like it.”

  Lucky showed her some teeth and tightened his grip on her waist. “Think you’re amusing, do you?”

  “I know so.”

  Her new boyfriend laughed. One of those sexy low rumbles. Pretend boyfriend, her mind whispered and she stilled for a heartbeat. Right. This was just a ruse to keep her safe. They weren’t going to magically fall in love and live happily ever after.

  She glanced at him up and down, fire igniting in her belly. Cecelia imagined them sharing a bed and her body heated like molten lava. Sure, lust she could handle. But a long time ago she’d locked up her heart, unwilling to get hurt again. Love wasn’t worth the price you paid. She tried to pretend she didn’t see the way his eyes roamed her figure, or the way they seemed to glow from within, like he had some internal fire raging and she was the water to quench his heat.

  A few of his crew hung around, but this wasn’t the formal meet with the whole club; that would happen later tonight. He nodded to a few members and kept walking toward the double doors and the meeting room. He knocked twice and entered, holding Cecelia’s hand as she chattered nervously beside him.

  The group around the table stopped talking as they walked in, and Cecelia squeezed his hand so hard she thought his knuckles would crack.

  The one she’d seen at the tattoo parlor stood and held out a hand. “I’m Patrick James. This is Cole, Brian, Marina, Bob, and Oliver.” He gestured around the thick wooden table carved with signatures, animals, and scratches.

  She noticed Lucky watching her study his club and shake their hands one by one. She swallowed hard and trembled slightly next to him.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly and lowered her face.

  Patrick waved a hand in the air. “Sit down. We have some things to iron out.”

  They sat and waited. Lucky reached out and stretched an arm over her shoulder.

  “You can call me Hammer,” the tough-
as-nails man at the head of the table said to her. “This is Flip, Meat, Flash, Brick, and Pretty-Boy.”

  “Are those the names you want me to call you?”

  Hammer nodded. “Especially in front of club members. It shows you’re one of us.”

  “Okay.”

  Cecelia mumbled both sets of names under her breath, glancing around the table to put names with faces. Her gaze stopped on Marina/Flash. The woman’s red hair blazed under the harsh halogen lights, and her eyes were shrewd as she stared right back at Cecilia with her arms crossed over her chest, leather corset strung tight over her voluptuous breasts. She was not a bitch to be messed with, that much Cecelia could tell. The sly smile on the woman’s face coupled with the myriad of tiny scars and silver lines described a life filled with battles. Cecelia was no stranger to battle. After a few tense moments of staring at each other, Flash looked down and away, glancing out the window with her jaw clenched and her fingers curved around the edge of the table.

  Lucky’s leg hit her thigh and when Cecelia turned her face to him, he smiled at her and nodded with encouragement. She breathed out and tried to compartmentalize her new situation. It wasn’t every day you got thrust into a motorcycle gang in order to help with your crazy ex-husband who was trying to murder you. But them’s the breaks.

  “So what do we do now?”

  The one they called Meat answered. “We have a pow-wow with the other presidents, to see if we can get this ironed out.”

  Flash leaned forward against the table and said, “When is the sit-down, boss?”

  Hammer perused each of the club members, his gaze settling on Cecelia. “One week from Saturday, at Merlot’s Tavern outside city limits. It’s a no-color zone. No weapons,” he grinned, and the members laughed. The hairs on the back of Cecilia’s neck rose to the sinister tremor around the room. “Darius and Vinny will be there with the circle.”

  Next to her, Lucky shifted on his seat and rested his elbows on the table. “Can we guarantee her safety?”

  “She’s not coming to the sit-down, Luck. We’ll host a meet and greet here, on Friday night. We’ll have pussy, drugs, and frivolity. Then we’ll sit down and hash shit out Saturday night while she” – he thumbed in Cecelia’s direction – “stays here locked down.”

  Apprehension wove through her blood. “I don’t get a say in this?”

  Hammer rolled his eyes skyward, their hazel color coated in a sinister glow. “You will sit here, listen, and do what you’re told. That’s how you stay alive. Unless of course you have a death wish, in which case, by all means, crash the meet and let them hack your neck from your body and take it back to your ex-husband for two million dollars.”

  Cecelia swallowed the dry lump in her throat and cleared her throat. “Um, that’s all right. Sorry. I’ll go with your plan.”

  “Smart girl,” Flip said from across the table. “We could use the two mil. Don’t forget that, sweetheart.” The snide way he said the endearment made her clench her fists.

  “I didn’t ask for your help. You came to me. Maybe you should remember that before you go around shooting threats at innocent people.”

  “Please. Innocent.” Flip shook his head and a few others laughed. “You have a bounty on your head. How innocent can you be?”

  “I didn’t ask for this. I did nothing wrong,” she said, shaking slightly, and rubbed her hand up her abdomen absently. She wondered if they knew about Olivia. Whether it would change their minds about helping her. Or would they think she was weak, unable to protect her unborn child from harm?

  “All right, enough,” Hammer called out, bringing the focus back to him. “We need you to stay here so we don’t have to worry about you. That way we can concentrate on getting these douchebags to walk away and leave our territory before something unfortunate happens to them. Or you.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Lucky stated.

  All eyes turned to him and the one they called Pretty-Boy raised a brow. “Will you, now?”

  “Careful, Pretty-Boy. You know it’s not wise to get me riled up.”

  “Whatcha gonna do, Lucky? Run away again like a little bitch and hide while the rest of us bleed out and pick up after you again?”

  Lucky exploded from the chair and was across the table with a hand around the blond’s throat before Cecelia even registered the dire situation.

  None of the others moved. In fact, they looked rather bored.

  “Stop it!” Cecelia yelled. “Why aren’t you guys doing anything?”

  She stood and glared around the room. Hammer cleaned his nails. Flip sat back, an amused grin on his face. Flash licked her lips and watched the two men radiate menace from a foot away and did nothing. The man at the end, Brick, whistled a show tune.

  In exasperation, Cecelia strode around the table and stopped behind Pretty-Boy. She reached out and grabbed his head with her hands and said into his ear, “Now, you listen to me. I’m not going to tolerate any rudeness from you. I don’t know jack shit about what y’all are talking about, but I know it ain’t good. I also know y’all are brothers, so stop acting like children, grow up, and be fucking respectful of the other people sitting around this table.”

  Lucky blinked, his face two inches from Pretty-Boy, and flicked his gaze to meet Cecelia’s. She swore his eyes changed color in the space between one blink and the next, but then he let go of the throat of the man in front of ’her and reared back.

  “We’re going to protect this little bird, you hear me? Anything happens to her, and shit will hit the fan real fast.”

  “Everyone settle down. Get back into your seats,” Hammer said. He picked up his gavel and slammed it down on the corner of the table.

  “There’s been enough bloodshed,” Flip said. “For now we need to protect our own, and like it or not, the vote went down, and she’s our own.”

  “I’m sure there’ll be more spilled where she’s concerned,” Flash piped up from down the table. She stretched her arms over her head and pushed her breasts forward. “She’s a pretty little thing with a lithe body. I’m sure once the others catch her scent, they’ll be all over her.”

  A low growl came from next to her, startling Cecelia and making her jump a little. The fury radiating off of Lucky was a palpable thing.

  “Stay away from her. All of you.”

  “Lucky? You okay?” Cecelia rested a hand on his forearm, and the heat from his skin leached into hers. It was like touching a live wire.

  “No. I’m not. Are we done here?”

  Hammer sighed and knocked the gavel down three times. “We protect what’s ours. Dismissed.”

  Lucky abruptly stood and grabbed her hand, tugging her to stand. He turned without a word and pulled her with him, hard enough that she squeaked.

  “Sorry,” Lucky mumbled and let her arm go. “Please come with me.”

  His face was an open book of misery, and rather than scaring her, it made her want to comfort him. She lifted her hand to his face and cupped his cheek. He nuzzled her palm with stubble and closed his eyes for a second. When they opened again, they were clearer. Less opaque.

  “I’ll follow you,” she said to make sure he understood that she’d willingly go with him; he didn’t have to force her.

  “Thank you,” he muttered and exhaled hard. He opened the double doors and started to walk out into the main room.

  As they walked, members lifted their faces, a few of them sniffing the air and her as she walked by.

  “Fuck,” one of them said, licking his lips. “Sweet heaven of the gods.”

  “Mine,” she thought she heard Lucky say, but that was absurd. Her imagination must be running away with her due to lack of sleep and large doses of stress.

  They went left, further into the building, then turned down a narrow hallway. “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “To my place here. I need to think, and I can’t get my head on straight.”

  “Oh.”

  The news rattled her. The one man she k
ind of, sort of, maybe trusted, was about to have a nervous breakdown. Of all the shit luck.

  She burst out laughing, little tears rolling down her cheeks as she bit her lip. Lucky spun around and she pressed her back against the wall. He stalked closer, giving her time to see what he was doing. He placed his hands on either side of her head against the wall behind her and leaned down close to her neck, inhaling.

  Her panties dampened, even though she knew it was weird. Weird that she was turned on by such a dominant display, by the heat in his eyes, the tense lines on his face.

  “Need to taste you.”

  He said the words and didn’t hesitate. His warm lips pushed against hers as he slipped his tongue softly into her mouth, stroking hers. Lucky stepped closer, his intoxicating scent wrapping around her body, cocooning her in a lust-filled haze. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved away from the wall, pressing against the heat of his body, and kissed him harder. With more fervor.

  He groaned and slipped his palms down her back in a slow slide, then gripped her ass in powerful hands. His erection rubbed her abdomen, and little moans and tingling nerves shot around her body.

  “Come on,” he whispered. He pulled away enough to duck down and catch her eyes. His pupils were huge, eclipsing the light green color of his irises.

  “Lucky, what’s going on?”

  A low, raspy voice said, “I don’t know. But I need more.”

  The gravel-filled tone set alarm bells ringing in her ears and she put her hands on his chest. “Lucky,” she said firmly.

  In answer he prowled closer, pressing her back against the wall, pinning her with his body.

  Inside, she was terrified. A sudden, potent fear clamored through her system. “Lucky, you’re scaring me. Please. Please stop. I can’t breathe.”

  “Fuck. What’s going on?” He shook his head, then gripped it with both hands, clutching his hair. His body seemed to hum.

  Cecelia slipped underneath his arm and moved away, back toward the door they had come through.