Mine.
I made a mental note to ask him about the kind of dirty sex he liked.
“I’m not as vanilla as you may think,” I said smugly, angry at myself for sinking to her level.
“Well, we’ll see,” Lana sneered. “VD always comes back to me, so enjoy him while you have him.” She stepped around me and continued strutting down the hall.
I found her comments hard to swallow. If he’d been in prison for eighteen months, and divorced recently before that, how had he had time to always go back to her? Unless Vince had cheated on his wife, but I didn’t believe that either. Whatever Lana and Vince’s relationship had been, it hadn’t been a long one. My thoughts drifted back to the first day I’d arrived, when Lana had thrown herself at Vince. Had they ended up together later that day?
“Lord, honey, you look like someone just stole your favorite pair of shoes.”
I blinked out of my musings and smiled at Foxy’s remark. She’d just stepped out of the restroom, and she linked her arm through mine, spinning me back in the direction I’d just come from. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Come on then, there’s a small party room at the back and the girls have decided to play spin the bottle.”
I pulled back to give her a look. “What?”
Foxy laughed. “It’s not what you think. We make a circle of drinks, spin the bottle, and drink down whatever is in the glass that the bottle points to.”
“Have you already started?” I laughed.
“Can you tell?”
“Well, your breath,” I joked. She only giggled. “Is Penny playing?”
Foxy shook her head. “She’s watching with Candy. She and Roland are trying to get pregnant, so she’s cut out alcohol lately.”
We passed Vince’s room and the room where Penny had spent the night, turned a short corner, and came to a door at the end of the hall. I could hear feminine laughter coming from the other side of the door. Foxy opened it and pulled me inside. “We have a replacement for Angel!” she announced enthusiastically. All eyes turned in our direction.
“Good, bring her over!” Della smiled.
I looked at Foxy. “Are Angel and Dobie trying to get pregnant, too?” I joked.
“No, the game has rules, woman,” she laughed. “Once you’ve had your quota of ten drinks you’re out. Last one standing wins.”
Ten drinks! Good thing they were small. “How is it fair bringing in someone new in the middle of the game? Some of the others have already had drinks,” I pointed out, noticing empty glasses in front of Suzy, Tammy, and a couple of other women whose names I didn’t know.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s just for fun.”
Before I knew it Foxy had bumped our way up against the table. My gaze landed on Lana, who was across from me, and I quickly glanced to the woman standing next to her, meeting the eyes of the woman I’d seen on Vince’s lap that day at his bar. The two women next to her looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place them. I had to wonder how many other women present had their sights on him.
Or had already slept with him.
“Did Foxy explain how to play?” Tammy asked.
“Kind of.” My gaze moved around the table at the remaining glasses. Each woman had at least one empty glass in front of her.
“Okay, let’s play! It was my turn.”
One of the women standing next to Lana reached for the beer bottle in the center of the table and gave it a spin. It landed on Della, who in turn laughed like a demon and gave the bottle a spin. When it landed on a glass she picked it up and tossed back the contents, slamming the empty glass on the table in front of her. Then she spun the bottle again. This time it landed on Lana. The gist of the game wasn’t lost on me, but a half an hour later, due to the consumption of alcohol, the rules began to change. It was clear that some of the women were tipsy and laughter was prominent in the room.
Once in a while I’d make eye contact with Penny, who appeared to be enjoying herself until she thought I wasn’t looking, and then I’d catch a solemn expression cross her face. I was swallowing my third drink, straight vodka, when the door opened and a few of the men walked in.
I made a face as the vodka hit my stomach like a shot of acid, meeting the amusement in Vince’s eyes at the same time. He walked straight to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and nuzzled the side of my neck with his nose.
“You have any idea how fucking hot you look right now? Cheeks all rosy and your pretty mouth all wet.” I shivered when his mouth grazed the sensitive area behind my ear. “How many drinks have you had, darlin’?”
I closed my eyes. “Three,” I whispered softly, aware of our audience but not giving a damn. “Not enough for you to take advantage of me.” My lips quivered with a smile. The front of his body was plastered to my backside and I could feel the unmistakable bulge of his hard-on. I thrust my butt back in a subtle movement, hearing Vince’s hiss in my ear.
“I could fuck you right now,” he growled in a low voice. “But I have work to do if we’re going to end this lockdown. Are you enjoying yourself?”
I nodded, opening my eyes, my gaze clashing with Lana’s hateful one. She looked ready to explode with jealousy, and clearly didn’t like the attention I was getting from Vince. The woman beside her was watching us, too, but she didn’t seem affected by what we were doing at all. Interesting, considering she’d been sitting on his lap the first time I’d seen her.
“I have plans for us tonight,” Vince surprised me by saying. “I’m going to take you to my house.”
I tilted my head enough to meet his eyes. “Is that safe?”
“Baby, the only thing between this club and my house is a few trees. I have fucking security everywhere and we’ll be taking a way there that no one else knows about. Tonight I want you in my bed, away from all this shit.”
“What about Penny?”
I could feel his smile against my flesh. “I don’t want Penny in my bed.”
“Are you going to ravish me?” I teased, wiggling my butt against his throbbing cock.
He groaned low. “Count on it.” He pulled his mouth off me and straightened, and it was then that it dawned on me that while we were having a semi-private conversation the others had continued to play.
As the sensual cloud of desire lifted I glanced down at the table, noticing that the bottle was pointing directly at me. Someone cleared their throat, and then Della said, “Um, we’re waiting,” she smiled.
“Unless you two decide to fuck right here on the table in front of everyone.”
Gasps circulated throughout the room, and everyone put eyes on Lana before the noise died down and became deadly silent. I couldn’t see Vince’s expression, but I felt the stiffening of his body behind me. Several of the women, with mouths turned down, gave Lana a disgusted shake of their heads. Whip and Odie stood there glaring at her as if she were the scum of the earth. Even Penny stared at her with disbelief.
“What?” Lana finally said after a few minutes of silence. “I just thought that the way they were going at it they might want to do each other here where we can all watch.” She hesitated. “Not like I haven’t seen your big cock pounding into one of us before, VD.”
More sounds of disbelief echoed throughout the room. My ears were burning at her remarks, conjuring a visual that was hard to ignore. I made eye contact with some of the woman around the table, my heart sinking when more than one lowered her eyes to shield the truth from me. The only thing I could be grateful for was that none of the old ladies seemed to be involved. I tried not to let the thought of Vince fucking women in public, women in this very room, bother me, because none of that mattered now.
He is mine. Something I seemed to be reminding myself a lot of lately.
“Not every woman in this room is a whore like you.” It was Della who spoke the scathing words.
Lana shrugged, and said with a smug look on her face, “She needs to know what
goes on here.”
Vince stepped closer to Lana, and for a moment I was actually worried for her. His clenched jaw, the hardness of his eyes, revealed his anger over her crude, hurtful comments. “Your disrespect for me and the club won’t be tolerated. With everything else that we have going on, we don’t need your jealous shit. As of right now you’re out.” Lana’s eyes bugged out at his comment. Clearly she hadn’t been expecting that. “Odie, get her the fuck out of here.”
“You can’t mean it, VD! You know what will happen to me out there without the protection of the club!” She made a half-hearted attempt to pull out of Odie’s grasp as he began to drag her toward the door. “VD!” she wailed as the door closed behind her. “You fucking−”
Someone released a big sigh.
“That was a long time in coming, brother,” Whip said, grinning.
Vince didn’t say anything, he just turned back to me, an apology in his eyes. “You okay, darlin’?”
There was nothing to think about because I couldn’t change what was in the past. “Yes.”
His ready smile told me that he was glad I hadn’t let Lana’s mean mouth get to me. “Good. I’ll come for you later.” I nodded and watched him and Whip leave the room before turning my focus back on the table.
“Good riddance!” Foxy said once the door was closed behind them. “I never liked that bitch. She liked to rub it into our faces that she’d fucked our men before we did.”
“She wasn’t even a club girl, just a hang around, so I don’t know how she got her claws into the club so deep.” Suzy reached down, snatched up the drink in front of her, and tossed it back.
“What’s the difference?” Penny questioned from the sidelines.
Della was quick to respond. “A club girl belongs to the club, she lives here, works here, and she’s protected. She’s also free pussy for the men.” I almost laughed at Penny’s look of disbelief. “Hang-arounds are just that. They show up every Friday night for a good time, seeking adventure, hoping for the bragging rights of fucking a Mad Dog. Some want in the club and hope if they hang around long enough they’ll be asked.”
“So there are club girls, hang-arounds, and old ladies.” I wanted to make sure that I understood it all. “So, what am I?”
“You’re what we call a sweetheart,” Suzy answered. “You don’t sleep around, and you and VD seem to be in an exclusive relationship, but he hasn’t claimed you yet. If he does−”
“Once he does,” Della corrected sharply, giving me a smile.
“Once he does and you become his old lady, you’ll be club royalty, like Penny is, because you landed the president.”
I thought about everything they’d said. Would Vince claim me and make me his old lady? It sounded like a daunting job, even if I wasn’t quite sure yet what all it entailed. All I knew was that I’d never felt for another man what I felt for him. Wrapped up in his powerful arms, being loved by him, he made me feel alive. Wanted. Cherished.
“VD is a good man,” Tammy said, as if reading my mind. “Sure, he’s done shit in public, but so had our men until we came along.”
“Yeah, once we entered the picture and they committed to us, we were the only women on the table, so to speak.” Everyone laughed at Angel’s comment. “They might look mean and tough, and they are hard men to take sometimes, but they’re loyal and they protect us.”
What about love, I wanted to ask. But it was right there in front of me. I couldn’t deny that they seemed happy with their lot in life. I glanced at Penny, recalling her regret at having made the decision all those years ago to be shielded from club life. Would she have been so accepting of Dickie, knowing then what she was learning now?
I think it took a strong woman to live in a motorcycle club as an old lady.
Good thing I was a strong woman.
Chapter 27
Vince
It didn’t take long for the word to get out about the Slayers and the shit that had gone down at their clubhouse. We didn’t pay attention to what was said on the news, it was all speculation and there was nothing concrete. The footage showed the smoldering remains of the building and not much else. It was word on the street, through other MCs and people we were friendly with, that gave us the information that we needed.
Leads about Trick and Mud were coming in but not panning out, which was frustrating as hell. Most of them were just sightings. We’d spent a good part of the day on our bikes, going from one biker hangout to another. I wanted this shit over with so that we could get back to the peace we’d fought so damned hard for and had earned. I wanted to claim Iris, and make her my old lady, spend my days growing old with her. Fuck, maybe even have a kid or two. But until this shit was settled I wasn’t going to do anything public that would put a mark on her back.
I was sure that Trick and Mud were holed up somewhere close to home, my gut never led me wrong. The few members that hadn’t been at the club during the hit had already scattered in the wind, smart enough to know that the fight was over. But those two, they were biding their time, snakes waiting to strike without warning. They knew their club was gone, but they were going to go out shooting. I’d taken Trick’s ear, he was going to take something of mine or die trying.
Before I decided to call it a day we stopped at the hospital to check up on Shooter, and were pleased as fuck to find out that he’d been moved out of intensive care and into a private room. The doctor wanted to keep him out of it for a couple more days, afraid that he’d do too much moving around and undo what little progress he’d made. He was in for a long recovery, but I left there feeling good about his outcome.
By the time we arrived back at the clubhouse all I wanted to do was grab Iris, head to my house, clean up, and then sink between her silky thighs where I found calm. I’d take the shortcut to my house, which was situated in the woods away from the road. Unless someone knew what they were looking for they’d drive right by the two-story stone house. While some of my brothers had opted for building brand new homes on the property the club had purchased, I’d bought an old abandoned home built sometime in the seventeen hundreds and had had it refurbished.
I’d bought it because of its close proximity to the clubhouse and my bar, and I’d had our club security expert, Bobby, put up surveillance cameras everywhere. The property could be monitored from within my house, as well as from the clubhouse, and someone manned the computers at all times. A lot of the brothers had tight security on their businesses and homes. It came with the responsibility of keeping our families safe and having each other’s backs.
I cut the engine to my bike, kicked down the kick stand, and sat there for a minute. Whip, Roland, Demon, and Corky did the same. Fuck, I was tired. It would be dark in about half an hour and I wanted to be at my house before then. I ran my fingers through my dust ridden hair and gave my head a vigorous shake, as if that would eliminate any remaining particles.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about what Owl said at the tattoo shop this morning.” I gave Whip my attention and waited for him to continue. “He said he saw Mud and Trick ride past the window when he was working out at the gym, said they were heading toward Bitter Creek.”
“And?”
“Remy Mack lives near Bitter Creek.”
Demon snorted. “You think a low-life drug dealer is stupid enough to hide Slayers in Mad Dogs’ territory?”
Whip shrugged. “If they paid him enough money.”
Corky sneered. “Fucker’s not loyal to anyone.”
That was true. He was loyal to money, though.
“Wait a minute--” Demon began, drawing everyone’s attention though his gaze was focused on me. “Your ex-old lady−”
“No. She’s gone.” I cut him off before he could say what I already knew he was thinking. “Got herself knocked up and went back to Kansas to be with her sister.” Trish had lived near Bitter Creek, too, and close to Remy Mack, her boyfriend’s drug dealer. “She’s not around to ask her shit.”
“Well, fu
ck,” he grumbled, disappointed at what he’d obviously thought would be a good idea.
“Beanie!” Corky nearly shouted, naming one of the hang-arounds who was hoping to become a prospect. “His girlfriend has a serious crack addiction. I doubt she goes too far for her shit. What do you wanna bet her dealer is Remy?”
It made sense. We didn’t allow Remy to sell his shit in town, so he was forced to stick outside the town limits. As long as he kept his drugs out of town we left him alone, but if it turned out that he was protecting Mud and Trick from us he’d be dealt with permanently. I couldn’t see him being that stupid though, the man was a gutless weasel unless someone owed him. Still, we had nothing else to go on right now.
“What are you thinking?” Whip asked me.
I shook my head. “I can’t see Remy being that eager to die, but let’s check him out. Get with Beanie and have him bring his girl in tomorrow morning, early.” I dismounted my bike and headed for the door.
Things looked pretty tame when I stepped inside the clubhouse. The kids were being herded over to the TV, which already had some cartoon shit on it, the women were clearing the tables of the dinner dishes. Brothers were sitting around drinking, playing poker, and pool. Some had club girls on their laps, but other than a little kissing and some light fondling nothing nasty was going on. My gaze automatically sought out Iris. I found her walking toward the bar with a tray of dirty glasses. It fucking pleased me to see her helping out. She looked like she belonged there.
My gaze ran up and down her backside, settling on her generous ass, which I was going to claim before the end of the night. My fingers itched to sink into those fleshy globes while I was reaming her out. By the time I reached her I was rock hard from thinking about it. I attacked her from behind, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, pulling her flush against me. “Hey, darlin’, you up for a little hanky panky?” She stiffened at first, until she realized that it was me. I nuzzled the side of her neck, licking and biting the fragrant skin there.
Carnal Hunger Page 24
