by Harley Wylde
The hair on my nape stood up and I could tell someone was watching me. I tried to covertly glance around the room, but it didn’t seem as if anyone was paying me attention. I looked over at the bar, but the young guy who had been supplying my drinks was busy. Scanning the crowd, I still couldn’t figure out who was watching me, but the feeling persisted. Trying to shrug it off, I went back to my book. Or tried.
Everything got worse. The entire place was swimming and spinning. I felt like I was swaying. My body slid sideways and I couldn’t seem to stop it from happening. Two strong arms wrapped around me. A hard body pressed against mine and an earthy smell filled my nose. I tried to get my legs under me, but they felt like noodles. Before I could utter a word, the man lifted me into his arms, carrying me like a bride, and someone else snatched my purse and book from the table.
The fresh scent of the outside air hit me, but my eyes were closed to help keep the nausea at bay.
“I’ll find out who drugged her,” a deep grumbly voice said. “Take her to your place, Outlaw. Keep an eye on her. I want to know who she is and why she’s here. Girl like that doesn’t belong in a place like this.”
Outlaw? What a strange name. And yet the sheer strength of the man holding me made me feel as if an ordinary name would never do for someone like him. I didn’t know how he’d earned that name, but the man speaking seemed to trust him with me. Not that I knew either of them. For all I knew, they would kill me and hide the body. That didn’t seem to be what they wanted of women, though. I thought back to the woman bent over the table, and I wondered if this man would do the same with me.
For whatever reason, the idea didn’t trouble me. If anything, it turned me on even more.
“I’ll keep her safe.” I felt the vibration of his words and realized it was the man holding me. Outlaw is what the other one had called him. It made me giggle the more I thought about his name. Was he like Billy the Kid? Or Jesse James?
“Careful with that one.” The other man’s voice was laced with humor. “Looks like she’ll be a happy drunk, but she might come out of it like a pissed-off honey badger. I’ll check in after I have this shit sorted.”
I heard the door open and loud music pour out before things got quieter again. The man holding me started moving, going down the steps, then I heard the crunch of his boots on gravel. He muttered a curse and something I didn’t quite catch about trucks, but otherwise remained silent. I didn’t have any sense of time but eventually I heard another door open and shut. Where was he taking me? I could open my eyes and find out, yet I didn’t know if my stomach could handle it. I knew I should be terrified, but I couldn’t seem to muster a hint of fear. I just felt… good. Was this what it felt like to be buzzed? I’d heard the girls in church whispering, but I’d never experienced anything like it myself.
Of course, they’d also giggled and whispered about other things too.
“Can you open your eyes, sweet girl?” the man asked.
I fought my eyelids and won the battle, opening them a little. Things were still not quite in focus but I tried to look up at the man holding me. I could see that his hair was a reddish brown, and he had a beard. Nothing else was clear enough at the moment. My eyes slid shut again and I groaned, my head starting to pound.
“Can you tell me your name?” he asked.
“Elena,” I whispered, or tried to. My tongue felt heavy and like it was tied into knots. Even to my ears it didn’t sound right. What was wrong with me?
“I’m Outlaw and you’re safe. No one will touch you or hurt you. Do you want the couch or my bed?” My breath caught and I must have tensed or something. I could almost feel his urgency to reassure me. “Alone. I meant you could have my bed all to yourself.”
I tried to answer, but everything started to feel heavier, like I was being weighed down and pulled under by thick sludge. My mind went blank, and then I was out. Only one thought hit me right before I sunk completely under. I hope he really is nice and won’t hurt me. Or maybe he’ll hurt me in a good way.
Chapter Two
Outlaw
Jesus Christ. The curvy body pressed against me was starting to get a rise from my cock, which was startling enough I nearly dropped her. It had been over four years since I’d had the shit beat out of me and had nearly died. And during that time, I hadn’t gotten hard once. Didn’t matter if one of the club sluts had her tits pressed against me or in my face. A few had even rubbed all over me, and still nothing. The doctors hadn’t found any reason my dick wouldn’t work, but like my hands, it seemed to have been damaged during the attack. Or maybe it was something just fucked up in my head.
Not that I would have done anything differently. Even if I couldn’t hold the simplest of items without a shit ton of pain going through my fingers, or type, for that matter. My days of hacking were pretty much over. I could do some basic digging, but the hardcore stuff I had to hand off to someone else. It was a bit humiliating. I’d never been the level of Wire and Lavender, but I’d held my own. Until now.
The important thing is that I’d distracted the assholes long enough that Wire’s woman was safe. That’s all that had mattered.
I carried Elena to my room and eased her down onto the bed. I flexed my hands a few times, wincing as sharp pain shot through them. Carrying her hadn’t been easy. Not because she was heavy, but because my fingers had been broken in multiple places. Three had even been shattered. They hadn’t healed quite right, but I wasn’t about to have surgery now to try and fix anything. I could still use them, but certain things caused me a good deal of agony. I’d also noticed that after more than a few minutes, my grip would weaken if I was holding something. Holding small objects made my fingers cramp and hurt, and riding a bike was sometimes more difficult, but I wasn’t about to admit that shit to anyone. It made me feel far older than my thirty-six years.
The little Latina in my bed was a pretty thing. Her long, dark hair hung in glossy waves and I itched to touch it. I’d felt it brush against my arm when I’d carried her from the clubhouse. She had curves in all the right places, even if she did look a bit young. I hoped like fuck she wasn’t underage. Not only because I’d gotten hard holding her, but the club could be in some serious shit if we’d let someone not-quite-legal in the gates. I wondered if the shithead on duty had even checked her ID when he let her inside, or if he’d just seen a pretty face and waved her through. We’d had some issues with that in the last several weeks.
I just didn’t know what the hell to do with her right now. It was obvious someone had laced her drink with something, but I didn’t know what, or who. We had some new Prospects, but I’d thought they were vetted. I couldn’t do the job anymore, but I’d asked for some help from Surge and Wizard. Now I was wishing I’d gone to Wire instead. I tried to keep my distance from him and Lavender. Every time that woman looked at me, I could see that she felt responsible for what happened. I didn’t want her feeling guilty over something she couldn’t control.
“I don’t know where you’ve come from, or why you’re here, but I won’t let anyone hurt you,” I murmured to the sexy woman in my bed. She seemed innocent. Sweet. And too damn young for me, not that my body cared.
Heading back to the front of the house, I checked my phone for any messages, then decided to make some coffee. I didn’t know how long it would take Grizzly to sort shit out, but I wanted to stay alert in case anyone came for Elena. She was the fourth woman who had been drugged, and so far, the slippery fucker had evaded us. My money was on a Prospect doing this shit, but it could have easily been anyone at the clubhouse. There were plenty of women up there who were regulars, pretty much all club whores, and those women didn’t like competition.
My front door opened, and I heard the heavy tread of the Pres’s steps. He had a gait that was slightly off and easily discernable. Grizzly shoved young Simon into the kitchen just as I was pouring a cup of coffee. I handed it off to Griz and pulled down a second mug for me. Then I sat and waited. Simon was jittery, his ha
nds twitching, his eyes darting around the room. He knew something was up, but I wasn’t certain if he was necessarily guilty. I heard the door again and this time the Sergeant-at-Arms, Demon, entered.
“Start talking,” Demon said.
“I-I don’t know what you w-want,” Simon said, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.
“The girl. Who drugged her?” Demon asked.
His eyes went wide and flew to me, then both club officers. “I didn’t drug anyone!”
“Didn’t say you did,” said Grizzly. “But I think you know who did. Or suspect at any rate.”
“I took her two beers, but I didn’t put anything in them. I delivered them myself.” He shifted in his seat. “I’d never do that to a woman.”
“Anyone have access to them before you took them to Elena?” I asked.
Simon’s brow furrowed and I could tell he was seriously thinking it over. “I’m not sure. I had just opened the first one before I set it down on the bar when someone called my name. I only turned away for a minute, maybe two, and then I carried the drink over to the woman in the corner. The clubhouse was packed tonight. I didn’t pay attention to who was at the bar. Colorado said that all women got free beer. I’d noticed the woman at the corner table didn’t have anything, so I was just trying to follow orders.”
Grizzly folded his arms and looked up at the ceiling a moment before directing his gaze at Demon. “Pull the clubhouse tapes and see if you can spot anything unusual. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time. In the meantime, Outlaw, she’s your responsibility. Do whatever is necessary to keep her safe, and make sure she isn’t going to complain to the law about this. Whatever it takes. We’ll handle this shit storm in our own way.”
I nodded but my gut cramped. I didn’t like the idea of bending her to my will. Not like that anyway. I wouldn’t mind commanding her in the bedroom. Shit. My dick was getting hard again. One thing was for sure, I should thank her for curing me. It had been so long since I’d gotten laid, or been able to come, that I was tempted to shoo these fuckers from my house and go jerk one off in the shower. Elena was passed the fuck out and wouldn’t know the difference. I’d be in and out before she even woke up.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” Simon said. “You know I’d never drug a woman, right? I’m not into that shit. Any asshole who rapes a woman needs to die a painful death, and I can’t think of another reason to drug them.”
Couldn’t exactly disagree with him on that one. I knew all my brothers felt the same. Especially since Grizzly had a tendency to adopt teens who’d been abused in some way or another. His eldest, Adalia, was with Badger now, but the other two were younger. Lilian was all grown up and old enough to have a man of her own, but she was still reserved and jumped at shadows. Silva had done a number on her, and I wasn’t sure if she’d ever fully recover. The Pres had assured her she had a home as long as she wanted, and so far, she hadn’t moved out of his home.
Lilian was actually the second woman the Pres had adopted, and not too long after her, he’d taken in yet another teen, Shella. While Shella had never said anything about being sexually abused, she’d obviously been neglected and had to fend for herself. She was stronger than Lilian, but Griz kept her on lockdown as much as he could.
“Am I in trouble?” Simon asked. “I swear I didn’t know there was anything in her drink.”
“You’re free to go, kid. Keep this quiet for now,” Demon said.
Simon practically ran from my house with Demon following. Grizzly sighed and paced for a moment. I knew he was pissed this happened on his turf. Even worse, it wasn’t the first time. So far, whoever was responsible had been smart enough not to get caught, which just irritated Griz even more.
“When I find out who’s doing this…” He grumbled some more under his breath before coming to a stop. “It’s obviously not Simon. Henry is on the gate tonight. That leaves Beau, Carver, and the four new guys. With Beau’s history, I seriously doubt he’d pull this shit.”
“If it’s even a Prospect, Pres. You know as well as I do it could just be someone who’s here at every damn party. Who would gain anything from this? So far, we caught on before anything bad happened. Those girls ended up with patched members who could tell something wasn’t right.”
He nodded.
“Maybe we’re looking at this wrong. What if it’s not happening because someone wants the girls to agree to anything? What if it’s someone jealous of those women?” I asked.
“You mean another female?” he asked. “Like a club whore?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Look at the trouble some have caused for other clubs, and even here a few years back. Tasha poked holes in the all the condoms in the community bowl, hoping she’d get knocked up and land herself the title of old lady.”
Griz snorted. “Like any of us would have claimed her. The baby, sure, but not her. Good thing one of the other girls noticed and reported it. That would have gone sideways fast.”
No shit. A lot of us could have been daddies from that fiasco. Although, after my dick stopped working, I’d often thought that it would have been nice to have a kid. Then I’d lost hope. Until Elena. If my dick was getting hard again, then maybe it would work well enough to make a baby, assuming my little swimmers were up for the challenge. Only one way to find out, but I had to get myself a woman first.
Griz’s phone started ringing, and I recognized the tone. It was Shella. He stiffened as he answered and I tried to tune him out. I could hear the urgency in her voice even if I couldn’t understand the words. Then Grizzly roared like a fucking bear before screaming out, “I’ll kill him.” He ended the call and started stomping toward my front door.
“Problem, Pres?” I called out. “You need backup?”
I heard more growling before he answered.
“No, but Dragon better fucking run.”
What the hell? I stood up and went to the front entry. Dragon? He’d nearly died not that long ago, caught up with some shit that impacted a lot of clubs in the south. I couldn’t imagine him fucking shit up. Although, it seemed the club officers hadn’t seen fit to send anyone after him. He’d been tortured because Griz made a call that had gone sideways.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he knocked up my daughter.” Grizzly snarled. “Fucker got Lilian pregnant.”
I tried to take that in for a moment. Little Lilian? Pregnant? She jumped every time one of us got too close. How the hell had Dragon gotten near enough to get a baby in her? Not that it seemed to matter right now. The way Grizzly was huffing and puffing, there wouldn’t be much left of the baby daddy once the Pres was done with him. Part of me wondered if I should call and give the guy a heads-up, but if he’d been messing around with the Pres’s daughter, then maybe he deserved his fate. Yeah, it had worked out for Badger when he’d knocked up Adalia, but Griz knew his eldest daughter was head over heels for Badger. With Lilian… well, that was a different story. He sheltered her even more than he had Adalia. And Shella -- I shuddered to think what would happen if anyone even thought of asking her out on a date, much less getting near enough for anything else.
After I was certain no one else was going to wander into my house, I headed back to my bedroom and checked on Elena. She still slept soundly, but depending on what she was given, she could be out for a while. Her chest rose and fell steadily. I moved closer and reached for her, pressing my fingers to the pulse point in her wrist. Her heartrate seemed a little fast to me, but I wasn’t a doctor by any means. Until Griz gave the okay, I didn’t want to bring in anyone to check on her. Since he was already on the warpath thanks to Dragon, I didn’t really want to piss him off more.
I hoped that whatever was in her system wouldn’t have lasting effects. I trailed my fingers down her arm, feeling how soft she was, and my dick started to get hard again. With a groan, I made myself turn away and went straight to the bathroom. I shut the door and started the shower before stripping out of my clothes. I hung my cut off a ho
ok on the back of the door and left everything else in a pile on the floor. Steam started to billow out of the shower stall and I stepped inside, shutting the glass door behind me.
The water pounded my shoulders and back, and I had to admit it felt fucking awesome. I’d been carrying more tension around since I hadn’t been able to jack off or get laid. I eyed my cock, still hard and upright, and hoped it really did still work. Using the shower gel in the corner, I soaped my hands, then grabbed my dick and gave it a tug. I’d pay for it soon when it felt like my hands were on fire and hurt like hell, but it would be worth it. A groan spilled out of me at how damn good it felt. I gripped a little harder and twisted my hand on the downstroke.
I leaned back against the shower wall, spread my legs a little, and used my free hand to cup my balls, rolling them a little on the next stroke of my cock. It wasn’t long before my hand was flying up and down my shaft, and I could feel my orgasm getting closer. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as I came, cum coating the glass of the shower door.
My heart hammered in my chest and as I tried to catch my breath, my gaze lifted and I froze. The pretty Latina I’d left in my bed was now in my bathroom with her jaw practically on the floor as she gaped at me. Shit. Even worse, just seeing her there was enough to make me hard again. Her gaze drifted to the cum splattered on the shower door and her jaw snapped shut. She looked up at me again, but there wasn’t fear in her eyes. No, it was worse -- curiosity. I was wishing I had one of those frosted-glass doors instead of one you could clearly see through.
“I didn’t think you’d be awake anytime soon,” I said.
She just stared, not moving, not talking. She barely even blinked.
I gripped the shower head, detached it from the holder, and rinsed the shower door. Locking it back into place, I debated washing off or just getting out. The gorgeous woman was still watching me, and I had to wonder if she was frozen in place or if she just liked the view. Maybe it made me an asshole, but I shampooed my hair and washed my beard, letting her look her fill. After I rinsed, she was not only still there, but she’d inched a little closer.
