Nothin' But Trouble

by Nothin' But Trouble [Evernight] (mobi)

  “Well let’s get the fuck moving,” Diesel said.

  Court stood and cracked his knuckles. He didn’t know the girl that got hurt, but he didn’t care. She was a female, had gotten hurt because some asshole thought to exert his strength on her, and thought he could get away with it. He didn’t care if the guy had been high and might not have known what he was doing. None of that mattered because the end result was the same: find him and kill him.

  “We are to find him, but Lucien will be dishing out the pain, got it?” Jagger specifically looked at Court, but it wasn’t a warning, just a piece of information because he knew how pissed Court still was over Lilly getting hurt.

  “Yeah, prez, I got it.”

  Jagger nodded. “Good, now let’s get this shit going, find the fucker, and bring some justice to that female.”

  They headed out of the clubhouse and grabbed a couple of prospects on the way out. The woods that surrounded The Brothers’ whorehouse stretched on for miles. It was undeveloped land, and if the kid didn’t know shit about the area he was going to have one hell of a time trying to find his way out, especially if he was high.

  The mounted their bikes, helmeted up, and started their engines. Court’s blood pumped hard through his veins, and his bear was anxious for some violence. He just needed to make sure if he got to the kid first his bear didn’t take control. If his animal came through and took control there wouldn’t be any stopping the destruction it caused.

  ****

  They had been searching the woods for the last half an hour, but just because The Grizzly MC was in their animal forms didn’t mean they could find the fucker in a matter of minutes, especially when it had started raining and washed away recent scents. Now the smells that invaded his nose were of dirt, moss, and rain. He stopped and rose up on his back legs, inhaling deeply. He tried to pick out each individual scent. He scented other Grizzly MC members and heard their steps in the distance. For several minutes he didn’t do anything but stand there scenting the air. The human aroma of Lucien and his men surrounded him, as did their rage. He knew those emotions all too well, but his own were not only because another female had gotten hurt, but because his female had been hurt, too. He wanted to protect her from the ugliness of the world and from the ugliness of what he was involved in. If he wasn’t so selfish he would have let her go, because the violence associated with the MC life were not what he wanted for any female, even if he would protect her with his life.

  There was a snap of a twig to his left, and he swung his big head in that direction and inhaled deeply. He caught the scent of toxic waste and made a low sound in his throat. Court moved through the woods until the smell intensified and the light sound of mumbling came through the other sounds of the forest. And then in the distance he saw slight movement. He made his way closer and tried to stay quiet so as not to alert the little prick. When Court finally saw him he realized the drugged out asshole wasn’t even aware of his presence. He was busy trying to grab invisible things in the air. His bear was ready to attack and end this miserable human’s life, but instead he forced his human side to take control and shifted back to his human form. It had been easier to control himself than he thought, but in all honesty if he was going to deliver a hurting he wanted to feel his fist slam into flesh.

  “You fucked up, boy.”

  The kid turned and looked at Court. “You come here to steal my soul?” the kid asked with wide, seemingly clear eyes. Court had heard about PCP, about the hallucinogenic qualities of the drug, and also of the superhuman strength. The kid stood, but was stark naked. He leaned down and picked up a stick, and brought it down across his chest. His flesh opened up, and blood dripped down his pale body. “You can take my soul, but I’ll still have control over the demon dominion.”

  What. The. Fuck. This kid was off his rocker, but before Court could even respond the kid was charging forward. The stick was still in his hand and raised high above him. He intended to kill Court with a stick? The kid continued forward, but Court held his ground, and when he was an inch away Court reached out and slammed his fist into the side of the kid’s head. He fell backward, and although that should have knocked his ass out he was wasted and flying higher than a damn plane. He pulled himself up and weaved on his feet.

  “That bitch didn’t want to give me her soul, and so I did her over real good. Next time she won’t think about whether or not to sacrifice herself for the God of Darkness.” He lifted his arms in the air and tilted his head back. The yell that came from him would alert everyone in the surrounding area to where he was.

  Court was running on his rage and couldn’t control himself. He charged forward and slammed his body into the kid’s. They fell to the ground, and Court straddled him, reared his arm back, and connected his fist into the human’s head again. But just when he was about to hit him once again, release all his anger on this piece of shit, someone wrapped their arms around his chest and hauled him off. It was a bear shifter because no one else would have had the strength to remove him, but then he smelled Dallas and tore away from the other male.

  “Court, this is not our fight. We are just here to find him, not kill him. That is for Lucien and The Brothers of Menace to handle.”

  Court’s chest rose and fell, and although he knew Dallas spoke the truth, trying to control himself was fucking hard. But the sound and scent of the other Grizzly members, and Lucien and his men coming forward, had Court forcing himself to relax. Taking this away from Lucien wasn’t right, because if someone had killed the bastard that hurt Lilly—aside from Roan, that is— he would have wanted blood from everyone. He took a step back just as everyone came through the thickness of the woods. Lucien stalked toward, reached down and wrapped his hand around the kid’s throat, and hauled his ass up.

  “You are about to experience a world of hurt, boy.”

  The kid started laughing, and it was this crazy sound.

  “But don’t worry, we will let you sober up before we give you what you deserve for hurting one of our girls,” Lucien said and turned to look at Court and the rest of The Grizzly MC. “Thanks for helping out.”

  Court nodded and watched as The Brothers of Menace made their way out of the forest, dragging that fucker out with them.

  “Think they will kill him?” Stinger asked.

  Court didn’t know, and honestly, if Lucien hadn’t come when he did Court probably would have twisted his head off with his bare hands. After all this, and knowing what that kid had done to a female, made Court want to go see Lilly and hold her tight even more than he normally did. But it was late, and he had tomorrow to look forward to. It was funny what love could do to a male, and he loved Lilly with a ferocity that startled even his inner animal.

  ****

  Lilly looked at herself in the mirror and knew this was a bad idea. The bruising in her face was horrendous, and the swelling wasn’t completely healed. She also felt like an idiot for the dress she had on—the yellow one with the blue flowers that Court had told her he remembered her wearing all those years ago. But she had wanted to surprise him, and thought it was a good idea until she had the damn thing on and saw her reflection.

  She had been a thick girl in high school, but had gained some weight over the past five years. Her tits, especially, were larger, and her cleavage was so prominent it was like her boobs were trying to eat her dress. She turned to the side and glanced at her ass. “Shit, it really has gotten bigger.” Yeah, that had grown, too. How in the world had she not realized how big her butt had gotten? There was a knock on the door, and she called out, “Come on in.”

  “Lilly?” Roan’s voice was deep and curious, and when he pushed the door open all the way and stepped inside, she faced him fully. He did a double take, and his eyes grew wide. “Wow. You look great.”

  She couldn’t help but blush. “Thanks.”

  He knitted his brows.

  “What?” She smoothed her hands down her dress and looked at herself in the mirror again.

&n
bsp; “Nothing, it’s just … I should probably put on the big brother act seeing as you’re about to go out with this outlaw biker.”

  For a second she thought he was serious, and her cheeks heated even further. But then a smile broke out across his face, and she breathed out in relief. Okay, he was so joking with her. “Do I look okay? Is the dress too much?”

  He blinked a few times and shook his head. “No. I mean you look great, but don’t you think it’s a bit revealing?” He cleared his throat and moved his hand over his upper chest. “Like in the northern hemisphere?”

  Lilly couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “Oh my God. I’m embarrassing you by my cleavage.”

  Roan groaned and closed his eyes. “We are not talking about cleavage or anything else. Court’s downstairs.” Without looking at her again he turned and left her alone in her room. She looked at her reflection once more, and turned to grab a cardigan from her closet. Her boobs may look good, but that didn’t mean she had to walk out there with them hanging out for all to see. Once the blue cardigan was in place and she had the middle button together, she grabbed her purse and headed out.

  Court and Roan were by the front door talking, and her mom came out with a glass of lemonade. It was funny to see Court and Roan standing side-by-side, both of them huge, whereas her mother was small and petite.

  Maybe it was the sound of her heels clicking on the wood floor, or maybe he could just sense her, but Court snapped his head up and locked his eyes right on her. There was this low noise that came from him and had Roan and her mom looking at him with their brows knitted. Then they turned their attention to her. Okay, so that was awkward, but at the same time Court was giving her this very heated look, one that made her feel like he was on the verge of ripping her dress off when she stopped right in front of him. Her pussy instantly became wet, and her nipples hardened. Thank God she wore the cardigan, because a bra was a no-no with the dress, and she knew the tight peaks would have been visible through the thin material.

  “Hi.” She was ready to get out of here, because even if Court had plans for them to have a quiet evening talking, she was in the mood for something that she had been craving for the last five years. Was she pretty to look at all bruised up? No, and that might be a deterrent for him, but honestly she also wanted to be with him sexually because she wanted another memory—this one far stronger than them kissing on her bed—to take away the image and feeling of that man above her. “Are you ready?”

  Court nodded, but took a sip of the lemonade and watched her over the rim of the glass. Lilly made her way to the front, and right away her mom gave her a hug. This certainly wasn’t like she was going away and never coming back, but when she looked her mom in the face and saw the smile there, she knew her mother had hugged her because she was happy for her.

  “You look so nice, sweetie.” Diera took her hand and squeezed it, and then turned and opened the door for them. “Okay, have fun, and Court? Look after my little girl.”

  Court turned and looked down at her mom. “With my life, Diera.” She patted him on the chest and smiled before ushering them out the door.

  Once the door was closed Lilly looked at Court. “So—”

  But he didn’t let her finish speaking because he had a hold of her hand and was pulling her toward his truck. When they were by the garage, where there were no windows and Roan and her mother couldn’t see them, he pulled her toward his chest. Her breasts pressed firmly against him, and he leaned down to take her mouth in a brutally possessive kiss. For several drugging seconds that was all they did. The sun had yet to set, but there was the dusky feeling in the air. Lilly wound her arms around his neck and slipped her hands in his hair. The blond strands were longer, brushing the top of his collar, and giving her just enough length to hold onto.

  He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “We need to stop, or we will most definitely create a scene in front of the neighborhood.”

  Lilly pressed her mouth to his again and ran her tongue along the seam of his lips. “Let them watch. I don’t care.”

  Court groaned, but she felt him smile against her mouth. “Baby, you can’t say stuff like that.” He placed his hands on her hips and rubbed them up and down. “You’re still healing, and I don’t want to rush this or push you too far.”

  She shook her head and used as much of her strength as she could to push him back against the garage door. There was a moment of surprise on his face, but he didn’t say anything. “I’m healing just fine, but I don’t want you to treat me like I’m porcelain and you’re afraid I’m going to break.” She stared into his light green eyes, willing him to really understand her. “Roan treats me like he is afraid I will go off the deep-end, and I won’t.” She took a deep breath. “I just want to forget what happened. I want to move on, and I want to do that with you. I want you to replace those god-awful memories with new ones.”

  He lifted his hands and gently cupped both sides of her face. He stared deeply into her eyes and then slid his gaze to the side of her face that was bruised. He ground his teeth and closed his eyes for several seconds. “I want to help you forget, want to replace that nightmare that you endured, but I’m afraid that I’ll make it worse.”

  She shook her head and smiled up at him even though he still had his eyes closed and couldn’t see her doing the acts. “I love that you are this big biker, a bear shifter on top of that, yet you are afraid of going too fast with me.” She doubted there were many times he thought about going slow in his life.

  “Lilly, there is a lot I missed out on with you, and a lot I want to experience with you. I’m not in a rush.” He pressed his lips to hers, and just when she would have taken control of the kiss he pulled back. “Make no mistake I want you.” To emphasize his point he took hold of her wrist and brought between their bodies. Pressing her hand to his crotch told her he was hard as steel. “So, yeah. I want you really fucking badly, Lilly.”

  Her heart slammed fiercely against her ribs, and if she had her way she would have let him take her right here against the garage. But she wanted privacy, and certainly wasn’t going to get that right here.

  “Come on, I have plans for us.” He led her to the truck, the same one that he had taken her virginity in, and it felt almost surreal and nostalgic in a strange way. After he helped her inside and was in the driver’s side seat, he started the engine and pulled out of the driveway. Trees passed by on either side of them as he headed out of Steel Corner, and she was curious as to where he was taking her.

  “Where exactly are we going?”

  He looked over at her and grinned but didn’t respond to her question.

  Lilly used that moment to take in his appearance. She could have when she had seen him standing in the entryway of her mother’s home, and could have when they were outside, but she had been focused on his face and had tunnel vision because of her desire for him. But now she had as much time to look at him as she pleased. With that strong, square jaw, lightly stubbled cheeks, and light green eyes, he wasn’t handsome in a clean cut, classic way, but more so in a brutally hardcore manner. He made her think of sinfully wicked things.

  He reached over and turned the radio on, but to her surprise he didn’t blast classic rock. That had been his favorite music of choice back in the day, but instead he put on an oldies station. He adjusted the volume so it was barely audible, making it more background noise than a filler.

  Lilly looked at the thickness of his biceps. They were huge, and his t-shirt was formed perfectly to the smooth flesh and hard muscle. He wore his cut, but she liked that he always had it on. It made him look dangerous, and what girl didn’t want a man that looked like Court, that poured potent masculinity, and didn’t have to even say anything for people to know that he was deadly? His jeans were loose, but still showed off the thickness of his thighs, ones that looked powerful, like trunks of massive trees. When she moved her eyes back up to his face her cheeks instantly heated when she saw that he looked at her.


  He glanced back at the road, but the corner of his mouth kicked up. “You know how to make a male feel wanted, Lilly.”

  She scoffed, but couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t act like you aren’t used to women looking at you the way I just was.” Although she was embarrassed that he had caught her checking him out, there was this familiarity between them, and it made the air lighter.

  “I’m used to it.” The tone of his voice wasn’t arrogant as he spoke. He looked at her. “But I’ve never gotten pleasure from it until you did it.”

  Wow. Gritty biker and a smooth talker, too. She cleared her throat and stared out the front windshield. Lilly couldn’t look at him, not when just staring into his eyes had her feeling she was back in high school and unable to control her hormones. “So, where are we going?”

  “I thought we could have a picnic.”

  That had her turned to face him and lifting a brow in surprise. “A picnic? Won’t it be getting dark soon?”

  He nodded and reached over to take her hand in his. “Yeah, but the picnic we are having isn’t outside.” They drove for another five minutes before he pulled off of the main road and moved up an incline. Finally he pulled to a stop in front of a small house on a cleared out strip of land. There were trees on all sides of them, but they weren’t too far out from town, and not deep into the woods. This place was just a small house in its own little sanctuary. It was perfect.

  “Is this your place?” It might have seemed obvious that it was, but then again nothing in Steel Corner should be considered obvious. She looked over at him.

  “Yeah, bought it a couple of years ago.” He stared at the house, but then looked at her. “It was really nothing more than a corpse of a building, but I had a lot of help from the club in fixing it up. It’s small, with two tiny as shit bedrooms, but it works for me.” He leaned in, and she knew he was going to kiss her, but the sound of an approaching car had him pulling away from her and looking over at the driveway. “Perfect timing.” He spoke to himself, but before he got out he leaned in, gave her a quick peck on the lips, and headed out of the truck.