Doc

by Reagan Phillips

  "Do you have a plan?" I ask once I'm free and able to face him.

  Doc shakes his head slightly. "Don't need one. It's open night. We walk right in like everyone else."

  I can't believe what I'm hearing. I swing one leg over the bike to stand and as soon as Doc is off, he has one of my hands in his and is pulling me through the rows of bikes to the front doors.

  "We're just going to walk in there?" I question, finding it hard to keep up with his long stride.

  "Why not?" he says over one shoulder. "This is my clubhouse. I have every right."

  But it's not mine and the last time I set foot in this building I was told to never show my face again.

  When we reach the front door, Gunner is standing just inside next to Kyle, his son-in-law, and Everly, his daughter. Kyle has become patched since I left, and as if it were possible, he's even larger than I remember. Everly has what looks to be the beginning of a baby bump under her Tempest Elite tank top, and I couldn't be happier. She was always so kind to me and the other girls. Growing up in a motorcycle club couldn't have been easy for her, but she's done alright for herself.

  Bear's close by, as he always is, and I'm happy to see Bree cuddled into the crook of his shoulder. They'd just become official before Gears decided to steal from the treasury. I met Bree the day after Bear brought her into the club. She didn't know the first thing about the rules, but I can tell by the way she's tucked under Bear's arm and smiling at me that she remembers the help I gave her in the beginning, and I feel a ping of hope throb in my belly.

  Bear gives me a hard once over as I pass and that small ray of sunshine from Bree goes instantly cold. He hasn't recognized me yet, but he will, and I'm already picturing the commotion that will break out when he does.

  Doc is oblivious to it all, or at least he seems to be. He takes me all the way to a table in the bar and pulls out a chair for me to sit.

  "Wouldn't we be better off somewhere less crowded?" I ask, glancing nervously around the room. The stares have already started and it won't take long for someone to call me out.

  "Nah," Doc says, sliding into the chair opposite mine and raising his hand to get the attention of a sweet butt serving beers.

  I wish I could be as comfortable as he is. I don't recognize the redhead that brings out two full mugs, but the look she gives me, walking in with Doc, sends daggers straight into my heart.

  "Did you and she have a thing?" I ask once she's gone from earshot but still staring hard.

  "Not that I'm aware of." Doc tips back his mug and empties half of it before he puts it back on the table and focuses on me. When he sets his glaze on mine, I feel the same exposed feeling I had walking past Bear, except this one comes complete with the heat of a thousand burning suns.

  "Doc." I don't know why I said his name when I have his full attention already. Maybe even more attention that I can handle at the moment. "What are we doing here?"

  He stares for another long minute that has me on edge before he leans back in his chair and wipes the beer foam from his short beard. "I'm letting it be known you're here. With me. And anyone who wants to challenge that had better come make their complaint known now."

  "Oh." I lean back in my chair to match him and I guzzle down as much beer as I can without choking before I lower my glass and venture a look around the room again. He's inviting trouble. Begging for it even. I'm not sure if he's putting me on display to end any rumors before they begin, or if he has an ulterior motive to embarrass me. Either way, I'd love to crawl underneath our table and hide until the bar clears out.

  The longer we sit, the more pairs of eyes I feel watching us. I'm uncomfortable enough my body begins to shake, but I force myself to sit still. "How long are we going to do this?"

  "As long as it takes for them to either stop staring or confront me. "

  I breathe in deeply to stop the next shiver and the beer threatens to rise up my throat again. "But they won't be confronting you, Doc. It's me they don't want here. I'm the one they exiled."

  He goes from watching the room, to focusing on me again, and my skin heats. Doc is intense. Always has been. He zeroes in on what he wants and he fights like a rabid dog until he gets it. It's part of what I liked about him most, when I was allowed in the club. But tonight he's making me nervous. I remember what the ol'ladies said they'd do to me if they ever caught me around a member, and it wasn't something I'd enjoy.

  I also recall Bear's warning for any member who helped an exile, and I don't want to see Doc removed from the club I know is his life.

  I debate telling him I'm not comfortable, but I know he won't listen, so I make up an excuse instead. I tell him I need to visit the ladies’ room, but when I stand, he does too.

  "I think I can make it to the bathroom without being attacked," I tell him when he puts one hand to the center of my back.

  "I'm sure you can," he answers. " But we're not going to find out." Well, there goes my plan to escape out the back door. But I do remember the window in the last stall opens and if I stand on the toilet, I can probably climb out. The second I open the bathroom door, Doc follows me in.

  "What are you doing?" I ask. I'm as shocked as the half dozen women standing around the two sinks and waiting for the stalls. "You can't come in here, Doc."

  "Hell I can't. This is my club." He folds his arms and stands in the corner as if the other women don't even register to him. What am I supposed to do now? Invite him into the stall with me while I pee?

  It takes a second, but one by one they file out around him until I'm left alone with him staring at me, waiting for me to do something.

  "You know..." I begin, but he clears his throat over me.

  "I thought you had to pee?"

  "I do," I lie and step into a stall. If he wants to have a conversation through the door, so be it. "I appreciate what you're doing, Doc, but I really don't think this is going to work out. Maybe it would be best if I called an Uber to drop me back at the hotel."

  Heavy footsteps are the only warning I have before the stall door jerks and flies open. Thank God I was only standing in the stall, talking to him, though my mouth falls open just the same as if I'd been half naked and peeing. "What the hell, Doc?"

  "You're not going back to Moonglow. Not tonight. Not ever. I'll have one of the prospects stop by in the morning to settle your bill and pick up your stuff, but as long as you're staying in town, you're staying with me."

  Holy mother of all things scary, I've heard Doc mad before. I've heard him seconds before he ripped the head off a prospect with just his voice, and neither affected me as much as listening to him make demands from me.

  Being here is completely wrong. I shouldn't have borrowed trouble like this. Tempest Elite is part of my past, and I can't move on from Gears and all the mistakes I made following him around if I can't move on from the life he led me too. But in this moment, with Doc taking up the entire opening of my stall with his massive body and his eyes in a rage of flames burning through me, I can't move.

  Not even when he steps forward and cups his hand around the back of my neck. Not even when he pulls me so close his lips are inches from mine. I can't make myself react to save myself at all. I can only stand there, knowing what comes next is going to kill us both.

  I can't kiss Doc. But once his mouth takes mine over, I'm helpless to fight any longer. I melt into him like a woman who's been on the run for way too long and has finally found a safe place to land.

  Only, Doc isn't safe. And maybe that's the way I want it.

  * * *

  Doc

  I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I followed Dawn into the bathroom to keep her from running. I'm not blind. I know how hard it was for her to walk back into the clubhouse and I can't say the reception was warm.

  I didn't miss the shivers she tried to hide or the way she looked around the room like she was scared a threat could come from any direction. Hell, I feel the same. I'm counting on it.

  What I didn't expect was
to open her stall door once the bathroom cleared out and find her standing like a baby deer who'd just watched its mom smashed by an eighteen-wheeler.

  The fear in her expression hit me right in the gut and in that second I knew I'd do damn near anything to erase it for her. So I pulled her closer, meaning to only tell her not to worry. She's with me and no one but the OG members and Bear would ever challenge me, but as soon as the scent of her hit my nose and the warmth of her skin seeped into my fingers, I lost all control.

  I pull her into me and I kiss her. Not slow and deep like she deserves. No. I take her like the hungry animal I am. I hold her to me and I devour every moan and protest that comes from her throat as they feed my passion for more, until I'm sure I've drained her of all expectations to escape me.

  Dawn is staring at me when I release her. She looks more shocked than scared now, which is a plus. Shock I can handle.

  She tries to back away, but the toilet has her penned in and I could give her more room, but there's something about having Dawn trapped that excites me in ways I can't explain.

  For over a year, she had me pining away like a sick motherless puppy after her. Over a fucking year of watching Gears treat her like garbage while she clung to him as if losing him would kill her. A year of getting my guts stabbed at every time I walked into the clubhouse and found them together. It damn near killed me not to take her away from him and claim her. It was my fucking right, after all.

  And if I had, Dawn wouldn't be in the mess she's in. Right up to the very last day when she chose to leave Tempest Elite for Gears, I could have made her mine, but I let her walk away.

  Why?

  I'm stuck with the same question, looking into her eyes, pooling with moisture as she stares into mine. I'm holding her with my fingers around her upper arms and I'm not intending on letting go until I know for sure Dawn isn't planning to walk out of my life again.

  "Doc," she whispers. "What are you doing?"

  I don't let her go. I know the second I do, she could make a run for it, and I'm not letting that happen a second time.

  "You belong here," I answer. I can tell by the way she tilts her head slightly she's confused. "In this club. You always have. One mistake shouldn't change that. Hell, we've all made more than one and we're still here."

  Dawn reaches for my shoulder and it's the first time she's made a move to touch me. It's not a big deal, but try telling my cock that. It's been swelling since I first touched her and now it's pressing so hard into my jeans I'm sure I have zipper indents on it. "I wish that were true, Doc. I really do. But we both know I committed an unforgivable sin against the club. I left it behind for something else. Someone. That's not forgivable here."

  Now that I have her close, I can't take my damn hands off of her. My fingers are wrapped in her hair and I shift my hips so I'm pressed into her. Fuck, I knew bringing Dawn here would be trouble, but I had no idea I'd be the one suffering the most.

  "Gears didn't leave you much of a choice." I cup her cheek in my palm and a surge of triumph courses through my veins when she leans into my hand. It's a small thing, but it's a show of trust, and right now that matters more to me than all the badges and oaths I've accumulated with the club.

  Dawn closes her eyes and I'm tempted to kiss her again. So tempted my lips already feel hers pressed into them. But when she opens her eyes again and looks at me, really looks, the pain reflecting there stirs my protective instinct into a storm and I step away from her. "Damn it, Dawn." I'm growling at her and I can't make myself stop. "There is nothing within these walls that can hurt you more than what's outside of them can."

  I'm not sure I'm even making sense to her the way she's glaring at me, like I have three heads and a dick hanging off each one. I want to shake her, but I've already touched her too much and I feel the effects growing low in my gut.

  "You don't have to convince me, Doc. I'm already here. I'm just not so sure you understand what you're getting yourself into."

  I laugh. It's cute that she thinks she knows my club better than I do. Insulting, but cute coming from her. I let it slide and I step out of the stall, afraid if I don't I'll have my hands all over her again.

  "I'm offering a safe place to stay. That's all. No strings attached. No paybacks." I cross a finger over my heart. "On my honor as a Tempest Elite member."

  Dawn drops her head and when she lifts it again, she's grinning. "When you put it that way, you're kind of hard to resist."

  "Exactly what I was going for."

  She steps out of the stall and I lead her out with a hand on her back. I've made a big show of her being with me, but in case there is doubt left in anyone's minds, I want them to know I'm claiming her and she's under my protection.

  "But I want you to know," she turns slightly before we hit the main bar. "I'm not here for a free ride. I want to earn my way."

  "No worries there, Sweetheart." I've already thought of several ways Dawn can make herself useful both around the clubhouse and at my warehouse, but only a few of them are clean enough to mention to her now. "I'll teach you the ropes in the office tomorrow and Gunner's been looking for someone to help with the day to day upkeep around here. Nothing too serious. Waiting tables when things get busy.”

  “I can handle that.”

  "I'll have Bear call Church in the morning and we can work out the details. The important thing is, you're here. No one is going to mess with you under our roof." I'm going to make damn sure of it. Dawn may not be fully mine, but this time around, I'm not going to make the same mistake. I won't sit back and watch her walk away from me without a fight.

  Chapter 3

  Dawn

  Doc hasn't left my side all night. When we're walking, he keeps an arm wrapped around my waist and when we're seated, he pulls my chair close enough to his that our legs touch.

  It's possessive, but I can't say I'm hating it.

  It's late when I give into a yawn, and Doc suggests we head to bed.

  "Where?" I ask, knowing full well his intention is to get me into his room. All the patched members have rooms in the clubhouse. Bear has the old manager suite on the main floor and he shares it with Bree. Everly used to have a room that connected with Gunner's, but now that she's with Kyle, Gunner's room connects to where the unclaimed sweetbutts sleep.

  I'm sure I'll end up there once Doc makes it known I'm here on his invitation, but for tonight there is no doubt in my mind where I'll be sleeping. Or, not exactly sleeping, depending on what Doc has planned.

  My nerves are firing on all cylinders as we climb the staircase to the second-floor rooms. I like Doc. I always have. But this isn't how I ever pictured us hooking up. In fact, the last time I even looked at Doc, Gears threatened to cut my throat if he ever caught us together. The memory sends another shiver through me and Doc turns from where he's leading me by the hand up the stairs.

  "Everything okay?" His voice is light, for Doc anyway, and I see the concern in his eyes.

  "Just a chill," I say, rubbing my shoulders to help the lie go unnoticed. The way Doc watches me, I don't think he's buying it.

  We reach the top and he pulls me by the hand down the hallway and around a corner. I know where Doc's room is. I have it committed to memory. Four doors past the turn. I can't count how many times I stood outside of it, trying to convince myself to knock. Sometimes, in the early hours of the morning between the drinking and daybreak, I'd come to my senses and know Gears wasn't the guy for me. I'd find myself standing outside Doc's door, wanting to knock. Hoping he'd pull me inside and claim me. Wishing he'd save me.

  But every time, I chickened out and made my way back to the sweetbutts rooms where we slept two or three to a bed most nights.

  I'm more focused on Doc's back and the memory than where we are headed, so until Doc comes to a stop in the middle of the hall, I hadn't noticed Bear standing outside his door.

  Doc pulls me further behind him and keeps my hand tightly in his.

  "Prez," he says with a deep voice, hea
vy with speculation.

  I can't see Bear's face from Doc's back, but I know he's watching me. Probably with his broody frown. Bree once told me it's what made her fall for him.

  "We need to talk."

  "Tomorrow," Doc says. "I'm kind of busy."

  Seconds of silence fall that make my stomach twist tight. Doc squeezes my hand before he lets go and squares up his shoulders to Bear.

  "She's here with me. Club rules. She stays."

  "The membership asked me to call church. The ruling is up for discussion."

  "In the morning. Right now, I'm busy."

  Bear shifts his legs apart so he's grounded, bracing for a fight. "I'm not asking, Doc."

  I remember not too long ago when Bear brought Bree into the club and Doc tried to force her out. I know that same memory is weighing on Doc's mind as well. He doesn't even turn to me before he opens his bedroom door with one hand and tells me over his shoulder to wait for him inside.

  I don't respond. I just step in and allow Doc to shut the door before I lean on it to listen for them walking away. Neither one speaks, unless it is too low for me to hear.

  The room is the same as most of the other members. A queen bed in the middle with a table and two chairs and an attached bathroom. Some of the brothers only have showers, but Doc and most of the older members have room with bathtubs. I'd die to soak in a tub for an hour and wash away the grime of the last several days.

  It might even calm my nerves. I make myself at home, opening dresser drawers and searching through boxers and socks until I find a simple white undershirt. Paired with a pair of his black boxer briefs, I can change out of the clothes I've been wearing for days.

  There's no bubble bath in the bathroom, but the shampoo I find works just as well and the first step in is like walking into a sandalwood-scented heated pool at a seaside resort. Fully emerged, I close my eyes and drop my head back to the tub ledge. I don't think I'd even care if Doc walked in on me. The sensation of warmth and being wrapped in his scent is everything.