I shut my eyes. Fuck.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I did. I fucked Layne’s girl. Not my best moment, but it’s how the life rolls.”
I could damn near feel Everly starting to pull away from me. I gripped her tighter, not wanting her to judge. She wasn’t there when it all went down. She didn’t get the circumstances. Fuck, neither did Layne. Neither did the MC.
“Running the MC was hard,” I said. “It’s not all about riding around, shooting at people, then drinking whiskey and fucking women. It’s about strategy and planning. About seeing a bigger picture that nobody else could see.”
“That included killing your best friend’s girlfriend?”
“Yeah, it did,” I said. “She played the good girl card heavily, beautiful. She tried to be it all in front of us. Like a beautiful wife to Layne. She had a lot of the guys wrapped around her finger. And yes, she caught me at a weak, fucked up moment. And I messed up. I fucked her. Part of me hoped that when I fucked her, she’d run to Layne and he’d toss her out on her ass. But that didn’t happen. She wanted more. She wanted to share and be secretive. And fuck, did she love secrets.”
“Seems everyone in this club loves secrets,” Everly said.
She pulled away and started to sit up. My hands trailed down her back and she pulled the covers up her body.
“What the fuck?” I asked. “You wanted to know this shit. You wanted the fucking truth. What are you going to do? Run?”
Everly looked back at me. “I just don’t get it all.”
“Nobody said you had to. You weren’t born into this life. This world. You stumbled into it. Probably looking for trouble and a bad boy. Right?”
“Fuck you, Talon.”
“Yeah, right. I made a judgment call for the MC. That’s how it goes around here. If I had to go back and do it again… I think about it all the time. I had a lot of time in prison to think about it all. If I could have steered things differently. Gotten more of the truth.”
“You never told me why,” Everly said. “You keep beating around the answer.”
“She was on drugs,” I yelled. “She was fucked up, and she was pulling heat into the club. She was getting into the back of Layne’s mind about shit. Okay? She wanted his cock, his power, his money. She wanted to feed her addiction and I could see him walking into a different life.”
“So you’re his protector then?”
“I never said that.”
“You think you’re a martyr for all this?”
“I never said that either, Everly. Fuck, I’m trying to fix things.”
“You’re the one making messes.”
The words were like an icy knife to my heart. I sat up and made fists. My body was raging with anger. I was there, naked, with Everly. Offering a side that nobody knew about me. And she was attacking me. Maybe rightfully so. I had mentally fucked Layne so bad he wouldn’t even look at another woman.
It made me really wonder what the hell Everly wanted in all this. To use me to crack Layne’s fucking shell?
I gritted my teeth, feeling a surge of jealousy. I never got jealous, ever. I wasn’t the type. Because they all wanted me, and when they said they didn’t, they tried someone else and come rushing back.
I put my right foot to bottom of Everly’s back and pushed. She slid to the edge of the bed and tried grabbing the sheets.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Do what you need to do, beautiful,” I said. “You want to the truth, I’ll give it to you straight. I’m not Layne’s protector. I just watched him on a slippery slope that I couldn’t save him from. If he stuck with Anneliese, she would have torn this all apart. I know it. We’d be running drugs, dealing drugs, something like that. She’d probably be dead anyway from an OD. Better yet, she would have used her little tight ass to get what she wanted, when she wanted it, and that would have drove Layne insane. He’d be dead getting killed because of her. Or for her. So, yeah, I fucking killed her. Because the one rule I have, hold, and keep as President… is simple. Don’t fuck with my club.”
“Is is still your club?” Everly asked.
“I bleed the same as everyone out there. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Silence fell. Everly looked over her shoulder at me. The fear was off her face, replaced by sorrow. She was sad now. My past, my truth, it made her sad.
And to match that, tears filled her eyes.
Fuck.
7.
(Everly)
Why the hell are you crying?
I shut my eyes and wiped my eyes. I shouldn’t have looked back at Talon with tears in my eyes, but I did. He shot straight at me, taking me by the shoulders. He pulled me close to him. I loved the feel of his hard muscle against my skin.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t…”
“It’s good,” Talon said. “You have every right to feel how you want. I’m not going to tell you not to cry or get angry. I’m not going to shield the truth if I feel like telling it either.”
I looked at Talon, in the eyes of a man who was a killer. But he was just so sexy and when he was honest with me, it was something so perfect I somehow understood it all. It made me shiver trying to imagine him killing someone, even though I’d already seen it happen with my own two eyes. But to kill someone Layne loved? To do it in cold blood and with an intention that he hoped would benefit the club?
It made me wonder just what kind of place this was. Just what Devil Call MC meant and how they functioned. Worse yet, could I be on the chopping block someday? If I got truly struck between Talon and Layne what would happen to me?
Talon stroked my face. “It’s okay. Good days, bad days, it’s okay.”
“How is it okay?” I asked.
“Simple. The worst thing that could happen is we die. That’s the ultimate thing. The end. The worst. Maybe sometimes the best. Who knows. But while I’m here, I’m breathing, I’m alive, I’m going to work to take care of this club. Fuck, Everly, I took three bullets and I’m still here. I don’t go down that easily.”
“You do go down easily,” I teased and opened my legs.
Talon grinned. “I’m going to savor that if you keep offering.”
“Let me get changed and let’s sleep. I can’t take much more today.”
“Fair enough,” Talon said. “No top though. Just bottoms. I need access.”
I smiled and blushed.
I inched to the edge of the bed and looked at the floor.
My bag was missing.
What the hell?
I looked to the door. I swallowed hard.
Where the hell was my bag?
“I’m going to jump into the shower,” Talon said.
“Okay. I’ll be here.”
Talon crawled off the bed and walked to the bathroom. His body was goddamn beautiful. The muscles. The tattoos. The way he moved. Fuck.
When the water turned on, I scrambled from the bed. I grabbed my pants and put them on. I grabbed my shirt and did the same. I was wearing no bra and no panties as I left the room and charged down the hall.
Did Layne have my bag?
Did he take it back?
Did Talon take the bag to Layne’s room?
I gently knocked on Layne’s door. “It’s me, Layne. Open up.”
The door opened and Layne stood there, shirtless. My eyes wandered and I felt my body heating up. I suddenly wished I had a bra on.
“What’s wrong?” Layne asked. He looked beyond, maybe expecting Talon to be chasing me down.
“Where’s my bag?” I asked.
Layne backed and turned. He pointed to my bag on the floor. “Where it belongs.”
“You stole my bag from Talon’s room?”
It was almost childish. Yet it was cute. Maybe romantic.
“Better off here,” Layne said. “I regret telling you to take it before. You know, just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“Talon,” he said. “You never know what he’s going to do. Plus, I’
d probably never see you if you didn’t need to change.”
“You want me to change in front of you?”
“I didn’t say that, Everly.” Layne paused. I took a step and he touched my arm. “Are you good? I mean, with what happened before?”
“I don’t know. Talon almost knocked out a drunk detective. Hollis is dead? Talon’s body is healing from being shot. Yet my mind is more focused on you moving my bag and what it means. And… Talon… started to talk…”
Layne’s nostrils flared and he looked away. He swallowed hard. “Yeah? He’s opening to you? That’s pretty impressive.”
“Layne, you can talk to me too. I want you to talk to me. I want to understand.”
“You’ll never get it,” he said. “I told you before about getting in too deep.”
“I’m already there,” I said. “I’m on a security camera… I can’t go anywhere if I wanted to.”
“That’s why your bag is here then,” Layne said. He looked at me again. “Because you can’t go anywhere. And if I don’t see you, I can’t protect you.”
My heart fluttered.
Protect me?
“Think what you want,” Layne said. “But I’m protecting you, Everly. I’m watching. I’m trying. I want this club to be right as much as Talon does.”
“Then why isn’t someone wearing the President patch?” I asked. “The club…”
“I’m not stealing it,” Layne said. “It was rightfully his when he was taken away.”
“He hasn’t taken it back,” I said.
“The club will decide. Soon. We have to first settle all this down.”
“How? It keeps getting worse.”
I felt my emotions collecting again, trying to get the best of me. I refused to cry in front of Layne. I lowered my head and then felt him touch me. His big hands were over my shoulders, squeezing with care.
“Christ, Everly, you are in too deep,” Layne whispered. “I’m sorry for this. I should have sent you on your way.”
“Why didn’t you then?”
“Because I saw something in you. Something that got to me. Something that hit in a way…”
“Like when you looked at Anneliese?”
Layne’s hands tightened on my shoulders. His eyes went wide. “Don’t you fucking speak her name. Ever.”
“Why not?”
“Fuck,” Layne growled. “Fuck Talon for telling you anything. You don’t know a damn thing, Everly. Fuck.”
“I know enough right now. So why did you keep me here? Someone to look at? Someone to hug when you needed? Someone to string along? Someone with a set of tits and pussy that made you feel at home?”
“Goddamn this shit,” Layne said.
“Then just be fucking honest,” I yelled.
“I kept you because I wanted you!” Layne barked at me. “Because I couldn’t imagine you leaving and being gone. Because my bed looked better with you in it. Because the entire room smelled… smelled like you. Clean. Fresh. Pretty.” Layne backed up and ran both hands through his hair. “Fuck, I don’t know. Then things started to spiral. You were looking at Talon’s picture. You were always smiling and looking flushed when you did. The club got involved and I let things slide. I didn’t want to hurt you. Lead you on. But, fuck, Everly, I couldn’t live with you walking out that door for good. You… you gave me - you give me - hope. And I’m not a man of hope. I live in an outlaw life. There’s no protection. There’s no help. There’s fists, bullets, knives, and a purpose.”
I dove at Layne. All my mind heard was because I couldn’t imagine you leaving and being gone. Because my bed looked better with you in it. Because the entire room smelled… smelled like you. Clean. Fresh. Pretty…
Layne had no choice but to catch me. I wrapped my legs tight around him, just like I had done with Talon a short while ago. My breasts pressed against his chest. With no bra it felt really good. But I wished I had no shirt on at all.
My mouth moved to Layne’s, not giving him an option to stop me. I kissed his mouth fast, kiss after kiss. My tongue flickered at his lips, wanting more. He placed a hand to the back of my head and opened his mouth, offering me an even hotter kiss. His hand was the damn size of the back of my head. He was commanding, even romantic, as we kissed.
Slowly, Layne started to turn. My eyes were open and I could see him lining us up so he could drop me to the bed. My body was on fire.
Layne walked to the bed, our hot kiss continuing. His hands touched my waist and he pushed me. I let my legs go and my arms go, falling to the bed. Before I could hit the bed, my hands were at the bottom of my shirt.
But then Layne reached down and stopped me. He grabbed my shirt and pulled it back down. And he held there, his fist shaking. He was breathing like crazy as he stared at me.
“You’re not her,” he said. “Don’t try to be her.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I’m right here, with you, Layne. I’m trying…”
“You needed your bag. You needed clothes. That’s why you’re here.”
I let out a shaky breath. Fuck.
“Get your clothes,” Layne said. “If you need anything else, let me know.”
Layne let my shirt go and walked away. He disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door. I got off the bed and went to my bag. I grabbed what I needed and then went to the bathroom door. I touched it and thought I could say something to fix everything. But sometimes something wasn’t enough. And sometimes everything was just a thought.
Inside the bathroom, I heard Layne making noise. Grunting. Groaning. Maybe his version of weeping. It broke my heart to imagine it, but there was nothing else I could do.
I left Layne’s room and went back to Talon’s room. I opened the door and found a slightly wet Talon on the bed, wearing a towel, sleeping. He was on the bed, his hands behind his head, sleeping peacefully.
I dropped my fresh clothes to the floor and took off my shirt. My nipples were hard. Aching hard. I looked down at myself and cupped my breasts. I snuck around the bed and reached down, tugging at Talon’s towel. It opened and I looked at his beautiful cock, flaccid, but still so thick. And long. It was wild to imagine that it had been in me.
I climbed over Talon and got comfortable on the bed. Talon barely stirred. His left hand reached for the nightstand. It made me nervous, figuring it was some kind of instinctive reaction to reach for a gun.
This was the life I was living.
I chose it by looking for trouble.
That I knew.
I put my head to Talon’s chest and felt tears fill my eyes again. They trickled down to Talon’s body.
Yes, I had been looking for trouble.
But I hadn’t been looking for love.
8.
(Everly)
I woke to Talon holding me tight. We were facing each other. He was already awake, smiling at me. What an amazing sight to wake up to. I could handle that every morning for the rest of my life.
Talon reached out and moved my hair behind my ear. “Morning, beautiful.”
“Morning to you,” I said.
“You’re tempting right now, Everly. You’re killing me. From the inside out, in a way I never thought possible. Sorry I crashed last night.”
“I didn’t mind,” I said.
“I’m assuming you’re the one who opened my towel?”
“Guilty.”
Talon shook his head. “Let’s grab a bite. I have to get to work soon. I have some calls placed. I’m going to meet up with Tommy’s family and apologize for his death. I’m going to be honest with them. Tell them he was a real shithead. Maybe he didn’t deserve to die, but I’ll apologize.”
“You’ll go to jail.”
“Never said I was going to confess. Just apologize.”
“Big tough guy like you going to apologize?”
“I guess that’s what happens when beauty starts to steal his heart,” Talon said.
He pulled me in for a kiss. I hurried to slither myself against him, feeling hi
s body, his cock, everything.
Talon took a deep breath and broke the kiss. “I can’t wait to have you later. I’m going to make you wait, beautiful. Keep you on your toes all damn day.”
“Yeah? Maybe I’ll just go walk it off.”
“By all means,” Talon said. “You can circle the world ten times and it wouldn’t be enough to walk it off. Your body will be ready and willing for me later.”
Talon was right.
But a walk did seem nice.
I had to get the hell out of the clubhouse. Away from Devil Call MC. Get away from Talon, Layne, everyone.
“Am I safe out there?” I asked.
“Of course,” Talon said. “You’re never alone. I have prospects always watching you when I’m not around. You may not see them, but they’re there.”
“Makes me nervous, Talon. That black car shot at Layne and I. Who’s going to stop that…”
“You want to live in fear?” Talon asked.
“No.”
“Then don’t. Nobody is going to hurt you, Everly. I swear. Go for a walk. Go to the front of the compound and get some sun. Take a deep breath. Try to take it all in.”
Talon started to roll and I clawed at him, stopping him. “Thank you for talking…”
“Easy now,” Talon said. “I don’t like to live in the past. And last night is the past.”
I was mesmerized by the way Talon thought. And acted. It left me wondering if he was always like that or if prison did that to him. Kept him on his toes. Kept him always looking for tomorrow. Kept him sensing a greater sense of freedom.
“Can I ask another question?” I whispered.
“Sure.”
“When you were in prison…”
That’s when Talon came at me. Hands to my face, he pulled me close. Our noses touched, then our lips.
“Beautiful, there may come a day when we can sit for a day… fuck, a week… and talk about anything on your pretty mind. You can ask me about my deepest desires, wants, needs, fears, my past, anything you can think of. But that day and week isn’t right now, okay? I’ve got enemies out there, Everly. Not just outside the compound wanting to take me down, but enemies right within the MC. I’m not going to bend over to make everyone happy but I have to start making sure they all understand that I’m capable of running this thing.”
OPEN SCARS (A Devil Call MC Book) (Talon & Everly Book Three) (Devil Call MC Talon & Everly 3) Page 5
