THE DEVIL’S BRIDE

by April Lust

  I climbed down from the bathroom, surprised it actually worked. I figured it only worked in the movies, but I dropped down in front of a bare wall facing the street. No one saw me, and no one would know until someone decided to break down the door to the bathroom.

  Now, I had to get to the park on foot. That was several blocks across town from where I was. I had to hurry.

  Walking through alleyways to stay off the main roads and avoid being seen by Mason or anyone else from the MC, I had plenty of time to think about what I was doing. I was actually surprised at myself. I felt myself falling for the compassionate side of Mason I was seeing. He wasn’t just the brutal, nightmarish thug I heard about in the stories on the street. He was a kind, caring man who wanted to take care of me.

  There was also Skull, who had taken care of me for so long. I was pretty much his right-hand gal. I’d helped him grow his organization through sabotaging his rivals. I wondered, though, if it wasn’t time to move on.

  Mason had gone after one of his own for me. He hadn’t kicked him out of Storm’s Angels, but he’d been sent packing. And somewhere down the line, I knew Liam would probably end up coming back to haunt Mason for his decision. I was sure Mason understood that fact, as well, but it didn’t seem to bother him or deter him in any way. I couldn’t buy that kind of loyalty. I couldn’t even expect that kind of loyalty from anyone.

  Of course, it was possible that everything I saw had been staged just to get me to talk, but I doubted it. Mason seemed to be a very upfront kind of guy. I didn’t see him going through all that trouble just to make me trust him.

  Trust was an important issue in our business. I had to know I could trust and count on him before I moved on. I knew I could trust and count on Skull. We’d relied on each other for far, far too long for me to just run out on him. But I was starting to feel like Mason was building some trust with me. Yet, as I crossed the street into the park a few blocks from Mason’s headquarters, I knew I was doing everything I could to throw away any trust I had earned from him.

  I’d made it too far to turn back. I pulled out my phone and texted Skull.

  At the rendezvous point.

  After I sent the text, my battery gave out. I sighed and slid my phone back in my pocket. Hopefully, I’d be able to charge it soon enough, back at home, away from bikers and gangs, drugs and money.

  I walked over to the bench and sat down. It was all going to be over soon enough, and I would be home relaxing in a hot bath, letting the danger and the drama of the last few days wash away from me.

  That was when I noticed three men standing next to a black sedan with the windows blacked out. They looked like Secret Service agents with their black suits, black sunglasses, and small earpieces. I narrowed my eyes at them, keeping an eye on them as they started to approach me from across the park.

  “No fucking way,” I cursed, getting up and breaking out into a run. I knew I was too far away to try to make it back to Storm’s Angels’ HQ. I had to duck down an alleyway or into an abandoned building. It was time to get creative and use my skills to survive.

  They were fast, though, and they closed in on me quickly, before I even had a chance to get back to the sidewalk. They surrounded me silently.

  “Come on, guys, no catcalls, no greetings? What are you trying to do?” I asked them.

  In response, they tried to close in on me. One of them stepped around behind me and tried to put his arms around me to hold me. I broke the hold easily and slipped away from him just to be grabbed by another one.

  “What the hell is this?” I asked as I tried to fight the second one off.

  “Clara Burton, you’re coming with us,” the second one said as he pulled me towards the car. I struggled, but he was easily as strong as any of Mason’s men.

  “I don’t think so,” another voice snapped. Speaking of Mason.

  I heard a couple of guns cock and looked over to see Mason, Mick, Alec, and a couple of guys I didn’t recognize yet. They all stood with guns trained on the men who were trying to kidnap me.

  “Go,” one of the men in black said to the guy holding me. “We’ve got them.”

  Before he was able to turn around, a hole appeared in his head and he collapsed to the ground right in front of me without another word.

  “Anyone else?” Mick asked in a threatening tone.

  Number One darted off, but one of his legs exploded underneath him and he fell over himself.

  “Shit, sorry about that,” Mason taunted Number Two. “I don’t know what happened, but I will tell you this. You need to put her down. Now.”

  “I don’t think I can do that, Mason,” Number Two said, and I felt the barrel of a handgun press against my temple.

  “You’re not going to shoot me,” I groaned. “You were just trying to take me away with you, and you expect anyone here to believe you’re going to waste me? Your mom must be so proud,” I taunted him.

  I saw smiles break out on the faces of Mason’s men as they tried not to laugh.

  “If it comes down to me or you, bitch, I’m killing you,” he said.

  “Excuse me,” Mason said, stepping forward. His words hit like a punch.

  Number Two took a step back. I felt his barrel pull away from my head ever so slightly, and his grip lessened just a little. His eyes were obviously on the rifle trained at his head.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Mason said, still stepping closer. “Now, let the girl go.”

  His arm released me and he held his gun up, uncocking it.

  “Good. Now, put the gun down on the ground,” Mason ordered.

  I ran past him to Mick and Alec. I looked at the dead man lying in a heap at Mason’s feet as he kept walking towards Number Two. Number One was still moaning and groaning on the ground, trying to crawl to the car.

  One of the back doors sprang open.

  “There’s someone else in the car,” I told the guys around me.

  “We’re not worried about that too much. Letting that guy go will help. Now you’ve got the wounded knee and the driver who’s witnessed that you’re not to be fucked with, and we’re about to see what happens to your buddy here,” Mick said.

  “Where were you taking my friend?” Mason asked.

  “Nowhere, man,” Number Two said, backing away with both hands raised now. I could see him shaking from where I was standing.

  “Wrong answer.” Mason popped him in the knee and he fell down onto the other one.

  “It’s none of your business,” Number Two growled through the pain.

  “Wrong answer number two. You don’t get three strikes, bud. I’m sorry.” He put a round through the guy’s head and left him on the ground.

  In no rush at all, Mason strutted back to us, and we all walked to the motorcycles parked at the street.

  “Are you okay?” he asked me as we walked.

  “I think so, yeah,” I told him.

  “Good.” He grabbed my arm and guided me to his motorcycle.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Guys, I’m taking her back to my place,” he told the others. To me, he said, “Get on.”

  Chapter 10

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Mason poured a couple of glasses of whiskey for us.

  “I’m fine,” I told him. “Thanks for your concern, though.” I expected him to be mad, but so far he’d only seemed concerned for my well-being. He had to know the reason I was over there. He had to know what I was up to, and he had to be infuriated. Why wasn’t he angrier?

  “So I guess your boss isn’t too happy about all this,” he said, handing me my glass of whiskey as he walked by. I followed him into the living room.

  “I don’t think those guys were with my boss,” I told him, keeping Skull’s name out of it on the off chance he didn’t know who was trying to hijack his business yet.

  He sat down on the white couch facing his TV. There were three couches in the living room, forming three sides of a square. I sat on the one closest to the k
itchen. I didn’t think I needed to try to get too cozy with Mason at the moment.

  “If they weren’t sent by your boss, then who were they?” he asked, looking at his glass.

  “I honestly don’t know, Mason. I didn’t get a chance to ask too many questions before you guys showed up and took two of them out. Hell, only one of them spoke to me, and he’s lying dead in the grass,” I said, laughing, though it wasn’t funny. I’d been pissed off at first that they’d followed me to meet with Skull, but I was also terrified to think of what might have happened if they hadn’t followed me.

  “Well, I’m sorry we saved you,” he snapped.

  “That’s not what I’m saying, Mason,” I said, laughing harder. “No, I guess part of what I’m saying is thank you. The other part is they weren’t very talkative.”

  “You’re welcome, Clara,” he said.

  He took a long drink from his glass, downing what was left of his whiskey. He held the glass in front of his face for a moment before saying anything else. “Why were you there in the first place? Alec tells me you snuck out through the bathroom after conning him into getting you more toilet paper,” Mason said, still not looking at me.

  This interrogation was far worse than the one I’d received in the basement back at HQ. This one included disappointment and disapproval. I had let Mason down, and if I weren’t careful in how I answered, I could lose him completely.

  “I got a call from one of my contacts,” I told him. “They told me they had some intel on my boss. We agreed to meet. I was going to negotiate a price for their silence,” I told him.

  “You’ll tell me that, but you still won’t tell me your boss’s name,” Mason observed, nodding. “You should have told us about it. We could have gone with you. We could have protected you better.”

  “Well, either way, I don’t think they’ll be talking any time soon,” I said, chuckling, trying to lighten the mood.

  “I guess not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried something again,” he said.

  “Shit.” The word escaped my mouth.

  “What?” Mason looked at me, and I saw something in his beautiful green eyes that I hadn’t seen there yet. He was afraid. He was worried. What was he afraid of?

  “My boss is going to think I’m working for you now,” I told him, sitting back on the couch, allowing my revelation to sink in. I downed the rest of my whiskey. I needed the burn.

  “About that,” Mason said, getting up with his empty glass. He took mine, too, and walked into the kitchen to fix us both more whiskey.

  “About that what?” I asked while he was in the kitchen, tilting my head back to try to see him.

  “I don’t think you should work for him anymore,” he told me, coming back into the living room with our drinks. He handed me the glass, and I paused to look at it in my hand before drinking any.

  He’d poured more than usual, filling the glass completely.

  “What do you mean?” I asked carefully. I wasn’t comfortable having this conversation with him yet, but at least I knew he was thinking along the same lines I was. Skull might have been a father figure, but I couldn’t see myself staying under his employment forever. At some point, I knew—I had always known—I would need to branch out and find my own work.

  “I mean, I think you should consider leaving him. After this is said and done, it won’t be easy for you to go back to him, and anyone would be stupid to pass up the opportunity to employ you,” Mason told me, taking another sip of his whiskey.

  “Are you proposing, Mason?” I asked him, seizing the opportunity to tease him again.

  “Maybe I am,” he said. He sat forward on the couch, leaning over the coffee table with his whiskey in hand.

  “Well, do you have anything to offer to sweeten the pot?” I asked, sitting forward over the table to let my low-cut shirt hang down so he could get a view down it.

  Mason looked at me with his deep green eyes and put his glass down on the table. He took my hand and stood up without saying a word. I quickly took a sip of my whiskey and set the glass down on the table next to his before getting up to let him lead me into the bedroom.

  I couldn’t contain my desire for him any longer. Seeing where he was taking me, my body began to ache for him. I felt my core growing hotter, wetter for him. My legs felt like jelly, made weak by my desire for this man. And I was about to fulfill that desire. I was about to have him.

  He pulled me into his room and turned to kiss me once we were past his door. Our lips met and lingered together while he pulled my shirt up. We broke apart while he slipped the shirt over my head. He kissed me again on my neck. Then, he kissed my shoulder while he unclasped the front of my bra and pulled the cups away from me to put me in his gentle, strong hands.

  He squeezed my bare skin with his firm, smooth hands, catching my nipples between his fingers and pinching them enough to draw a moan out of my throat and force me to arch my back.

  “Yes, Mason. I want you to take me. Make me yours,” I told him.

  He turned me around and pushed me back onto the bed. I landed on the silky, smooth sheets and the soft mattress. His bed welcomed my body and caressed me with its soft, gentle touch.

  He stood over me and dropped off his vest. He pulled his shirt over his head and immediately worked his pants loose and let his jeans and boxers drop to the floor. I stared in admiration at his body. Every inch of him was perfectly sculpted from pure muscle. He had a couple of tribal tattoos that wrapped around his shoulders, but nothing like what some of his other members had. I could still see the perfectly untouched contours of his chest and his stomach.

  He reached down with his strong, rippling arms and grabbed my jeans. He peeled them off of me and dropped them to the floor, followed by the lacy panties he’d bought me. I closed my legs, playfully hiding myself from him.

  I wasn’t a virgin by any means, but sex had always been a tool for me. It was a way for me to get what I wanted out of someone. There had been plenty of times when I’d used it to get out of trouble or to get information. Originally, even with Mason, it was supposed to just be a tool. It wasn’t supposed to be anything else.

  But I wanted Mason. I really, truly, honestly wanted Mason. I wanted that massive cock between his legs to thrust deep inside of me, to fill me with his masculinity and his manhood, and I didn’t know how to handle that desire.

  No, I wasn’t a virgin, but I was still venturing into uncharted territory when I spread my legs for him.

  He gently stroked my wet lips with one of his thick fingers, parting me and spreading my juices around to help him get inside. He kissed the bare skin above my delicate slit. He kissed again a little higher. He kissed all the way up my flat stomach. His lips wrapped around one of my hardening nipples, and he sucked me into his mouth, flicking me with his tongue, while he rested the head of his manhood at my entrance.

  I grabbed the back of his head and held him against my breast.

  “Yes, Mason. Oh God, Mason.” I arched my back as he pushed himself against me, spreading my lips open to receive him.

  He filled me perfectly, stretching me to wrap my muscles and flesh around his throbbing shaft as it slid back and forth through my lips deep into the wet core of my desire. I spread my legs wider to give him better access deeper into me.

  His muscles brushed against my body as he drove himself deeper and deeper into me.

  I wrapped my arms around him and held him against me as I rocked my hips against his with each thrust. Every time he pushed into me, I moved so his head hit my g-spot. “Fuck!” I cried out, pressing myself hard against him.

  “You feel so fucking good, baby,” he panted above me.

  I grabbed his face and kissed him frantically as he rammed himself into me harder and faster.

  I could feel him growing harder inside of me with each thrust, and I knew he was close to orgasm. I could feel it growing deep inside of him. I wrapped my legs around him and held him against me while I worked him with my clenching m
uscles and rolling hips.

  “Come for me, Mason,” I whispered in his ear while I worked myself against him, driving myself closer and closer to orgasm against his firm, thick cock. I pulled back slowly, relishing in the feel of his hardened flesh dragging against the walls of my entrance.

  My body shuddered suddenly, and I felt myself exploding with white hot pleasure. I tilted my head back and cried out as my hips shook, my insides quivered, and my muscles clamped down on him.