I had assumed that Hunter was tough. That he liked riding bikes and had tattoos like a lot of people in this town. He had not tried to hide the fact that he was different from other regular guys, but the fact that he was an actual patched-in member of a motorcycle club had never crossed my mind. How could I get involved with another one of them? Right after I had managed to escape the clutches of someone exactly like him?
I walked backwards, picking my clutch off the couch, till my body pressed against the door. Inside, I could still hear the sound of the shower and I felt like my legs were going to collapse. I had been so happy, so content just minutes ago and within minutes everything had changed.
Hunter had made me feel safe, and made me feel comfortable. This evening had convinced me that I had finally met a guy who wasn’t like Tony or the others before him…but how wrong I was! I should have believed my gut instinct that warned me this was all a make-believe world. That reality was going to come crashing down on me any second and it finally had.
I had done it again. The fact that I had Carter, that I had a responsibility to my son hadn’t stopped me from making another bad decision. I would not become involved with another motorcycle club. It didn’t matter that this club was a different name than Tony’s. I knew that they were all the same.
I heard the shower stop and I knew I had to get out of there. I felt a tug in my belly as I turned the lock and quietly, closed it behind me. I wasn’t even sure of where his apartment was, or how I was going to make my way back home at this time of the night. But the only thing I could think of was that I needed to get away from there. My attraction to Hunter, to his body and his sexy blue eyes had made me do something that I was now regretting.
No matter how good he was in bed, no matter how many times he made me come in one night; sacrificing my peace of mind for a life with another MC member was not something I was prepared to do.
CHAPTER 10
Hunter
In the shower, I thought about the woman who was walking around naked in my living room. Sex with Kylie was great, almost like I had never had sex with anyone before. There were so many things I wanted to do to her and I couldn’t wait to get started. And there were so many things I wanted to ask her as well.
I changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and with my hair still damp from the shower, I walked out of my bedroom towards the living room. I’d been away from her for no more than fifteen minutes and already I could feel myself wanting to see her again.
It was strange that I was feeling this way. That I couldn’t stop thinking about her even when she was in the same apartment as me. I knew something was wrong. Something was happening to me and I had no idea what the fuck that was. I had to find a way to make her spend the night. I’d decided I would ask her to bring her son back here if she had to, but I wanted to spend the rest of the night getting to know her. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Kylie Aston.
When I stepped into the living room, it was empty.
With my brows crossed, I stood there for a couple of moments just looking around.
“Kylie?” I called out her name, hoping she had just slipped into one of the other rooms in search of a bathroom or something like that.
My voice echoed in the empty house and I called out her name again.
Then my eyes fell on my discarded clothes, lying folded up neatly on the couch. That was what alerted me to the absence of Kylie’s clothes. They had been lying strewn around the room earlier and now they were missing.
I called out her name again. Panic gripping me all of a sudden. She had dressed herself and then gone missing. I searched for her purse, which was missing too and I realized she was gone.
I walked over to the front door and saw that it was unlocked. In a sudden fit of fury, I punched the door with my clenched knuckles and growled when the wood dug into my flesh. She was really gone.
I paced the room, grumbling under my breath as I tried to make sense of the whole thing. Why would she have just disappeared without a word? When I went into the shower, she seemed happy and comfortable. Nothing in her actions or expressions had made me think that she wanted to leave. She hadn’t even texted her babysitter!
What had I done, what had she seen? Something must have triggered her suddenly to make her leave. I wasn’t fooling myself, it was obvious that she had fun tonight. The sex was great! I could see it in her eyes that she wanted more and she had seemed genuinely excited at the prospect of a fancy meal. I had the entire dinner planned out in my head. I was still itching to cook for her.
Why had she gone without a word?
I wondered if it had something to do with her son. Had she received an emergency phone call from the babysitter? Maybe that’s what it was.
I tried to calm myself. She owed me nothing. I didn’t need a justification from Kylie for leaving. It wasn’t like she was my girlfriend and it wasn’t like she was indebted to me in any way. She was a free woman and she could do as she pleased. But she had left without even leaving me a note!
I clenched my jaw to suppress a growl that was growing inside me. My eyes fell on my helmet and I decided that I needed to make sure that she was all right. I had offered to give her a lift home. At this time of the night, she wouldn’t find a cab very easily. She couldn’t have walked very far. Maybe I could still catch up with her. The least I could do was give her a ride.
I picked up my helmet and my keys and that was when I heard my cellphone ring. I wasn’t really thinking and assumed that it was Kylie calling.
When I answered, my voice still mixed with rage and confusion; I realized that it was Gunner.
“Where are you brother?” I heard Gunner’ voice and I let out a deep grunt. Why would Kylie call? She didn’t even have my phone number.
“At my place. Why are you calling?” I snapped at Gunner, unable to hide the annoyance from my voice.
“What’s gotten into you these days! Jeez! The second shipment is coming in,” I heard him say as I rubbed my face in frustration with my hand.
“Second shipment?” I asked, still feeling a little lost.
“Yeah, you know, our second shipment man,” Gunner said and I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
“Yeah, right, okay,” I mumbled.
“You coming?” he said and I gulped. I could do with the distraction, that much was for sure.
“Long Beach?” I asked him.
“Yeah. See you there in twenty minutes,” Gunner said and then he cut the call. I listened to the white noise in my ear for several moments before I finally dragged the phone away.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Kylie and what had made her leave so suddenly, but meeting the boys and getting to work would serve as the best distraction.
I headed out the door in seconds, bounding down the stairs till I jumped on my Harley. And instantly, I felt that searing ache in my body again, from the fact that Kylie wasn’t sitting behind me. That she didn’t have her arms around my waist anymore.
This woman had really fucked me over.
CHAPTER 11
Kylie
Carter and I were at the beach the next morning. It was early, not even six and the morning was just about breaking but I needed to get away. I needed the fresh air and I needed the quiet.
Once I got back to the apartment, I had woken up Julia, paid her and once she left I just sat in Carter’s room in the dark and watched him sleep for a few hours. At five, I tried not to wake him as I lifted him off his crib and took him out to the car.
So now he was in his Spiderman pajamas and had just about managed to wake up, and I had never seen him this excited before. As far as he knew, his mommy had surprised him early in the morning by bringing him to his favorite place.
I sat in the sand, keeping a keen eye on him as he ran around and made castles. His laughter and his joy made me smile, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about what I had done.
The beach was deserted, except for a few early morning
surfers trying desperately to catch a wave. I watched the waves gently crashing, the seagulls calling out and flying overhead, the sandy salty sea breeze was in my hair, tangling up my curls and I didn’t care. This was the most peace I could have asked for. Something about watching the sea made me calm.
I had just spent the night with a MC member. Again.
How had this happened? I couldn’t wrap my brain around it.
When I left Tony, he was just getting started with Dragon Knights and even though we didn’t keep in touch anymore, I had a pretty good idea that he was heavily involved with them now. That was exactly the kind of lifestyle that I wanted to keep my son away from. I thought I had learned my lesson, but clearly, I hadn’t. Something was wrong with me! Which made me keep falling for men like Hunter and Tony.
Then I was thinking about him again and the night we had shared together.
Until I saw that patch on his jacket, I was happy. I thought it had been the perfect evening. For the first time since Carter was born, I had done something completely for myself and I didn’t feel guilty about it. And now I regretted every second of it. Especially since I knew that over the course of the night, I had started to fall for this mystery man. The man who I knew nothing about. But who had turned out to be exactly like my ex.
“Mommy! Look!” Carter called out to me and I clapped my hands at his cute little sand castle. He was excited, running around the castle with his small precious feet and I felt a tug in my heart.
I had come so close to putting him in danger. I was glad that I hadn’t brought Hunter back to my place. That I hadn’t told him any more about our lives. But those blue eyes! That chiseled strong jaw! His tongue between my legs! That laugh and that voice…why had I felt safe around him? How could I have been that foolish?
I wanted to cry out, tug at my hair…I was mad at myself, disappointed and at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Hunter had made me feel. I tried reminding myself of how Tony had made me feel in those initial months of our relationship too. Hadn’t I felt the same back then? Didn’t I think I found the perfect man in Tony too?
I cursed slightly under my breath when I realized that I hadn’t. Tony had never made me feel as special or as safe as Hunter had. Tony had just made me feel used. He had psychologically manipulated me into making me think that I needed him. He had made me feel like I was nothing without him. While Hunter…I felt like I was getting addicted to him.
My phone buzzing in the pocket of my jeans snapped me out of my thoughts and for a moment, even before I had pulled it out, I thought it was Hunter calling. My heart leapt, my hands shook as I slipped my phone out. What was I going to say to him? I shouldn’t even be answering his call. I had snuck out of his apartment to get away from him. I needed to avoid him at all costs.
It wasn’t Hunter calling. It was Tony.
I stared and blinked at my phone screen, watching Tony’s name flashing. When he hadn’t followed us out of the parking lot that day at the daycare, I had assumed he would leave us alone. At least for a little while. But it was six in the morning and he was calling my phone.
I ignored the call, slipping my phone back in my pocket and I stood up from the sand and walked towards Carter. I wanted to feel him in my arms again.
“Come here to mommy,” I said to him when I got close and Carter ran into my arms. I wondered if he could sense that there was something not quite right, because he was hugging me even tighter than usual.
Then he turned his dark sparkling eyes up at me and smiled a toothy grin.
“Thank you mommy! This is best!” he said and I lifted him up in my arms and kissed his cheeks.
“Did you have fun baby?” I asked, trying to hold back my tears. I was emotional because I was mad at myself. Carter nodded his head enthusiastically.
“But now mommy has to go to work and you need to go spend the day with Mrs. Meyers okay?” I said, walking back towards our parked car. Carter pouted and then threw his arms around my neck and I stroked his hair.
There was nothing more I wanted than to spend the rest of the day with my son, but I couldn’t miss work. I was responsible for his livelihood.
CHAPTER 12
Hunter
The Fallen Idols up in Northern California had been our allies for several years now and Axel trusted them to ship the weapons over to us without trouble. The first shipment had arrived safely and this one seemed to be going according to plan as well.
Gunner, Tank, Glock and I arrived at our warehouse in Long Beach a few hours ago, waiting for the shipment to come in. It was nearly six in the morning now and we could finally see it coming in.
“Once it arrives, Glock and Hunter stand watch while Gunner and I go through the stuff and make sure everything is in order,” Tank told us in a hushed whisper. It was still dark, the morning hadn’t quite broken yet and there was nobody around. However, we could never be too sure. It was important that we kept our cover and avoided getting caught by authorities.
The weapons were arriving in a cargo container, under the disguise of museum boxes filled with priceless art. The four of us stood watch on the dock as we watched the ship silently sailing towards us. The Fallen Idols, just like last time, had made sure that the owners of the containers were paid off to not investigate what was being carried, beyond the crates and boxes.
We were silent as we watched the ship docking, and then with the same silence, Gunner and Tank went forward to help the men unload. Glock and I walked over to the back to keep watch.
“You carrying?” Glock asked me in a whisper as we took up our positions.
“Of course, I am!” I snapped at him, my mind still troubled by thoughts of Kylie. As much as I had been trying to distract myself with work for the past few hours, I was unsuccessful.
“What’s wrong with you man? Didn’t get laid or something? You know Jessica was looking for you last night,” Glock said, with an obnoxious grin spreading over his face. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, my fingers subconsciously searched out the gun that I had stuffed into my belt.
At this point, I couldn’t even remember what Jessica looked like. I couldn’t recall a single woman’s face. All I could think about was Kylie and how gorgeous she was, and how much I liked to watch her smiling. Was that how Gunner had felt when he first met Brooklyn? I couldn’t stop myself from wondering about that. We had been slagging Gunner for so long, for being faithful and loyal to one woman, for falling head over heels for a chick…that now I felt desperate to hide my feelings for Kylie from the boys. Besides, I didn’t even know what was going on between us. She had left without a word and I had a feeling that she didn’t want to see me again.
“Is it about pussy?” I heard Glock ask, as I scanned the area around us. We could hear the sound of cargo being unloaded behind us, but I was making sure that my gaze was always fixed on what was in front. I didn’t want to miss a sign that we were being watched or someone coming.
“You can stop shitting yourself, Glock. It’s about nothing. I’m fine,” I said in a low grumble as I paced around. Glock was keeping a watch too, but he was a little distracted. He was constantly looking over at me to figure out what was going on. Was it that obvious that I was troubled? How had he figured out it was about a girl?
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Glock said, just when we heard the crunch of a boot. Glock and I had our guns cocked and pointed in front of us. We looked at each other and nodded.
I took the first step in forward direction and walked with my gun pointed, prepared for a split-second reaction for someone making an appearance. Glock was fast on my heels, pointing his gun left and right. We walked a little ahead, peered around the empty containers and we didn’t see anything.
We stood there for a few more minutes, waiting for someone to appear but nothing happened. Other than the sound of Gunner and Tank unloading behind us, there was pin drop silence.
Glock stuffed his gun back down his belt and I lowered mine.
“Wha
t the fuck was that?” he said and I looked around me with narrowed eyes.
“I thought someone was there,” Glock added and I clenched my jaw.
“Must have been the wind or something,” I told him and we walked back to our position and waited again.
I wished I was the one sifting through the cargo instead of Gunner or Tank. At least it would have given me something concrete to do. Now that I stood there, waiting for someone to show up, my mind kept wandering to Kylie, and what had made her just up and leave like that.
If it was about the babysitter or her son, wouldn’t she have waited for me to get out of the shower? Giving her a ride on my bike would have been way quicker for her than walking or waiting for a cab. No, it had to be about me. She was trying to get away from me.
I thought I heard a cough. It could have been the wind again, but I had my gun cocked and pointed out again. Glock had heard it too.
We followed the same pattern, walking forward with our guns pointed out in silence. This time we walked further out, looking around the empty containers, pointing our guns in all directions. But there was nobody. The place was empty. Either the tension was getting to us or someone else was here in the warehouse.
After a few minutes, Glock spoke again.
“What the fuck is going on?” he grunted, gripping his gun forcefully.
“I thought I heard a cough,” I said and he nodded his head. We both had our brows crossed and our eyes alert.
“The wind?” Glock asked and I looked around us. I wasn’t convinced it was the wind this time.
“I think we’re being watched,” I said and walked around some more, my gun tracing my movements. It had to be the Dragon Knights. It had to be them watching us. They had heard about our weapon shipment and they were keeping an eye on us.
Protected by the Biker (Grim Reaper MC) Page 59
