Biker's Librarian (Lord of Mayhem Book 1)

by Shyla Colt

  “What are you going to be doing?” Moose asked.

  “Hopefully my Old Lady.” Shooter winked and made his way back out of the club.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “West Chester Library, Juliette speaking, how may I help you?”

  “Honey, have you seen the news yet?” Evonne asked.

  Juliette frowned. “No. What’s happened now?”

  “Pull up the ’net and search under Peter’s name.”

  Her hands shook. It took a couple of clumsy attempts with the keyboard to get things typed in properly. The headlines that greeted her made her gasp.

  Hidden harassment charges brought to light. Peter Stant, predator or power house?

  “Oh my God!” Pictures of Peter with a hand over his face were splattered across the screen.

  “Yeah. Keep reading.”

  More than three victims have been identified, and more are anticipated to be unearthed in what is rumored to be the tip of an iceberg in a building case for human trafficking.

  “His lawyers are scrambling to do damage control now, I’m sure. I doubt he’ll have time for recreational activities anytime soon.”

  “I hope you’re right, E. I really do.” She shook her head.

  Did Shooter make this happen? How?

  “If this is your man’s handiwork all I can say is I do not want to be on his bad side.”

  “Yeah, me either,” she whispered.

  “I have to leave the house to meet a client. But I wanted to make sure you saw this.”

  “Thanks, E.”

  “Of course. Love you, girl.”

  “Love you too.” Disconnecting, she breathed easier. Peter had his hands full. Between his lawyers and appeasing his parents, she’d at least have a reprieve. Maybe knowing he can be brought down a peg will dissuade him permanently? She couldn’t pretend to know how his warped brain thought. But right now she felt pretty damned good. Smiling for what felt like the first time in years she resumed her job without fear. Clocking out around two, she headed outside to wait for Shooter. The day was beautiful and she felt like celebrating. The library doors opened and the wind caressed her face, blowing her hair back. Laughing as the strands tickled her neck, she walked toward her favorite bench beneath a tree.

  “You fucking bitch.” The sadistic voice from her nightmares sounded too close.

  I know that voice all too well. She glanced up and froze. Peter’s perfect hair stuck out every which way, and his face was twisted with rage. He looks deranged.

  “I know this is your fault! You think you’re safe now? That I’m going to back off? We will make your life hell. I can’t believe you have the nerve to try to defy me! Do you remember what happens when you do that?”

  She backed up and looked around for a safe place to be. Her back hit a car and he caged her in, placing an arm on either side of her body. He pressed his lean form into her. His breath caressed her ear. She lurched away and he laughed. Grabbing her hand, he twisted one behind her back. Tears sprang in her eyes. To anyone else, it would look like they were roughhousing.

  “You’re going to wish you never did this, Juliette.”

  The whispered words scared her more than the yelling had. The iron band around her wrist tightened.

  “I was going to let you be my special girl. But now I’ll sell you off to the highest bidder. Once I break you in nice and good, you’ll turn a pretty profit. So pretty and innocent with those big brown eyes and lips made for sucking.” He moaned. “You have a mouth like a Hoover. That sort of talent is far too good to waste on the likes of your new man. You really did scrape the bottom of the barrel with him, didn’t you?”

  “He’s more man than you’ll ever manage to be.”

  “Oh, has my Kitten found her claws?” He laughed. “How adorable.” He leaned in and she turned her head. His lips pressed against her cheek. “Please do fight. It always makes everything so much sweeter.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Oh, you will, don’t worry. We’ll spend lots of quality time together soon.”

  A bike sounded in the distance. “That’s my cue, sweet girl. I’m not ready to face your bikers head on, but know it’s only a matter of time until they go down in flames.”

  He released his hold, spun on his heels, and jogged away, never sparing her another glance. The blood rushed back into her wrists and her knees threatened to give. She slumped against the car. How did this happen in broad daylight? A few seconds later a tiny black sports car burned rubber out of the parking lot.

  The rumble of a motorcycle reached her ears and Shooter rounded the corner. Their gazes met and he pulled up in front of her.

  “What happened?” he barked.

  “Peter happened. The look in his eyes.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “He wants my head on a pike.”

  “Fuck him,” Shooter spat. “Get on. I want you home where I know you’re safe.”

  She nodded. Mechanically she went through the familiar motions, handing him her purse to place in the saddle bad and mounting the bike. Hell was coming and nothing Shooter said or did would save her from its flames. Locking her arms around his waist, she pressed her face against his cut, inhaling the scent of leather and Shooter as she focused on the man in command of the beast between her legs. Twenty minutes later they stopped at the gas station near his house and filled up.

  “I need to hit the head, come in with me.”

  He held out his hand, and she clutched it, vaguely aware of the members of his crew coming in behind them. Right now he felt like the only lifeboat on a sinking vessel. Scanning the parking lot, she paid close attention to the cars and the people. Inside he headed down the hall, and she went to the magazine rack, purchasing a few tabloids for the laughs she desperately needed right now. Stepping up to the register, she smiled and handed the cashier her card.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s been declined.”

  “What? There’s no way.” When it rains it pours.

  “I can try it again if you’d like.”

  “Please. I literally just checked my account this morning.”

  A few moments passed, and the machine beeped angrily. “Same thing. I suggest you contact your bank.” Numb, she moved to the side, pulling her phone from the purse and dialing the number. Punching in her code, she checked her balance.

  “At this time you have zero dollars in your account.” No, this morning it was twenty thousand. With a flurry of buttons she checked her saving account. “At this time, you have zero dollars in your savings account.” Her entire savings had vanished in the blink of an eye.

  Voices sounded around her, buzzes in the background she couldn’t focus on. This has to be a mistake. She pressed zero to go back to the menu and rerouted her call to a live person.

  “Vita Lago bank, my name is Stacey, how may I help you?”

  “Hi Stacey this is Juliette Moore. I’d like to check my balances.”

  “Hi, Ms. Moore, can I get your social security number.”

  They went through the song and dance and Stacey confirmed she was indeed broke.

  “Juliette.” Shooter’s hands on her forearms grounded her as he pulled her back to the present. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s all gone.” Her voice cracked.

  “What?”

  “All my money.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I just checked my balance, zero… all twenty thousand…poof.” Opening her hand, she glanced upward.

  “We’ll go home and get it all sorted out.”

  Her head pounded at the thought of phone calls and paperwork. “Oh God!” Snapping out of her stupor, she fumbled with her purse and pulled out her credit card, repeating the process.

  “You have no funds left on your card.” The phone dropped from her hand, clattering to the floor. Her fifty th
ousand dollar credit limit was maxed. Hyperventilating, she allowed Shooter to lead her outside away from gaping patrons.

  “He took everything.”

  “Whatever he did we can fix this.” Shooter cupped her face. “But you have to calm down for me, baby, okay? I have to get you home. I don’t want to be out on the streets in the open like this.”

  “Y-You’re right.” Breathing in through her nose, she focused on calming her racing heartbeat. She wasn’t alone. Ringing came from her phone. Afraid to answer it, she glanced up at him.

  “Give it to me— I’ll answer it.” He bent and picked the phone up from the ground. “Hello? She’s in the restroom right now, can I take a message? Her what? Someone’s towing her car? Are you sure? Thank you. We’ll get this straightened out soon.” Hanging up, he met her gaze. “It’s going to be okay.” His voice sounded far away, but she nodded. In less than fifteen minutes, Peter Stant had set her world on fire. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  She followed him like a baby duck after its parent. Her sole concentration placed on putting one foot in front of the other. Muscle memory saved her from embarrassment as she donned the helmet he offered her, tightened the straps, and climbed on behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, losing herself in the vibrating machine beneath her, the solid man in front, and the wind on her face.

  Given the circumstances, he took her to the one place he knew no one would attempt to breach to get her. The lost look in her eyes and robotic manner she responded with added momentum to the shit storm brewing inside him.

  “You’re going to be safe here. Call your girls, have them come stay with you, okay?” Shooter whispered, standing in front of where she sat on the bed.

  “W-where are you going?”

  The pitiful whimper gutted him. “You know where. That motherfucker came in and not only fucked with you, but me and my entire crew. We ain’t going to let that stand.”

  Tears formed in her eyes. “I- I don’t want you to do this for me.”

  “This isn’t about you, it’s how we do things. We’ll figure out a way to keep everyone safe.”

  All that, and she was worried about him?

  He smoothed her hair back from her face. “I’ll be fine. You worry about yourself. I don’t like the look in your eyes and you’re shaking. After you call your girls, get into the shower and get comfortable.”

  “That’s a good plan.” She nodded to herself like a crazy person trying to be rational. The lights were on but nobody was home. Unsure if he should leave her, he hesitated.

  “Go… I’m fine. I’ll call the girls.” Clarity shone in her eyes.

  “You sure?” Narrowing his gaze he studied her.

  “One hundred percent. I’m shaken. I admit that, but I haven’t checked out yet.”

  He smiled. “Good. I’ll stop in and see you before I leave, and it won’t be until after the girls are here.” When he reached the door he paused. “Juliette, I love you.”

  Her slack-jawed expression was the last thing he saw before he hurried to the meeting where the others were gathered.

  “How are we going to take care of this problem?” Tiny asked the moment he walked in.

  “Specs has the case laid out and waiting on a conviction. The hard part is making it through to the court date. Once he’s in the system he ain’t never getting out.” Shooter shook his head.

  “No one comes in and disrespects us and plays us for fools. Weakness is death in the M.C. game. What bothers me is the fact that they had their sites on us and we had no clue,” Tiny said.

  “Agreed,” Hawk said. “I did some digging. Stant owns or is in the middle of negotiations for, over half the strip clubs in town. Mayhem and the Eights are pretty much the last two standing.”

  “That explains why he’s got a hard-on for us,” Tiny said. “I think your girl is just an excuse. A smokescreen for what’s really going on.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “You and your Old Lady need to take a trip. You understand what I’m saying?”

  “For how long?” Shooter asked.

  “As long as it takes. Lay low, stay off the grid, keep her safe and check in.”

  “I can do that,” Shooter said.

  “Good. I want you gone tonight. You let us worry about the shit at home. We need to know everything we can find on Room 801 and who Stant is partners with.”

  “You got it, Prez.”

  “Good. You better go pack. If this shit sticking boils down to her being the only one who’ll testify, all eyes are going to be on her.”

  Shooter nodded. Dismissed, he turned and left the room. How the hell am I going to keep Juliette from losing it when I tell her we need to leave town? Slipping inside the dorm, he shed his clothing and walked into the bathroom. Steam fogged the mirrors and the sound of water on tile soothed him. Pulling back the shower curtain he drank in the sight of the woman who’d come to mean everything to him. Her hair was dark silk piled on top of her head to reveal a graceful neck that led down to a curvy frame. Peering over her shoulder, she delivered a shaky smile.

  “HI.” The welcome melted his heart. He’d been afraid she’d shy away.

  “Juliette Marie Moore, I love you,” he whispered, peering deep into the darkened windows of her eyes. “I wanted you to know that. I had the words rattling around in my head for a while, but you weren’t ready to hear them and I wasn’t ready to say it.”

  “Shooter, I love you too.” Her voice was thick with emotions.

  “We got some shit to discuss, but right now I want to know love you. Is that okay? Can I erase an ugly memory for both of us? Give myself something good to carry me through this.”

  “God, yes. Please, make me forget.” Her voice caught on a sob.

  Sliding his hands down her skin, he gripped her and balanced her against the wall of the shower. “Guide me home.”

  She reached down between them, pressing his swollen head to her entrance, and he thrust home. Her legs tightened around his back and he held her gaze as he moved inside her tight heat. There were no words as he slid as deep as he could go, relishing the feel of her slick walls as she flexed her muscles and arched her back. The love she held shone bright, and every time he re-entered her body, the bond between them wove together tighter.

  Her lips parted, and her pussy trembled around them as they reached the pinnacle together. She gripped his biceps as her body vibrated.

  “That’s it, baby, give it to me.”

  He thrust once, twice, and she came apart, taking him with her. Her cries of ecstasy and his moans echoed in the shower as the memory embedded in his heart. Spent, he eased out, turned the shower head back on and rinsed off.

  “You stay here.” He stepped out, grabbed a towel and wrapped her up, gently drying her skin. With the words out in the open, their dynamic shifted somehow. Suddenly they were more. It made him want to grin like a fucking idiot. He wrapped the towel around her, placed one arm around her waist and carried her over to the bed. He sank down, placing her on his chest. Trailing his fingers down her arms, he focused on the sound of her breathing.

  “Baby, I have to tell you something I know you won’t like.”

  She lifted her upper body off his chest and met his gaze, bracing her forearms against him.

  “I don’t like the sound of that at all, Shooter.”

  “I didn’t expect you to. We have to leave.”

  “And go to your apartment?”

  “No, baby.” He shook his head. “We have to leave town.”

  “Right now?” Her wounded expression tore at his heart. He had her world tuned upside own and she couldn’t regain her footing when it kept being flipped again.

  She took a deep breath. “For how long?”

  “Until Stant has his preliminaries and he’s at least monitored.”

  �
��Who knows how long that’ll take?” She moved to leave and he wrapped his arms around her waist, locking her into place. “Let me go.”

  “Not until you listen to me. This is to keep you safe. You saw how easily he can get to you. I can’t watch you all the item, and I’d die before anything happened to you. Peter’s also dicking with club business, so we need to answer that. I’m supposed to have my Prez’s six, but he wants me to guard you because he knows if Stant can get to all those other loose ends, you may be the only one left to speak against him. Please, do this for me. I’d lose my shit if anything happened to you, baby.” He’d take her by force if he had to, but it’d make for a long trip.

  “I’d lose everything. My house, my car, and my job.”

  “None of its worth your life, babe. I got your car and the house. I’m pretty sure we can come up with something for your job. We have the power to pull strings on this to get it processed. It’s not going to be longer than a month, maybe two at most.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You don’t even have to ask. I’m going to do it, you want to repay me? Follow my directions.”

  She placed her head on his chest. “Why is this happening to me?”

  He couldn’t remain silent and let her keep blaming herself. “You know we don’t talk business with our women, but I can’t let you take the fall for this. Mayhem has something Stant wants, and you were the smoke screen to distract us while they came in and took it.”

  “What?”

  Shooter nodded.

  “What do I tell my mother?” she whispered.

  “Tell her I’m taking you away on a couple’s vacation. We won a trip on a cruise, whatever it is you need to say.”

  “We’re really doing this.”

  “Yeah, baby, we are. Prez wants us gone tonight.” He studied her cautiously. “I gotta be honest, I expected more of a protest.”

  “I’m too tired for that. Tired of looking over my shoulder and trying to anticipate his next move. If this is how we get rid of him, then that’s what we’ll do.”